Completely Conspicuous 464: Industry Standard

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about the evolution of the music blog. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Breitling recently shut down his fine music blog Clicky Clicky
- Some band reunions shouldn't happen
- A whole new target audience for newer live acts
- The kids wanna snap
- Some bands can make a living selling merch and playing small live gigs
- No time for comics anymore
- The inflated price of vinyl
- Zines were the music blogs of the '80s and '90s
- Kumar: A buddy in Washington state got into punk, started a zine
- The convenience of blog software
- The blog as reference tool
- Our work at Webnoize is mostly gone now
- Clicky Clicky lives on via Facebook page
- The blog had a hardcore audience
- Not in it for the numbers
- Cutting through the crap on Twitter
- Quality, not quantity of posts

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 463: Exit Music (For a Blog)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about the evolution of the music blog. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Breitling recently shut down his fine music blog Clicky Clicky
- MP3 blogs soon evolved into something less legally risky
- Wrote about music for other online pubs: Splendid EZine, Junkmedia
- Had a personal page and then launched Clicky Clicky in 2006
- Contributors had other commitments, life got busy
- Breitling now writes for Vanyaland
- In their heyday, music blogs presented artists who weren't pushed by major labels or corporate radio
- The "Celestial Jukebox" is here
- Breitling: Listening habits have changed
- Used to frantically search for new music; now digging into albums
- Peak music blog year was 2007
- Blog bands: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Franz Ferdinand
- Many people started music blogs to get free stuff
- Some bloggers have moved on to mainstream gigs
- Podcasting has become commonplace
- YouTube stars are now gaining popularity
- Make way for Jacob Sartorius
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 452: The Honor Roll

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2016. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- We are not Moviefone
- Rough year for musician deaths
- Trump's top 3 albums
- The return of protest music?
- Clicky Clicky HQ is fully Alexa-ized
- The kids love the vinyl (well, the hipsters do, anyway)
- Albums are back, sort of
- Crowdfunding albums is becoming more prevalent
- Breitling's bubbling under albums: A Giant Dog, Thin Lips, Bent Shapes, Yr Poetry, Pinegrove, Horse Jumper of Love, Guillermo Sexo, California Snow Story
- Kumar's: Used Cassettes, Savages, Dino Jr., Radiohead, Split Single, Preoccupations, Descendents, Johnny Foreigner, Terry Malts, Hallelujah the Hills, Kristin Hersh, I Don't Cares, Nick Cave, Gord Downie, PJ Harvey
- Downie teamed with comics artist Jeff Lemire on combo album/graphic novel
- Breitling's #10
- Cold Pumas back with a hot new release
- Kumar's #10
- Possibly the last Tragically Hip album
- Different sound courtesy of producers Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin
- Breitling's #9
- Boston's Strange Passage reminds of early Ride
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 432: Sound and Vision

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of 2016. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Kumar's #4 and Breitling's #3
- Hallelujah the Hills releases another fine album
- Kumar's #3
- Third in Bob Mould's kickass trilogy
- Don't wait on a Husker Du reunion, Mould's current band is the real deal
- Indie rockers in their 50s are still bringing the heat
- The problem with being U2
- Breitling's #2
- The Car Seat Headrest kids are playing the rock
- Kumar's #2
- Possibly Iggy's last rock record
- Breitling's and Kumar's #1
- Bowie's last album, released three days before he died
- A consistent electronic sound
- Breitling: Looking forward to new Johnny Foreigner, Eros and the Eschaton, Urusei Yatsura comp, reissues from Rocketship and the Lilys
- Kumar: Anticipating new albums from Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr. and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

 The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 431: Make Lists, Not Fists

I celebrate a decade of podcasting with part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of 2016. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Kumar: Thin Lips, Woods (formerly Meneguar) on list of bubbling-under albums
- Breitling's #10 (list is in no particular order)
- Pinegrove blends emo and alt-country
- Kumar's #10
- Savages brings the heat
- Breitling's #9
- Nothing comes into its own with the loud rock
- Kumar's #9 and Breitling's #8
- A Giant Dog plays hard rock with an indie twist
- Kumar's #8
- Welcome return of Paul Westerberg, teamed with Juliana Hatfield
- Breitling's #7
- Thin Lips is Superchunk-descended
- Kumar's #7
- Possibly the last Tragically Hip album; was produced by Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew
- Breitling's #6
- Bent Shapes are Boston's premier indie pop act
- Kumar's #6
- Parquet Courts continues to make interesting records
- Breitling's #5
- DIIV's double album is full of beautiful dream pop
- Kumar's #5
- Black Mountain adds more synths to stoner rock sound
- Breitling's #4
- Johnny Foreigner's sound evolves
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 430: Fifty-Fifty Split

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of 2016. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Biggest trend so far: Death
- A whole generation of musicians is in senior citizen territory
- Ticketmaster settlement is as useless as TM normally is
- "Stairway to Heaven" lawsuit ended the right way
- Breitling plays law-talking guy
- Tidal tries to start its own bidding war
- Ultimate strategy is to get paid and get out
- The free tier for streaming services will eventually go away
- Bandcamp's iffy stats
- Breitling's not-quite-top-10: New Dog, Horse Jumper of Love, Guillermo Sexo, Gold Muse, California Snow Story, Yr Poetry
- Kumar's bubbling under list: Radiohead, Ty Segall, Modern Baseball, Future of the Left, Halfsour, Used Cassettes
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 406: Simply the Best

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of this decade (2010-14). Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 

Show notes:
- JB's #5
- Dan Bejar's guilty pleasure
- JK's #5
- Band came out of left field
- JB's #4
- Dream pop classic
- JK's #4
- Comeback album from alt-rock legends
- JB's #3
- Cassette-only release
- JK's #3
- Prolific artist put it all together
- JB's #2
- Veteran hardcore guitar god goes folk rock
- JK's #2
- Sprawling punk rock concept album about the Civil War
- JB's #1
- An epic from a band just dropped by its label
- JK's #1
- First Matador act to hit #1 on album chart

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 405: The First Half

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of this decade (2010-14). Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 

Show notes:
- Looking back
- Breitling: My top albums of the 2013 and 2014 didn't make this list
- JB's #10 and JK's #9
- "The purest distillation" of this band's sound
- JK's #10
- Harking back to '70s glam punk
- JB's #9
- New sound for indie rock stalwart
- JB's #8
- Lots of side projects spun off from this band
- JK's #8
- A super outing from an indie supergroup
- JB's #7
- Unclear whether another release is coming from this act
- JK's #7
- Top pick of 2011
- Turned Out a Punk is an interesting podcast
- JB's #6
- Breakthrough for excellent indie act
- JK's #6
- Television-Velvet Underground sound
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 404: Top of the Rock

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2015. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 

Show notes:
- Jay Kumar's #5 album of the year
- Productive collective out of the Bay Area
- Jay Breitling's #4
- What's next for Jonah Furman?
- JK's #4
- JB's #3
- Dark, crazy guitar ambience
- JK's #3
- Another indie darling blowing up big
- JB's #2
- Another great shoegaze act makes its mark
- JK's #2
- A local indie act does well nationally
- JB's #1
- Marriage of electronic and guitar rock
- JK's #1
- Topped midyear list, still holds up
- Looking ahead to 2016
- Next week: Our favorites of the first half of the decade (2010-14)

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 403: Rank and File

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2015. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 

Show notes:
- More music out than ever before
- JK: Immersed in top 40 pop against my will thanks to my kids
- JB's honorable mentions
- Ava Luna is the Steely Dan of indie rock
- JK's honorable mentions
- Some notable comeback albums
- JB's #10
- JK's #10
- The insanity of the Paris concert tragedy
- JB's #9
- JK's #9
- The ever-prolific Patrick Stickles
- JB's #8
- JK's #8
- Constant touring hones a band's sound
- JB's #7
- JK's #7
- JB's #6
- Exploding in Sound is the indie rock label of the moment
- JK's #6
- JB's #5
- For those not about to rock, we salute you
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 382: Middle Management

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- JK: Nai Harvest's new album is infectious, fun rock
- Topshelf Records has some good acts in its lineup
- JB: Colleen is a former schoolteacher turned recording artist
- JK: Chandos is the band formerly known as Chandeliers
- JB's #1: Spectres has a psych-blues sound out of the UK
- JK: Viet Cong stirred up dumb controversy because of its name
- METZ is back with more kickassery
- New Mikal Cronin album expands his sound with orchestral touches
- JK's #1: Jeff Rosenstock's sound combines Weezer and Titus Andronicus
- JB: Looking forward to new releases from Infinity Girl, Lubec, Johnny Foreigner
- JK: Anticipating new material from Savages, Titus Andronicus, Destroyer, Fidlar, Kurt Vile
- Not looking forward to new Don Henley album

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 381: Half Life

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- JK: Courtney Barnett is blowing up
- JB: Ava Luna released an interesting record
- Funk, psych sound
- JK: Kuroma is a psych pop act fronted by former member of the Whigs, MGMT
- JK: My kids love listening to top 40 radio, hearing same songs over and over
- Classic rock fans are the same way, except they never get sick of their favorites
- JB: Not impressed with new Madonna song
- JB: Beeef is a catchy Boston act fronted by music blogger
- JK: New Krill record is full of quirk and deep philosophical lyrics
- JB wrote terrific review of the album
- Clicky Clicky presents great show July 9 at Great Scott: Infinity Girl, Lubec, Guillermo Sexo and Havania Waal
- JB: Thin Lips is another in a line of great Philly rock acts
- JK: Another excellent release from Thee Oh Sees
- JB: Another Philly band, Hopalong, released good album on Saddle Creek
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 334: Half Right

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of the year. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ
- A farewell to Moviefone
- JB: Forced to listen to lite rock radio at work
- Frozen vs. High School Musical
- Rock stations play the same old catalog stuff
- Regional radio leanings
- JK's radio show Stuck In Thee Garage is almost a year old
- The debut of Clicky Clicky Live
- JB's honorable mentions: New Mendicants, Steiner, The Collected Fictions, The Wrong Shapes
- Ovlov's breakup/reunion
- JK's honorable mentions: Hallelujah the Hills, The Hold Steady, Krill, Speedy Ortiz, Mastodon
- JB: La Ligas Menores makes good indie pop out of Argentina
- JK: The War on Drugs' Lost in the Dream has an '80s feel
- JB: Krill has best song imagining oneself as poop
- JK: F'd Up combines gruff vocals with intricate arrangements
- JB: She Sir is a two-piece from Austin that takes its time
- JK: New Cloud Nothings record continues a winning formula
- JB: Speedy Ortiz continues to impress
- Touring non-stop despite loss of guitarist
- JK: Gord Downie and the Sadies recorded album over several years
- Punk-influenced sound from roots rock artists
- To be continued

Music:
Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone
She Sir - Condensedindents

The Collected Fictions - Talk

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The She Sir song is on the album Go Guitars on Shelflife Records. Download the song for free at Largehearted Boy.
The song by The Collected Fictions is on the band's self-titled EP. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at Bandcamp.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 280: All Together Now

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss some of our favorite compilation albums. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Drinkin' beer and talking rock
- Check out JB's new comp, And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel
- Covers of early period Lilys songs
- JK: Three basic types of comps, not including soundtracks
- Tribute, genre and benefit comps
- No Alternative came out in '93
- We learn more about Lance Diamond
- During the Goo Goo Dolls' last days of non-suckage
- Part of Red Hot series
- JB: Red Hot and Bothered was the indie rock version
- JK: Deadicated was a Grateful Dead tribute featuring the likes of Jane's Addiction, Elvis Costello, Lyle Lovett
- Taping songs off the radio
- JK: The Bridge was a great Neil Young tribute featuring alt-rock artists like Pixies and Sonic Youth
- Lots of tribute comps came out in early '90s
- Now there are string quartet and bluegrass tributes to just about everyone
- Label comps are fun, like What's Up Matador?
- Safe and Sound comp featured Boston bands from mid-'90s
- JB: Simple Machines comp featured great DC acts
- JK: Twisted Willie paid tribute to Willie Nelson
- JB: Darla 100 may have been too long
- JB: Ten Cent Fix was a good one
- JB: Why Do You Think They Call It Pop? was collected by Pop Narcotic
- First SPINart release was One Last Kiss, featuring Swirlies, Small Factory, Velocity Girl
- JB: This is Harrisburg, Not Topeka featured the mighty Torgo, with one Jay Breitling on guitar
- A takeoff of the great This is Boston, Not LA
- Get Jay's comp at Clicky Clicky
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Speedy Ortiz - The Hermit Crab
Thee Oh Sees - Devil Again
Mikal Cronin - Better Man
The Melvins - Dr. Mule

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The song from Speedy Ortiz is available on the compilation And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel. Download the comp exclusively at ClickyClickyMusic.
The songs from Thee Oh Sees and Mikal Cronin are on the compilation Garage Swim. Download the entire compilation for free at AdultSwim.com.
The Melvins song is on the Scion 10 Series Music Release. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 279: Now That's What I Call a Compilation

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the new Lilys tribute compilation he curated. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- JB's writing for new music site Vanyaland
- Breitling's second compilation; first one came out a year ago
- Comp's called And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel
- Covers of early period Lilys songs
- Found bands from Boston and beyond who were Lilys fans
- Would have liked to do this comp first
- Great response to Nofuckingwhere, the first comp
- Ride's management contacted JB
- Future .38 Special comp?
- Shout out to our good friend Mike Piantigini
- Why aren't we getting free beer?
- JB also organized a great benefit show last November
- Starting to plan next benefit for Community Servings
- JB's doing some promo for the comp
- Hasn't talked to Lilys leader Kurt Heasley about the comp
- Last four songs come from album Eccsome the Photon Band
- Would have liked to include some rare tracks
- Get it at Clicky Clicky
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Pet Milk - February Fourteenth
Infinity Girl - Claire Hates Me
The Weaks - Elsa

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The songs from Pet Milk, Infinity Girl and The Weaks are available on the compilation And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel. Download the comp exclusively at ClickyClickyMusic.
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 260: The Year in Rock Music, Part 3

Part 3 of my conversation with guests Jay Breitling and Mike Piantigini as we review our favorite music of 2012. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Breitling's #3 album of 2012 - Piantigini and Kumar agree on #3
- Divine Fits have stripped down songs
- JB's #2
- Golden Gurls are no relation to Bea Arthur
- MP's #2
- Plenty of Teenage Fanclub activity
- Imagining Breitling as a goth kid
- JK's #2
- The problem with doing covers
- JB's #1
- Piantigini's band Lump once opened for Karl Hendricks Trio
- Metallica owns their own masters
- Bands are now re-recording their classic tracks
- MP's #1 (sort of)
- New Big Dipper album out
- JK's #1
- JB's favorite song of the year
- MP's favorite song
- Westerberg releases material as he records it
- Jason Everman got around
- JK's favorite song
- Breitling's N SYNC sighting
- Trumped by Rock's Destiny's Child sighting
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Divine Fits - Civilian Stripes
Golden Gurls - I Can See the City
Karl Hendricks Trio - The Men's Room at the Airport
Mark Lanegan Band - The Gravedigger's Song
Paul Westerberg - My Road Now

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Divine Fits song is on the album A Thing Called Divine Fits on Merge Records. Download it for free at Epitonic.
The Golden Gurls song is on the self-released album Typo Magic. Download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.
The Karl Hendricks Trio song is on the album The Adult Section on Comedy Minus One Records. Download the song for free from Comedy Minus One.
The Mark Lanegan Band song is on the album Blues Funeral on 4AD. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Paul Westerberg song was self-released and is available for free download from Stereogum.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 259: The Year in Rock Music, Part 2

Part 2 of my conversation with guests Jay Breitling and Mike Piantigini as we review our favorite music of 2012. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Breitling's #9 album of 2012 - Piantigini's #9
- The long, strange journey of Drivin N' Cryin
- Kumar's #9
- JB's #8
- MP's #8
- Lou Barlow's talkative
- JK's #8
- JB's #7
- The Breeders are reuniting
- MP's #7
- JK's #7
- Nirvana comparisons abound
- JB's #6
- The Clash meets Big Country
- MP's #6
- JK's #6
- JB's #5
- MP's #5
- JK's #5
- JB's #4
- Hipsters love the cassettes
- In praise of VH's Diver Down
- DLR's ill-fated radio show
- MP's #4
- Prolific Canadian geniuses rule
- JK's #4
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Hospitality - Betty Wang
Mission of Burma - Second Television
METZ - Wet Blanket
Johnny Foreigner - 3 Hearts
A.C. Newman - Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Hospitality song is on the band's self-titled album on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Mission of Burma song is on the album Unsound on Fire Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic. 
The METZ song is on the band's self-titled album on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.
The Johnny Foreigner song is on the EP Names. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
The A.C. Newman song is on the album Shut Down the Streets on Matador Records. Download the song for free at MatadorRecords.com.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian