Completely Conspicuous 670: Stacking the Deck

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Counting down the rest of our favorite albums of the year
• Kumar's #8: Indie rock godfather Bob Mould is still pissed off and rocking
• Mould has also reunited his '90s band Sugar
• Kumar's #7: Triumphant return for Mclusky
• Falco and crew having fun ripping on various targets
• Breitling's #6: Superchunk keeps going with new drummer
• If you thought they were angry in 2018...
• Chock full of "banglociraptors"
• Kumar's #6: Straight outta Asheville with Wednesday's killer combo of alt-country, shoegaze and heavy guitar rippers 
• Band features MJ Lenderman but it's Karly Hartzman's show
• Breitling's #5: Debut from Slumberland act The Cords
• Scottish indie jangle-pop banglociraptors
• Kumar's #5: Thrilling post punk from South London act Shame
• Returning to harder rocking sound of first few albums
• More albums are shorter nowadays
• Breitling's #4: Prolific Chicago psych-pop act Sharp Pins keeps bringing it
• Flashes of GBV and early Kinks
• Breitling's #3: Crutchfield sisters (Waxahatchee, Swearin') drop surprise release as Snocaps
• Again with the Lenderman, on drums this time
• Kumar's #3: PUP applies newfound maturity to pop-punk bangers
• Singing about adult stuff 
• Breitling's #2: Mini-album from Peel Dream Magazine
• Autumnal-sounding leftovers from previous album recording session
• Kumar's #2: Sloan keeps bringing the heat with 14th release of diverse and rewarding power pop
• Four singer-songwriters keep the offerings varied and on point
• Breitling's #1 and Kumar's #4: Monumental four-album conceptual triumph from Hallelujah the Hills
• Lot of guest stars including Ezra Furman, Clint Conley, Sadie Dupuis, Patrick Stickles
• Staggering amount of excellence 
• Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #7: NYC's Geese blows up with wide-ranging collection that grabs your attention
• Their club tour sold out immediately
• Frontman Cameron Winter leads a sound that ranges from Pavement to soul
• Looking forward to 2026 releases from: Notwist, Kiwi Jr., Courtney Barnett, Sleaford Mods, Crooked Fingers, Strange Pains
• Reunion shows next year from Silkworm, Superdrag
  

  Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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 356: Down for the Count

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the year in music. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ
- Dog talk
- Honorable mentions
- JK: New Pornographers, Spoon are consistently excellent
- Bob Mould, Stephen Malkmus, War on Drugs
- Mark Kozelek is having fun trolling everybody
- Good EPs from Krill and Speedy Ortiz
- Run the Jewels released another good album
- Ryan Adams released a rockin' singles series EP
- JB: High grades for Nai Harvest, White Laces, Nothing, Wrong Shapes, Sneeze, Burning Alms, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Room Runner
- JK: Check out the free Exploding in Sound sampler on Bandcamp
- JB: New Two Inch Astronaut album is great
- JB's #10
- Radiator Hospital has been prolific and good
- JK's #10
- Hallelujah the Hills with a quality release
- JB's #9 and JK's #7
- The first Soccer Mom album is also their last
- JK's #9
- Unlikely release from Gord Downie and the Sadies
- JB's #8
- Literature is yet another good band on Slumberland
- Spotify usage habits
- JK's #8
- Comeback album for Death From Above 1979 has tons of great riffs
- JB's #7
- Ava Luna brings interesting approach to funk and punk
- JB's #6
- She Sir's latest was years in the making
- JK's #6
- Mary Timony's latest project harks back to '70s NYC punk scene
- Next week: Our top 5 albums

Music:
Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone
Soccer Mom - Orejas
Ex Hex - Don't Wanna Lose

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 from Stereogum.

The Soccer Mom song is on the band's self-titled album on 100m Records. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.
The Ex Hex song is on the album Rips on Merge Records. Download the song and album for free at KEXP.

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 322: Reeling in the Years, 1984 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1984. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Brian's #5
- Pretenders are very underrated
- Chrissie Hynde got a late start in rock
- Jay's #5
- Saw R.E.M.'s first national TV appearance on Letterman
- Brian's #4
- Minutemen covered a wide range of styles
- Mike Watt's interesting career
- Scott Asheton, R.I.P.
- James Williamson went from playing with Iggy to become a Silicon Valley exec
- Jay's #4
- Van Halen inadvertently helped create hair metal
- Brian's #3
- Meat Puppets created a unique sound
- Most people became aware of them a decade later
- Jay's #3
- Replacements' sound evolved from punk to more mature rock
- Brian's #2 was his #1 when we started talking
- Jay's #2
- Husker Du was coming into its own in '84
- So much good music on SST in the early to mid-'80s
- Brian's #1
- Gordon Gano wrote first two Violent Femmes albums while in high school
- Serious gospel undertones
- Jay's #1
- Purple Rain was a masterpiece
- Jay chronicled 1984 in a diary reprinted on Kumar's Blizznog
- Next up: 1986

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

Music:
Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone
Feral Jenny - Law & Order
Red Sea - Down with the Crown

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 Feral Jenny song is on the EP Bedrooms. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
The Red Sea song is on the EP Yardsticks for Human Intelligence. Download the song for free 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 229: Around the Dial

Part 1 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss the death of rock radio. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Boston alternative rock station WFNX was sold to Clear Channel recently
- Rock radio has been on life support for quite some time
- Too much radio programming and formats
- WFNX was pioneer of the alternative format
- Nick: Knew of WFNX more by reputation as a kid
- Mike: College radio introduced me to a world beyond classic rock and metal

- Jay: R.E.M. and U2 were first so-called alternative bands I got into
- WBCN was revolutionary back in late '60s and '70s, playing free-form rock
- Eventually became formatted like all the rest
- WBCN switched to alternative format in mid-'90s to compete with FNX
- Eventually, BCN went to more talk: Stern, Opie & Anthony
- FNX went downhill for a while with nu metal
- Nick: FNX had rebounded in last few years
- We old guys don't get newer bands like Mumford and Sons
- FNX wasn't going after geezers like us anymore
- Many more options for listeners now: iPod, streaming audio, Pandora
- The "Mike FM" stations just regurgitate '90s alternacrap
- The much-bigger WBCN went off air in '09, turned into a sports talk station
- The market for rock music has diminished; kids are listening to more hip hop and pop
- Plenty of new rock bands coming out all the time
- Nick: Hard rock is used more in sports arenas and commercials
- To be continued next week
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Bob Mould - The Act We Act (live)
Hallelujah the Hills - Get Me in a Room
Zeus - Anything You Want, Dear
The White Stripes - Jimmy the Exploder
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Bob Mould song is from Live at Bottom of the Hill, a free EP of three Sugar songs from the album Copper Blue performed live on Feb. 24 in San Francisco. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at New.Official.Fm.

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album No One Knows What Happens Next on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free from HallelujahTheHills.com.

The Zeus song is on the album Busting Visions on Arts and Crafts. Download the song for free from IODA Promonet:
Zeus
"Anything You Want Dear" (mp3)
from "Busting Visions"
(Arts & Crafts)

More On This Album

The White Stripes song is from the band's self-titled album on Sympathy for the Record Industry. Download the song for free from Epitonic.

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; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous 226: Bottoms Up!

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Ben Amirault as we discuss the growth of craft beer. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- Check out Ben's beer blog The Church Key
- Dogfish Head has branched out with TV show, limited edition beers
- Northeast has many great brewers: Magic Hat, Smuttynose, Baxter, Long Trail
- "Ice beer" was, and still is, a thing
- Regional pockets of great craft beer throughout the U.S.
- Some of beers can overdo it with the accents (fruit, pumpkin, caramel, chocolate, coffee, etc.)
- Jay: Not big into pairing certain beers with certain types of food
- Canadians will drink Bud or Coors because it's so light
- Ben: Hard to keep up with all the new brewers
- Recent trend is putting craft beer in cans
- Some brewers won't do it, but many are: Sierra Nevada, Harpoon, Oskar Blues, Baxter
- Great packaging can get you to try a beer
- The bomber is a great way to check out a new beer
- Some stores let you "make" your own six-pack from singles
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Mission of Burma - Dust Devil
Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Hallelujah the Hills - Hungry Ghost Extraordinaire

The Men - Open Your Heart

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Mission of Burma song is on the forthcoming album Unsound on Fire Records. Download the song for free at Team Clermont.

The Father John Misty song is on the album Fear Fun on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.
The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album No One Knows What Happens Next on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free from Prefix Mag. 
The song by The Men is on the album Open Hearts on Sacred Bones. Download the song for free from Epitonic.

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; check out his site PodGeek.