Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Completely Conspicuous 671: Welcome to the Boomtown

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite underrated albums. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

  • First episode of the year!
  • Recorded right after the gold medal men's hockey game
  • What is underrated?
  • A well-known artist's less popular release or lesser-known artists
  • Phil: Neil Young has a few underrated albums among his vast catalog
  • Other Phil honorable mentions: Big Star, Bob Mould, Best Coast, Kaiser Chiefs, Bettie Serveert, Built to Spill, Keith Richards, N. Mississippi All-Stars, Ben Folds Five, Until the End of the World soundtrack, Til Tuesday, Neko Case, Passengers, Big Head Todd, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Fela Kuti, Dead Milkmen, Shuggie Otis, Uncle Tupelo, Waterboys
  • Jay's honorable mentions: Trail of Dead, Material Issue, Peter Gabriel, The Church, PiL, Afghan Whigs, QOTSA, Smashing Pumpkins, Blind Melon, Elliot Easton, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Matthew Sweet
  • Phil's #10: Cracker's debut album
  • Lowery's first post-Camper Van Beethoven release
  • Jay's #10: Keith Richards releases a stripped-down solo album
  • Was pissed at Jagger, created the antithesis to his flashy style
  • Phil's #9: Prince creates a new band in the early '90s
  • No more Revolution, going for more of a hip hop sound
  • Jay's #9: Only release from David + David
  • Studio musicians who teamed up to release atmospheric story songs
  • Phil's #8: Indie supergroup comprised of members of Sleater-Kinney and Helium
  • Only released one album
  • Jay's #8: Living Colour's third album was criminally overlooked
  • Introduced industrial elements but was lost in the wave of grunge
  • Phil's #7: Jerry Harrison goes solo
  • More pop than what Talking Heads were doing
  • Jay's #7: Sebadoh unleashes ripping indie rock masterpiece
  • Contributions from two songwriters
  • Phil's #6: Self-assured debut from Elastica
  • Waited too long to release their next album
  • To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever you get 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.