The Album Club

The pioneering Grunge/Punk/Metal band's breakthrough album, Bricks Are Heavy is our latest subject. And to help us get a better understanding of the band and the album, we enlisted the help of chief mayhem maker and band leader, the legendary Donita Sparks to fill in a few of the gaps. Sit back, bang your head and Pretnd You're Dead!

Straight outta lockdown! We had the immense pleasure of chatting with 90’s alt-nation rock royalty - the kaleidoscopic, beautiful and gilded-throated Evan Dando, head lemon of the Lemonheads.Ensconced in his Martha’s Vineyard home, and through an era-appropriate lo-fi phoneline (sorry about that, folks!), everyone’ favourite indoor type generously shared stories about the band’s classic “It’s A Shame About Ray”; the album that found a new sound for the band and ignited their mainstream success.We also do our thing, slouching into history(from punk rock to GQ), recording, track by track of this slice of sweet and sour, slacker Americana, and what came next for the band and, indeed, the man.

Our last lockdown episode finishes a shitty year with a bang. A real gem of the 2000s, Pretty in Black saw The Raveonettes enlist the help of members of Suicide, The Velvet Underground and The Ronettes to create a dark and poignant, modern rock album indebted to music of the 50s and 60s. Lead singer, drummer, guitarist, songwriter and sampler in the band Sune Rose Wagner joins us to take us through the tracks while also talking about driving without a licence, learning about music through books, being launched by a music journalist, drinking with Buddy Holly's widow and prepping for the US elections. 

Mark Lanegan's 35 year music career has been prolific and diverse, after starting with the Screaming Trees, he has worked with/in Mad Season, Queens of the Stone Age, Gutter Twins, Twilight Singers, Isobel Campbell, UNKLE and countless others. He recently released his engrossing and brutal memoirs, Sing Backwards and Weep and accompanying solo album Straight Songs of Sorrow, a brilliant collection of songs which features John Paul Jones, Dylan Carlson, Warren Ellis and many others. We spoke to ML in Ireland over the phone (and found out what he's been working on. We talk about various albums throughout his career, find out what he's been doing under lockdown and find out why Izzy Stadlin is the coolest guy in the world.

The man, the myth, the legend and super-cool guy Page Hamilton joins ask ostensibly to talk about making the Betty album but we also talk about (in order): George Floyd killings, Trump, Waco, seeing a dead body, Helmet on MTV, their non-image, the Betty album cover, his home studio, cancelled tours, the upcoming Helmet documentary, visiting Australia, releasing the Big Day Out live show, working with T Ray, forming Helmet, Sonic Youth, getting into jazz, revisiting the classic albums, guitars, the Judgment night soundtrack.

We do 90's a lot. But we've been saving this absolute gem for a while. Helmet's '94 sledgehammer classic release, "Betty" refined the band's bite and helped redefine alt rock and metal for years and genres to come. All muscle, sinew and beer-cool melodies. Plus, Alex tries and fails to keep his composure, as maelstrom maestro and riff swinger Page Hamilton himself joins us for a detailed, insightful and fun chat looking at all this timeless, hook laden monster.

Our interview in full with the talented Mr Nick Sansano who moved from hip hop engineering to producing a landmark album in alternative rock. How did that happen and how did they make their masterpiece

Spirit desire... Sonic Youth's 5th album was released on October 18th 1988 and changed the trajectory of rock. Blending the avant garde, dissonant noise rock and punk it was a game changer in alternative rock. We revisit this high watermark for the band and are joined by the man who recorded the album at Greene St studios in New York City, Nick Sansano. He tells of how the album was made and how he worked with the band to get the sounds and results we hear today.... We will fall

In the second part of our double episode on The Clash's masterpiece, we take you through the back half of the album where things get kinda weird. We discuss the rest of The Clash's catalogue and their acrimonious breakup. Then we look at what the members did in the remaining years and why The Clash never reformed.

We finally cover our first double album and our most requested album meaning the favourite album of Album Club listeners. So we decided to give it the treatment it deserved and do a double episode. London Calling is a monumental album in the way it broadened the idea of what punk was and could be and gave a template to other bands wanted to branch out. And it's full of banging tunes. We discuss the birth of the Clash, the recording of the album, the iconic album artwork and listen to the first half of tracks on the album.