S8E439 - The Cure 'Faith' with Josh Hight

Detroit-born artist Josh Hight - now based in Lewes, East Sussex - brings us The Cure and their enigmatic third record, 'Faith'. For this 1981 release, Robert Smith and co. reached deep down into their souls and produced an album of dark, melancholically bleak-yet-beautiful music. Songs discussed in this episode: Primary (The Cure cover) - The Dandy Warhols; Atrocity Exhibition - Joy Division; Plainsong - The Cure; In His Wake - PINES; Facing - IRONS; I Was Only Fifteen - PINES; The Holy Hour, Primary - The Cure; Photographic - Depeche Mode; Other Voices, Killing An Arab - The Cure; Dead Angels Make Slow Sound - Detachment Kit; All Cats Are Grey - The Cure; Atmosphere - Joy Division; The Funeral Party - The Cure; We'll Let You Know - Morrissey; Doubt, The Drowning Man, Faith - The Cure; It's Over - Roy Orbison; Uriel - PINES

Poet/Songwriter Sara Mae Henke (The Noisy) brings us Japanese Breakfast and their 2021 album, 'Jubilee'. The third release by musician/author Michelle Zauner, it's a gloriously joyful slab of indie pop with a side-helping of catharsis. Songs discussed in this episode: Neckline (Deluxe Version), Twos, Tony Soprano - The Noisy; Chamomile - Larlene; Tropical Jinx - Little Big League; Everybody Wants To Love You, Paprika, Be Sweet - Japanese Breakfast; Nightshade - The Noisy; Kokomo, IN, Winter In LA, Slide Tackle, Posing In Bondage, Sit - Japanese Breakfast; Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush; Savage Good Boy, In Hell, Tactics, Posing For Cars - Japanese Breakfast; Nightshade - The Noisy

Renowned producer/engineer Larry Crane (Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists, The Go-Betweens, Elliott Smith...as well as editor and founder of Tape Op Magazine) brings us Wire and their groundbreaking, highly influential third album '154'. A favorite of a diverse array of artists including Robert Pollard, Johnny Marr and Michael Stipe to name a few, this heady slab of post-punk vignettes rewards repeated listenings. Songs discussed in this episode: The 15th (Wire cover) - Mike Watt; Curl Up and Dye - Vomit Launch; The Walls Came Down - The Call; 1 2 X U - Wire; Map Ref. 41°N 93°W (Wire cover) - My Bloody Valentine; Ahead - Wire; EMI - The Sex Pistols; I Should Have Known Better - Wire; Equinoxe 5 - Jean-Michel Jarre; Romeo - Wipers; Two People In A Room - Wire; Kerosene - Big Black; Time To Pretend - MGMT; The 15th, The 15th (Demo), The Other Window (Demo), The Other Window - Wire; Craniostomy Vol. 2 - Larry Crane; Single K.O., A Touching Display - Wire; Don't Forget Me - Maggie Rogers; On Returning - Wire; Connection - Elastica; Alone, Fish 1 - Colin Newman; Lady In Red - Chris de Burgh; Svefn-g-englar - Sigur Ros; Mutual Friend, Blessed State - Wire; I Turn My Camera On - Spoon; Once Is Enough, Map Ref. 41°N 93°W - Wire; Shattered - The Rolling Stones; Indirect Enquiries - Wire; Double Dare - Bauhaus; 40 Versions, Song 1 - Wire; Passenger - Glitterfox; Angel In The Snow - Eliott Smith; Les Amazones d'Afrique - Larry Crane

One of our favorite returning guests, Miami drag icon Shelley Novak (aka Tommy Strangie), joins us to once again explore his life-long obsession with all things Chrissie Hynde as we discuss The Pretenders and their third studio album, 1984s 'Learning To Crawl'.  "Now come on, baby Get in the road..." Songs discussed in this episode: Absent Minded Me - Chrissie Hynde; Tommy Strangie - The Boas; Cuban Slide, Middle Of The Road - The Pretenders; Long Long Time - Linda Ronstadt; Back On The Chain Gang - The Pretenders; Working In The Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey; Mystery Achievement, Time The Avenger, Watching The Clothes, Show Me - The Pretenders; Vicar In A Tutu - The Smiths; Thumbelina - The Pretenders; Life In A Northern Town - The Dream Academy; Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat; My City Was Gone - The Pretenders; Thin Line Between Love And Hate - The Persuaders; Tempted - Squeeze; Thin Line Between Love And Hate, I Hurt You - The Pretenders; Tell Laura I Love Her - Ray Peterson; Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, 2000 Miles - The Pretenders; Tommy Strangie - The Boas; Back On The Chain Gang (Pretenders cover) - Morrissey

Named after the back seat of his family's car where he recorded the vocals to his early albums, Will Toledo's solo-project-cum-band Car Seat Headrest went from Bandcamp indie-darlings to headlining Coachella in a relatively short time. This week's guest, musician/songwriter Brendan Wright (Tiberius), brings us CSH's transitional 2014 release - and final one before signing to Matador - 'How To Leave Town'. Brimming with both existential doubt and unbridled wanderlust, the record works as a dark, witty soundtrack to coming-of-age in the 2010's. Songs discussed in this episode: Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover) - Car Seat Headrest; Sag - Tiberius; Cherries - Tiberius Wright; Fill In The Blank, Not What I Needed - Car Seat Headrest; Dramamine - Modest Mouse; The Ending Of Dramamine - Car Seat Headrest; Bus Ride - Naked Days; Beast Monster Thing, Tybee Island Horse Ghosts, Kimochi Warui (When? When? When? When? When? When? When?) - Car Seat Headrest; Big Business Monkey - Daniel Johnston; I-94 W (832 Mi), You're In Love With Me, America (Never Been) - Car Seat Headrest; Felt - Tiberius; I Want You to Know That I'm Awake / I Hope That You're Asleep, Is This Dust Really from the Titanic?, Hey, Space Cadet (Beast Monster Thing in Space) - Car Seat Headrest; Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox - Guided By Voices; The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man) - Car Seat Headrest; Painting Of A Tree - Tiberius

This week, we Zoomed all the way over to the medieval wine country of Romagna, Italy to discuss The Flaming Lips and their beloved 2002 release: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots with musician/artist Lucas Ward (The Silver Snails) "All we have is now All we've ever had is now All we have is now All we'll ever have is now" Songs discussed in this episode: Do You Realize (Flaming Lips cover) - Willie Nelson; No Name #3 - Elliott Smith; Evanessence, Galen's Song - The Silver Snails; Race For The Prize - Flaming Lips; Time/Breathe (Reprise) - The Flaming Lips & Stardeath and White Dwarfs; Father and Son - Cat Stevens; Fight Test - Flaming Lips; Domsbore - Boredoms; Right Hand Ponk - OOIOO; One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 2, In The Morning Of The Magicians, Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell, Are You A Hypnotist, It's Summertime, Do You Realize, All We Have Is Now, Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia) - Flaming Lips; Video Killed The Radio Star (Buggles cover) - The Silver Snails

Arguably one of the most important groups of the 1980s, St Paul Minnesota punk rock trio Hüsker Dü paved the way for 90s indie superstars Nirvana and a host of others while never quite reaching anything close to that level of success in their short 9-year existence. This week's guest, Reno, NV musician and writer Mark Earnest (Kanawha, Manchild), joins us to discuss their sixth - and final - studio release, Warehouse: Songs and Stories. A sprawling, sonic battlefield between dual songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart, the double record is a harrowing, at times beautiful soundtrack to a band falling apart. Songs discussed in this episode: She Floated Away (Hüsker Dü cover) - Casey Neill & The Norway Rats; Strings - Kanawha; Makes No Sense At All - Hüsker Dü; Bastards Of Young - The Replacements; Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely, In A Free Land, Do You Remember, These Important Years - Hüsker Dü; Accident Prone - Jawbreaker; Charity, Chastity, Prudence and Hope, Standing In The Rain, Back From Somewhere, Ice Cold Ice, Could You Be The One, Too Much Spice, Friend, You've Got To Fall, Visionary, She Floated Away - Hüsker Dü; So Grant Hart - Mr Entertainment and The Pookiesmackers; Bed Of Nails, Eight Miles High (The Byrds cover), I'll Tell You Why Tomorrow, It's Not Peculiar, No Reservations, Turn It Around, She's A Woman (And Now He Is A Man) - Hüsker Dü; Up In The Air (Hüsker Dü cover) - Heidi Berry; Up In The Air, You Can Live At Home - Hüsker Dü; House Of Dead Memories - Sugar; Ashes Into The Sea - Manchild

This week we're joined by Tate Brooks and Silas Lourenco Lang (two-thirds of the New Haven, CT band The Problem With Kids Today) as we unpack Jon Brion's long lost debut album, 'Meaningless'. Initially released independently by Brion in 2001 on his own "Straight to Cut-Out" label and sold through his website and CD Baby, it finally became more widely available in 2022 when it was re-released on Jealous Butcher Records. This collection of catchy power-pop tunes are a perfect representation of what Brion eventually brought to the production and film-score work he became most well-known for. Songs discussed in this episode: I Believe She's Lying (Jon Brion cover) - Rhett Miller; Take It!, Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star - The Problem With Kids Today; Very Best Years - The Grays; I Should've Known - Aimee Mann; Gotta Start Somewhere, I Believe She's Lying, Meaningless, Ruin My Day, Walking Through Walls, Trouble, Hook, Line and Sinker - Jon Brion; Try Again - Big Star; Dead To The World, Her Ghost, Same Mistakes - Jon Brion; Voices - Cheap Trick; Voices (Cheap Trick cover) - Jon Brion; Ace Starchild - The Problem With Kids Today

Returning guest, singer/songwriter Oscar Herrera (The Sleep of Reason, Black Tape for a Blue Girl), brings us Bauhaus and their 1980 debut full-length: 'In The Flat Field'. Often cited as a foundational release in the Goth-rock genre, there's no denying this darkly theatrical, often ferocious collection of songs STILL packs an unsettling punch. Happy pre-Halloween! Songs discussed in this episode: Dark Entries (Bauhaus cover) - Revolting Cocks (Feat. Gibby Haynes); I Have A Task - Oscar Herrera; God Of Thunder - Kiss; Isolation - Joy Division; Jigsaw Feeling - Siouxsie and The Banshees; His Box - Dalis Car; Castor and Pollux, To The Sea, Validation - Oscar Herrera; Double Dare, Antonin Artaud, In The Flat Field, God In An Alcove, Dive, The Spy In The Cab, Small Talk Stinks, St Vitus Dance, Who Killed Mr Moonlight, Stigmata Martyr, Nerves, Bela Lugosi's Dead, Telegram Sam (T-Rex cover), Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie cover) - Bauhaus; The Black Harvest (Live) - The Sleep Of Reason; Rose Garden Funeral of Sores (John Cale cover, live) - Bauhaus; Vienna (Ultravox cover) - Oscar Herrera

What is it about multiple voices singing a beautiful melody together that just GETS to us? For this special BONUS Episode, we asked our Patrons to send in a song with amazing vocal harmonies...that got them high! Caution: Ear-candy ahead... Songs discussed in this episode: You Still Believe In Me (Isolated vocals) - The Beach Boys; Live In Favor Of Tomorrow - The Lemon Twigs; Blue - The Jayhawks; Oh So Many Years - Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones; A Good Feelin' To Know - Poco; In The Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson; Losing True - The Roches; God Only Knows - The Beach Boys; Trees and Flowers - Strawberry Switchblade; Little Things - Ida; Start Again - Teenage Fanclub; Poppies - La Luz; Bridge On Fire - Shovels & Rope; A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square - Manhattan Transfer; Bellyeye (Cardiacs cover) - The 180 Gs; Ain't That Enough - Teenage Fanclub; The Bleeding Heart Show - The New Pornographers; Misery, P.S. I Love You - The Beatles; Forgetting - The Feminine Complex; Long Time Gone - Crosby Stills & Nash; You're All I Need To Get By - Aretha Franklin; Take It Easy - The Eagles; 14 Cheerleader Coldfront (live on KCRW) - Guided By Voices (Bob Pollard & Tobin Sprout)