Episode 81

Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck, with your host, Mark Bradbourne.

What’s up? Welcome to Songs That Don’t Suck. My name is Mark and every week I’m listening to hundreds and hundreds of really crappy songs in the hopes that I stumble over a handful that I can deliver to you to enhance your playlists. Because I know your playlists are probably like my playlists and there are very few songs that exist that were released after you graduated high school or college because that’s when we stopped searching for new music. But we are here to change that. And that’s why you listen. So whether it’s your first time listening or you’re a long time listener to the podcast, thank you so much for checking out the episode. Before we get into the new music, I’ve got three things to update you on. So let’s get into those.

Last week, as I was publishing the episode and putting together the the links, I came to the realization that the platform that I used to serve up the music links, a company called Songwhip, has now gone out of business and the links are defunct. Absolutely fantastic. Give when that stuff happens. The worst part is like all the links from all this year’s episodes are now dead. So if you’re listening to an older episode and you try to click on a link in the show notes, you’re just going to get a blank page. So I basically used my data nerdiness to my advantage and I used this inconvenience to spur innovation. If you go to our website, songsthatdon’tsuck. net, on the homepage, you will find a new feature. Let’s call it a widget. Basically this widget lists all the songs per episode. There’s a little drop down. You can select what episode you want the songs from and it will provide links to seven different music platforms. I cannot guarantee that this is bulletproof. Basically what I’ve done is fed the song and artist into each platform’s search URL to make it a little bit more convenient for you to find the songs. If you do find an error, please let me know. That way I can try and debug it and make it better. The good news is I’ve managed to add all of the episodes music into the data set. So go nuts. You can go collect 80 episodes worth of songs just by changing a drop down. It’s honestly just goes to show if you want something done right, do it yourself. You can’t count on internet platforms to live forever. And as frustrating as that is, that is just the reality. And while it’s not as convenient as the links being in the show notes, it at least helps I think.

Now in less frustrating news, I haven’t given you a vinyl update in a while, but that’s because my speed of purchasing has slowed down a little bit. I’m trying to find really hard things that they’re just rare. But this week, two of my holy grails arrived via mail. Now I’ve searched locally high and low for these. I even went to Canada on a work trip and made a trip to a couple of record stores out there. And to no avail, these albums were just nowhere to be found. So I broke down and I ordered them off of Discogs. And I was really happy with the process, worked great. And I am now the proud owner of Jellyfish’s two studio albums, Belly Button and Spilt Milk. Absolutely glorious. It turns out they did a 30th anniversary pressing of the two albums and they sound amazing. All the artwork is original. They didn’t change anything, which is just fantastic. And I was very, very, very happy. I did purchase a couple of other things as well locally. Shout out to Hollow Bone Records down in Fairlawn, Ohio. If you’re in the Akron or Cleveland area by all means, check them out. That is not a paid ad. I just like buying records there. I got probably one of the top five concept albums of all time, Operation MindCrime by QueensReich. I got David Bowie’s Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, which I think is close to original pressing. It feels really old and the cover is a little bit beat up, but it sounds fantastic. I got the Allman Brothers Band, Fillmore East album, which has like the 16 or 26 minute version of Whipping Post on it, which is fantastic, and a few others. But as I’m like building out my vinyl library, I’ve been thinking about things and all these classic albums that I’ve been trying to get my hands on have gotten me in this creative mood. And I’m toying with the idea of potentially adding a second podcast to the songs that don’t suck family of podcasts. Right now it’s an only child, but this would be a sibling. Now this would probably be a monthly podcast, and I’d be focusing on a single classic album. And I want to do kind of a deep dive into the album. I want to talk about any notes that I can find on the recording process, any folklore or legends about the recording of the album, a track by track dissection, talking about the song’s influences and why it was written in certain ways, maybe my opinions on it, who knows. Anyway, I’ve started building out a list of the albums that I’d be interested in, kind of really researching. And I’m trying to formulate how exactly each episode would frame out as far as structure. I’ll keep you posted. But my guess is if this happens, and it’s a big if, it’ll probably happen in 2025. But there’s a lot going on.

Final update. We had a little show review to do this week. Now back in February, you may remember I went to Bright Winter Festival here in Cleveland. That is our dead of winter outdoor music festival, which if you’re in the Cleveland area, it is a blast. You should absolutely go check it out. And there was a band there that I discovered, Winton Existing, they’re from Nashville. During their set, they’d mentioned that they were going to be back in Cleveland this summer. Well, they made true on that promise. And on Thursday night, they rolled through town, they played a venue that I didn’t know existed called Dunlop’s Corner Bar. Really cool place, really good sound. And shout out to the bartender because I was just drinking pop that night. And after I bought the first one, he said, just come back and I will refill it for you. No problem. That is unheard of in a local bar. So I was more than happy to tip him well and make sure that I supported him in his work because that was pretty cool. Anyway, the evening had a full lineup of bands started with some guys from Houston. I do not remember their name. They said they had just opened for Chevelle in Myrtle Beach. But I don’t know, I must not have like stuck with me who they were. Don’t remember. After them, the Magnavoxes played there from Mansfield, Ohio, reminding me of kind of Nirvana if they were a shoegaze band. After them was this band called Cellophane Jane from Cleveland, holy shit, I was not expecting them. I really wasn’t. Really, really good. Vocally it was kind of a mix of all of the big vocalists from the 70s and 80s. So like your Meatloaf, Paul Rogers, Lou Graham, Boston, like that kind of thing. Really strong vocally. Not all that anthemic arena rock, but it’s modernized, right? That’s Cellophane Jane. And I was like, hell yeah, this is awesome. And you know, vocals aside, the whole band was a group of monster players. Drummer was fantastic. Bass player was a beast. The rhythm guitar player was amazing. And oh yeah, the vocalist also was the lead guitarist and he fucking shreds. So hey, awesome find from a local band, always a nice thing to have. Here is a quick taste of them. This is from their latest album. This track is called The Revealing. It’s absolutely criminal that they only have 21 monthly listeners, considering they have been around since 2017. I’m definitely going to try and catch them again. I was really, really impressed. Now after Cellophane Jane finished, Wynton Existing came on and they did their thing. And it was amazing. It was just as amazing as I figured it would be. Like I said, I love the intimate setting. And anytime I can catch a really good band in a really intimate setting, it’s fantastic. Wynton Existing is composed of a group of amazing musicians. They have great stage presence. And while their set was kind of short, it was sweet. They played a few songs that I recognized from their prior album and they are playing a few new songs that will be on their upcoming record, which the new songs were just as good. Always love to hear that. They have this great psychedelic vibe to them. I think the last time I talked about them in February, I made a comparison to the Doors. Now they don’t have keys, like they don’t have an organ or anything, but it’s more about their energy and their swagger on stage. And they really do make interesting arrangements musically. Now I was really, really glad that I got to see them again. It was really fantastic. If they happen to roll through your town, you should go see them live, trust me. And as fate would have it, Wynton Existing brings me to the new music this week because they dropped a song the day after this show. So let’s get into the new music for this week.

The first song this week is Am That I Am from Wynton Existing. This new track from Wynton Existing picks up right where their last album left off. Fantastic psychedelic feel, really catchy melody, really complex rhythms, and just a great driving chorus, like all the elements for a fantastic song. They truly do take the best of their influences and update them for a modern audience. You absolutely will get that psychedelic 70s thing, but it doesn’t feel dated. They have a hell of a time playing too. The recorded stuff is one thing, but man, when you can do it live and make people feel it, that’s where the art is. In their bio, they actually quote Andy Warhol and the quote is, don’t think about making art, just get it done, let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it, whatever. While they’re deciding, you make even more art. And their whole thing, man, it’s not just lip service. That is their approach to what they’re doing. If you dig kind of that 70s psychedelic era music, but you want to have a modern twist on it, I think Wynton Existing is a band that you need to check out. So here’s a little taste of that new single, Am That I Am.

The second song this week is The View From the Barstool by Hotel Mira. This is the second time that I’ve had a song from Hotel Mira on the podcast. Last time it was a track called Everything Once, which if you’re comparing the two, it had a way more rocky edge to it. This track, I think, leans a touch more into pop rock, very similar to bands like The Killers, Portugal, The Man, or Neon Trees. If you’re into those kind of bands, this is probably a band you need to check out. And a lot of it for this, it feels like it’s a production choice. I don’t know who produced it or kind of the direction they wanted to go, but the production is fantastic. To me, it’s a much brighter mix. And this song, just super well written. It’s very infectious from a hook standpoint, great pre-chorus that leads us into that hook. Really, really solid songwriting. The bridge on this track is really interesting. It feels almost like it just meanders a bit into a bit of stream of consciousness. And then kind of as it ends, it builds back into that hook. Just a really cool, really cool thing that they did there with the arrangement and the way that it was written. So check out a little bit of the View from the Barstool.

The third song this week is SuperCars by SHADE. Let’s go back to our school days English classes. I’m going to say a phrase and you’re going to know exactly what I’m talking about. Gretta Van Fleet is to Led Zeppelin as Shade is to Oasis. But just like Gretta Van Fleet, I think it’s a really good thing. This is the second song I’ve had from Shade. The first one was called Breakout, it was kind of their first new single. Really good track. That one was way more on the rock side. And this one I would consider a near ballad or at least as down tempo as some rock bands seem to want to go. It’s funny because like if you think about it, it used to be the formula back in the 80s with some of those hair metal bands, you know, they had the big rocker single and then they released the ballad and you just don’t get that today. You don’t get rock bands doing ballads anymore. I think it’s a miss anyway. If you’re a fan of Oasis, I think it goes without saying that you should probably put Shade on your radar. This track, it’s got a great chorus and honestly, it’s almost as confuddling as Wonderwall or Champagne Supernova. The lyric in the chorus is broken dreams drive supercars. I have no idea what that means, but somehow as you’re listening to it, it just makes sense and you feel good as you’re listening to it. And sometimes that’s all music has to do is just make you feel good when you’re listening to it. Now, I will say my only criticism of this song is the drummer and I hate to do that to you, Mr. Drummer, but the syncopated snare hits that you’re doing through the verse, I think you probably could have done them as ghost notes or even omitted them. And I think the principle of less is more would prove true here. You’d let the instruments have a little bit more air to breathe, but who am I? I’m just a guy listening to songs, sharing them with my audience. It’s a great track. Don’t let my nitpicking bother you again. Love it. Just a little bit of supercars from Shade.

The fourth song this week is Running the Madness by Millie. If you take pieces of the Seattle sound, you know, the sensibilities and give it a meat puppet-esque vocal, but more melodic, I think you have running the madness from Millie. But honestly, there are a lot of influence coming in here. There’s some indie pop and power pop elements. There’s a lot of shoegaze and obviously there’s the grunge element. I really dig this. I’m generally not a shoegaze guy, but this single that’s off their new album, the album’s called Your Own Becoming, it’s really catchy, but there’s something about it. It’s almost hypnotic and really interesting when you’re listening to this track. Here, just, I don’t know if I can describe it, but just here, just give it a listen.

The fifth and final song this week is Backmask 1983 by Carbon Leaf. Now I’m pretty sure that I have mentioned Carbon Leaf in prior episodes, probably on one of the Vault episodes where I kind of went back through some of my favorite bands that were told stories about how one band led to another. Anyway, I love Carbon Leaf. This marks their first full-length album in over a decade. The album’s not out yet, this is the first single, but Carbon Leaf has been a band for over 30 years. They won an American Music Award before they were signed with a song called The Boxer, the only unsigned band to ever win an AMA Award. And this band has flown so far under the radar for so long it’s a crime. They’ve toured with Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, John Mayer. When I discovered them, they were opening for great big C. Now this track reminds me a bit of Bowling for Soups 1985, but this is not a reflection of dreams that were unfulfilled. This is just a nostalgia trip for those who grew up in the 80s. This song is chock full of references that early-born Gen X folks will recognize. Things like watching the Challenger explode on TV, having a paper route, having a Farrah Fawcett poster on your wall, playing Truth or Dare. Every Gen X childhood memory kind of comes up to the surface here. And for those of you who don’t remember what a backmask was, you will remember potentially the Satanic Panic that happened with Judas Priest. And they basically thought that there was subliminal messages in the backmasking of songs. That’s the reference that this is going for. So have a listen to Backmask 1983.

All right. That is it for this week. Again, thank you so much for listening. Really, really appreciate you checking out the episode. You can follow us on social media, all of the major platforms we exist there. The website, songsthatdon’tsuck. net. Usually it’s just transcripts and you can send me feedback and artists, but now you can actually find all the songs from the podcast that I mentioned. They’ll be there in the links, which, hey, we’re going to give it a whirl. Hopefully it works out. Yeah, that’s it. So as always, go out and support these artists. Thanks for listening and until next week, keep searching for and listening to songs that don’t suck.