🎙 Songs That Don’t Suck – Broken Links, Bar Bands & Backmasked Nostalgia
What’s up music lovers? This week, Mark Bradbourne is bringing the heat with big news, bigger vinyl finds, and a handful of killer tracks that might just save your playlists from nostalgic stagnation. Whether you’re Gen X or just stuck in your high school musical era, this is the episode that shakes you loose.
🛠️ Update 1: The Death of Songwhip (RIP) & A DIY Fix
Songwhip, the beloved one-link-to-rule-them-all tool for music sharing, is officially dead. This means that older podcast episodes have broken links. Not ideal. But Mark turned a headache into a solution:
🧠 Introducing the new episode-based song search widget at songsthatdontsuck.net.
✅ Dropdown menu per episode
✅ Links to seven streaming platforms
✅ Search-ready — no more empty links!
If you find errors, help Mark debug and make it better. It’s for the community. It’s for the playlists. It’s for the songs that don’t suck.
💿 Update 2: Vinyl Grails Secured (Jellyfish Fans Rejoice!)
Two rare records finally arrived:
- 🐠 Jellyfish – Belly Button
- 🥛 Jellyfish – Spilt Milk (30th anniversary pressings!)
Also added to the collection:
- 🎭 Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime
- 🚀 David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust
- 🎸 Allman Brothers – Live at Fillmore East
Shout out to Hollowbone Records in Fairlawn, OH — not sponsored, just loved.
🎧 Update 3: New Podcast Idea Incoming?
Mark is toying with a second podcast, focused on deep-dives into classic albums:
- Recording process trivia
- Songwriting insights
- Track-by-track commentary
- Probably more vinyl nerdery
Timeline? Possibly 2025. For now, stay tuned to Songs That Don’t Suck: Classic Cuts (™ pending).
🎸 Live Music Report: Dunlop’s Corner Bar, Cleveland
What started as a casual night of pop and soda turned into a lineup of surprise excellence:
🤘 Notables:
- Cellophane Jane (Cleveland):
Think Meat Loaf meets Lou Gramm in a glam rock vortex. They absolutely SHRED.
Only 21 monthly listeners on Spotify — criminal. You need to hear this.
🎧 Snippet: “The Revealing” by Cellophane Jane
🔥 Add it to your radar.
- Wynton Existing (Nashville):
Psychedelic swagger, Doors-esque energy, even better live.
And as fate would have it, their new track dropped the next day.
🎶 This Week’s 5 Songs That Don’t Suck
1. “Am That I Am” – Wynton Existing
🌀 Modern psychedelia that lives and breathes live.
If The Doors started jamming with Tame Impala and ignored trends entirely, you’d get this. Groovy rhythms, catchy melodies, and a wall of vintage-modern sonic bliss. Their mantra? Make art, let people decide if it’s good or bad — just keep making art.
2. “The View From the Barstool” – Hotel Mira
🍸 Alt-pop perfection with Killers and Neon Trees vibes.
Slick production, infectious melodies, and a genius bridge that dips into stream-of-consciousness before snapping back into the chorus. Their second appearance on the pod, and probably not their last.
3. “Supercars” – Shade
🚗 Broken dreams, British angst, and the ghost of Oasis.
This near-ballad from Shade takes the Gallagher brothers’ torch and runs with it. Atmospheric, melodic, and a little mysterious (what does “broken dreams drive supercars” mean?). Doesn’t matter — it feels great.
4. “Running the Madness” – Milly
🔮 Grunge meets shoegaze meets indie power-pop bliss.
There’s a melodic twist to Milly’s otherwise brooding, genre-crossing sound. “Running the Madness” is hypnotic and dynamic — a standout from their new album Your Own Becoming. Think Soundgarden meets Smashing Pumpkins with prettier harmonies.
5. “Backmask 1983” – Carbon Leaf
🧠 Gen X nostalgia with heart and hooks.
This is Carbon Leaf’s first full-length release in 10+ years. The track is packed with ’80s references — Challenger, Farrah Fawcett, Truth or Dare — and a loving nod to the satanic panic era of backmasking. Not snarky, not sad — just a sincere tribute to growing up analog.
🧠 …and I quote…
“Broken dreams drive supercars. I have no idea what that means, but it just works.”
🎙️ — Mark Bradbourne
🎧 Remember to support these artists. Stream their songs. Share them with your friends. Go see them live. Buy the merch.
🖤 Until next week…
Keep searching for and listening to songs that don’t suck.
