Episode 96

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

What’s up, friends? Welcome to yet another episode of Songs That Don’t Suck. My name is Mark, and if you are a longtime listener, you know what I do. I listen to hundreds and hundreds of newly released songs every week. 100,000 songs a day get released to the streaming platforms, and I wade through a small, shallow puddle of the crap that gets put out in hopes to find a few gems among that crap. If this is your first time here, welcome. I appreciate you checking out the podcast. Before we get into the new music for this week, I’ve got two things to talk about– a concert review and fake bands.

Now, you know the music was bad in a week where I start researching fake bands. Now, there was two things that kind of started me down this path. The first is I keep getting little news snippets about the new Spinal Tap sequel that’s going to be coming up soon. And the other part was based on just a random playlist that I had thrown on that had Daisy Jones in the sixth on it. And when I started to think about it, the truth is that some of these fake bands aren’t just good, but they’ve actually found chart success. Now, I talked about Daisy Jones in the sixth back in season 1, episode 12. The album Aurora, which is basically the soundtrack to the show, charted on multiple billboard charts. And the song, the breakout song, which was, look at us now, hit number 23 on the Hot Rock songs and number 30 on the Hot Rock and Alternative Song charts. Kind of crazy, but it got me thinking about, well, what other fake bands are out there that are better than what’s coming out today? And we got to go back all the way to 1959 for kind of the first one, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Don’t hate. You know it. The Witch Doctor. It’s a banger. But I think the big number one hit for them was the Chipmunk song, which is kind of the novelty Christmas song that they did. But they were kind of the first fake band. Following later on was the Archies, based on the Archie comics. They had a number one song, Sugar Sugar, Partridge Family, of course. I think I love you. Blues Brothers hit number 14 with their cover of Soulman, back in ’79. Also in ’79, Kermit the Frog broke away from Dr. Teeth and had a solo hit with Rainbow Connection. I mentioned Spinal Tap. None of the songs off the original album charted, but their follow-up break like the wind reached number 61 on the album charts. Fast forwarding into the ’90s, there was a show called The Heights. You might remember that television show. The band had the same name. And that show had a huge number one hit. How do you talk to an angel? Also from the ’90s, you will remember the Oneders, also known as The Wonders, the band from the Tom Hanks movie, That Thing You Do. That was all over the charts. Reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, 18 on the Adult Pop Airplay charts, and 24 on the Pop Airplay charts. A little bit more niche, if you will. The soggy bottom boys from O’Brother Where Art Thou, they had a hit with Man of Constant Sorrow, hit number 35 on the country charts. Stillwater from Almost Famous, that album hit ’95. And that was due to a record store day release. Like it was a special thing. So I don’t know if that one counts or not. But still, it’s actually a pretty good album. Other awesome fake bands that didn’t necessarily hit the charts that I was aware of. Steel Dragon from the movie Rockstar, Citizen Dick from the movie Singles, The Commitments from the movie The Same Name, and Sex Bo-Bomb from Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. Let me know if I missed any of your favorites, because I’ve got a playlist going of all the fake bands. And it’s kind of hot. So let me know.

All right, it’s been a busy month for me with live music. And I’m finishing strong. Went down to Columbus, the venue, the Basement. Tiny little venue underneath Kemba Live, if you’re familiar with the Columbus area. The band was the Wild Feathers. Now, selfishly, I love being able to see bands that I love in really tiny, intimate venues. Basement holds maybe 200 people. But for the life of me, I cannot fathom how I am able to see the Wild Feathers in this small venue. They should be huge. And quite frankly, it’s a crime.

After seven albums, one of which was recorded live at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, they’ve been on the road for 14 years. It just doesn’t make sense. At one point, they were signed to Warner Brothers Records. The first two albums charted on Billboard. And I continue to wait for their rise to prominence. But I’ll digress for a moment, and I’ll talk about the show. First of all, the show was blessed with a fantastic opening act. Nathan Graham is from Chicago. He is amazing. An amazing mixture of blues and soul. Plays wicked, wicked guitar. And he’s huge. He is the tallest musician I think I’ve ever seen. I never got next to him. But I’m guessing he’s probably 6’8″. It’s just an estimate. He’s got an amazing voice. Great band. And the audience just ate him up. They loved him. During the set, they played one cover. They covered Ohio by Crosby Stills Nation Young. Fantastic cover when you’re in the middle of Ohio. The only thing would have made it better if they’d actually been in Kent. And honestly, because I’m unfamiliar with his music, it was probably the highlight of the set for me. The rest of it I was just taking in. And that one I could just really enjoy. But honestly, his cover of it was probably one of the better versions of that song I’ve heard. More on Nathan later in this episode.

After Nathan was done, the Wild Feathers took the stage, probably around 9 o’clock. And they played for about an hour and a half. They opened with Sanctuary, which was off their most recent record, Sirens. Good set. Overall, the set list was a good mix of music from across our catalog. Leamed a lot on the new album, obviously, which is fine because the album’s fantastic. Overall, the band sounded amazing. You never know with these tiny venues. You don’t know if the PA is going to be up to the task or whatever, but it was fantastic. For those unfamiliar with the Wild Feathers, why are you even listening to the podcast? Because I’ve talked about them several times. You should know them by now. And if you haven’t, fix that. They’ve got amazing harmonies. And they seamlessly just pass the lead vocal around as the set progresses, which is just– I love that. I love the band that has that flexibility to just do different things. And the really cool thing is that each guy that takes the lead vocal has a different vocal nuance. Ricky Young, he just has this– what I will describe as a pure country voice. It’s very pure. It’s very beautiful and just very soulful. Joel King has what I will– kind of class as a rock voice. It’s got a little bit of rasp, a lot of passion behind it. And then Taylor Burns has this awesome bluesy gravel. But when you put those three things together, it is sonic bliss. Truly, it is. If you get a chance, absolutely you need to go see them live. It’s a fantastic show. It was a $20 ticket. And if they’re not coming anywhere by you, just check out some of their music on any of the streaming platforms, because they are one of the great bands out there working today. The show ended. Nathan Graham came back on stage to join them. And they did this really killer version of Allman Brothers band classic “One Way Out.”

Can I just say it? Because I’ve been to a lot of shows this year. This was the most reasonably priced merch ever. $25 for vinyl? You can’t get vinyl that cheap unless it is used and beat to shit. I was really, really happy. $35 for a t-shirt. Absolutely reasonable in this market. So I bought three vinyls and a shirt. And honestly, considering the cheap ticket cost, it was a no-brainer to support this band to make sure that they continue to make amazing music. All right. How about some new music? Let’s get into it. It was another rough week. I don’t know what it is with the tail end of this year. But if you are a regular listener, you know that I’ve been struggling to find my sweet spot of five songs. I’ve got another three songs this week. Hopefully, it’ll be better next week. But let’s get into them.

The first song this week is “The Sun Never Sets on Planet Cool” from Kid Kapichi. All right. We are starting off strong this week. Kid Kapichi’s latest album has dropped. It’s called “There Goes the Neighborhood.” You may remember them back in episode 61. I featured a song that is from this album. It was an early single called “Can EU Hear Me?” The U being EU, as it was a song talking about Brexit. This one, slightly less frantic tempo than that one. But all the hook and swagger are there. Really meaty music bed. But for me, the really cool part is the vocal line that sits on top of sparse bass and drums in the verses. Just gives us a really cool, swagger kind of feel to it. Reminds me a bit of the Arctic Monkeys’ AM album, just in points. Now that the album is out, I actually did give it a bit of a listen. And I can say that you probably need to go listen to the whole thing. It’s really good. There’s something here for everybody. They pull a bunch of different genres and feels. It’s a really interesting mix. It’s got flavors of hip hop, punk, maybe some industrial textures at times with some of the effects that are going on. And at the same time, it’s very consumable. It’s almost like a pop record. So here is a bit of “The Sun Never Sets on Planet Cool

The second song this week is “Sleep When I’m Dead” by Jack Kays. Not long ago, episode 93, I shared Jack Kays’ single “No Children,” and he went and dropped another single. Didn’t think he was going to do that, because I think the whole album will be dropping soon. But I think if I saw correctly on social media, he was kind of like, fuck it, I’m going to do it anyway. Glad he did. Another great song. This one’s a little dark. Not that the last one wasn’t a bit dark, but there’s definitely an outlet here for kind of troubled emotions. That’s just the way I’m feeling it, right? But at the same time, it’s a kick-ass song, and it kind of makes you want to crank it up to enjoy it. This one’s leaning more into the punk side of what I’d last described as folk punk. This time, there’s a lot more drum and bass to it, little electric guitar kind of driving the feel of it. And I just love the delivery as he’s singing the lyrics. You can hear the passion that he has for his art, and it’s probably inspired from his life. So when art is that raw, it’s easy to get attached to it, but at the same time, you almost worry. But anyway, I digress. Anyway, you know what? Here is a taste of sleep on.

The third song this week is “Somebody Else” from Nathan Graham. I told you I would share more from Nathan Graham, and I’m delivering. Now, to be fair, this album came out in 2023. But honestly, I was so glad I got exposed to him through the Wild Feather show. He is silky smooth. Like the songwriting, the vocal, the guitar work. If you like bluesy soulful rock, this is going to be your jam. You are welcome. I put him in the same class of the really talented singer songwriters like Ray Lamontane, Bonnie Rait, Nathaniel Raitliff, more his stuff with the band, not so much the solo stuff. But anyway, nothing else to say. I mean, this is a great song. It’s got great backing vocals, great guitar solo in it. So here is a listen to “Somebody Else.”

That is it for episode 96. We are hurtling towards the end of the year where we will do our second annual Don’t Sucky Awards. Check out the 2024 playlist. If you’ve got one that you’re like, hey, Mark, this one deserves a look for an award, let me know. I would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with me through the website. SongsThatDon’tSuck.net. There’s a contact form there. You can email me directly, mark@SongsThatDon’tSuck.net. All emails I do answer. And I do get a few, which is kind of cool. You can hit me up on social media. Instagram, threads, Facebook. And most notably now, Blue Sky. I have joined Blue Sky, and there’s actually a lot of really positive engagement there between the audience and the podcast’s community. So check out that one. Let’s see. Oh, on the website. There’s two new things. I’ve got a newsletter in the works, so you can sign up for there. Just drop your email in the little form on the first page. And hopefully in the next year, we will start sending some cool stuff out. The other thing, I got requests for merch. People wanted kind of podcast t-shirts. So there is a link for buying merch now if you want to do that and support the podcast. Much appreciated. All right. Again, thank you so much for listening. I appreciate you more than you will ever know. And 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.