In The Mix

Steve and Dave are nice now as they continue deeper into this favorite albums project. With returning guest Lenny Burnham (Chapter Surfing, House of House), we discuss why Reel Big Fish's most pure radio rock song didn't get the success it deserved, trying too hard to hate Fall Out Boy as a teenager, and we take the plunge into some Steely Dan facts.

In episode 3 of discussing Steve's favorite albums, we have already made the choice to go negative! We're talking 10 songs from these albums that just didn't feel up to par and wondering why. Why did The 1975 try to be Radiohead for a song? Why does it hurt so much when you find a Carly Rae Jepsen song boring? Why would The Wonder Years put an okay acoustic song on an otherwise perfect album? And why does Dave Matthews apologizing to someone sound so skin-crawlingly weird?

This week we continue our season-long thread of trying to determine some of Steve's favorite albums. Joined by returning favorite (?) Chris Dubrow, we discuss whether Weird Al is the GOAT, embrace the Buffett vibes, explain why Oasis being assholes was actually pretty cool, and once again apologize for being Weezer fans.

We're back with a brand new season, and a brand new season-long topic! This season, we'll be taking a look through a variety of tunes as Steve tries to determine his 100 favorite albums, from the most critically acclaimed classic albums to the least essential pop punk one-hit wonders. On the first episode, we talk the greatest live album of all time, the varied career of AFI, how Gorillaz handle impending climate change, and how to possibly get into Coheed and Cambria without getting bogged down in lore.

We end our season of reevaluations where we started: with the Insane Clown Posse. We bring back our friend Max to watch ICP's 2000 film Big Money Hustlas and see if, even though we can see the things that are bad with it, we can also find what's good. Turns out, there may be more to like than you'd expect. We also get a surprise ICP-related gift from Max that requires an unboxing!

Many factors caused the end of disco by 1980. One that isn't discussed as much: as the market went all-in on disco, established artists who never made even remotely disco music tried to cash in on the trend. Many of these songs were buried as a shameful part of pop music past, but how are they as actual songs? With the help of Chris Fox of Ruby Bones (and our theme song!), we listen to disco songs from soul stars, hard rockers, future 80s pop stars, and even Beatles to see if they warrant a positive reevaluation.

On this week's episode, Dave and Steve are joined by friend and returning guest Jessie McCormick to give 'Bro Country' the ol' college try and see if there's any gold to be discovered amongst the trucks, coolers of silver bullets, and having a few beers before driving down some backroads (please do no do that).   You can find Jessie's most recent release, 'Songs My Mom Likes", on their bandcamp at Jessie McCormick Bandcamp. Check out their other band, The Foes of Fern, at Foes of Fern Bandcamp.

On this week's episode of In the Mix, Steve and Dave are joined by another person named Dave to take a look at a spectrum of music from the 70s to now that encompass themes people would probably mark as being "political." Through good and bad, the trio dissect, deconstruct, and ponder on what makes a good "political song", why so many tend to fail or be rendered meaningless shortly after their release, and if releasing this kind of music really does make a difference.

On today's episode of In the Mix, Steve and Dave take a dive into songs with a cause. From the 70s to now, many musicians took it upon themselves to create singles or records with the idea to make money for causes, organizations, or even individuals. Did they succeed in making good music as well? Take a listen and find out!

What's up all you cool cats and dames. On today's episode of In the Mix, Steve and Dave are joined by old friend and past guest Matt to discuss the finer intricacies of that old horn tootin' and dancin' genre of yesteryear. 1990s yesteryear, at least. We're talking Swing Revival!

On this week's episode, Steve and Dave are joined by friend of the show Zac Schaffner to discuss just what exactly is the deal with jam bands, is there something more there they have been missing, and if all that raw talent also equals 'good' music tunes. 

Butt rock, the watered down younger brother of grunge, ruled the rock radio airwaves in the 2000s with bands that became massive successes and cultivated massive fanbases that exist to this day. But it still gets made fun of for being unambitious, whiny, and aggravating. Is it? Steve and Dave examine butt rock, a genre they have some experience with from their younger years, and see if it's as bad as people think. Shave your beard into a soul patch and start headbanging, people you're listening to WITM In the Mix. Nothing. But. ROCK.

The Pure Moods series of CDs promised us pure moods, and left us to decipher what that means. So we decided to listen and see if Pure Moods is right for us as it takes us on a journey of new age, Celtic, ambient, and dance music... and TV theme songs. Along for the ride are Bill Lambusta and Brian Erickson of The Great Albums Podcast, and the four of us discuss the many compilation CD commercials we still remember, tales from our younger days at karate lessons, and perhaps the purest mood of all: Oscar Isaac.

This week, Steve and Dave dive into the long career of Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. Long maligned as corny boomer music, they instead find a lot of touching, meaningful story songs... as well as a lot of silly songs. Can the easygoing nature of the Buffett experience resonate with your intrepid hosts? Are they now parrotheads?

We're trying to stay positive as we reevaluate all this music, but we're facing our toughest test yet. With returning guest and Chapter Surfing host Lenny Burnham, we take a look at some of the most notorious example of famous people who tried to become successful musicians and completely failed. From socialites to actors, athletes to dancers, we tackle them all. Was Paris Hilton's music actually good? Could Robert Downey Jr. have become the next Harry Connick Jr. if he tried? Is Steven Seagal's music actually good? No, the answer to the last question is no.

We continue our series of "Reevaluations" episodes of music often mocked or written off. This week, we take a trip to the alternate universe of Christian music. The classic genres of music you know... but Christian. As we listen to Christian rock, grunge, ska, , punk, hardcore, EDM, R&B, and hip-hop, we see just how different (or not so different) Christian versions of these genres really are. What works and what doesn't, and how do two guys who aren't religious react to such devout lyrics?

For the rest of the season, we'll be sticking to one theme: Reevaluations. Bands, genres, musical movements and more that have a poor reputation: is that reputation actually earned, or is there more than we realize beneath the surface? We start this recurring theme the only way we knew how: by seeing if the infamous Insane Clown Posse's music is actually good. Along with our old friend Max Resnick, we look at the lengthy discography of ICP and see if we can find more meaning than we've been conditioned to expect from it. Does the power of the juggalo have an effect on us?

2020 was a year to forget, so Steve and Dave decided to end the year forgetting it! We instead talk about some of our favorite discoveries of the year that was released in any year but 2020. In doing so, we take a look at how we've changed and who we've become in the past year. The weird pivots we've made looking to find positivity, the detached music we've danced to, the legendary artists we finally checked out - and of course, our newfound dedication to appreciating the little things.

Steve and Dave break down some of their favorite songs of 2020, looking at the best the year had to offer in punk, emo, dance, indie, country, hip hop, and something Dave calls "soviet doomer music." All this, plus discussions of what we think makes for good and bad pop music and what it feels like to realize you are old now.

Holiday songs are boring. The only way to make them interesting is to either retool them or make new ones in your own style. So with the help of returning guests Devon Moore and Chris Dubrow, we examine the good and (mostly) bad of artists bringing their own aesthetic to the holiday season. We've got holiday Weezer, holiday dance pop, holiday sadboi emo, holiday island time, and much to Steve's chagrin, the return of the wretched Christmas Shoes.