91 - Hard to Hula (Limp Bizkit - Break Stuff)

Screen Shot 2017-03-05 at 9.29.38 PM.png

This week we cover Limp Bizkit’s hyper-aggressive “Break Stuff,” a song and video that literally broke apart my guest’s parents’ marriage. He shares this story, other parental connections to the show, and we remember how badass all these cuss words are when you’re 13.

Also: a possible explanation for Fred Durst’s pitch-perfect portrayal of teenage anger, the worst genius.com annotations we’ve ever had on the show, the coolest number to have facing outward on your dice stud earring, and a listener email involving a disturbing sleepover with a KoЯn doll and an even more disturbing Lit-era wardrobe.

You can now support That Awful Sound at patreon.com/thatawfulsound and paypal.me/thatawfulsound, and remember to check out Emma's work at instagram.com/emmamaatman

90 - Ode to Culture (No Doubt - Spiderwebs)

Screen Shot 2017-02-12 at 5.01.43 PM.png

This week we cover No Doubt’s Spiderwebs and its unthematic video in which the band performs for an unreceptive wedding party. We’re chatting about the pre-sexual camera-humping of Gwen Stefani, Sam Rami-style cinematography, and whether Joan Stefani couldn't have been the one to screen her daughter’s phone calls.

Also: fond memories of the local “steel drum guy,” and my guests relay stories about living in the Sublime house and being kissed by Lit singer AJ Popoff at a No Doubt concert.

Music we like: BossaCucaNova's "Bom dia Rio," Sisters of Mercy's Floodland, and Pile's "Dogs"

“I just broke up with my super hot bassist boyfriend, and I wanna get my crotch out there”

89 - So He Barrie's Them (Rob Zombie - Dragula)

This week we cover “Dragula” by Rob Zombie, a song and video we all loved that holds up surprisingly well. With almost nothing bad to say about the video, we turn to a comment section filled with borderline insane people, including but not limited to: offended/not-offended wiccans, 9 year-old head bangers, and potential school shooters.

Was this song an attempt at marketing the idea of a weekend to our dedicated labor force? Did Zombie just want to write a song about a badass car? (yes) And we come up with a cool name for your penis.

Music we like: Dark Thoughts and Joan of Arc's "He's Got The Whole This Land Is Your Land In His Hands"

88 - Wow That's What I Call Weird (Train - Meet Virginia)

This week we “Meet Virginia,” a monster brought to life by mom rock juggernauts Train in their 1998 single. She’s not like other girls.

Also: rhyming words with themselves… twice, remorseful memories of bullying girls in high school with Nickelback lyrics and flying burritos, and, again, a song that strikes an unlikely chord with am internet commentator.

Music We Like: Watsky - X Infinity, Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition, and Afghan Whigs - Do To The Beast

87 - Nobody Cool Is Still Alive (Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs)

This week we're chatting about “the opposite of jazz fusion”: Green Jelly’s claymation video for “Three Little Pigs." Guest Derek appreciates songs made up of just one riff, we have a healthy discussion on the merits of anthropomorphic pig asses, and an edgy, 90’s update of the Big Bad Wolf gets gunned down by Rambo.

“Is this the longest punk song ever written?”

“This is three minutes longer than the longest punk song ever written.”

Music We Like: Ken Mode's Success LP and Nerve EP, Robert Glasper and Jill Scott's "Calls," and AFI's "Get Hurt"

86 - Lick the Coffin (Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back)

This week I'm talking exclusively to Emma Maatman about her single-digit, pre-tween infatuation with Backstreet Boys and the excellent video for the historically complicated "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)".

We cover the most confidently dinky beat in RnB and a fun, very "believable" music video featuring a backflipping werewolf pimp, a hideously scarred phantom of the opera, and a goofy, decidedly un-sexual mummy.

Also: Not wanting to be a home wrecker or a “slut” when choosing your boy band crush, learning grammar through pop songs, and the christian names of these classic monsters

Music we like: Chavez's Cockfighter EP

85 - The Black Obama (Crazy Town - Darkside)

This week we're covering Crazy Town... again? Guest Matt Zeidner explains how, at age 12, this was the perfect blend of hip hop and punk rock (as clearly stated in the song), and how a particularly terrible lyric held a personal meaning for him. 

Also: Crazy Town describes what this song sounds like, namedrops MUCH better bands, hints at even more disturbing fantasies than those we’re aware of, and a listener relates an Awful Sound-related band encounter.

Music we like: Slowdive's new track, Star Roving, and Migos' upcoming C U L T U R E

84 - The Moon Is Flat (Alan Jackson - Chattahoochee)

This week Cahn returns to chat about the INCREDIBLE "Chattahoochee" from 1993. Is this the music video America needs right now? I think so.

On the docket: Alan Jackson's penchant for writing songs based on phrases he hears; the average temperature of "a hoochie coochie"; interesting reactions to frustrated abstinence; the good-natured fun and stunning visuals of the video, which revolve around teenage antics and glorious footage of Jackson himself absolutely shredding on a single ski in the Chattahoochee river.

Music we like: Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, and Omar Rodriguez Lopez's Sworn Virgins

Remember to check out Nick Bahula's artwork at instagram.com/bahulashop and throw some business his way!

83 - It's FUNNY (Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn)

This week guest Travis Duscay finally admits musical fallibility as we return to one of his adolescent favorites, The Bloodhound Gang, and their hackneyed, overbearingly ironic "Fire Water Burn."

Does repeating a punchline twice make it three times as funny? As an aging actor, would you risk what might be your final performance on being the butt of Jimmy Pop's sight gags? If you admit to being white frequently enough, do you become a good rapper? Colby Ferrin has an answer for that.

Music We Like: Death Grips - Bottomless Pit, Troller

82 - No [Scrubs] (New Found Glory - Dressed to Kill)

It’s the 2 year anniversary of That Awful Sound! Matt Booth returns for this very special episode and we revisit New Found Glory’s lovesick, middle school anthem “Dressed to Kill” and its cringey video featuring a y2k-era nice-guy stalker lusting after an equally psychotic Rachel Leigh Cook. 

To celebrate the occasion we dive deeper than ever into our horrible fashion choices, including fake piercings made from household items, hot topic socks worn thin, and temporary tattoos purchased FAR too late in life.

We also recap our favorite albums of the year, including Angel Du$t’s “Rock The Fuck On Forever,” Helms Alee’s “Stillicide,” Creative Adult’s “Fear of Life,” Dinosaur Jr’s “Give A Glimpse Of What Yer Not,” BADBADNOTGOOD’s “IV,” Nocturnal Habits’ “New Skin For Old Children,” Solange’s “A Seat At The Table,” Field Music’s “Common Time,” Autolux’s “Pussy’s Dead,” and Royal Canoe’s “Something Got Lost Between Here and The Orbit”

81 - Code: Belly Shirts (TLC - Unpretty)

This week we dive into the women-empowering, yet totally insane video for TLC's Unpretty: forced boob jobs, CGI ladybugs, gang wars (for some reason), and onscreen bulimia.Music we like: Mariachi El Bronx, Baroness's "Shock Me," and Ty Segall's new …

This week we dive into the women-empowering, yet totally insane video for TLC's Unpretty: forced boob jobs, CGI ladybugs, gang wars (for some reason), and onscreen bulimia.

Music we like: Mariachi El Bronx, Baroness's "Shock Me," and Ty Segall's new band Goggs.

Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

77 - Diablo Job (Offspring - Why Don't You Get A Job?)

This week Emma reflects on the uncomfortable experience of hearing Offspring’s libertarian protest anthem, Why Don't You Get A Job, as an 11 year-old girl trying to get into punk music.

Also: what this dumb song has in common with the Beatles, The Simpsons, and Pootie Tang; Dexter Holland’s confusion over foreign currency; a sorely missed opportunity for director McG, and a way to use this grating song to your advantage.

Music We Like: Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas - Mariner, Khemmis - Hunted, A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here

76 - Finger Bonding (Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life)

76 - Finger Bonding (Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life)

This week! Aimee-Beth returns to help me dissect the cringe-y music video and bizarrely outdated lyrics for “I Will Buy You A New Life” by desperate-ex-husband-in-band-form Everclear. 

Aimee recalls enjoying the emotional honesty (read: oversharing) of lead singer Art, while I remember knowing, even at ten years old, that something was very wrong with the song’s message.

Also: we cry about the US Presidential election and celebrate my victory at the twitter polls, where, coincidentally, I also won with a mere plurality of votes; vent some rage at Maroon 5; and uncover what the band Lit has been up to. 

Music We Like: Courtney Barnett (again), Mouse on the Keys, Nocturnal Habits (again), L.A. Witch, The Coathangers, New Ruin, Super Unison

75 - Hulk Ho-ogan (Default - Wasting My Time)

75 - Hulk Ho-ogan (Default - Wasting My Time)

This week my brother-in-law stops by to chat about butt rock/post grunge band Default and their 2001 single, "Wasting My Time."

We discuss the Canadians' unfortunate choices both in this video and their career in general, not least of which would be letting Chad Kroeger write over half the songs on their debut album.

We dive into the ultra literal and hilariously lazy music video and expound on the genre of butt rock in general: What does it mean? What bands does it cover? Where are its roots?

Music We Like: Chevelle's "Saferwaters," The Lemon Twigs' "Do Hollywood," and Creative Adults' "Fear of Life" 

74 - “Bong Jam” or “Mona Lisa with a Cell Phone” or “Sipple’s Sloppy Seconds” (Jimmie's Chicken Shack - Do Right)

74 - “Bong Jam” or “Mona Lisa with a Cell Phone” or “Sipple’s Sloppy Seconds” (Jimmie's Chicken Shack - Do Right)

This week we take on ska-punk/alternative rock/post grunge/funk metal band Jimmie’s Chicken Shack and their three-minute cringe compilation of a music video for Do Right.

Jimi Haha undermines the victim-playing message of the song with incriminating lyrics and makes a mediocre song much worse by dint of an insufferable music video. Emma introduces a new segment, Michael shakes his head more than in any other episode, and I find a way to make Jimi’s sophisticated artwork more relatable to the everyman.

Stuff We Like: clipping.'s "Air 'Em Out," Post Pink's "Maid in Mexico," and Nocturnal Habit's "Good Grief

73 - Pachouli Spiral (Rob Zombie - Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)

73 - Pachouli Spiral (Rob Zombie - Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)

It’s Halloween at That Awful Sound! Former Rob Zombie Superbeast Cahn Curtis joins me to discuss and dissect “Never Gonna Stop,” which, while not being terrible, still represents the end of his obsession with the artist. 

We hear about how Cahn sold his prescription meds in order to buy overpriced White Zombie bootlegs, make a revelation or two about these seemingly random lyrics, and wonder aloud at how a horror director could make a such a beautiful, but utterly ultra-nonviolent homage to A Clockwork Orange.

Music We Like: Acid Witch - “Stoned” and Jesu/Sun Kil Moon

72 - Ozzy's Worth (Infectious Grooves - Therapy feat. Ozzy)

This week we're covering the terrible rap metal your older brother wasn't listening to: Infectious Groove's "Therapy" featuring Ozzy. 

Guest Jerry "Wazzup" Woolbright remembers being introduced to this band in second grade by an older cousin as a way to bridge the gap between hair metal and punk, and we revel in another euphemism for mental illness involving a train and Ozzy Osbourne.

Also in this episode: The band's appearance in Encino Man, this video's ties to adult swim, and multiple songwriting credits on this album attributed to fictional characters (really).

Recommended in this episode: Suicidal Tendencies (obviously), Neurosis' "Fires Within Fires" and the films Murder Party, Blue Ruin, and Green Room

71 - Stranger Carters (Aaron Carter - Aaron's Party)

71 - Stranger Carters (Aaron Carter - Aaron's Party)

This week! First-time guest Chris Arias shares his memories of Aaron Carter’s Aaron’s Party, second-time guest Jerry Woolbright remembers being too old for this sh*t, and together we dissect this Kid Power throwback to the golden age of funk and hip hop.

In this track: Out of control calls and responses, corny sound fx, anachronistic lyrics obviously written by much older men, and uncomfortable allusions of what was to come for the young artist.

Stuff we like: Charly Bliss - “Urge to Purge,” Dinosaur Jr. - “Give A Glimpse of What Yer Not,” Lush - “Blind Spot EP

70 - Empty Pickle Jar (Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta)

70 - Empty Pickle Jar (Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta)

This week Sloane Sache joins me for the first time to talk about Harvey Danger's Flagpole Sitta, and try to figure out what these misheard lyrics actually are.

Turns out we both still kind of like this song, but there's plenty to make fun of, including run-together lyrical deliveries, eyeroll-inducing hipster kitsch, and bizarre financial decisions made by the band.

Stuff we like this week: Other Harvey Danger songs! Outlaw State of Mind by Chris Stapleton and Mr. Fish by Pile.

69 - Hot Dog Flavored Bullet (Smash Mouth - Then The Morning Comes)

69 - Hot Dog Flavored Bullet (Smash Mouth - Then The Morning Comes)

This week we’re revisiting the titans of fart rock, Smash Mouth, and their 1999 single, “Then The Morning Comes.” We cover the meme-ification of the band and singer Steve Harwell, the incessant rhyming in the lyrics, fake sleaziness and forced nostalgia of the song, and tediousness of the “humorous” video.

Plus: a painful but necessary mash-up with Steely Dan, the infinitely better songs from which these riffs were stolen, and the incredibly inappropriate lyrics included in actual Alvin & The Chipmunks covers.

Stuff we like: Touche Amore’s "Stage Four," Wildhoney’s "Your Face Sideways," and BADBADNOTGOOD’s "IV"