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.
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
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 Aimee-Beth returns to help me dissect the cringe-y music video and bizarrely outdated lyrics for “I Will Buy You A New Life” by desperate-ex-husband-in-band-form Everclear.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
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"
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
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
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
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
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.
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"
First Ever Awful Sound Reissue! Wasn't able to get a new episode edited in time, so here's one from the back catalogue that I particularly enjoy. Back to the normal schedule next week.
To celebrate the return of the show, we're dissecting two unlikely songs and videos from the cast of The X-Files: the titular track from David Duchovny's Weather Channel inspired, cliche-ridden debut album, "Hell or Highwater," and Gillian Anderson's hyper-sexual, spoken-word nonsense for Hal's Extremis.
Also: A review of Duchovny's ridiculous children's(?) book, Holy Cow, my guest relays a story about in-laws from Roswell, these two "red-blooded males" find Gillian Anderson attractive enough to acknowledge her personhood, and, as always, a selection of delicious YouTube comments.
This week we’re discussing and dissecting Usher’s inaccurately titled “Nice & Slow,” and returning guest James Hernandez talks about dedicating slow jams on the radio to his middle-school crushes and making the switch from RnB to Slayer.
We’ve got helpful Genius annotations for lyrics that are anything but nice and slow, and a cinematic music video featuring probably-fake sign language, an inefficient kidnapping, and a load-bearing eyepatch.
Stuff We Like: Steven Malkmus & The Jicks and Rochelle Jordan’s “Follow Me”
This week we have an episode that I’m shocked was possible. I’m talking to Kevan Aguilar, who was more than happy to subvert expectations by sharing his summer-long love affair with the incredibly awful Kottonmouth Kings.
We’re dissecting Peace Not Greed from the year 2G featuring Jack Grisham of TSOL and an total lack of perspective on police brutality. Kevan talks about identifying with the anti-authoritarian message of the song, his mom being cool with him hanging a poster of the band holding a giant platter of weed, and how this may relate to him becoming straightedge shortly thereafter.
Also: a quaintly optimistic take on the effects of weed legalization, a weird intersection of fake libertarianism and new age spirituality, and lots of juicy youtube beef.
This week we’ve got a scoff-heavy episode as Derek Chacon and James Hernandez help me dissect the goth silliness of Coal Chamber’s “Loco.”
Derek recalls a weird goth kid in his guitar class introducing him to the band, loving their edgy darkness as a kid, and, from his current vantage point, likening it to a stranger’s fart.
Also: Are these nonsensical lyrics doing ANYTHING for unstable kids? Does buying a “vintage” Pantera shirt make you a hipster? And a last-minute epiphany that might mean nothing or everything.
Music we like: Tribulation’s “Strange Gateways Beckon” and Helms Alee’s “Tit to Toe”
This week we’re covering the totally insane video for Livin’ on the Edge by immortal creepsters Aerosmith. My guest, Alexander Shaw, recounts his adolescent love for the band, allowing Stephen Tyler far too much influence over his fashion choices, and trying to reconcile a universe in which they coexist with his juvenile daughter.
In this episode: Bizarre, moralizing lyrics, a non-sensical hodgepodge of music video set pieces, including cartoonish, post-apocalyptic wrecking yards and green-screen train solos, Edward Furlong playing a confused (and confusing) angsty teen, and a possible cameo from Johnny Depp in drag.
This week we have another anthem from the Post Breakup genre with Fallout Boy’s poppy, idiom-ridden crossover hit, “Sugar We’re Going Down.”
We cover the fairly funny music video and, with help from dozens of overzealous Genius.com contributors, analyze its indecipherable wordiness. Also: “Double” dad jokes, possible Simpsons references, and a three-way mashup.
Music we like: Autolux’s “P*ssy’s Dead” and Field Music’s “Commontime"
This week we cover Taking Back Sunday's 2002 anthem? dirge? ballad? "You're So Last Summer," and the peak of ironic hip hop in pop punk with a music video featuring Flava Flav for some reason.
Guests Matt Booth and Nick Guenzler (@TerminalRadness) revisit the hard two weeks in which they were fans of the band, and I forget that I remembered them altogether. Also: wearing girl jeans, peeing next to the lead singer at a urinal, a shared HS web design teacher's eccentricities, and the worst grin/grill combo I've seen in my life.
This week Aaron Brock and Kenny Geary return to help me cover Price William’s favorite band, Linkin Park, and their blessedly short debut single, “One Step Closer.”
We go over their straight-forward, impossible-to-misinterpret lyrics and the random choices featured in the music video, including clueless teens, parkour, and levitating Monks.
Also: my guests reveal their y2k-era DJ ambitions, a lengthy relationship with spiked hair, and another mysterious design from the 90’s.
This week Aaron Brock and Kenny Geary return to help me cover Crazy Town's infamous RHCP sampling, pet name spewing, single entendre of a song "Butterfly," and we keep a close eye on our drinks amid the greasy energy of the water-color crack-rave happening in its music video.
Also: an entire segment devoted to the tattoos found therein, Shifty Shellshock's time on Celebrity rehab, and the terrifying origin of the album art featuring a character known as "Little Lolita."
On this episode of That Awful Sound podcast, guest Shaina Turian and I revisit the TRL-retired, Seth McFarlane-directed, sentient bullet-featuring video for Korn’s mega-hit “Freak On A Leash.”
We cover why Korn can’t be a Chill Rap Rock band, how frequently the word “r@pe” appears in their lyrics, and analyze the song’s spooky scat.
Also: Head’s born-again Christianity, An acoustic, renaissance-faire-sounding version of this song feat. Amy Lee of Evanescence, and a Nick News special that scared my guest into thinking she had AIDS at the age of 9.
