1.3M
Downloads
814
Episodes
J and Tim dig into the grunge, alt-rock, and indie albums that changed everything—the forgotten classics, the underappreciated masterpieces, and the legends worth hearing again. One album at a time. Let’s dig it out.
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
While 2020 seemed like it lasted several terrifying years, 2021 flew by with somehow the same number of days, and for us, episodes. As with our previous year-in-review episodes, we take a look back at our favorite new album discoveries, most brought to us by our Patreon community, as well as our most enjoyable round table experiences, and our favorite 80s album discoveries, episodes which are exclusive to our patrons. And we've got news to share about 2022!
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney
Outro - Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Dec 21, 2021
Tuesday Dec 21, 2021
While Nirvana famously helped give the college and underground rock scene one final push into the mainstream, the late 80s and early 90s were full of US and UK bands already making noise that connected with more than just the hip in-crowd. In Australia, the quick bursts of the Pixies and twin vocals of Throwing Muses and The Breeders are paralleled by the dual-songwriters fronting Clouds, whose 1991 debut Penny Century is full of two and three minute catchy harmonized indie pop.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Immorta
11:29 - Hieronymus
18:33 - Pocket
23:43 - Visionary
27:30 - Souleater
Outro - Foxes Wedding
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Dec 14, 2021
Tuesday Dec 14, 2021
Throughout his career, David Coverdale has been dogged with comparisons to Robert Plant's Led Zeppelin years thanks to a similar style and range, even if the performances rendered different musical outcomes. By the time the early 90s rolled around, Coverdale put Whitesnake on hiatus and Page was working on Led Zeppelin compact disc remasters when the two met up and began a casual songwriting relationship that eventually led to their (so far) lone record together - the eponymous 1993 release Coverdale * Page. Fans of both bands, of which there was probably plenty of crossover, had much to rejoice about. Page riffing sounds invigorated and Coverdale is his equal, coming up with memorable hooks on several tracks. But while these artists made their names during the vinyl era, the bloat of the compact disc is length is in full display, as tracks better suited for three or four minutes get stretched to six and seven.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Shake My Tree
25:03 - Pride And Joy
29:28 - Over Now
33:38 - Feeling Hot
Outro - Waiting On You
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Trends came and went in the 90s, some propelling underground subgenres into the mainstream, while others revitalized previously dormant sounds. A few bands, mostly under the radar like Cry Of Love, The Four Horsemen, The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, Raging Slab, and Brother Cane, were ignoring the sounds of Seattle for rock rooted in 60s and 70s blues, r&b, southern, country, and hard rock. Leading the pack was Marietta, Georgia's The Black Crowes, who had been kicking around since the 1980s under various names, led by the mercurial Robinson brothers, Chris and Rich. Their debut is full of well-known radio singles, while their follow-up expanded their sound and garnered further accolades. But sessions for their third album, originally titled Tall, became mired in endless and expensive experimentation. After refocusing, the band wrote and rewrote to land on Amorica, displaying a matured and relaxed vibe with the guitar fire that made the band favorites, but without devolving into navel-gazing jams that others in the compact disc era regularly abused.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Gone
24:59 - Wiser Time
30:17 - P.25 London
37:28 - A Conspiracy
Outro - High Head Blues
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Last year we spent Thanksgiving Eve with our patrons and friends sharing new music we were thankful for during a difficult year. 2021 has presented its own challenges, but we're lucky to have so many musical artists and creatives to turn to for escape. From the metal and hard rock of Iron Maiden, Danko Jones, and Mammoth WVH to the trip-hop of Morcheeba, Sneaker Pimps, and Hooverphonic, to the electronic and industrial of Front Line Assembly, Martin Gore, and Gary Numan, to a host of other artists like Brandi Carlisle, Dave Gutter, Palm Ghosts, The Hold Steady, Spectres, King Buffalo, Ben Kweller, and many more, there was plenty to celebrate.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Don't Back Down by Mammoth WVH (from Mammoth WVH)
7:27 - All My Heroes Are Dead by Dave Gutter (from I've Been Here Awhile EP)
15:12 - John Carpenter by Palm Ghosts (from The Lost Frequency)
18:24 - The Creeps by Garbage (from No Gods No Masters)
24:29 - Family Farm by The Hold Steady (from Open Door Policy)
30:13 - Blink Twice by Jim Ward (from Daggers)
36:42 - Swan Song by Lindsey Buckingham (from Lindsey Buckingham)
46:12 - Submarines by Failure (from Wild Type Droid)
57:38 - Ouch by The Tragically Hip (from Saskadelphia EP)
Outro - This Love Ain't Dead by Aaron and the Lord (from Aaron and the Lord)
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Out of the fertile Chapel Hill, North Carolina scene emerged Polvo at the start of the 1990s. Their sound is lumped into math rock, a term the band themselves reject, but the elements are there - progressive rock filtered through an indie lens. On their 1993 sophomore album Today's Active Lifestyles, you'd be hard-pressed to find any evidence of Jethro Tull, Yes, or Emerson, Lake & Palmer. But King Crimson meets Sonic Youth? Now we're warmer. Guitar lines criss-cross with noise and bends that lesser bands would likely turn into a messy dirge, while Polvo creates a singular sound unto themselves.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Sure Shot
20:25 - Thermal Treasure
30:11 - Action vs. Vibe
39:42 - Lazy Comet
Outro - Gemini Cusp
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Nov 16, 2021
Tuesday Nov 16, 2021
The 1990s definitely saw its fair share of pastiche in music from The Rolling Stones raunch of The Black Crowes to the underground Los Angeles swing revival that briefly bubbled into the mainstream. Out in San Francisco, The Brian Jonestown Massacre was taking full advantage of the Haight-Ashbury vibes to experiment with sounds old and new, dabbling in shoegaze, psychedelia, jangle-pop, and more. On their sixth album, 1997's Give It Back!, the one and only with future Black Rebel Motorcycle Club founder Peter Hayes, the band puts all the elements to use on slinky bass-driven jams like "Super-Sonic" and "Whoever you Are" while also finding time to bliss out on tracks like the sitar-driven "Salaam." But it's not all good vibes, as the bands more evil half of the namesake shows up on the disturbing noise collage "Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request," and "#1 Hit Jam" is definitely not.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Satellite
13:53 - This Is Why You Love Me
18:55 - Whoever You Are
25:05 - Super-sonic
34:00 - Servo
Outro - Salaam
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
Almost six years to the day, we revisited the debut album Earth Vs. The Wildhearts by the UK hard rock band. All the ingredients were there for us to love and champion this band, but for various reasons, we were both underwhelmed and disappointed. Thanks to a member of our Patreon Union, we're giving The Wildhearts a second shot with their 1995 follow-up P.H.U.Q. Far from a sophomore slump, the second album by the band pulls successfully from metal, hard rock, and power pop to create a riff-laden record that matches it on the vocal front with big, sugary hooks and loads of backing vocals.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Nita Nitro
18:14 - I Wanna Go Where The People Go
21:46 - Just In Lust
27:46 - Getting It
37:14 - Caprice
Outro - Naivety Play
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Country, blues, and gospel are a winning combination. So are mixing trip-hop with acid house. But what if we threw that all into a big stew, layered it with a John Prine cover, Jim Jones (of Jonestown infamy) audio samples, and a druggy, capitalist critiquing, night-on-a-bender lyrical bent that also stayed away from strident political commentary while being entirely political? A big stew, eh? That's what Alabama 3 are serving up on their 1997 debut album Exile on Coldharbour Lane. If the band name sounds familiar, and you were alive at the start of the 21st century, you probably heard their track "Woke Up This Morning" introducing the weekly exploits of one Tony Soprano. Hearing that song gives listeners a nice primer on the band, but they do much more with their sixty-minute run-time, even if occasionally indulging a bit too much, like any fully exploited bender.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Woke Up This Morning
18:42 - Speed of the Sound of Loneliness
24:44 - Sister Rosetta
39:46 - Mao Tse Tung Said
1:07:34 - Peace in the Valley
Outro - U Don't Dans 2 Tekno Anymore
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.
Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
Just like how the 1990s produced hundreds of alternative bands signed to major labels that barely made a dent in radio, MTV, or Billboard, the 80s had their fair share of obscure and forgotten acts of might-have-beens. Those rock bands that straddled the line between the two decades often suffered the worst, coming in at the tail end of hair/glam rock dominance into the emergent alternative and college rock scene ready to explode. Phantom Blue is a perfect example of this interesting time, a band whose 1989 debut is more in line with 80s metal, while their 1993 follow-up (and last) record Built to Perform shows growth in multiple directions, incorporating the drop-d riffing of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains flawlessly with Guns 'n Roses licks and energy.
Songs In This Episode:
Intro - Better Off Dead
15:32 - Lied To Me
21:11 - Little Man
31:01 - My Misery
Outro - Time to Run
Support the podcast, join the DMO UNION at Patreon.