Are you ready for some football?!? Even if you're not, we've got the soundtrack for your Super Bowl weekend, with six new tracks to kick off your weekend (see what we did there??)! Sorrows - 'Out of My Head' (from Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow, Big Stir Records) Exploding Flowers - 'Crowded Streets' (from Watermelon/Peacock, Meritorio Records) Helen McCookerybook - 'Three Cheers for Toytown' (from Showtunes from the Shadows, Tiny Global Productions) Above Me - 'Grass Mouth' (from Above Me, Dandy ...
Feb 08, 2025•29 min
This week, we tackle the lofty, ambitious, sometimes bombastic topic of rock operas and concept albums. Most acknowledge that the rock opera was the outgrowth of the psychedelic era where, particularly in a post-Sgt. Pepper world, the rock n’ roll album became an artistic statement. As musicians sought to expand and alter the fabric of pop music, “rock operas” with narratives, character development, and distinct movements were being explored on records like the Pretty Things’ SF Sorrow (1968) an...
Feb 04, 2025•2 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 256
Hey baby. Yeah, you know we're chill. We can keep this whole thing casual. No strings attached. Oops...sorry, wrong post. Because we totally have strings attached this week, as Simon Chesterfield (aka Simon Barber) from UK indie pop faves The Chesterfields joins us to discuss our Top 5 Songs with Strings. The use of strings in pop music has traditionally been to contribute texture and dimension to a record. In the context of rock bands, it often symbolizes musical sophistication, grandeur, and t...
Jan 28, 2025•1 hr 47 min•Season 6Ep. 255
Everybody's feelin' groovy, because this week we're traveling way back to 1970 with bassist/vocalist Ron Flynt and guitarist/vocalist Steve Allen from legendary power poppers 20/20! Aside from remembering the staggering number of great records released during our year of focus, we celebrate the release of 20/20's new album Back to California, their first LP in over 25 years, out now on Spyderpop / Big Stir Records. Whether you're a newcomer to the band or an ardent fan of their classics like "Ye...
Jan 21, 2025•2 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 254
Ah, the "all killer, no filler" album. Records you can listen to from start to finish without a lull or dip in quality. It's a tougher exercise than one would think, as many of our favorite albums are flawed...perhaps beautifully or purposefully so, but that's not what this episode is about, kids. Joining us for this discussion is Ed Mazzucco and Laura Watling from Portland dream pop/shoegaze band Tears Run Rings. In September 2024, they released their fourth album, Everything In The End. And, t...
Jan 14, 2025•1 hr 39 min•Season 6Ep. 253
"It's astonishing that a group as dedicated to quality and craft as California's Black Watch could go for...decades with a cult following the size of a kitchen sponge." So begins Michael Toland's entry of the black watch in the Trouser Press Record Guide. But what exactly is a cult band? It's something that we seek to define - with fifteen prime examples, natch - during O3L's Season 6 premiere! Joining us is the black watch's singer/songwriter/guitarist/prolific genius himself, John Andrew Fredr...
Jan 07, 2025•2 hr 10 min•Season 6Ep. 252
Happy New Year! After a long 2024, you deserve a weekend six pack to ring in 2025. This week, we’re going to crack open six tunes that signify not only the changing of the calendar, but a sense of renewal and hope. And can't we all use a little bit of optimism this year? Imbibe this: SUPER 8 - 'Resolution (Happy New Year)' (single, Think Like A Key) The Okmoniks - 'He Left The Party With Me' (from Afterparty Fever!!!, Slovenly Recordings) The Che Men - 'So It Goes' (from Echoes of the 30s) spark...
Jan 04, 2025•28 min
We're working late...because we're podcasters. Happy New Year! Here we are at the end of season five. Before we jump back into the classic alternative era of the '70s, '80s & '90s, we bid farewell to 2024 by celebrating some of the best songs of the year! It's O-3-L-T-O-G-O! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 31, 2024•54 min•Season 5Ep. 251
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from your friends at Only Three Lads! In this brief bonus episode, Brett shares a seasonal message from O3L and his family's 2024 Musical Christmas Card, "Can't Believe It's Christmas". Wishing you a safe and joyous season filled with love, laughter, family, friends...and, of course, music! Thank you for being a part of our journey during our 5th season and beyond. We are filled with gratitude for allowing us to be a small part of your life! Learn more about yo...
Dec 25, 2024•9 min
We're brat(s). And, as we do every December, the most brat thing we can do is to step out of the O3L era and count down our favorite albums of the year. 2024 has provided a treasure trove of pop culture highlights - it was a big pop girl year with a new crop of superstars. There were massive albums (in terms of sales, impact, and length) like The Tortured Poets Department, COWBOY CARTER, and Cindy Lee's Diamond Jubilee, but also records that were "short n' sweet" (literally and figuratively). Th...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 56 min•Season 5Ep. 250
It's the most O3L time of the year...always one of our favorite episodes, it's time for the O3L Holiday Party! Every year, we invite listeners from around the world to join us for a special taping full of fun, frivolity, games, friends, and lasting memories. And maybe...just maybe...the Christmas miracle of an Uncle Gregg rant or two. We had a room full of veteran partygoers this year - Julie from LA; Julio from Pueblo, Mexico; Kimberly from Downey, CA; Paul from Stockton, CA; and Tarah from Sco...
Dec 17, 2024•2 hr 5 min•Season 5Ep. 249
This week, we celebrate the music of one of the most important bands of the '90s and beyond, Radiohead. Since the release of their first EP Drill over 32 years ago (!!), Radiohead continued to innovate and reinvent their music, challenging themselves and their fans. From their post-grunge anthem "Creep" (1992) to Britpop-era tour de force The Bends (1995) to the ambitious masterpiece OK Computer (1997) to the millennial sounds of Kid A (2000) to latter day masterpieces like In Rainbows (2007), t...
Dec 10, 2024•2 hr 2 min•Season 5Ep. 248
We're not content to just talk about great synth-pop albums of the pivotal year of 1980...we wanted to share the discussion with musicians who created one of the great synth-pop albums of 1980! The album, you ask? Party In The War Zone by L.A. band Vivabeat, and we were fortunate enough to have bassist/songwriter Mick Muhlfriedel and keyboardist/vocalist Marina Muhlfriedel joining us. This surely must be one of the most remarkable stories we've heard of living on the precipice of the big time. T...
Dec 03, 2024•2 hr•Season 5Ep. 247
Friday, November 29, 2024 is Record Store Day Black Friday - a day of exclusive releases and fun for record collectors everywhere! Join O3L's Brett Vargo for a brief bonus episode, as he helps you, the discerning classic alternative fan, to put together your shopping list. Happy hunting! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 29, 2024•14 min
A well-placed song in a film holds the power to shape a viewer's emotions, heighten tension, set the tone, foreshadow events, provide insight into characters, or deepen the narrative. In essence, music is the heartbeat of the cinema that can elevate a film from good to sublime. Take it from someone who knows, like this week's Third Lad, Barry Andrews - he's had songs soundtracking pivotal moments in films such as Manhunter and Band of the Hand. Barry Andrews began his professional music career i...
Nov 26, 2024•1 hr 50 min•Season 5Ep. 246
Artist. Poet. Friend. This week, we celebrate the music, life, and legacy of Leonard Cohen with someone who knew him well - Perla Batalla. Grammy-nominated Singer/songwriter Perla Batalla first came to prominence as a backing singer for Leonard Cohen during his 1988 I’m Your Man tour and on the 1992 album The Future, in the process forging a deep friendship. With Cohen’s encouragement, Perla stepped out as an artist in her own right, releasing a beautifully diverse range of magnificent albums su...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 5Ep. 245
This week, we focus on the bands who were at the precipice of becoming huge...rave reviews, prominent live gigs, radio support...yet, fame and fortune somehow eluded them. Our Third Lad is someone who knows all about this - in Alex Boucher's new memoir, Three and a Half Minutes of Fame, the seasoned writer draws from his firsthand experiences in "almost famous" indie/punk bands Three and a Half Minutes, Travis Cut, and Jaff, and boy band NV. "Three and a Half Minutes of Fame" takes readers on a ...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 57 min•Season 5Ep. 244
Out of all of the Third Lads that we've ever had, there is probably no one who has had a more profound impact on shaping our taste as alternative music fans and collectors than Ira Robbins. In 1974, young writer Robbins and two friends launched the fanzine Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press, later shortened to simply Trouser Press. Over the course of 10 years and nearly 100 issues, Trouser Press championed the eccentric outsiders, the punk pioneers, the new wave nerds, and the indie icons. The magazine...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Season 5Ep. 243
**This is an O3L "rerun" - our Halloween Special from 2022! Happy Halloween! If you didn't get your fill of O3L this week (which strangely tastes similar to circus peanuts), here's a fun-size O3L Halloween Special. Uncle Gregg and Brett bring you their Top 5 songs to add to your spooky playlist. It's spoooook-tacular! OK, no more Halloween puns... There are two crucial rules at this time of year: 1) Don't feed Gremlins after midnight; and 2) Don't let the Lads record at night. If you've heard pa...
Oct 31, 2024•40 min
Jimmie Nicol was a well respected London session drummer living in relative anonymity until he got his lucky break. When Ringo Starr fell ill with tonsilitis in June 1964, The Beatles carried on with the first leg of their world tour, using Nicol as a temporary substitute. For 13 nights, Jimmie became the only person outside of John, Paul, George, and Ringo to really live as an honest-to-goodness Beatle during the height of Beatlemania - appearing in photos, at press conferences and as one of th...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Season 5Ep. 242
Get ghoulish this last weekend of October with a six pack of new tunes! 1) Twin Ritual - 'Allie' (from the Allie LP - https://twinritual.bandcamp.com) 2) Shake Some - 'Every Little Noise' (single, Mondays Off Records - https://shakesome.bandcamp.com) 3) HotKid - 'Downtown' (from the Downtown EP, Fortune Stellar Records - https://hotkid.ca) 4) Dancer - 'You Saint' (from the Split LP, HHBTM Records - https://hhbtm.bandcamp.com) 5) Whisper Hiss - 'Movable Objects' (from the Split LP, HHBTM Records ...
Oct 26, 2024•30 min
Because we're readers and whatnot, this week we get literate on y'all and discuss some of our favorite rock n' roll memoirs. Our Third Lad knows a thing or two about great rock memoirs, because he just published one...singer, songwriter, guitar hero, baseball aficionado, and now author...Steve Wynn from The Dream Syndicate! His memoir, I Wouldn't Say It If It Wasn't True, is out now from Jawbone Press, covering his earliest days as a kid in LA falling in love with music, and down the road that t...
Oct 22, 2024•1 hr 56 min•Season 5Ep. 241
Big Stir Records co-founders and Armoires' singers/songwriters Rex Broome and Christina Bulbenko are back for part two of our adventures in Octoberland! Hot on the heels of their newly released fall classic, Octoberland, we partake in a lively discussion on some of the best October releases of the O3L era. A cocaine-addled, anal-leakin', Das Scorpiones-lovin', elephant-squawkin', National Merit Scholar-winnin' time is guaranteed for all!** **Our lawyers tell us we can't actually guarantee this. ...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Season 5Ep. 240
Travel with us down the snakehole into the magical world of Octoberland. In the first part of our two part autumnal extravaganza, Rex Broome and Christina Bulbenko, co-founders of Big Stir Records and singers/songwriters in pop powerhouse The Armoires, join us to discuss their brand new fall classic Octoberland. Octoberland is an invigorating eleven-track collection of amped-up, richly detailed pop gems, accessible but still retaining the quirky, slightly eerie mystique of their unique sonic sig...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 5Ep. 239
When you hear the term "singer-songwriter", what the first thing that comes to mind? Sensitive '70s long-haired hippies strolling through Laurel Canyon with an acoustic guitar? Us too. But, amidst the explosion of alternative rock, grunge, Britpop, electronic music, and hip-hop, the '90s were a fruitful decade for the singer-songwriter. This crop of artists drew from a stylistically varied palette, but played music with passion, heart, honesty, vulnerability, and a knack for poetic storytelling....
Oct 08, 2024•2 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 238
This week, we head back to '82 (when we could throw a pigskin a quarter mile) with special guest Jackson Reed. With his band Jackson Reed and the Silverbirds, the 26-year old Calgary rocker is mixing an irresistible blend of earnest '80s classic rock with modern pop smarts. Following the success of tracks like 2021's "Dangerous Lover" (featuring legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff) and 2023's "In My Head," their latest single is a cover of Prince's iconic 1982 hit "Little Red Corvette", offering up ...
Oct 01, 2024•2 hr 5 min•Season 5Ep. 237
Unwind with a new six pack of tunes on this final weekend of September. This month's theme is "September Gurls" (what, too obvious?), as we spotlight recent tracks from a few of indie music's finest female-fronted or female-prominent bands. This week, you'll hear: Scary Pierre - 'Piece of Mind' (from Boys Club) Lightheaded - 'Bright Happy Girls' (from Combustible Gems, Slumberland Records) Shapes Like People - 'When The Radio Plays' (single, Jangleshop Records) Whitney's Playland - 'Corridor of ...
Sep 28, 2024•40 min
Holy O3L! No, that's not some sort of Batman-style exclamatory remark...it really is a Holy O3L. Or at least as close as we get. This week, we discuss spirituality in music, as we count down some of our favorite spiritual songs...which happens to run the gamut from Mahalia Jackson to Beastie Boys to the Grateful Dead, and many stops in between. Along the way, we talk about catfish Robert Plant, real Peter Frampton, Greeks in short shorts, F.A.'s, relationship advice, gators, and so, so much more...
Sep 24, 2024•1 hr 57 min•Season 5Ep. 236
Hey ho, let's go! This week, we're all about one of the most influential, important, and let's not forget, fun , bands of the era - Ramones. Joining us for our discussion is Dana Bonn and Carl Cafarelli from This Is Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio, airing Sunday nights from 9:00 pm - midnight ET on Syracuse’s SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, featuring the "best three hours of radio on the whole friggin' planet". Carl is also an incredibly gifted music scribe, writing the must-read daily music blog Boppin' (Li...
Sep 17, 2024•2 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 235
Which male singers do you feel deserve more love and respect? That, dear friends, is the question we ponder this week with someone who knows - veteran circuit singer Dave Dawson. Dave's new book, Pop Idle: 30 Years on the Road as a Professional Singer, is an honest, humourous, insightful look at life on the bottom rung of the showbiz ladder. Like hordes of others, best-selling author Dave Dawson has spent decades crisscrossing the UK as a solo full-time professional musician. During his 30 years...
Sep 10, 2024•1 hr 58 min•Season 5Ep. 234
