Months ago, I rounded up three IFC-member friends to talk about John Linnell's new EP Roman Songs, and now that the EP has been released to the masses, so may this episode! Old friends Cari Hearn and Spencer Parks are joined by new friend and high school Latin teacher Dessa Asp to talk about Roman Songs! Woot!
David Parke, co-host of the Jimmy Eat World song-by-song podcast Jimmy Eat Pod is here to talk about one of his kids' favorite TMBG songs, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. Even if you're not into Mickey or the show, you're going to want to hear this episode for the laughs alone. Find Jimmy Eat Pod everywhere podcasts are found, and head to their feed to hear Greg on their episode about Jimmy Eat World's song Table for Glasses.
Our second in a series of charity episodes to benefit my student with brain cancer, Allie Goertz, musician and Everything's Coming Up Simpsons and Round Springfield podcasts, comes on to talk about Trouble Awful Devil Evil off of Phone Power. The Simpsons get quoted endlessly as we talk about her story of fandom with the band which began properly with meeting them! In addition to dissecting this dark song you'll get a great introduction to the super fun music Goertz has done over the years, incl...
Co-author of the 33 1 / 3 Flood book, S. Alexander Reed, is on the show to talk about a song NOT on Flood, Hide Away Folk Family. He provides some very insightful thoughts on the song, we play a selection of live versions of the song spanning nearly 30 years, and unearth some fun covers of all styles.
Punknews head honcho Adam White visits to talk about a song that he liked the title of - Money for Dope, collected on Album Raises New and Troubling Questions. Adam is the most casual of fans, but the perfect guy to discuss this scuzzy, bizarre song. Listen to the end for noisy surprise!
Our first in a series of charity episodes to benefit my student with brain cancer, Parry Gripp of Nerf Herder, writer of Raining Tacos and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme, talked to me a month ago about Chess Piece Face. Thank you to everyone that donated to hear the episode early - don't worry, this will be a two-episode week. Money For Dope will be out in a day or two! For now, listen as Parry and I get nostalgic with old guy punk rock talk, discuss TMBG's fucked up early lyrics, and try to fig...
Holy crap, it's another massive episode about a classic tune, Flood's Twisting. Jeff Takacs settles in with me for this adventure with a song that may be in competition with Istanbul and Particle Man for having the most variations on its live performance over the years. We also have a great variety of covers to share, and the episode kicks off with a fantastic mailbag with a bunch of voicemails about the Thunderbird Nina episode, and the Art Patreon episode.
Strap it in for the longest TMBP weekly episode to date! A double-dose episode with one of the weirdest of the weird stories in TMBG lore. My guest is professional opera singer Steve Pence, who has worked with John Williams. No kidding. Just give this monster a listen, it might take you a few days. Amazing covers, amazing revelations, and an amazing conversation.
The inimitatable Avren Keating returns to the show to talk about Phone Power's Sold My Mind to the Kremlin. We are pretty much best buds by now so there are many tangents buuuut never fear we get into the song's many 80s pop culture references, how much Reagan sucked and the general oddness of these lyrics. Plus we find a sweet twee cover and make a version of our own, premiered on this episode!
I am joined by 4 amazing artists to talk about TMBG's cover art for BOOK, then where we left after Part 2 - 1991 and 1992. We go over the covers of Miscellaneous T and Apollo 18 as well as the Statue Got Me High EP. Join Owen Blaufuss, Felinium, Carmen Montoya and Abi Bash as we get artsy fartsy!
Four-timer Jonathan Leonard is going for that special sports jacket as he returns to talk about "Minneapolis - First Avenue" off of Venue Songs. It's only the second Venue Songs track I've covered, so strap it in it's gonna be a wild ride. Hear about the history of this legendary venue, listen to Flans try to find their star, and we actually found a cover.
OG TMBG fan Rick Mummey is on the show to talk about a song that's gotten a lot of attention since its album, Flood, turned 30. Umm have you all heard about this Stilloob thing? Probably, but if you haven't get ready for a treat. We talk a lot about Rick's time as a radio DJ when Flood was ZERO years old, where he would spin the brand new alternative rock hits Birdhouse and Istanbul (Not Constantinople) on the radio. We also narrow down a crapload of covers into a tight, diverse and amazing set ...
Ky Fifer, prolific TMBG cover artist and writer of countless original tunes for various bands, finally makes his first appearance on the show to talk about the Glean track Music Jail, Pt. 1 + 2. We go on and on about how amazing this Flans cut is, how trippy and awesome the video is, break down the string part and play many many amazing covers, two that Ky was a part of.
Kyla Gilmore is a 17-year-old TMBG fan who grew up on the band because she has a cool mom. We talk about Dan Miller's one and only feature and songwriting credit with TMBG, Infinity! We feel the song is overlooked on Here Come the 123s since it doesn't have a music video on the DVD, so we discuss that and break down this awesome guitar and percussion-highlighting rock song for kids.
Actor, comedian and author DC Pierson is on the show this week to talk about a song he'd never heard before picking it, We're The Replacements. A fan of TMBG but a bigger fan of The Replacements, it made total sense. You've have seen him in Derrick Comedy with Donald Glover, as well as Community, Captain America Winter Soldier and much more. We will give you a good primer on The Replacements the band, and whether this song is actually about them, finding interviews with the Johns 30 years apart ...
Owen Blaufuss visits the show to talk about the wonderfully weird tune Absolutely Bill's Mood from the self-titled TMBG debut. Learn about guest guitarist Eugene Chadborne, what we think about the song's take on mental illness, and hear a surprising appearance of Open Mike Eagle in the covers section.
Lydia Sekscenski, Dana Williamson and myself dissect the 1996 solo EP by John Linnell, released for the Hello Recording Club. We discuss every track, talk about the mayors, the music, and find a few covers.
Sean Crawford's here to talk about TMBG's rip-roarin' opener to Apollo 18, Dig My Grave. We get into the balancing act of genre and instrumentation going on in the song, how it has changed in live settings throughout nearly 30 years, and how this very song may have single-handedly gotten Greg into the Giants.
TMBG wrote the music that opens the second Austin Powers movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me. Elizabeth Siegel is on the show to talk all about the Austin Powers movie, the James Bond themes that inspired the song, and what makes the TMBG track such a well-crafted homage and perfect track to begin that silly flick.
Bay area rock and roller Alex Botkin is on the show to talk about the amazing deep cut We Live In A Dump off of Cast Your Pod To The Wind. We discuss the demo, a couple live versions, and imagine what the tune could be like as a pop punk track.
Lauren Davis is a brand-new fan of the band so she brings a fresh perspective to this episode on Robot Parade, known mainly from their first kids album No! We go through what seems like hundreds of incarnations of this song, including unearthing a unique performance from their family video podcast, and we find a surprising amount of covers and remixes.
Tara Trate is on the show talking about Push Back the Hands off of I Like Fun to let us all know her correct opinions. We discuss her issues with Linnell's own thoughts on the song, talk about the duo instrumentation on the track, and break down the complex video.
Young Irish chap Coleman Hagerty grew up on Spongebob so we're here to talk about I'm Not a Loser which TMBG wrote for Spongebob The Musical. We discuss the Linnell demo as well as the full show version, find some covers, and Coleman will tell you what the musical is all about.
Former TMBG bassist Tony Maimone kindly joins us to talk about Snail Shell off John Henry, a song that he played bass on! Tony tells us about his career as a bassist, how he came to be in the Giants and how that slap bass part came to be as we examine the song.
Jeanne Harrel digs deep to pull up this killer track from The Spine Surfs Alone EP. We unearth a rare live recording of the song, learn about guest vocalist Jonny Cragg, and get some special exclusive covers sent in by our lovely listeners.
Nearly two years ago, TMBP had our first live episode about Don't Let's Start. We don't do covers sections on a live episode, but there are so many great covers of this epic song! Two members of that roundtable rejoin me, Dana Williamson and Scott Currie, to find those great covers. Listen to some of TMBG's talented fans take on this tricky song in many different styles.
Brook Pridemore visits the show to talk about the a cappella John Henry tune O, Do Not Forsake Me. They go through the history of the song from the Dial-a-Song to the demo, live version and studio version, breaking down what makes each one tick. Surprisingly we even find a couple covers.
Ekelemchi Okemgbo wanted to talk about the widely panned track Tesla 2 4 6 8 but Greg said he had to talk about the original Tesla song as well, so we delve into both those as well as the other remixes. Can we change people's minds about this song? Listen and we'll see!
Shelley Pierce, DJ for KMSU's annual TMBG marathons, joins Greg to talk about XTC Vs. Adam Ant off Factory Showroom. Shelley is a huge XTC fan so we introduce the uninitiated to XTC as well as Adam Ant's music. We also talk about and play clips from Shelley's interview with John Flansburgh where he gave some insight into this song.
Finally it's our second Mono Puff episode, and for this one we focus on four songs off of 1998's It's Fun to Steal. Chris Tull, Jon Uleis, Abi Bash and I each picked one song - "Poison Flowers," "Mr. Hughes Says," "Imaginary Friend" and "Backstabbing Liar" - and we discuss them at length, score them, and find a couple covers. Enjoy some sweet Flans content!
