22, A Million - Bon Iver

For the first time, there are three of us. Our high school friend (and possibly our most loyal listener) Rob joins the show and brings the pick: Elephant by The White Stripes. It’s the album he heard at 10 years old in his dad’s car, and it shaped his taste in music. For Rocco and Kevin, it’s a first front-to-back listen of a band they thought they already knew. We talk about the mythology of Jack and Meg White (married? siblings? both?), how Seven Nation Army went from a song about escaping the music industry to an anthem sung in stadiums everywhere, and why the band’s fusion of blues and garage rock has been so hard to copy. Then we go track by track. Ball and Biscuit gets a unanimous legendary. In the Cold, Cold Night splits the room. There’s No Home for You Here turns out to be a surprise favorite. And the closing duet gets an earnest defense, even after Rocco calls it the album’s only real miss.

Kevin's pick this time is Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a sprawling and ambitious statement from Sir Elton.Rocco came in expecting piano ballads and left surprised by how hard this album rocks. It has prog epics, glam stompers, lo-fi blues, southern rock, and one faux-reggae detour that sparks the biggest fight of the episode.

Rocco makes Jake listen to Parquet Courts for the first time ever. Wide Awake! proves itself to align its musical feel to its lyrical message. A dancey, funky, rock and roll album for an age of resistance, dissociation, and distrust.

Rocco makes Kevin listen to The New Abnormal by The Strokes. Kevin likes The Strokes, but had never heard their 2020 album. We discover that some bands just keep ripping.

Special guest Alex drops by to talk about The Hotelier's 2014 emo revival classic, Home Like NoPlace Is There. This is a dark album full of pain and frustration but like all great emo music, it transforms those feelings into something tangible that we can all learn from.