Brian assigned Talking Through Tin Cans by The Morning Benders, and what starts as Cort’s simple album review turns into a deep dive on the band’s identity shift, artistic shift, and the fact that the name change apparently changed everything. Cort did his research, people, but Brian came with doctorate-level analysis, as per usual.

Elsewhere, the new Ben Folds Live with the National Symphony Orchestra gets full marks (who’s surprised?), and the first part of HBO’s new two-part Billy Joel documentary sparks conversation, appreciation, and… Cort’s possibly under-examined thing for pianists.

Brian watched more shark movies (it was all for research, of course) while Cort recommends something different to Brian to shake things up for the next episode. And they might’ve made it through an entire episode without talking politics, but no guarantees.

🎧 Talking Through Tin Cans by The Morning Benders 🎶 Theme music: Cyrus Oh Cyrus by The Flying Scrub Jays

We’re back with Brian’s thoughts on Tyler, The Creator’s Chromakopia, an album recommended by Cort’s daughter. While Brian’s reaction is, let’s say, unsurprising … the conversation actually gets pretty deep into the weeds in a good way. We dig into the fact that what makes a challenging album listenable (or even inspiring) to some, maybe does not to others, and Cort may give a demonstration on how not to defend art that plays with uncomfortable lines (a.k.a. our new podcast in the works Why Some Things Are Better Left to Those Who Know.)

From there, it’s a stop at Chelsea’s FIFA Club World Cup victory, which gives Brian a reason to celebrate and to wade (briefly) into the geopolitical glorious glory (or fiery dumpster fire) surrounding the win. Then it’s capes and cowls time with a check-in on the new Superman movie, before we wrap up with a ChatGPT songwriting experiment that is very on-brand, if not exactly the next Spotify hit.

Theme music: Cyrus Oh Cyrus – The Flying Scrub Jays Featured Album: Chromakopia – Tyler, the Creator Bonus Link: Superman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

This week, we welcome our youngest (and likely most musically gifted) guest ever, Brian’s son, Whit Faughnan, who gave us a playlist of Fugazi tracks because he likes Fugazi and the DC Hardcore scene (you know, the one from before he was born). We go deep on Fugazi's music and history and dig through the legacy of Dischord Records and the Hardcore movement. What more could you want? Also in this episode: A discussion of Whit’s own band, Over Under, based in Blacksburg, VA, check them out if you're ever there. We also talk some Kimberly Akimbo and weather at the FIFA Club World Cup. Finally, Cort assigns Brian a new album and predicts Brian will loathe it.

🎧 Whit’s Fugazi Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6SsTEzPeuDPOOAmkqqK7U5?si=f4ef5a30351e45af 🎧 Whit’s Fugazi Playlist on Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/c39f04327ab44f7c816765df935bbd8dsune?ref=dm_sh_X9pH1TDWvYjL9CO4ZJ88mzEKJ&referrer=dm_sh_messages 🎶 Theme Music – “Cyrus Oh Cyrus” by The Flying Scrub Jays: https://open.spotify.com/track/3S9T5HUS4cwky1922WhF1J?si=111345d6cdc04093