"Blurred Lines," the sound of the summer of 2013, is compared (unfavorably) with a cold sore in today's episode, which pits Robin Thicke, TI, and Pharrell against Weird Al's screed against bad grammar and usage errors. Despairing of Shazam, continuing to die on the hill of "irregardless," and the tyranny of younger siblings over the #oldladywalk playlist...we're working through all of it, AND figuring out who's going to "win" the season. It would be a Class-Y felony to miss it, so listen now.

Our intro is by David Gregory Byrne, and our outro is by Aimee Mann. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• ThickeCorp's "Blurred Lines" video
• Weird Al's "Word Crimes" video
• More on the copyright/royalties battle
• Whose side are you on, NPR??
• Slate breaks down all the aforementioned crimes

Thirty years after the death of frontman Kurt Cobain, Nirvana and their music still feel very close. Does that have anything to do with Weird Al's equally "defining" parody, a track that let Al "sell out" again after the disastrous UHF experience...with a band at the bleeding edge of the sell-out conversation? The shroud of tragedy, the performance of self, rebellious chaos, and ballerina tutus: better get to the gym, y'all! It's an all-new MASTAS.

Our intro is by Laura Barger and Jack Baldelli, and our outro is by Hole. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video
• Weird Al's "Smells Like Nirvana," which...will probably look familiar
• WAvE Episode 20: "The Saga Begins"

It's an all-time training-montage banger vs. Weird Al's vision for Rocky XIII in today's episode, as we drop Wiki factoids, contemplate an all-depressing-follow-up-hits season, digress at length on Live's legal battles, and wonder when in Reagan's presidency the Me Decade became sentient. Greetings from the Sly Stallone industrial complex; get that sammich to go and listen to an all-new episode!

Our intro is by Andrew Byrne, and our outro is by the Waitresses. For more information/to become a patron of the show and hear all episodes of this season, visit patreon.com/mastas.

SHOW NOTES

• "What...is this thing?" Start at the beginning!
• The "Eye Of The Tiger" video
• The secret history of "Eye Of The Tiger"
• "Rye Or The Kaiser" on Weird Al's YT channel
• Collector's Call
• Live's unseemly death
• Weird Al vs. Everybody, Episode 14: "King Of Suede"