Best Midwestern

Holy shit it's our final State-by-State episode! Nebraska is comin' attcha with a musical history tour of the Cornhusker state going all the way back to a wax cylinder recording from the late 19th century up to punk and garage rock from the past couple years. Listen to Scott go off on Conor Oberst and Greg play a clip anyway.

It's our 11th (out of 12) state for our State-by-State project and it's the biggest of them all - Illinois! Here's part 2 after long last, focused on music from the 1990s to current up and coming bands.

It's our 11th (out of 12) state for our State-by-State project and it's the biggest of them all - Illinois! The state in which both Scott and Greg were born was a mecca for the relocated blues and jazz scenes in the 1920s, and we also take things back further to Native American music, then cover all the best stuff in all genres through the 80s with punk and house music. This is just part 1 of the mighty Land of Lincoln episodes.

We take a brief break from our state-by-state project to interview all four members of the amazing Chicago emo band Colossal- Pat Ford, Jason Flaks, Rob Kellenberger and Neil Hennessey. The group released an EP and LP through Asian Man in the early aughts, and reunitied for a track on a split with Owen last year. Find out about the history of this criminally underappreciated rock band and what the future may hold for them.

It's the REVENGE OF OHIO! On part 2 of our feature about music from the Buckeye State, we delve into the best bands to come out of Ohio, with a focus on modern music of the indie and punk realm especially. As Scott claims, it's best state in our great nation. Find out why!

On the 10th installment of our state-by-state series, it's a biggie - OHIO! This one had to be recorded in two sittings so it will be released the as such, because there is simply too much amazing music and too many notable musicians to fit in one episode. So enjoy part one, which covers Ohio music going waaaaay back, as well as the most notable artists to come from the Buckeye State. Next episode we will get to the biggest Ohio bands and the more modern tunes.

On the 9th installment of our state-by-state series, it's the state you've been on the edge of your seat for 8 months for... Kansas! Seriously though, Kansas rules. From being a hub for the second movement of jazz in the 30s-50s to rad underappreciated 80s punk to late 90s emo, Kansas has it all, baby!

On the 8th installment of our state-by-state music project, we head to Minnesota. This episode is a doozy because there is sooooo much great stuff to come out of the land o' lakes, from 40s radio hits to Prince to modern punk. Dig it!

Wisconsin 2 - The modern shizz.

On the 7th installment of our State-by-State series we learn that Wisconsin is just too awesome for one episode. We go way back to the early great music of the Cheesiest State (TM) and rock our way through the decades up through the 1980s. On Part 2 coming in a week or so, we'll get to that great shit from 1990 - to now.

On the 6th installment of our State-by-State series we discover that South Dakota has been killing’ it in the rock realm for decades and none of us knew it. Come along as we explore the state’s music, from obscure but talented musicians of many genres from years past to the state’s modern indie, punk and hardcore bands.

We’re back y’all! We run down out favorite Midwestern records of 2018 in this comeback special. Sign up at our Patreon to hear our special episode with our favorite non-Midwestern records of 2018!

On our 5th installment, we dig into the music of North Dakota. Wiz Khalifa is from North Dakota, who knew? What else has come out of ND? You’re gonna have to listen to find out.

On our 4th installment, we dig into the music of Missouri, from ragtime all the way to Puddle of Mudd. It’s a wild ride in the Show Me State.

On the 3rd ep of our project to deep-dive into the music history of the 12 Midwestern states we look at Iowa, from jazz that traveled up the river from New Orleans to the best-kept-secrets in current punk music from the Hawkeye State.

On the 2nd ep of our project to deep-dive into the music history of the 12 Midwestern states we look at Michigan, discussing and playing clips from blues, Motown, proto-punk and punks acts, all the way up to the best current bands from the Mitten State.

On the first episode of our year-long project to deep-dive into the music history of each of the 12 Midwestern states we look at Indiana, from Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1910 and 20s to indie and punk rock one hundred years later.

We celebrate Slapstick’s victory in our Ska Battle Tournament by sitting down with Brendan Kelly who dishes some stories from the band’s history and gives insights into certain songs. We also review the new EP by Thoughts of Ionesco.

We announce the Ska Battle tournament finals matchup! We also review the new records by Chicago’s veteran punks Rise Against and Rockford, IL’s even-more-veteran rocker Cheap Trick.

We announce the Ska Battle tournament Final Four matchups and have another appearance by Aubrey Welbers with her two cents. Reviews of Doktra (Indianapolis) and Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids (Lawrence, KS).

The results are in from round 1 of our Midwest Ska Battle, and we preview the matches for round 2. We also review new stuff by The Addisons and Pet Symmetry.

In our first ever BM tournament we pit 16 Midwest ska bands past and present against each other! Listen to find out how to cast your vote. We also review two Chicago bands’ new albums- Droughts and What Gives.

After we had so much fun talking about Slapstick last week, we decided to dedicate an entire skank-able episode to Midwest ska. Scott’s wife Aubrey join us.

We take an in-depth look at all the bands that spawned from Chicago’s ska punk legends Slapstick, from Alkaline Trio to The Lawrence Arms and all the lesser known but great bands.

Synth nerdy abounds with our talk with Closeness, featuring Todd Fink of the Faint and Orenda Fink of Azure Ray, who have teamed up to make rad dark electronic rock.

We have a tech-cursed talk with Tim Kasher of Cursive and The Good Life who just released a solo album / movie soundtrack. We play clips from all his bands and are huge nerds with him.

Mike Felumlee tells us all about the brand-spanking-new EP by The Bigger Empty (out today!) and we play tracks, and he also tells us about rejoining the Popes and the fun he's having with his video channel Live From the Rock Room. Also, drummer talk.

We sit down physically and virtually with all 4 members of Squirtgun (Lafayette, IN) to talk about the Lookouting and all the projects each member has been a part of through the years.

We review new records by Cloud Nothings (Cleveland), Joan of Arc (Chicago) and Fred Thomas (ex-Saturday Looks Good to Me, Ann Arbor). Also, fuck Donald Trump, fuck Mike Pence, fuck Steve Bannon, fuck all those guys.

We review three Midwest albums we spaced on in 2016, Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper (Chicago), My Woman by Angel Olsen (St. Louis/Chicago) and Lives We Tell Ourselves by Sleeping Cranes (St. Louis). Recorded immediately after watching Trump’s first press conference, let’s just say the intro is… heated.

We bring you our favorite Midwest albums of the year, our favorite new Midwest bands of the year, and our favorite shows we went to in the Midwest this year.

We review records by Signals Midwest (Cleveland), KP & Me (Bloomington, IN) and Sump Pumps (Bloomington, IN). Also discussed: the joys of throwing up and Jim Neighbors, in unrelated tangents.

We review records by The Faint (Omaha, NE), Berwanger (Lawrence, KS), and Busman’s Holiday (Bloomington, IN). We also talk about Will Smith for some reason.

Midwest-based label Polyvinyl Records celebrates 20 years so we honor it by reviewing their anniversary comp, Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl. We also talk about our favorite Polyvinyl releases past and present.

Greg and Scott review albums from three Chicago artists: American Football, Ryley Walker and The Cell Phones. We also discover that the only adjective that Scott knows is "cool".

We talk with Davey Von Bohlen of The Promise Ring, Maritime and Cap’n Jazz about all sorts of things, from coaching youth sports to the horrors of opening for Bad Religion.

We chat with Marc Paffi, lead singer of Bear Vs. Shark, and discuss their reunion shows and record reissues. We also delve into Jugglos and Weird Al singing about underpants.

We discuss the touchstone emo album Something to Write Home About by Kansas City, MO’s The Get Up Kids. We also review the new record by Lydia Loveless (Columbus, OH).

We review new releases by Owen, Death Spells, and Masked Intruder.

We chat about the classic movie High Fidelity which takes place in Chicago and play lots of clips and songs from the movie.

We review new albums by Direct Hit (Milwaukee, WI), Twins (Waterloo, IA) and Mike Adams at His Honest Weight (Bloomington, IN). Greg allows Scott to rant about the new Blink 182 album since they have a Midwest guy in the band now.

We review new albums by Mock Orange (Evansville, IN), Tiny Moving Parts (Benson, MN) and Doberman (Lafayette, IN). Scott talks a lot about the Cavaliers and then we argue Sox vs. Cubs.

With Scott taking care of family matters, Greg flies solo on this mini episode. He plays live clips from a David Bowie tribute show in Lafayette, IN on May 22nd.

On this episode, Greg and Scott sit down with Bob Nanna, singer and guitarist of Braid and Hey Mercedes. They talk about the Hey Mercedes reunion and record reissue, Happy Gilmore, and how Bob got autotuned this one time.

We pay tribute to the late Minnesota native Prince, as well as review new albums by power pop veterans Cheap Trick (Rockford, IL) and shoegaze group Pity Sex (Ann Arbor, MI).

We sit down with Mass Giorgini, owner and producer at Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette, IN. He tells us about the recent money troubles that threaten the studio, but we also get silly and play some pop punk tracks recorded at the studio over the years.

Reviews of new albums by The Falcon (Chicago), Telethon (Milwaukee, WI), and the new Pere Ubu box set. Scott talks about wrestling a lot, and Greg tries to defend weird music.

A hilarious interview with Claudio Rivera, the drummer of Motion City Soundtrack and ex-drummer of Saves the Day. We discuss his old ska and emo bands, the late, great Punknews Records, and his Chilean upbringing.

An extensive interview with Jonathan Diener of The Swellers curator of a benefit comp for the Flint, MI water crisis.

Reviews of new releases by TWINS (Waterloo, IA), The Please and Thank Yous (Chicago) and Cullen Omori of Smith Westerns (Chicago).

We school each other on classic albums by Cheap Trick and Dead Boys, both from October 1977.