Tonight's Musical Guest, Today

The only podcast that matters. The only band that matters. Coming together finally. We return from our hiatus the only way we could. It's THE CLASH week!
Alex and Jon welcome you back to the podcast that discusses the cultural memory and career arc of bands and artists through their late night tv show performances. Our return finds us analyzing one of the most significant and influential bands of all time, with tv clips that span a far too short existence. Early performances on French and British TV show a band rooted in rock and roll, including an intrepid teen interviewing The Clash alongside a British MP. London Calling is maybe the best album of all time, and a 4-song performance on Friday's captures it in all its glory. And a Sandinista-era clip on Tom Snyder portends the ultimate split of Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, featuring Bernie Rhodes ruining The Clash!
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Complete Control/1977/London's Burning, 9/28/1977 on Un Sur Cinq
Clash City Rockers/Tommy Gun/Interview, 3/11/1978 on Something Else
English Civil War/Hate and War/Israelites/Interview, 10/3/1979 on Alright Now
London Calling/Train in the Vain/The Guns of Brixton/Clampdown, 4/25/1980 on Friday's
The Magnificent Seven/This is Radio Clash, 6/5/1981 on Tomorrow Coast to Coast with Tom Snyder
Straight to Hell/Should I Stay or Should I Go?, 10/9/1982 on Saturday Night Live

After 2.5 years of discussing the cultural memory and career arc of bands and artists through their late night tv show performances, we're taking our first hiatus. And there was only one thing we could do to celebrate: talk about ska for over 3 hours. It's our GRAB BAG: SKA-TACULAR!
And there was only one person that could pick it up with us: best friend of the show and creator of our theme song Kenny! The guys and Kenny surf all the waves of ska, discussing its roots, suits, and sixty years of upstrokes. Inventors of the genre The Skatalites reunite for a performance on Conan in 1994. The two-tone era is equal parts catchy and serious with incredible clips of The Selecter and The Specials. Fishbone sets the stage for 3rd wave, including a beach party movie cameo that requires discussion. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Reel Big Fish encapsulate that beautiful moment in 1997 when ska dominated our lives. And The Interrupters have the first big ska hit in 20 years after supporting Ron Paul for President.
Want to learn the name of almost every ska band? Listen to this episode! But if you want to watch along with us, check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
We'll be back sometime in 2026. Skank on.
Police Woman by The Skatalites, 3/15/1994 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Murder/Danger/Missing Words by The Selecter, 2/19/1980 on The Old Grey Whistle Test
Gangsters/Too Much Too Young by The Specials, 4/19/1980 on Saturday Night Live
Ugly/When Problems Arise by Fishbone, 1987 on The Late Show with Joan Rivers
The Impression That I Get/The Rascal King by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, 1997 on MTV Motel California
Sell Out by Reel Big Fish, 7/28/1997 on Oddville, MTV
She's Kerosone/Take Back the Power by The Interrupters, 7/26/2018 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

This is a band that defined early 2000s emo for so many (including us). And it turns out the band drama was even messier than their lyrics. It's TAKING BACK SUNDAY week!
The guys have an important show announcement up top before reexamining their short-lived intense fandom with these Long Island heroes. It takes a while to get through the early rise and messy bitch drama of Tell All Your Friends before we get to some performances, including an era-defining acoustic performance on Last Call with Carson Daly. Alex and Jon discover they remembered this band all wrong with the two-album run of Fred Mascherino being by far the best era of the band. And stick around for a critical analysis of Denny's 2008 emo/screamo adopt-a-band all nighter menu featuring a Hoobastank burrito.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Cute Without the E (Cut From the Team)/Message in a Bottle, 9/9/2003 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
You're So Last Summer, 11/11/2003 on Last Call with Carson Daly
A Decade Under the Influence, 10/8/2004 on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
MakeDamnSure, 7/24/2006 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Liar (It Takes One to Know One), 12/20/2006 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Sink Into Me/New Again, 6/2/2009 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Better Homes and Gardens with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, 7/22/2015 on The Alternative Press Music Awards

Wake up! This LA by way of Armenia heavy metal/death metal/middle eastern/jazz fusion four-piece stunned mainstream culture at every turn. It's SYSTEM OF A DOWN week!
We recap the rich and tragic familial history and musical origins of Serj Tankian and co. before jumping into 3 tv performances across the span of 3 years for SOAD's classic self-titled debut. That includes a pretty ridiculous Fred Durst sidebar and our triumphant return to the short-lived TV home of late 90s nu-metal, Farmclub.com. Toxicity becomes huge amid 9/11, with a rare TV clip of Chop Suey! on MTV Latin America. And we return to Fuse's Uranium with Mistress Juliya Chernetsky to unfortunately find her trying to survive the interview from hell.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
War?, 11/9/1998 on NPA (French TV)
Spiders, 3/16/2000 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Sugar/Suggestions, 6/12/2000 on Farmclub.com
Chop Suey!, 10/24/2002 on MTV VMAs Latin America
Interview (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), 2005 on Fuse's Uranium
B.Y.O.B/Aerials, 5/7/2005 on Saturday Night Live

While coming up in the Portland post-punk scene, this singer/songwriter recorded a batch of lo-fi acoustic demos on a whim. What followed was a once-in-a-generation rise and fall fueled by some of the most beautiful songwriting of the past 30 years. It's ELLIOTT SMITH week!
Returning to the show is pod-favorite and fellow Texan Rory Phillips (The Impossibles, Slowreader, The Stereo)! Rory and the guys discuss the upcoming Slowreader reunion shows before diving into the incredible music and turbulent life of Elliott. Clip one is likely the most surreal ever on the show, with Elliott somehow ending up on a zany 90s morning show hosted by Tom Bergeron and a puppet. Good Will Hunting changes everything with an Oscars performance that defines his public persona for the rest of his life. And full band performances on SNL, Conan, and Letterman capture the power poppier side of Elliott. 
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Clementine, 7/28/1995 on Breakfast Time
Miss Misery, 3/5/1998 on MTV Live with Carson Daly
Miss Misery, 3/23/1998 on The Oscars
Waltz #2 (XO), 8/20/1998 on Much Music Canada
Waltz #2 (XO), 10/17/1998 on Saturday Night Live
Son of Sam, 4/21/2000 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Stupidity Tries, 7/21/2000 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Check out Rory and Slowreader at their upcoming reunion shows in Austin, TX!