Completely Conspicuous

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Quality podcastification since 2006.

  1. 3D AGO

    Amazing Disgrace

    Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite underrated albums.  Show notes: Jay's #6: The Spinanes with a decidedly not-grunge album on Sub Pop Female singer-songwriter teamed with kickass drummer Phil's #5: Power pop that never hit big from Boston's Gigolo Aunts Got a song on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack Jay's #5: Another power pop gem from the Velvet Crush Saw them play in Austin in '94 Phil's #4: B-52s avoid the sophomore slump and getting labeled as a novelty act Didn't hit as hard as the debut, but strong nonetheless Jay's #4: Late '80s/early '90s anthemic indie rock from O-Positive Influenced by R.E.M. and briefly on CBS Phil's #3: More Boston-area indie rock with Belly Tanya Donelly had a great rock pedigree, first playing with Throwing Muses and Breeders Jay's #3: Ex-Dumptruck guitarist Kevin Salem with Replacements/Tom Petty sound Released a couple of strong albums in the mid-90s before moving into production Phil's #2: U2's electronic departure that turned off a lot of their fans They were ahead of the game with the techno sounds Bad choice for lead single Jay's #2: Again with the power pop, this time from the Posies Band fell out of favor, Geffen refused to promote it Angry album that nobody heard Phil's #1: The Neil Young album where he was backed by Pearl Jam but couldn't publicize it "Godfather of grunge" with the biggest band at the time Did a brief tour of Europe, couldn't play here because of PJ's Ticketmaster litigation Jay's #1: Another major label flameout courtesy of Jawbreaker Punk act that faced sellout cries from fanbase, but label didn't like finished product and dropped them Great album that was a big influence on emo acts to come Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    46 min

  2. FEB 25

    Welcome to the Boomtown

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite underrated albums.  Show notes: First episode of the year! Recorded right after the gold medal men's hockey game What is underrated? A well-known artist's less popular release or lesser-known artists Phil: Neil Young has a few underrated albums among his vast catalog Other Phil honorable mentions: Big Star, Bob Mould, Best Coast, Kaiser Chiefs, Bettie Serveert, Built to Spill, Keith Richards, N. Mississippi All-Stars, Ben Folds Five, Until the End of the World soundtrack, Til Tuesday, Neko Case, Passengers, Big Head Todd, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Fela Kuti, Dead Milkmen, Shuggie Otis, Uncle Tupelo, Waterboys Jay's honorable mentions: Trail of Dead, Material Issue, Peter Gabriel, The Church, PiL, Afghan Whigs, QOTSA, Smashing Pumpkins, Blind Melon, Elliot Easton, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Matthew Sweet Phil's #10: Cracker's debut album Lowery's first post-Camper Van Beethoven release Jay's #10: Keith Richards releases a stripped-down solo album Was pissed at Jagger, created the antithesis to his flashy style Phil's #9: Prince creates a new band in the early '90s No more Revolution, going for more of a hip hop sound Jay's #9: Only release from David + David Studio musicians who teamed up to release atmospheric story songs Phil's #8: Indie supergroup comprised of members of Sleater-Kinney and Helium Only released one album Jay's #8: Living Colour's third album was criminally overlooked Introduced industrial elements but was lost in the wave of grunge Phil's #7: Jerry Harrison goes solo More pop than what Talking Heads were doing Jay's #7: Sebadoh unleashes ripping indie rock masterpiece Contributions from two songwriters Phil's #6: Self-assured debut from Elastica Waited too long to release their next album To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    55 min

  3. 12/31/2025

    Stacking the Deck

    Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025. Show notes: Counting down the rest of our favorite albums of the year Kumar's #8: Indie rock godfather Bob Mould is still pissed off and rocking Mould has also reunited his '90s band Sugar Kumar's #7: Triumphant return for Mclusky Falco and crew having fun ripping on various targets Breitling's #6: Superchunk keeps going with new drummer If you thought they were angry in 2018... Chock full of "banglociraptors" Kumar's #6: Straight outta Asheville with Wednesday's killer combo of alt-country, shoegaze and heavy guitar rippers  Band features MJ Lenderman but it's Karly Hartzman's show Breitling's #5: Debut from Slumberland act The Cords Scottish indie jangle-pop banglociraptors Kumar's #5: Thrilling post punk from South London act Shame Returning to harder rocking sound of first few albums More albums are shorter nowadays Breitling's #4: Prolific Chicago psych-pop act Sharp Pins keeps bringing it Flashes of GBV and early Kinks Breitling's #3: Crutchfield sisters (Waxahatchee, Swearin') drop surprise release as Snocaps Again with the Lenderman, on drums this time Kumar's #3: PUP applies newfound maturity to pop-punk bangers Singing about adult stuff  Breitling's #2: Mini-album from Peel Dream Magazine Autumnal-sounding leftovers from previous album recording session Kumar's #2: Sloan keeps bringing the heat with 14th release of diverse and rewarding power pop Four singer-songwriters keep the offerings varied and on point Breitling's #1 and Kumar's #4: Monumental four-album conceptual triumph from Hallelujah the Hills Lot of guest stars including Ezra Furman, Clint Conley, Sadie Dupuis, Patrick Stickles Staggering amount of excellence  Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #7: NYC's Geese blows up with wide-ranging collection that grabs your attention Their club tour sold out immediately Frontman Cameron Winter leads a sound that ranges from Pavement to soul Looking forward to 2026 releases from: Notwist, Kiwi Jr., Courtney Barnett, Sleaford Mods, Crooked Fingers, Strange Pains Reunion shows next year from Silkworm, Superdrag Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    48 min

  4. 12/22/2025

    Fight the Good Fight

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025. Show notes: The 17th annual year in music review AI-generated music is lame Especially fake music that purports to be by real artists Spotify is a juggernaut that still sucks Checking out other services (Qobuz, Amazon) You don't get to own downloads via streaming services The kids love the K-pop Only a handful of artists make any money these days Oh yay, LIve Nation is going to get richer Ticketmaster is now a ticket reseller as well We're still seeing the live rock Breitling: Thumbs up for the Aimee Mann/Ted Leo Christmas show Saw Oasis in Mexico City We both saw Hallelujah the Hills  Kumar: Saw Frank Black, Narducy/Shannon do R.E.M., Gang of Four with Ted Leo, Bob Mould, Greg Norton, Ducks Ltd., Pixies, the Who, Buffalo Tom Breitling's bubbling under music picks: Ava Luna, Lifeguard, Winter, Frankie Cosmos, Golden Apples, Lemonheads, Sister Ray Davies, Jeff Tweedy, Glimmer, Tiberius, Telephone Numbers Kumar's honorable mentions: Tweedy, The Convenience, Snocaps, Turnstile, The Hives, Viagra Boys, Pulp, Car Seat Headrest, Charm School, Horsegirl, Superchunk, Pile, The Beths, Tony Molina, Sharp Pins, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Militarie Gun, Kestrels, Destroyer, Dean Wareham, Kinski, Ty Segall, Stereolab, Lunchbox, Cam Keiber, Husker Du and Replacements box sets Breitling's #10: Autocamper's debut asks a valid question  Kumar's #10: Debut solo release from TV On the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe  Breitling's #9: Energetic indie rock from Chicago's OK Cool  Kumar's #9: Ripper out of nowhere from The Men Breitling's #8: Urgent EP about ancient Greece by Strange Passage Reunion tours with strange combinations Triumph is coming around next year To be continued    Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    53 min

  5. 12/15/2025

    Hate to Say I Told You So

    Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs released in the 21st century.  Show notes: Phil's #6: Frenetic assault from Parquet Courts Definite late '70s post-punk influences Jay's #6: A bold move into electronic sounds by Radiohead Phil still doesn't get Radiohead Phil's #5: Slacker guitar hero vibes from Kurt Vile Stream-of-consciousness lyrical approach Jay's #5: Garage rock anthem that introduced the Hives to the world Punchy and super catchy, it took two years to hit in the U.S. The battle for car music supremacy Phil's #4: New Orleans vibe from Tedeschi Trucks Band Phil's intro to the band Jay's #4: A first single that will never be topped by Franz Ferdinand Catchy, danceable stomper comparing love to a sniper's duel Phil's #3: Goose brings jam band versatility to the masses Blew up since the pandemic and are now selling out Madison Square Garden Jay's #3: Queens of the Stone Age craft a perfect hard rock song The magic of the killer riff plus Dave Grohl's drumming Phil's #2: Ripper from Aussie Courtney Barnett Lyrics focus on everyday life Jay's #2: Indie rock classic from the Walkmen Emerged from the early '00s NYC scene Tension keeps building throughout The greatness of Joe Jackson Phil's #1: Epic and creepy classic from Death Cab for Cutie Song builds for 4 1/2 minutes before the vocals kick in Menacing bassline underlines the lyrics about obsession Jay's #1: TV On the Radio with a killer song from a killer album Intensity driven by Tunde Adebimpe's vocal delivery Also came up in NYC in the early '00s Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    1h 14m

  6. 12/02/2025

    Everything In Its Right Place

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs released in the 21st century. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as"). Show notes: We're a quarter through this century Phil: Thought this would be easy but came up with a long list What about a song grabs you? Jay: Original top 10 list was all songs from the 00s Songs that didn't make our top 10 Phil: Tribe Called Quest, Vampire Weekend, Meatbodies, Wilco, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, TV On the Radio, Wet Leg, Franz Ferdinand, Michael Kiwanuka, MJ Lenderman, U2, Frances Forever, Patrick Sweeney, Mudcrutch, Sufjan Stevens, Shearwater, Jason Isbell, Songs: Ohia Jay: Radiohead, Bowie, At the Drive-In, Drive-By Truckers, Sloan, Sleater-Kinney, Death from Above 1979, Jay-Z, Hold Steady, Gord Downie, Tragically Hip, Living Colour, Outkast, Wild Flag, White Stripes, PJ Harvey, Parquet Courts, Spoon, M.I.A., Kaiser Chiefs Jay: Found out about a lot of new music from MP3 blogs in the early 00s Phil's #10: Spoon breaks through Song was a cover of a song by The Natural History Jay's #10: Last song from Bowie's iconic farewell album Love the album but it's hard to listen to because of the sadness Phil's #9: Mournful ballad from Mark Lanegan Jay: My favorite Lanegan song Mixing bubblegum and chewing tobacco is a bad idea A duet with Chris Goss of Masters of Reality Jay's #9: A fiery hip hop blast from Run the Jewels and Zach de la Rocha Waiting for their next album; last one was in 2020 Phil's #7: Bluegrass turn from Billy Strings Strings is winning over a lot of fans of other genres Phil's #8: Protest song from Drive-By Truckers Band chronicles a lot of real-life injustices Jay's #8: Angry ripper from Superchunk Commentary on the political climate of 2018 Sometimes fans don't like the message Jay's #7: White Stripes hit the mainstream Took a year for their third album to become a hit To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    1h 2m

  7. 11/10/2025

    Playing Favorites

    Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs by randomly selected artists. Show notes: More of our favorites from artists picked out of a hat Phil: Pretenders Overcoming the deaths of half the band Jay: James Brown Love the '70s funk era Prince was able to replicate JB's dance moves in concert Phil: Parquet Courts Built a great catalog over the last 13 years or so Influenced by the late '70s NYC CBGB sound Jay: Beatles How do you pick a single Beatles song? Phil: Sleater-Kinney Powerful band Janet Weiss is a powerhouse drummer Jay: Led Zeppelin Favorite song depends on the day Phil: Prince He could play any style Jay: Hoodoo Gurus Saw them for the first time last year Caught the mid-80s college rock wave Phil: The Police Ghost in the Machine was one of the first albums Phil ever bought Early Police is untouchable Jay: The Clash Political rock that still holds true today Covered a lot of musical ground Phil: R.E.M. Was introduced to the band by his uncle People who jumped off the bandwagon after they went to a major are missing out Jay: Elvis Costello EC has been all over the map musically, but his lyrics are always on point Phil: Squeeze Difford and Tilbrook were great songwriters Amazing string of classic songs Jay: Joe Jackson Easy choice  The first few albums were outstanding Musical chameleon Completely Conspicuous is available wherever you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    56 min

  8. 11/03/2025

    Choose Your Fighter

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs by randomly selected artists. Show notes: Phil's idea: Blind rankings We each pick 10 artist names out of a hat and name a favorite song for each Phil picks names from N-Z, Jay gets A-M No prep time for our answers Phil: Velvet Underground Plenty to choose from Trying not to choose popular songs Jay: B-52s They made the "no play list" at Jay's wedding Great catalog of bangers Phil: Talking Heads Band had different phases Mixed Afro rhythms, funk and skronky guitar from Adrian Belew New David Byrne album is good Jay: Living Colour Band played many different styles well They still bring the heat Phil: Neil Young A musical chameleon Amazing solo or with Crazy Horse (or other backing bands) Jay: Grateful Dead Easy choice Always had a favorite song by them To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

    31 min
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