In this episode, we sit down with brothers Chris and Pat Bradley of June Cleaver and the Steak Knives—a band whose music hovers between tongue-in-cheek satire and fearless experimentation. With roots in post-punk, art-rock, and a love of found sounds, their sound pulls from an eclectic range of influences: Wall of Voodoo, They Might Be Giants, Devo, The Residents, The Cure, and beyond.
✨ We talk about:
🎵 The evolution from early instrumental records ➡️ albums with more vocals
🎚️ How they craft an album’s flow despite genre-hopping tracks
🥁 The use of unusual instrumentation, sampling, and found sounds
🎨 Their love of album artwork & immersive vinyl listening
📀 The concept and storytelling behind Short Tales of Science Fiction and Family Dissonance (2024)
🔥 Song Spotlights:
• ⚡ Completely Lose All Self Control – machine-gun vocals, sharp guitar licks
• 🎻 Infantile Dreams – Radiohead textures + violin layers
• 🎸 This Mess – raw early post-punk, in the spirit of Wire & Magazine
• 👁️ With Her Eyes – quirky Devo-like satire (“brass knuckles on her lashes” 🔥)
• ⏳ Multitasking – ominous choruses on tech’s speed & distraction
• 🎹 Quarantined – layered vocals, pandemic reflections, haunting piano & synths
• 🚫 Xenophobia + John – no subject matter is off-limits
💡 From 2003’s Cleavage to 2024’s Short Tales of Science Fiction and Family Dissonance, June Cleaver and the Steak Knives prove that every track can be a strange, satirical, and cinematic experience—like a little David Lynch movie in song form.
🎧 Explore more music from June Cleaver & the Steak Knives:
👉 Follow Post-punk Heartstrings for more deep dives into the sounds that move us:
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