October 6, 2025 • 19 mins
Join host Mark on this week’s episode of Songs That Don’t Suck — from a rollicking Bridge City Sinners concert review to deep dives on fresh tracks by Megadeth, The Utopiates, Twin City, The Clause, and Scarhaven.
To check out this week’s songs on your platform of choice head to the website Songs That Don’t Suck
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:38):
Welcome to Songs that Don't Suckwith your host Mark Bradbourne.
What's up, friend? Welcome to songs that don't
suck. My name is Mark Your Host, and
if this is your first time here,here's how it works.
I listen to hundreds upon hundreds of newly released songs
each week. I'm barely scratching the
(00:58):
surface of new music that gets released, but I'm doing it in
the hopes to find a few that don't suck to keep my playlist
fresh and in turn keep your playlist fresh if you're a long
time listener. Thank you so much for coming
back. Good to see you.
Before we get into the new music, we've got a little bit of
a concert review because Octoberis going to be busy for me as
(01:20):
far as live music. So a few months ago I got a
chance to see the Bridge City centers open for the Devil Makes
3 at the House of Blues, and during that show they mentioned
they were going to do a headlining show in the fall, and
the fall is here. It was my first show of October
and it was a good one. This was my second visit to
(01:41):
Globe Iron, one of the newer venues here in Cleveland, and
it's really growing on me. I really like it, really
convenient parking. I haven't actually bought a
drink there so I can't tell you about drink prices.
My only complaint is my old ass wishes there was some stools
around the perimeter. But hey, these are the slings
(02:03):
and arrows that I suffer for live music.
They do have a seated section upstairs in the back, but it's
honestly a little bit pricey. This show.
I think it was like two or threetimes the GA cost.
But anyway, I have a spot that Ihave like claimed as mine when I
go to Globe Iron. It's along the wall and there's
(02:25):
a little metal shelf where I canput my little audio recorder on.
So I made my way over to my spotand settled in for the night.
On this particular evening, there were two openers.
The first was an alternative country singer-songwriter from
Nashville named Joshua Quimby. Not not bad, definitely
listenable. It was him playing an acoustic
(02:48):
and singing, and he had a fiddleplayer with him.
Here is a little bit of his performance.
(03:27):
It was, it was good stuff. Not really into that particular
genre, but I thought he was entertaining live.
And that's the one thing like when you see live music, you can
kind of find the happy most of the time and enjoy it.
And that's what I did here. After Joshua's done, though, I
was looking at my little handheld recorder and I noticed
(03:48):
that the battery was low. So I was having a bit of a panic
moment because I wanted to make sure I recorded the Bridge city
centers. So I started asking the staff.
I've made my way over to the sound booth see if anybody had a
couple of AAA batteries. I had some in my car but there
was no re entry so I was like shit.
Nobody had any and I was like crap.
(04:09):
So I opted not to record the second opener in hopes of
getting all of the Bridge City Center set and let's just call
that a happy accident. I did not like the second act at
all. There was no happy to be found.
I know this because I kept checking my watch every 3
minutes or so to make sure that it was time was continuing to
(04:32):
move and not stand still becauseit was just, it wasn't good.
I'm not even going to tell you their name.
Moving on after they were done, Bridge City Centers came on
stage and fucking crushed it. What do you what did you expect?
This was cool because the first time I saw them, Michael was not
(04:52):
with them. He had a baby that day so he was
at home with his partner. And while the sub was great that
night, that first time I saw them, obviously when the band is
complete with its members, the vibe is just different.
And it was. I mean, Michael's a phenomenal
player, has a great voice, and they sounded fantastic.
(05:17):
Like Libby's voice. It's unlike any other voice that
I've heard. She goes from absolutely serene
to scary in the blink of an eye.She has this Sirens wail at
times, which is just fucking cool.
It's a very cool aspect of theiroverall sound and the rest of
(05:37):
the band. I mentioned Michael, but the
rest of the band is just amazingplayers and I think I made a
comment last time I saw them that for not having a drummer,
they push so much energy off thestage and it's such an
interesting just overall experience.
(05:57):
It's such a cool thing this described or what I'll describe
as playful Satanism. It's a really, it's a really
interesting artist to me lyrically.
There's some dark topics that they they touch with their
songs. A lot of, you know, vices and
(06:22):
just sad things, but it's a folkpunk band that's a bit of
bluegrass to it and there's justa dark edge to it.
Without a doubt, the show came out pretty good from my
recording, so this one's going to go into the Live Music
archive. So if you are part of the
(06:43):
newsletter, you'll get access tothat, which is going to be
pretty cool. Anyway, here is a little bit of
the show. This is a song that I featured
on the podcast the first time I discovered them.
This is Midnight to Vice. All in all, if the Bridge city
(07:46):
centres roll through your town, absolutely go see them.
It's a very diverse crowd, but all are welcomed, all are
embraced and all are celebrated.And and on a fun note, a couple
days after the show, I was wearing my T-shirt that I had
bought running some errands around town and I was at 1
store. And the person behind the
(08:06):
counter who was helping me as wewere finishing up said to me,
hey, I really like your shirt. And I said thanks.
I started talking about the band, talking about how I went
to the show, and as I was rattling on they kind of gave me
this sly smile and said I know them.
And I'm like oh OK cool. And I don't know if I was more
surprised that somebody else knew them, or if this person was
(08:27):
surprised that my old ass knew who they were.
Either way, it was a fun little interaction.
So here we are. Let's get into the new music,
shall we? The first song this week is
Tipping Point from Megadeth. Yeah, I'm probably not
introducing anybody to Megadeth,but recently Megadeth announced
(08:49):
that they are releasing their final album and going on a final
tour. Which side note I'm really
hoping I get to see. They are one of those bands that
I've listened to since my, you know, high school days but never
have seen live. But this is the first single off
their final album. And when you think about
(09:11):
Megadeth and. And really it's Dave Mustaine
cause there have been a rotatingcast of players part of that
band since their inception. Right To date 33 people have
been in Megadeth and that does not include the folks who have
contributed in one way shape or form in the studio for various
parts. But but Megadeth as a brand have
(09:33):
for the longest time been among The Pioneers and standard
bearers for for metal and this new single really continues that
legacy. It's a great riff, burning
solos, blistering drums, and andDave's kind of grizzled vocal
style, which is really kind of the trademark of Megadeth sound
when you think about it. If you're a metal fan, you know
(09:53):
what I'm talking about. And if you're not, well, here's
a little bit of tipping point from Megadeth to let you know.
(10:44):
The second song this week is Let's Make This Happen by the
Utopias. This is the second appearance on
the podcast from the Utopias, the first being back Season 1
episode 18. So long time ago in the early
days of the podcast, but they'reback again with some honestly
just great feeling indie rock, and it's really just what they
(11:06):
do. This is the title track off
their latest EP, Dissecting it abit.
There's just a nice rhythm that kind of sets the bass layer of
the track, some good guitar work, some cool synth stuff that
fills some of the space. At times as I was listening to
this, I could hear almost some 80s influence, like I felt like
(11:28):
I heard in excess a little bit, like it's like that Rocky thing,
but it still had that 80s synthykind of feel to it.
My favorite part in the song is around the four minute mark.
I don't know if you classify it as a bridge or just AB section,
whatever it is, but there's likea little bit of a sermon about
(11:50):
life and it's it's good advice. I kind of really dug it and it
kind of bookended the the song really nicely for me.
So let's make this happen. Check out the Utopias.
(12:12):
Come on, in the death of your life, there can always be one
more, whether you like it or not.
Let's get dressed and go out. I want to leave with no doubt.
If it's always in your hands andwe can still make this happen,
there's a little more time. You need to know your mind.
(12:32):
But every time I love from peaceyou just won't release but try
to lie to alone but God's return.
The third song this week is Another Day by Twin City.
These guys are another one of the bands that I can only
(12:54):
describe as this kind of incredible UK scene that has
popped up. It includes other podcast alumni
like the K's, The Royston Club. They all kind of pull from that
Manchester sound. Bands like Oasis, right?
It it, you can definitely feel the DNA, but they're all kind of
(13:16):
doing their own thing, which is kind of interesting.
It's just fantastic. Straight ahead, no apologies.
Guitar rock, it's good stuff. What else do you need?
Nothing really. It's just it's just good music.
So here, give a little bit of a listen to Another day from Twin
City. The 4th song this week is Tell
(14:18):
Me What You Want From the Clause, and that's CLAUSE, not
CLAWS. Anyway, there are bands in
history that have turned to crapover time.
I regularly will name Coldplay for this shitty trait, but
(14:38):
another band who famously did that for me is Maroon 5.
First couple of albums like Songs About Jane, fantastic.
Absolute shit sense, but the Claws reminds me a bit of that
feeling I get from those early Maroon 5 albums.
Solid music, solid vocals, greatfeel, interesting bridges and
(15:00):
big hooks. Really nice find this week.
I was really really like this song.
Just just solid all around. I'm not going to oversell it to
you. Here is a little bit of the
claws and tell me what you want.The 5th song this week is 1 Sore
(16:01):
Eye from Scar Haven. Second time on the podcast.
Second song that they have released after their debut
single leaned so hard into theirgrunge adjacent sound.
All of their social media posts joking about being the son of
Chris Cornell and and Eddie Vedder and all that where I got
(16:22):
really frustrated and like just released the fucking song, you
know? I was curious really what
direction they were going to go if the newer, you know, the next
song would be a similar path or not.
And I'm happy to report that I don't think that's the case
really. Vocally, it's the guy's voice,
(16:43):
right? You're going to make the
comparison. He does sound like Chris Cornell
a little bit, but he's got his own style and it shines a little
bit more on this track. Musically, this one feels
different. It does not feel grungy as the
other one did. Definitely feels more post
little darker. The opening almost feels
(17:05):
dramatic and it kind of draws you in until we hit the main
kind of vein of the song and it kind of has this chugging guitar
part Vocally he really explores his range more in this one.
Keeps the melody really interesting and the chorus is
super solid. I'm I'm really, really
interested to see how this band develops over the next few
(17:28):
months. So here is Scar Haven with one
sore eye. All right, that my friend, is it
(18:24):
for this week. As always, Songs That Don't
suck.net is a place to go for all your podcast needs.
You can subscribe to the newsletter, you can buy merch,
you can check out the show recaps.
All the stuff is there. You can contact me and tell me
about the bands that you want meto hear.
A lot of you do that and I appreciate it.
(18:45):
Don't forget to like, review, subscribe the podcast on your
preferred platform of choice. And as always, tell your friends
about the podcast because that is the greatest marketing that
happens. As always, thank you so much for
listening and go out and supportthese artists.
Thanks for listening, and until next week, keep searching for
(19:05):
and listening to songs that don't suck.
Welcome to Songs that Don't Suckwith your host Mark Bradbourne.
What's up, friend? Welcome to songs that don't
suck. My name is Mark Your Host, and
if this is your first time here,here's how it works.
I listen to hundreds upon hundreds of newly released songs
each week. I'm barely scratching the
(00:58):
surface of new music that gets released, but I'm doing it in
the hopes to find a few that don't suck to keep my playlist
fresh and in turn keep your playlist fresh if you're a long
time listener. Thank you so much for coming
back. Good to see you.
Before we get into the new music, we've got a little bit of
a concert review because Octoberis going to be busy for me as
(01:20):
far as live music. So a few months ago I got a
chance to see the Bridge City centers open for the Devil Makes
3 at the House of Blues, and during that show they mentioned
they were going to do a headlining show in the fall, and
the fall is here. It was my first show of October
and it was a good one. This was my second visit to
(01:41):
Globe Iron, one of the newer venues here in Cleveland, and
it's really growing on me. I really like it, really
convenient parking. I haven't actually bought a
drink there so I can't tell you about drink prices.
My only complaint is my old ass wishes there was some stools
around the perimeter. But hey, these are the slings
(02:03):
and arrows that I suffer for live music.
They do have a seated section upstairs in the back, but it's
honestly a little bit pricey. This show.
I think it was like two or threetimes the GA cost.
But anyway, I have a spot that Ihave like claimed as mine when I
go to Globe Iron. It's along the wall and there's
(02:25):
a little metal shelf where I canput my little audio recorder on.
So I made my way over to my spotand settled in for the night.
On this particular evening, there were two openers.
The first was an alternative country singer-songwriter from
Nashville named Joshua Quimby. Not not bad, definitely
listenable. It was him playing an acoustic
(02:48):
and singing, and he had a fiddleplayer with him.
Here is a little bit of his performance.
(03:27):
It was, it was good stuff. Not really into that particular
genre, but I thought he was entertaining live.
And that's the one thing like when you see live music, you can
kind of find the happy most of the time and enjoy it.
And that's what I did here. After Joshua's done, though, I
was looking at my little handheld recorder and I noticed
(03:48):
that the battery was low. So I was having a bit of a panic
moment because I wanted to make sure I recorded the Bridge city
centers. So I started asking the staff.
I've made my way over to the sound booth see if anybody had a
couple of AAA batteries. I had some in my car but there
was no re entry so I was like shit.
Nobody had any and I was like crap.
(04:09):
So I opted not to record the second opener in hopes of
getting all of the Bridge City Center set and let's just call
that a happy accident. I did not like the second act at
all. There was no happy to be found.
I know this because I kept checking my watch every 3
minutes or so to make sure that it was time was continuing to
(04:32):
move and not stand still becauseit was just, it wasn't good.
I'm not even going to tell you their name.
Moving on after they were done, Bridge City Centers came on
stage and fucking crushed it. What do you what did you expect?
This was cool because the first time I saw them, Michael was not
(04:52):
with them. He had a baby that day so he was
at home with his partner. And while the sub was great that
night, that first time I saw them, obviously when the band is
complete with its members, the vibe is just different.
And it was. I mean, Michael's a phenomenal
player, has a great voice, and they sounded fantastic.
(05:17):
Like Libby's voice. It's unlike any other voice that
I've heard. She goes from absolutely serene
to scary in the blink of an eye.She has this Sirens wail at
times, which is just fucking cool.
It's a very cool aspect of theiroverall sound and the rest of
(05:37):
the band. I mentioned Michael, but the
rest of the band is just amazingplayers and I think I made a
comment last time I saw them that for not having a drummer,
they push so much energy off thestage and it's such an
interesting just overall experience.
(05:57):
It's such a cool thing this described or what I'll describe
as playful Satanism. It's a really, it's a really
interesting artist to me lyrically.
There's some dark topics that they they touch with their
songs. A lot of, you know, vices and
(06:22):
just sad things, but it's a folkpunk band that's a bit of
bluegrass to it and there's justa dark edge to it.
Without a doubt, the show came out pretty good from my
recording, so this one's going to go into the Live Music
archive. So if you are part of the
(06:43):
newsletter, you'll get access tothat, which is going to be
pretty cool. Anyway, here is a little bit of
the show. This is a song that I featured
on the podcast the first time I discovered them.
This is Midnight to Vice. All in all, if the Bridge city
(07:46):
centres roll through your town, absolutely go see them.
It's a very diverse crowd, but all are welcomed, all are
embraced and all are celebrated.And and on a fun note, a couple
days after the show, I was wearing my T-shirt that I had
bought running some errands around town and I was at 1
store. And the person behind the
(08:06):
counter who was helping me as wewere finishing up said to me,
hey, I really like your shirt. And I said thanks.
I started talking about the band, talking about how I went
to the show, and as I was rattling on they kind of gave me
this sly smile and said I know them.
And I'm like oh OK cool. And I don't know if I was more
surprised that somebody else knew them, or if this person was
(08:27):
surprised that my old ass knew who they were.
Either way, it was a fun little interaction.
So here we are. Let's get into the new music,
shall we? The first song this week is
Tipping Point from Megadeth. Yeah, I'm probably not
introducing anybody to Megadeth,but recently Megadeth announced
(08:49):
that they are releasing their final album and going on a final
tour. Which side note I'm really
hoping I get to see. They are one of those bands that
I've listened to since my, you know, high school days but never
have seen live. But this is the first single off
their final album. And when you think about
(09:11):
Megadeth and. And really it's Dave Mustaine
cause there have been a rotatingcast of players part of that
band since their inception. Right To date 33 people have
been in Megadeth and that does not include the folks who have
contributed in one way shape or form in the studio for various
parts. But but Megadeth as a brand have
(09:33):
for the longest time been among The Pioneers and standard
bearers for for metal and this new single really continues that
legacy. It's a great riff, burning
solos, blistering drums, and andDave's kind of grizzled vocal
style, which is really kind of the trademark of Megadeth sound
when you think about it. If you're a metal fan, you know
(09:53):
what I'm talking about. And if you're not, well, here's
a little bit of tipping point from Megadeth to let you know.
(10:44):
The second song this week is Let's Make This Happen by the
Utopias. This is the second appearance on
the podcast from the Utopias, the first being back Season 1
episode 18. So long time ago in the early
days of the podcast, but they'reback again with some honestly
just great feeling indie rock, and it's really just what they
(11:06):
do. This is the title track off
their latest EP, Dissecting it abit.
There's just a nice rhythm that kind of sets the bass layer of
the track, some good guitar work, some cool synth stuff that
fills some of the space. At times as I was listening to
this, I could hear almost some 80s influence, like I felt like
(11:28):
I heard in excess a little bit, like it's like that Rocky thing,
but it still had that 80s synthykind of feel to it.
My favorite part in the song is around the four minute mark.
I don't know if you classify it as a bridge or just AB section,
whatever it is, but there's likea little bit of a sermon about
(11:50):
life and it's it's good advice. I kind of really dug it and it
kind of bookended the the song really nicely for me.
So let's make this happen. Check out the Utopias.
(12:12):
Come on, in the death of your life, there can always be one
more, whether you like it or not.
Let's get dressed and go out. I want to leave with no doubt.
If it's always in your hands andwe can still make this happen,
there's a little more time. You need to know your mind.
(12:32):
But every time I love from peaceyou just won't release but try
to lie to alone but God's return.
The third song this week is Another Day by Twin City.
These guys are another one of the bands that I can only
(12:54):
describe as this kind of incredible UK scene that has
popped up. It includes other podcast alumni
like the K's, The Royston Club. They all kind of pull from that
Manchester sound. Bands like Oasis, right?
It it, you can definitely feel the DNA, but they're all kind of
(13:16):
doing their own thing, which is kind of interesting.
It's just fantastic. Straight ahead, no apologies.
Guitar rock, it's good stuff. What else do you need?
Nothing really. It's just it's just good music.
So here, give a little bit of a listen to Another day from Twin
City. The 4th song this week is Tell
(14:18):
Me What You Want From the Clause, and that's CLAUSE, not
CLAWS. Anyway, there are bands in
history that have turned to crapover time.
I regularly will name Coldplay for this shitty trait, but
(14:38):
another band who famously did that for me is Maroon 5.
First couple of albums like Songs About Jane, fantastic.
Absolute shit sense, but the Claws reminds me a bit of that
feeling I get from those early Maroon 5 albums.
Solid music, solid vocals, greatfeel, interesting bridges and
(15:00):
big hooks. Really nice find this week.
I was really really like this song.
Just just solid all around. I'm not going to oversell it to
you. Here is a little bit of the
claws and tell me what you want.The 5th song this week is 1 Sore
(16:01):
Eye from Scar Haven. Second time on the podcast.
Second song that they have released after their debut
single leaned so hard into theirgrunge adjacent sound.
All of their social media posts joking about being the son of
Chris Cornell and and Eddie Vedder and all that where I got
(16:22):
really frustrated and like just released the fucking song, you
know? I was curious really what
direction they were going to go if the newer, you know, the next
song would be a similar path or not.
And I'm happy to report that I don't think that's the case
really. Vocally, it's the guy's voice,
(16:43):
right? You're going to make the
comparison. He does sound like Chris Cornell
a little bit, but he's got his own style and it shines a little
bit more on this track. Musically, this one feels
different. It does not feel grungy as the
other one did. Definitely feels more post
little darker. The opening almost feels
(17:05):
dramatic and it kind of draws you in until we hit the main
kind of vein of the song and it kind of has this chugging guitar
part Vocally he really explores his range more in this one.
Keeps the melody really interesting and the chorus is
super solid. I'm I'm really, really
interested to see how this band develops over the next few
(17:28):
months. So here is Scar Haven with one
sore eye. All right, that my friend, is it
(18:24):
for this week. As always, Songs That Don't
suck.net is a place to go for all your podcast needs.
You can subscribe to the newsletter, you can buy merch,
you can check out the show recaps.
All the stuff is there. You can contact me and tell me
about the bands that you want meto hear.
A lot of you do that and I appreciate it.
(18:45):
Don't forget to like, review, subscribe the podcast on your
preferred platform of choice. And as always, tell your friends
about the podcast because that is the greatest marketing that
happens. As always, thank you so much for
listening and go out and supportthese artists.
Thanks for listening, and until next week, keep searching for
(19:05):
and listening to songs that don't suck.
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