November 17, 2025 • 22 mins
Dive into this week’s episode of Songs That Don’t Suck, where host Mark Bradbourne geeks out over a new book that fuses music history with deep data—Uncharted Territory by Chris Dalla Riva. Plus, five must-hear new tracks from The Format, The Boondocks, Ugly UK, The Pale White, and Scarhaven. Data nerds and music lovers, this one’s for you.
To check out this week’s songs on your platform of choice head to the website Songs That Don’t Suck
Connect with Songs That Don’t Suck ~ Instagram | BlueSky
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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 is up friend? My name is Mark.
I'm your host. This is songs that don't suck.
The structure of this podcast ispretty simple.
I listen to hundreds and hundreds of newly released songs
every week. I do that so that I don't feel
(00:59):
musically dead inside. The podcast is basically my
accountability partner to make sure that I'm not listening to
Nirvana for the five millionth time now.
If you are new here, welcome to the podcast.
If your goal is to find new music, you are well on your way
my friend. If you're a long time listener,
welcome back. I am so glad you're here.
(01:22):
Now before we get into the new music, I got a new book that I
want to tell you about and I'm very excited about this book
because it hugs both sides of mybrain, the music side and the
data side. So this book has been
pre-ordered by me for a couple of months, finally came and I'm
very excited. It's called Uncharted Territory,
(01:45):
It's by Chris Della Riva, and itbasically started when Chris
found a playlist that had every #1 Billboard hit from August of
1958 to January of 2025. At least that's the book's span
of time. And he went through and listened
to every single song. And in the process of doing
(02:05):
this, he built a data set for each song.
And the data set is a beautiful thing.
Like it covers a lot of deep things.
So it tells you how long it was at #1 Did it have non
consecutive like weeks at #1 It tells you the label.
It gives his genre scoring as well as Discogs genre.
(02:30):
Talks about the structure of thegroup, whether it's a solo duo,
you know three or more. Talks about if it was a talent
show. Was it a hit after the person
died? Talks about whether you know is
it a male artist? Is it a white artist?
Is it a black artist? Talks about the songwriters,
(02:53):
talks about who produced it, what the musical key is, what
the time signature is, talks about what instruments were in
the song and you want to talk about.
Fascinating. A friend of mine went through
this data set like The Way I Am,and he figured out that there's
been a handful of songs that hitnumber one that had either
accordion or banjo in it, but only one song had hit the number
(03:16):
one point with both. Do you know what that song was?
No. I'll tell you at the end of the
episode, I never give a tease. So now you have a tease.
You have something to look forward to.
It's just, it's fine. Trust me.
Now he uses this very rich data set to trace patterns, shifts,
(03:37):
oddities, cultural inflection points, genre waves, statistical
quirks, commentary on, you know,the politics of the day, whether
it be race or genre. And he talks about how hit songs
have changed. He looks back at six decades of
musical history, and it puts your favorite era into a bigger
(04:01):
picture. So for me, obviously being Gen.
X, mid 70s to like mid 90s, late90s, or like, that's my
formative years. So kind of reading that section,
you know, there's a lot of nostalgia for me, but it puts
everything in perspective with all the other things that have
been happening. And it's not just a celebration
(04:22):
of big hits, right? I mean, obviously it's number
ones. But he digs into what the data
actually shows. One fun thing that he found was
like the late 50s songs, there was a heavy theme of about
gruesome deaths. Who would have thought in the
late 50s that would have been the topic of choice?
But number one hits show that. The whole thing points out major
(04:44):
shifts, including how charts changed.
So there was a point when sound scan came into being and it
changed the way that the charts were calculated.
He talks about new formats, you know, the shift between vinyl to
cassette to CD to streaming. And he talks about how we find
hits. You know, nowadays it's TikTok
(05:06):
and, you know, streaming is, youknow, what's driving the
algorithm that gives us the hits.
It's very solid, right? data-driven, takes on heavy
subjects, talks about the role of gender in music, talks about
the role of race in music. If you remember, MTV would not
play black artists. And you know, Michael Jackson's
(05:27):
record label was like, we're going to pull everybody off of
MTV if you don't play Michael Jackson.
And they did. That kind of stuff is just
fascinating. So as I was reading through, I
thought it would be fun to sharesome of my prime listening years
fun facts that I found. So the first one was that, and I
(05:48):
didn't know this, but these there was a second British
invasion. So when we think about the
British invasion, we think about64 to 66, you know, The Beatles
on Ed Sullivan and all that, but35% of the number ones were
British acts in those kind of two years.
If we Fast forward to 83 to 85, the number of number one hits
(06:09):
rose to 45%. Why?
Because MTVMTV really appealed to British artists and they made
a ton of great videos. Think of like Duran Duran and
Culture Club, like they were allproducing these amazing like
film type videos and it capturedthe imagination of the charts.
(06:33):
The other thing, OK so 85 Whitney Houston had a huge hit
called Saving All My Love for You.
And like why is that an important song?
Because at the time 97% of the hit songs were in 4/4 time.
Whitney's song was in 12/8. Completely different feel.
And then in 1996 we saw our first number one hit that had
(06:56):
the word fuck in it. I love the word fuck.
It's probably my favorite swear word.
Who broke that glass ceiling, you ask?
Tupac on the track. How do you want it?
Every chapter gives you all these fun tidbits, and it ends
with highlights and low lights of the number ones.
(07:17):
In kind of the last chapter thatI was reading that was kind of
my, you know, high school years 92, he highlighted, I will
always love you, 'cause if you think about Whitney Houston, if
you ask just casual music fan, chances are if you said, what's
the song Whitney Houston sings, they will probably play.
Pick that one. It was kind of a, a milestone in
(07:39):
music, if you will. The low light, rightfully so,
was 1993's Informer by Snow. To quote Chris, he put it
eloquently. He says a Caucasian Canadian
singing in a faux Jamaican accent.
His songs worst offense is that it's a cheap imitation of a rich
genre. Couldn't agree more.
(08:01):
Now the $1,000,000 question is should you buy this book?
Well here's kind of my take on it right?
I think it'll be a good fit for you.
I think you will enjoy it if youare a music aficionado that has
an interest beyond This was a great song and more into why it
got that way. If you like data obviously, or
if you like pattern tracking andculture casually, I think you'll
(08:23):
enjoy this book. If you want a fresh angle on
songs you already know, you willprobably catch things that you
didn't see. I know I did already and I
haven't finished the book yet. If you want a book that blends
nostalgia with critical insight,you're going to enjoy this book.
Now who won't enjoy this book? People who are looking for
(08:45):
straight stories or interviews with musicians, it's really more
about what the data says. If you want to deep dive into
obscure albums, this ain't it. You don't want that.
And then I mean, if you aren't casually interested in charts,
numbers, and statistical visualizations, like the data
stuff really matters here. Chris is a really great writer
(09:05):
and I think you can probably look past some of that, but I
think the value is his great writing with the data.
So my honest advice, go buy the book.
I think it's really good and even if you aren't like a giant
data nerd, I think Chris presents the information in a
very accessible way. Like you don't have to be me on
the from a data perspective to really enjoy this.
(09:28):
If you are on the data side, Chris made the data set
available and you can play with it.
It's on his website. I will link it in the show notes
so that you can find it pretty easily and you can also order
the book. So with that, let's get into the
new music for this week. And who knows, maybe if I pick a
hit or two, it'll be in Chris's next book.
(09:49):
The first song this week is shotin the dark from the format.
OK, when I say somebody's voice is an audio fingerprint, you
know what I mean, right? It's one of those undeniable
things. You the minute you hear the
voice, you know exactly who it was from the first vocal note.
I was like, that's Nate Ruiz. OK, I didn't actually say that.
(10:11):
I said this guy sounds like the lead singer from Fun because I I
honestly didn't know his name orI couldn't remember it 'cause it
had been a while since I had heard Fun and I always think of
Fun as Jack Antonoff's band. I'll be, I'll be real.
Anyway, The funny thing is that on Fun's bio, it says Nate was
formerly of the band The Format.So by doing some quick back of
(10:34):
the napkin math, it tells me that the format is back.
And obviously because they have new music, this song is
fabulous. The vocal, you know, kicks in
the door from the first time he sings, starts off with like an
acoustic guitar and it kind of builds in and then Nate just
brings it. And then it just turns into what
(10:57):
I can only describe as an indie pop banger.
It's, it's so good. There's some fun things, right?
Like the song just has great energy.
It pushes and pushes. And then like masterfully,
there's this musical pause rightbefore the chorus.
The chorus is great, super hooky, great bridge.
(11:19):
I mean, honestly, like people just don't write songs like this
as often as they used to. Like it's classic songwriting on
display. Really glad that I found them
this week, but I'm kind of mad at the same time because I just
found out that they're playing locally on my birthday and the
tickets are sold out. I'm kind.
(11:40):
I'm kind of heartbroken because they're playing an acoustic set
and I just think that would be amazing.
I'm on the wait list. I'm hoping something will shake
loose, but till then, here's a bit of shot in the dark from the
format. The second song this week is Mr.
(12:38):
Feel Good from The Boondocks. You want high energy riff rock
from New Zealand? You've got it.
This duo brings kind of the sameenergy that I get from like
bands like the Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, but at the same
time I feel like they're just a touch heavier.
Like there's definitely more of a high energy rock feel from
(13:02):
these guys. I really like the production on
this track. The drums are nice and big, the
guitar tone is really beefy. It's like it's filling a lot of
space in my ear. It sounds like there's bass
guitar present and I'm not honestly sure what instruments
the main duo play. The sound doesn't feel
(13:23):
unattainable if it was just the two of them in a live setting.
You know the right pedal or you know, maybe it's a backing track
that plays the bass, whatever, Ithink it would still be a great
show to see. I don't know if they'll ever
visit the US from New Zealand, but one can hope.
But until then, check out A little Taste of Mr. Feel Good
from the Boondocks. The third song this week is Gala
(14:30):
Wine from Ugly UK. OK, I will be honest, the intro
kind of threw me off. But don't let the intro dissuade
you from listening. It gets really progressive
really quickly. Like, think early Genesis.
It's got piano. There's a theatrical sound to to
(14:51):
it. There's like this groovy yet
complex drum part, great guitar work.
It's all there. But it's a modern take on a
classic delivery of a genre. This is one of those ones that I
insist you have to throw some headphones on to truly immerse
yourself in it to get that complete sound.
(15:12):
I think there's a lot of little buried audio tidbits here that
are kind of scattered along the track that you can pick up on.
Little small vocal harmonies, little guitar flourishes here
and there. And I will admit this song is
not going to be for everybody, and I recognize that.
But I do like to bring you something to broaden your
horizons every now and then, because I will say, like the
(15:34):
classic prog rock fan in me ate this up and maybe you will, I
don't know, give it a listen. This is Gala wine from Ugly UK.
(16:27):
The 4th song this week is Medusafrom The Pale White.
Yes, The Pale White have returned to the podcast and I
didn't expect that because, you know, they released an album and
that was kind of it. But I've got to say I'm digging
this trend lately that I'm seeing where artists after they
release an album earlier in the year, they're releasing an extra
track or two. And it always makes me wonder,
(16:50):
like, was this track one that just didn't make the album, but
it was really good and they didn't want to like shelve it or
lose it? Or was it something that was
recorded later, like they went back into the studio after
writing a new song? I mean, that happens.
You don't want to wait until thenext album because you don't
know when that might be. Either way, this is a great what
I will call and describe as a piano driven rocker.
(17:10):
This piano that sits in the entire track pretty much is this
constant eighth note pulse. Like think like classic like oh
Little Richard, kind of like pulsing piano.
Not something you hear all the time.
Jerry Lee Lewis, another good one for that.
(17:34):
It's, it adds this certain feel,this pulse to it, and it kind of
sits there while the guitars anddrums kind of wash over the top
of it. I think one of my favorite parts
of this track is there's this fun little harmony section.
It's about 2/3 of the way through the song and then it's
followed by this really interesting musical break.
(17:56):
And it's not a guitar solo. I can only describe it as a band
solo, it's it almost acts as a bridge, but there's no vocal.
It's really interesting to say the least, so check it out.
This is Medusa from the Pale white.
(18:54):
The 5th song this week is I'm Not Dead Yet from Scar Haven.
I know, I know. It's their third single and it's
the third time I've had them on the podcast.
What can I say, I like what theyare putting out.
I loved the grunge era and when I tell you that I love this post
(19:14):
grunge revival that is happeningcurrently with bands like Return
to Dust and Dark Sun and of course Scar Haven, it's a no
brainer, right? This track in particular flips
between what you can describe askind of a head banger to the
absolute 180°, what I can only describe as a heavy dirge,
(19:36):
sludgy if you will. You know, of course with Scar
Haven we get just big vocals andhis range is on full display in
this track and I think it's wider than I initially thought.
It's really powerful. These guys are good.
I like I want these guys to break so bad and I want to see
(19:58):
them live. I feel like it's it has such
potential to be huge. It just needs to kind of wade
through the mess that is all themusic that is being released
today. So until that day here is I'm
not dead yet from Scar hate. And that, my friend, is it for
(21:04):
this week. The answer to the trivia
question at the top of the show.If you guessed Squeezebox from
The Who, that was the number onesong that had Banjoin accordion.
Give yourself a Gold Star because I could not pull that
when the question was initially asked to me.
And you listen to the track and I'm like, Oh my gosh, it's
(21:26):
absolutely there. Songs that Don't suck.net is our
website. It is the place to go for all
your podcast needs. You can go check out the
playlists, you can interact withthe show.
You can catch the song on whatever platform you listen to.
Look, I built links so you can find the music really easily.
(21:47):
There's a newsletter you subscribe to that you get access
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You want to buy songs that don'tsuck T-shirt, you can do that
too. Don't forget to like, review and
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And more importantly, tell your friends about the podcast
because that is the best advertising and promotion that
(22:07):
can happen because people who tell you about music are
important people in lives. Thanks again for listening and
as always, please go out and support these artists.
Thanks for listening, and until next week, keep searching for
and listening to songs that don't suck.
Welcome to Songs that Don't Suckwith your host Mark Bradbourne.
What is up friend? My name is Mark.
I'm your host. This is songs that don't suck.
The structure of this podcast ispretty simple.
I listen to hundreds and hundreds of newly released songs
every week. I do that so that I don't feel
(00:59):
musically dead inside. The podcast is basically my
accountability partner to make sure that I'm not listening to
Nirvana for the five millionth time now.
If you are new here, welcome to the podcast.
If your goal is to find new music, you are well on your way
my friend. If you're a long time listener,
welcome back. I am so glad you're here.
(01:22):
Now before we get into the new music, I got a new book that I
want to tell you about and I'm very excited about this book
because it hugs both sides of mybrain, the music side and the
data side. So this book has been
pre-ordered by me for a couple of months, finally came and I'm
very excited. It's called Uncharted Territory,
(01:45):
It's by Chris Della Riva, and itbasically started when Chris
found a playlist that had every #1 Billboard hit from August of
1958 to January of 2025. At least that's the book's span
of time. And he went through and listened
to every single song. And in the process of doing
(02:05):
this, he built a data set for each song.
And the data set is a beautiful thing.
Like it covers a lot of deep things.
So it tells you how long it was at #1 Did it have non
consecutive like weeks at #1 It tells you the label.
It gives his genre scoring as well as Discogs genre.
(02:30):
Talks about the structure of thegroup, whether it's a solo duo,
you know three or more. Talks about if it was a talent
show. Was it a hit after the person
died? Talks about whether you know is
it a male artist? Is it a white artist?
Is it a black artist? Talks about the songwriters,
(02:53):
talks about who produced it, what the musical key is, what
the time signature is, talks about what instruments were in
the song and you want to talk about.
Fascinating. A friend of mine went through
this data set like The Way I Am,and he figured out that there's
been a handful of songs that hitnumber one that had either
accordion or banjo in it, but only one song had hit the number
(03:16):
one point with both. Do you know what that song was?
No. I'll tell you at the end of the
episode, I never give a tease. So now you have a tease.
You have something to look forward to.
It's just, it's fine. Trust me.
Now he uses this very rich data set to trace patterns, shifts,
(03:37):
oddities, cultural inflection points, genre waves, statistical
quirks, commentary on, you know,the politics of the day, whether
it be race or genre. And he talks about how hit songs
have changed. He looks back at six decades of
musical history, and it puts your favorite era into a bigger
(04:01):
picture. So for me, obviously being Gen.
X, mid 70s to like mid 90s, late90s, or like, that's my
formative years. So kind of reading that section,
you know, there's a lot of nostalgia for me, but it puts
everything in perspective with all the other things that have
been happening. And it's not just a celebration
(04:22):
of big hits, right? I mean, obviously it's number
ones. But he digs into what the data
actually shows. One fun thing that he found was
like the late 50s songs, there was a heavy theme of about
gruesome deaths. Who would have thought in the
late 50s that would have been the topic of choice?
But number one hits show that. The whole thing points out major
(04:44):
shifts, including how charts changed.
So there was a point when sound scan came into being and it
changed the way that the charts were calculated.
He talks about new formats, you know, the shift between vinyl to
cassette to CD to streaming. And he talks about how we find
hits. You know, nowadays it's TikTok
(05:06):
and, you know, streaming is, youknow, what's driving the
algorithm that gives us the hits.
It's very solid, right? data-driven, takes on heavy
subjects, talks about the role of gender in music, talks about
the role of race in music. If you remember, MTV would not
play black artists. And you know, Michael Jackson's
(05:27):
record label was like, we're going to pull everybody off of
MTV if you don't play Michael Jackson.
And they did. That kind of stuff is just
fascinating. So as I was reading through, I
thought it would be fun to sharesome of my prime listening years
fun facts that I found. So the first one was that, and I
(05:48):
didn't know this, but these there was a second British
invasion. So when we think about the
British invasion, we think about64 to 66, you know, The Beatles
on Ed Sullivan and all that, but35% of the number ones were
British acts in those kind of two years.
If we Fast forward to 83 to 85, the number of number one hits
(06:09):
rose to 45%. Why?
Because MTVMTV really appealed to British artists and they made
a ton of great videos. Think of like Duran Duran and
Culture Club, like they were allproducing these amazing like
film type videos and it capturedthe imagination of the charts.
(06:33):
The other thing, OK so 85 Whitney Houston had a huge hit
called Saving All My Love for You.
And like why is that an important song?
Because at the time 97% of the hit songs were in 4/4 time.
Whitney's song was in 12/8. Completely different feel.
And then in 1996 we saw our first number one hit that had
(06:56):
the word fuck in it. I love the word fuck.
It's probably my favorite swear word.
Who broke that glass ceiling, you ask?
Tupac on the track. How do you want it?
Every chapter gives you all these fun tidbits, and it ends
with highlights and low lights of the number ones.
(07:17):
In kind of the last chapter thatI was reading that was kind of
my, you know, high school years 92, he highlighted, I will
always love you, 'cause if you think about Whitney Houston, if
you ask just casual music fan, chances are if you said, what's
the song Whitney Houston sings, they will probably play.
Pick that one. It was kind of a, a milestone in
(07:39):
music, if you will. The low light, rightfully so,
was 1993's Informer by Snow. To quote Chris, he put it
eloquently. He says a Caucasian Canadian
singing in a faux Jamaican accent.
His songs worst offense is that it's a cheap imitation of a rich
genre. Couldn't agree more.
(08:01):
Now the $1,000,000 question is should you buy this book?
Well here's kind of my take on it right?
I think it'll be a good fit for you.
I think you will enjoy it if youare a music aficionado that has
an interest beyond This was a great song and more into why it
got that way. If you like data obviously, or
if you like pattern tracking andculture casually, I think you'll
(08:23):
enjoy this book. If you want a fresh angle on
songs you already know, you willprobably catch things that you
didn't see. I know I did already and I
haven't finished the book yet. If you want a book that blends
nostalgia with critical insight,you're going to enjoy this book.
Now who won't enjoy this book? People who are looking for
(08:45):
straight stories or interviews with musicians, it's really more
about what the data says. If you want to deep dive into
obscure albums, this ain't it. You don't want that.
And then I mean, if you aren't casually interested in charts,
numbers, and statistical visualizations, like the data
stuff really matters here. Chris is a really great writer
(09:05):
and I think you can probably look past some of that, but I
think the value is his great writing with the data.
So my honest advice, go buy the book.
I think it's really good and even if you aren't like a giant
data nerd, I think Chris presents the information in a
very accessible way. Like you don't have to be me on
the from a data perspective to really enjoy this.
(09:28):
If you are on the data side, Chris made the data set
available and you can play with it.
It's on his website. I will link it in the show notes
so that you can find it pretty easily and you can also order
the book. So with that, let's get into the
new music for this week. And who knows, maybe if I pick a
hit or two, it'll be in Chris's next book.
(09:49):
The first song this week is shotin the dark from the format.
OK, when I say somebody's voice is an audio fingerprint, you
know what I mean, right? It's one of those undeniable
things. You the minute you hear the
voice, you know exactly who it was from the first vocal note.
I was like, that's Nate Ruiz. OK, I didn't actually say that.
(10:11):
I said this guy sounds like the lead singer from Fun because I I
honestly didn't know his name orI couldn't remember it 'cause it
had been a while since I had heard Fun and I always think of
Fun as Jack Antonoff's band. I'll be, I'll be real.
Anyway, The funny thing is that on Fun's bio, it says Nate was
formerly of the band The Format.So by doing some quick back of
(10:34):
the napkin math, it tells me that the format is back.
And obviously because they have new music, this song is
fabulous. The vocal, you know, kicks in
the door from the first time he sings, starts off with like an
acoustic guitar and it kind of builds in and then Nate just
brings it. And then it just turns into what
(10:57):
I can only describe as an indie pop banger.
It's, it's so good. There's some fun things, right?
Like the song just has great energy.
It pushes and pushes. And then like masterfully,
there's this musical pause rightbefore the chorus.
The chorus is great, super hooky, great bridge.
(11:19):
I mean, honestly, like people just don't write songs like this
as often as they used to. Like it's classic songwriting on
display. Really glad that I found them
this week, but I'm kind of mad at the same time because I just
found out that they're playing locally on my birthday and the
tickets are sold out. I'm kind.
(11:40):
I'm kind of heartbroken because they're playing an acoustic set
and I just think that would be amazing.
I'm on the wait list. I'm hoping something will shake
loose, but till then, here's a bit of shot in the dark from the
format. The second song this week is Mr.
(12:38):
Feel Good from The Boondocks. You want high energy riff rock
from New Zealand? You've got it.
This duo brings kind of the sameenergy that I get from like
bands like the Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, but at the same
time I feel like they're just a touch heavier.
Like there's definitely more of a high energy rock feel from
(13:02):
these guys. I really like the production on
this track. The drums are nice and big, the
guitar tone is really beefy. It's like it's filling a lot of
space in my ear. It sounds like there's bass
guitar present and I'm not honestly sure what instruments
the main duo play. The sound doesn't feel
(13:23):
unattainable if it was just the two of them in a live setting.
You know the right pedal or you know, maybe it's a backing track
that plays the bass, whatever, Ithink it would still be a great
show to see. I don't know if they'll ever
visit the US from New Zealand, but one can hope.
But until then, check out A little Taste of Mr. Feel Good
from the Boondocks. The third song this week is Gala
(14:30):
Wine from Ugly UK. OK, I will be honest, the intro
kind of threw me off. But don't let the intro dissuade
you from listening. It gets really progressive
really quickly. Like, think early Genesis.
It's got piano. There's a theatrical sound to to
(14:51):
it. There's like this groovy yet
complex drum part, great guitar work.
It's all there. But it's a modern take on a
classic delivery of a genre. This is one of those ones that I
insist you have to throw some headphones on to truly immerse
yourself in it to get that complete sound.
(15:12):
I think there's a lot of little buried audio tidbits here that
are kind of scattered along the track that you can pick up on.
Little small vocal harmonies, little guitar flourishes here
and there. And I will admit this song is
not going to be for everybody, and I recognize that.
But I do like to bring you something to broaden your
horizons every now and then, because I will say, like the
(15:34):
classic prog rock fan in me ate this up and maybe you will, I
don't know, give it a listen. This is Gala wine from Ugly UK.
(16:27):
The 4th song this week is Medusafrom The Pale White.
Yes, The Pale White have returned to the podcast and I
didn't expect that because, you know, they released an album and
that was kind of it. But I've got to say I'm digging
this trend lately that I'm seeing where artists after they
release an album earlier in the year, they're releasing an extra
track or two. And it always makes me wonder,
(16:50):
like, was this track one that just didn't make the album, but
it was really good and they didn't want to like shelve it or
lose it? Or was it something that was
recorded later, like they went back into the studio after
writing a new song? I mean, that happens.
You don't want to wait until thenext album because you don't
know when that might be. Either way, this is a great what
I will call and describe as a piano driven rocker.
(17:10):
This piano that sits in the entire track pretty much is this
constant eighth note pulse. Like think like classic like oh
Little Richard, kind of like pulsing piano.
Not something you hear all the time.
Jerry Lee Lewis, another good one for that.
(17:34):
It's, it adds this certain feel,this pulse to it, and it kind of
sits there while the guitars anddrums kind of wash over the top
of it. I think one of my favorite parts
of this track is there's this fun little harmony section.
It's about 2/3 of the way through the song and then it's
followed by this really interesting musical break.
(17:56):
And it's not a guitar solo. I can only describe it as a band
solo, it's it almost acts as a bridge, but there's no vocal.
It's really interesting to say the least, so check it out.
This is Medusa from the Pale white.
(18:54):
The 5th song this week is I'm Not Dead Yet from Scar Haven.
I know, I know. It's their third single and it's
the third time I've had them on the podcast.
What can I say, I like what theyare putting out.
I loved the grunge era and when I tell you that I love this post
(19:14):
grunge revival that is happeningcurrently with bands like Return
to Dust and Dark Sun and of course Scar Haven, it's a no
brainer, right? This track in particular flips
between what you can describe askind of a head banger to the
absolute 180°, what I can only describe as a heavy dirge,
(19:36):
sludgy if you will. You know, of course with Scar
Haven we get just big vocals andhis range is on full display in
this track and I think it's wider than I initially thought.
It's really powerful. These guys are good.
I like I want these guys to break so bad and I want to see
(19:58):
them live. I feel like it's it has such
potential to be huge. It just needs to kind of wade
through the mess that is all themusic that is being released
today. So until that day here is I'm
not dead yet from Scar hate. And that, my friend, is it for
(21:04):
this week. The answer to the trivia
question at the top of the show.If you guessed Squeezebox from
The Who, that was the number onesong that had Banjoin accordion.
Give yourself a Gold Star because I could not pull that
when the question was initially asked to me.
And you listen to the track and I'm like, Oh my gosh, it's
(21:26):
absolutely there. Songs that Don't suck.net is our
website. It is the place to go for all
your podcast needs. You can go check out the
playlists, you can interact withthe show.
You can catch the song on whatever platform you listen to.
Look, I built links so you can find the music really easily.
(21:47):
There's a newsletter you subscribe to that you get access
to the live music archive, whichis a free benefit.
You want to buy songs that don'tsuck T-shirt, you can do that
too. Don't forget to like, review and
subscribe the podcast. It helps with the algorithm.
And more importantly, tell your friends about the podcast
because that is the best advertising and promotion that
(22:07):
can happen because people who tell you about music are
important people in lives. Thanks again for listening and
as always, please go out and support these artists.
Thanks for listening, and until next week, keep searching for
and listening to songs that don't suck.
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