January 5, 2026 • 17 mins
Episode 151 - Season 4 of Songs That Don’t Suck kicks off with host Mark resetting the mission, dunking on media “best of” lists, and spotlighting five killer new tracks—from Dicey Hollow to Tom Morello—that prove great new music is still out there if you know where to look.
Head to the Songs That Don’t Suck website to check out this week’s songs, join the Patreon (it’s Free), and more. Be sure and like, review, and subscribe to the podcast where ever you may be listening, and if you want, connect with Songs That Don’t Suck on social media including Instagram, BlueSky, and Threads.
Mark as Played
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 friends, Welcome to Season 4 of Songs that Don't
Suck. It's so good to be back with
you. Since we are at the beginning of
a new year, a new season if you will, I want to take a moment to
reset to let everybody know whether you are a new listener
(01:03):
or you kind of joined, you know,in the last two years, if you
didn't go back and listen to theearly episodes, you don't know
why I do this. So I'm going to tell you a
little story. So gather round my friend, and
learn why songs that don't suck exists.
So hi, my name is Mark. Hi Mark.
(01:25):
I turned 50 at the end of last year.
And that makes me a middle of the road older Gen.
Xer. I don't know.
I feel old and young at the sametime, but I'm a music fanatic.
I love music. Everything I do has music
involved in some way, shape or form.
You know that I'm in a really, really, really bad mood when I'm
(01:47):
sitting in silence. I spent a good part of three
decades performing and recordingand writing with different
artists and bands around Northeast Ohio.
And during COVID, my last band broke up and I just got into
this reflexive state of round music.
(02:10):
And I came to the realization that, like many people, I was
listening to music that I had been listening to since, you
know, my mid 20s. And I'd kind of gotten stale and
I was bored. So I decided to start a quest.
And the quest took the shape of this podcast.
The quest was simple. Find playlists, new artists, new
(02:33):
music, scour social media, do whatever I could possibly do to
find new music and the podcast and.
And you, dear listener, are my accountability partners on that
quest. It ensures that each and every
week I go through the process oflistening to 45600 different
songs in the hopes to find a fewthat don't suck.
(02:56):
That mission is fucking difficult.
I'm just going to put it right out there, but it's it's become
a labor of love, if you will. Now, if you want to know more
about the podcast, there is a website, songsthatdontsuck.net.
It's got links to all the songs.It's got different ways to build
(03:18):
the community that I'm trying tobuild it with the podcast.
Go check it out. Songs That Don't suck.net.
You won't regret it. I spent a lot of time building
it, so please check it out. Now we're all on the same page.
We know why we're here. So one of the things that I like
to do at the beginning of each season is see how I did in the
(03:38):
last year. And by that I mean, how do my
picks and my discoveries compared to the professional
media? So let's start with NPR.
So NPR doesn't generally pull kind of the corporate pop heavy,
you know, listening that a lot of the other media outlets do.
(03:59):
So I like to start with them because I feel like they have a
little bit more credibility. I'm a big fan of the Tiny Desk
series. They have a few artists that I
found, but they pulled differentsongs.
So I take that as 1/2 point. They named a few of our
favorites, the Beths, Wednesday,Big Thief Fame and Turnstile.
(04:20):
Those were the the five that I that I saw when I was going
through their list. We did have one song and artist
in common. That was Lucy Dakis and Ankles.
So well done NPR. I think y'all did pretty good
this year. Next we'll go to the click
baiting rage machine that is Rolling Stone magazine.
(04:43):
They you know them, they're asinine.
Their Best Song Ever and best guitarist ever lists their their
end of year Best Song list. Let's see how they did.
They also pulled the Beth's Big Thief Wednesday and Jensen
McCray, which I give them props for that one.
We had no song crossovers, but honestly some of their
(05:04):
selections definitely raised an eyebrow.
I mean, yeah, it's very pop heavy, but I digress.
Next one I found was Pitchforks List.
They're fairly credible, so let's see how they did artist
crossover. We had turnstile, we had Ethel
cane, which props for them pulling Ethel cane.
Haim Big thief Wednesday. You're starting to see a theme,
(05:26):
right? The last one is rough trade had
never seen their list before andthe website touts that they
don't use charts or data. It tracks basically what their
staff found and loved. So let's see how their staff is
Turnstile Wednesday, Big Thief and a bunch of stuff from the
(05:48):
other media outlets. So whether they use data or not,
they're definitely influenced bycharts and data.
I mean, you can't see me right now, but I'm kind of shaking my
head because, you know, whereveryou landed, you've landed there
because of what you're being influenced by.
And if you're being influenced by kind of mainstream media,
then of course you're going to have the same things.
(06:10):
So I I'm going to take this as awin.
There's definitely some consistently named artist,
right? Like there's definitely a
pattern Wednesday in the Beths. But I put those bands on your
radar more than a year ago. So, you know, it's just more
proof that you were in the rightplace if you want to hear
artists that other people are going to be talking about in 12
to 18 months from now. So you're ahead of the curve.
(06:34):
Songs That Don't Suck is still the undisputed champion in
finding hidden gems in an ocean of musical shit.
So let's see what we have found for the first episode of Season
4. The first song this week is The
Fool by Dicey Hollow. Now Dicey Hollow unites band
(06:54):
members from Alberta Cross the Voids and Canon Division, and
this is their debut single and it's solid.
So let's start with the feel of the song.
It's got what I'm going to describe as a slinky groove to
it. It's, it's got a very cool feel.
It's laid back for the most part, but there's some definite
(07:15):
like syncopation going on that that gives it a very interesting
listen to my ear. Obviously as a drummer in the
chorus, there's a subtle change to where the emphasis goes and
starts playing a a syncopated offbeat on the ride and it gives
it a slightly more pronounced Dr. It's really cool.
(07:37):
Like I said, the rhythm exists in other pieces and parts of the
song, and the drummer does really nice job of highlighting
and moving it around from the background to the foreground.
So bravo for a well played song.Musically, it's got a lot of
layers, a lot of layered vocals and guitar parts.
It's got a really great bridge that gives the listener a moment
(07:58):
to breathe before coming back into the great chorus, and the
whole song builds up until the end where you think it's going
to end, but it doesn't. And I'm not going to spoil it
because I want you to listen to it and I want you to have that
enjoyable moment at the end. It's a very cool twist.
So check out a little bit of TheFool from Dicey Hollow.
(09:02):
The second song this week is No Way to Live by Kian Dakrat.
I hope I'm pronouncing that right, but this song is an
upbeat. I'll describe it as Celtic folk
rock track and it takes the formof either a motivational speech
or a swift kick in the ass depending on what you need
(09:23):
'cause either way, sometimes we could all use one or the other.
Let's see. Overall, I love the vocal, the
tambour of the vocal, the delivery of the vocal.
It just fits both message and style structure.
It's got a great pre chorus thatleads into a simple but very
effective chorus. I love the fiddle work because
(09:46):
it gives it that great Irish or Celtic folk feeling.
Honestly, it reminds me a littlebit of a band that I love called
Tom Land and the Paper Boys out of the Pacific Northwest.
If you're into the Celtic folk rock thing, definitely check
those guys out. But top to bottom, I really,
really dig this one. So check it out.
(10:08):
This is a little bit of Kian de Kraut and no way to live.
(10:31):
Can we all agree here for a second that a kid looking for
shelter should be safe and not feel threatened?
All these things you choose to hate, well I'm afraid they're
not to blame for your shit life.Well, you can love just who you
love and you can think just whatyou think.
(10:53):
And if you open up your. Eyes, The third song this week
is Body Down by Stanley Simmons.Now this was not on my 2026
bingo card, but if you are looking for a vocally rich 70s
styled harmony folk rock debut from the children of Paul
Stanley and Gene Simmons from KISS, here you go.
(11:17):
This one is not what you would expect.
Obviously heavily influenced by bands like Crosby, Still Nash
and Young Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles all while having a
very modern production kind of take on those classic
influences. Honestly, if you remember, I
think it was season 1, I was talking about Daisy Jones and
(11:39):
the Six who were, yes, a fake band.
But musically it was fantastic. The music was written by Phoebe
Bridger's, Mark Mumford, JacksonBrowne and and others, but it
was written to reflect the 70s which where the, you know, the
series was based, but it was very modern in in listening to
it. But it worked.
(12:00):
And honestly, these guys probably could have contributed
to that soundtrack and it would have fit right in.
Really looking forward to seeingwhat else comes from these guys
because honestly, I kind of expected them to Don the makeup
and continue kiss, you know, like into perpetuity.
But I'm glad they branched out 'cause I really, really like
(12:21):
this one. So here is Body Down.
Here we go. When my body feeds in the wind
in the house, you'll be round onthe other side of every door.
(12:44):
Andrew Denny's and don't grave they can hold out brownie down.
Come on, grave and don't grave they can.
(13:05):
The four song this week is everything Burned by Tom Morello
and Beartooth. OK, this one is more popular
than what I normally like to diginto.
You know, I try to stay away from the well known stuff.
I tried to spotlight newer artists, smaller artists, but I
couldn't resist this one. It was just interesting.
I needed something high energy in my life, you know, especially
(13:27):
at the start of this year 'causeit is already a shit show.
And you know, Tom Morello is a guitar God, truly.
And I don't love all of his solostuff, but every now and again,
like, it just hits me the right way.
This track, it's big, aggressive, but it has these
moments where it leaves room forthe vocal to shine and the vocal
(13:47):
kind of dips between kind of thespoken word rap thing and, you
know, sung choruses. And I usually don't like the
spoken word rap thing in my Rock, You know?
But this is one of those cases where I really enjoyed it.
And then I found that this song is actually coming off a game
(14:10):
soundtrack. It's coming off the Final
Fantasy 14 online soundtrack, which apparently is a relaunch
from the Final Fantasy 14 game which came out in 2010.
Not sure, I'd never played the series, but I found it
interesting that like when a game soundtrack pulls a pretty
decent artist, it's always interesting.
(14:31):
So here is a little bit of Everything Burns from Tom
Morello and Bear Tooth. The 5th and final song for this
(15:21):
week is Right Where I belong from the format now.
At the end of last season, if you are a long time listener, we
learned that the format was reforming after an 18 year
hiatus and releasing a new albumthat is happening soon, and we
got a few more tracks from it atthe beginning of 2026 here.
(15:41):
And this one is in a slightly different direction than the
song that I featured last seasoncalled Shot in the Dark, so I
thought it was worth sharing foryou.
This one is got much more delicate vocal, some really nice
harmonies, and it leans more towards kind of the folk
singer-songwriter vibe that I dig.
(16:02):
There's nothing over the top in the production.
It's just honestly, it's really kind of a stripped down song.
It's really a lovely listen, nothing else to say about it.
Honestly. I'm looking forward to hearing
the whole album when it comes out, but here is a little bit of
Right where I belong from the format.
Like a thief in the night. And don't let go me girl, I'm
(16:27):
not your type, but you have shown me how how to smile.
So if I'm never going to die, then we're never going to die.
It took my whole life to build this home.
(16:49):
All the love lost, the night spent on my own.
I traded my voice in shame for agood can of pain.
It took my heart. And that, my friend, is it for
this week. Whether you're a long time
(17:10):
listener or first time listener,thanks so much for taking the
time to check out the podcast this week.
And as always, 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's up friends, Welcome to Season 4 of Songs that Don't
Suck. It's so good to be back with
you. Since we are at the beginning of
a new year, a new season if you will, I want to take a moment to
reset to let everybody know whether you are a new listener
(01:03):
or you kind of joined, you know,in the last two years, if you
didn't go back and listen to theearly episodes, you don't know
why I do this. So I'm going to tell you a
little story. So gather round my friend, and
learn why songs that don't suck exists.
So hi, my name is Mark. Hi Mark.
(01:25):
I turned 50 at the end of last year.
And that makes me a middle of the road older Gen.
Xer. I don't know.
I feel old and young at the sametime, but I'm a music fanatic.
I love music. Everything I do has music
involved in some way, shape or form.
You know that I'm in a really, really, really bad mood when I'm
(01:47):
sitting in silence. I spent a good part of three
decades performing and recordingand writing with different
artists and bands around Northeast Ohio.
And during COVID, my last band broke up and I just got into
this reflexive state of round music.
(02:10):
And I came to the realization that, like many people, I was
listening to music that I had been listening to since, you
know, my mid 20s. And I'd kind of gotten stale and
I was bored. So I decided to start a quest.
And the quest took the shape of this podcast.
The quest was simple. Find playlists, new artists, new
(02:33):
music, scour social media, do whatever I could possibly do to
find new music and the podcast and.
And you, dear listener, are my accountability partners on that
quest. It ensures that each and every
week I go through the process oflistening to 45600 different
songs in the hopes to find a fewthat don't suck.
(02:56):
That mission is fucking difficult.
I'm just going to put it right out there, but it's it's become
a labor of love, if you will. Now, if you want to know more
about the podcast, there is a website, songsthatdontsuck.net.
It's got links to all the songs.It's got different ways to build
(03:18):
the community that I'm trying tobuild it with the podcast.
Go check it out. Songs That Don't suck.net.
You won't regret it. I spent a lot of time building
it, so please check it out. Now we're all on the same page.
We know why we're here. So one of the things that I like
to do at the beginning of each season is see how I did in the
(03:38):
last year. And by that I mean, how do my
picks and my discoveries compared to the professional
media? So let's start with NPR.
So NPR doesn't generally pull kind of the corporate pop heavy,
you know, listening that a lot of the other media outlets do.
(03:59):
So I like to start with them because I feel like they have a
little bit more credibility. I'm a big fan of the Tiny Desk
series. They have a few artists that I
found, but they pulled differentsongs.
So I take that as 1/2 point. They named a few of our
favorites, the Beths, Wednesday,Big Thief Fame and Turnstile.
(04:20):
Those were the the five that I that I saw when I was going
through their list. We did have one song and artist
in common. That was Lucy Dakis and Ankles.
So well done NPR. I think y'all did pretty good
this year. Next we'll go to the click
baiting rage machine that is Rolling Stone magazine.
(04:43):
They you know them, they're asinine.
Their Best Song Ever and best guitarist ever lists their their
end of year Best Song list. Let's see how they did.
They also pulled the Beth's Big Thief Wednesday and Jensen
McCray, which I give them props for that one.
We had no song crossovers, but honestly some of their
(05:04):
selections definitely raised an eyebrow.
I mean, yeah, it's very pop heavy, but I digress.
Next one I found was Pitchforks List.
They're fairly credible, so let's see how they did artist
crossover. We had turnstile, we had Ethel
cane, which props for them pulling Ethel cane.
Haim Big thief Wednesday. You're starting to see a theme,
(05:26):
right? The last one is rough trade had
never seen their list before andthe website touts that they
don't use charts or data. It tracks basically what their
staff found and loved. So let's see how their staff is
Turnstile Wednesday, Big Thief and a bunch of stuff from the
(05:48):
other media outlets. So whether they use data or not,
they're definitely influenced bycharts and data.
I mean, you can't see me right now, but I'm kind of shaking my
head because, you know, whereveryou landed, you've landed there
because of what you're being influenced by.
And if you're being influenced by kind of mainstream media,
then of course you're going to have the same things.
(06:10):
So I I'm going to take this as awin.
There's definitely some consistently named artist,
right? Like there's definitely a
pattern Wednesday in the Beths. But I put those bands on your
radar more than a year ago. So, you know, it's just more
proof that you were in the rightplace if you want to hear
artists that other people are going to be talking about in 12
to 18 months from now. So you're ahead of the curve.
(06:34):
Songs That Don't Suck is still the undisputed champion in
finding hidden gems in an ocean of musical shit.
So let's see what we have found for the first episode of Season
4. The first song this week is The
Fool by Dicey Hollow. Now Dicey Hollow unites band
(06:54):
members from Alberta Cross the Voids and Canon Division, and
this is their debut single and it's solid.
So let's start with the feel of the song.
It's got what I'm going to describe as a slinky groove to
it. It's, it's got a very cool feel.
It's laid back for the most part, but there's some definite
(07:15):
like syncopation going on that that gives it a very interesting
listen to my ear. Obviously as a drummer in the
chorus, there's a subtle change to where the emphasis goes and
starts playing a a syncopated offbeat on the ride and it gives
it a slightly more pronounced Dr. It's really cool.
(07:37):
Like I said, the rhythm exists in other pieces and parts of the
song, and the drummer does really nice job of highlighting
and moving it around from the background to the foreground.
So bravo for a well played song.Musically, it's got a lot of
layers, a lot of layered vocals and guitar parts.
It's got a really great bridge that gives the listener a moment
(07:58):
to breathe before coming back into the great chorus, and the
whole song builds up until the end where you think it's going
to end, but it doesn't. And I'm not going to spoil it
because I want you to listen to it and I want you to have that
enjoyable moment at the end. It's a very cool twist.
So check out a little bit of TheFool from Dicey Hollow.
(09:02):
The second song this week is No Way to Live by Kian Dakrat.
I hope I'm pronouncing that right, but this song is an
upbeat. I'll describe it as Celtic folk
rock track and it takes the formof either a motivational speech
or a swift kick in the ass depending on what you need
(09:23):
'cause either way, sometimes we could all use one or the other.
Let's see. Overall, I love the vocal, the
tambour of the vocal, the delivery of the vocal.
It just fits both message and style structure.
It's got a great pre chorus thatleads into a simple but very
effective chorus. I love the fiddle work because
(09:46):
it gives it that great Irish or Celtic folk feeling.
Honestly, it reminds me a littlebit of a band that I love called
Tom Land and the Paper Boys out of the Pacific Northwest.
If you're into the Celtic folk rock thing, definitely check
those guys out. But top to bottom, I really,
really dig this one. So check it out.
(10:08):
This is a little bit of Kian de Kraut and no way to live.
(10:31):
Can we all agree here for a second that a kid looking for
shelter should be safe and not feel threatened?
All these things you choose to hate, well I'm afraid they're
not to blame for your shit life.Well, you can love just who you
love and you can think just whatyou think.
(10:53):
And if you open up your. Eyes, The third song this week
is Body Down by Stanley Simmons.Now this was not on my 2026
bingo card, but if you are looking for a vocally rich 70s
styled harmony folk rock debut from the children of Paul
Stanley and Gene Simmons from KISS, here you go.
(11:17):
This one is not what you would expect.
Obviously heavily influenced by bands like Crosby, Still Nash
and Young Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles all while having a
very modern production kind of take on those classic
influences. Honestly, if you remember, I
think it was season 1, I was talking about Daisy Jones and
(11:39):
the Six who were, yes, a fake band.
But musically it was fantastic. The music was written by Phoebe
Bridger's, Mark Mumford, JacksonBrowne and and others, but it
was written to reflect the 70s which where the, you know, the
series was based, but it was very modern in in listening to
it. But it worked.
(12:00):
And honestly, these guys probably could have contributed
to that soundtrack and it would have fit right in.
Really looking forward to seeingwhat else comes from these guys
because honestly, I kind of expected them to Don the makeup
and continue kiss, you know, like into perpetuity.
But I'm glad they branched out 'cause I really, really like
(12:21):
this one. So here is Body Down.
Here we go. When my body feeds in the wind
in the house, you'll be round onthe other side of every door.
(12:44):
Andrew Denny's and don't grave they can hold out brownie down.
Come on, grave and don't grave they can.
(13:05):
The four song this week is everything Burned by Tom Morello
and Beartooth. OK, this one is more popular
than what I normally like to diginto.
You know, I try to stay away from the well known stuff.
I tried to spotlight newer artists, smaller artists, but I
couldn't resist this one. It was just interesting.
I needed something high energy in my life, you know, especially
(13:27):
at the start of this year 'causeit is already a shit show.
And you know, Tom Morello is a guitar God, truly.
And I don't love all of his solostuff, but every now and again,
like, it just hits me the right way.
This track, it's big, aggressive, but it has these
moments where it leaves room forthe vocal to shine and the vocal
(13:47):
kind of dips between kind of thespoken word rap thing and, you
know, sung choruses. And I usually don't like the
spoken word rap thing in my Rock, You know?
But this is one of those cases where I really enjoyed it.
And then I found that this song is actually coming off a game
(14:10):
soundtrack. It's coming off the Final
Fantasy 14 online soundtrack, which apparently is a relaunch
from the Final Fantasy 14 game which came out in 2010.
Not sure, I'd never played the series, but I found it
interesting that like when a game soundtrack pulls a pretty
decent artist, it's always interesting.
(14:31):
So here is a little bit of Everything Burns from Tom
Morello and Bear Tooth. The 5th and final song for this
(15:21):
week is Right Where I belong from the format now.
At the end of last season, if you are a long time listener, we
learned that the format was reforming after an 18 year
hiatus and releasing a new albumthat is happening soon, and we
got a few more tracks from it atthe beginning of 2026 here.
(15:41):
And this one is in a slightly different direction than the
song that I featured last seasoncalled Shot in the Dark, so I
thought it was worth sharing foryou.
This one is got much more delicate vocal, some really nice
harmonies, and it leans more towards kind of the folk
singer-songwriter vibe that I dig.
(16:02):
There's nothing over the top in the production.
It's just honestly, it's really kind of a stripped down song.
It's really a lovely listen, nothing else to say about it.
Honestly. I'm looking forward to hearing
the whole album when it comes out, but here is a little bit of
Right where I belong from the format.
Like a thief in the night. And don't let go me girl, I'm
(16:27):
not your type, but you have shown me how how to smile.
So if I'm never going to die, then we're never going to die.
It took my whole life to build this home.
(16:49):
All the love lost, the night spent on my own.
I traded my voice in shame for agood can of pain.
It took my heart. And that, my friend, is it for
this week. Whether you're a long time
(17:10):
listener or first time listener,thanks so much for taking the
time to check out the podcast this week.
And as always, 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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