Wed, Feb 10, 2021
Yasi invites music journalist Alex Pappademas on the show to explain the sound, impact, and fandom of the world's ultimate dad band: Steely Dan. Alex's book on Steely Dan, Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, Babylon Sisters, and Other Soul Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan, and more.
Wed, Mar 24, 2021
The Replacements are one of rock n' roll's greatest cult bands. Also: one of Yasi's all-time favorites, which is why this gets the two part treatment (them's the rules). Grammy award-winning journalist Bob Mehr, author of Trouble Boys: the True Story of the Replacements leads the way.
Wed, May 5, 2021
Superproducer The-Dream, aka Terius Nash, was behind some of the 2000s biggest pop hits: Umbrella by Rihanna, Single Ladies by Beyonce, even Baby by Justin Beiber. What's lesser known is the intensity of the cult following that his solo R&B output amassed around the late 2000s. The Ringer's Rob Harvilla comes on the pod to explain The-Dream's influence and dissect his "lascivious, pristine R&B sex jams" (his words).
Wed, May 12, 2021
Jawbreaker is one of those highly mythologized bands, the kind that feel perfectly cast in the amber of cult band-om. Yasi dissects the lore, the albums, the break-up, and the ahead-of-their-time songwriting with Jawbreaker oral historian Leor Galil, featuring a very special guest appearance by Dear You producer Rob Cavallo.
Wed, May 19, 2021
Counting Crows are an essential inclusion to the sensitive nineties male rocker canon, one that is very close to Yasi's heart. Music critic and author Steven Hyden joins Yasi to count the ways they love the Crows and reimagine a context in which they should be reconsidered as good and cool.
Wed, Jun 16, 2021
Anybody scared that when doing psychedelics, brain will break and will get stuck in that place forever and never be normal again? That's what happened here. That's what happened here along the way researching for this Red Hot Chili Peppers episode, and nothing will never be the same again.
Wed, Sep 8, 2021
Cosmic country pioneer, Emmylou Harris collaborator, Keith Richards bestie, and spiritual grandfather of any country-twinged rock of the last half century, the one and only Gram Parsons is celebrated by guest John Strohm, president of Rounder Records, founding member of the Blake Babies, and former member of the Lemonheads.
Wed, Sep 15, 2021
The Scottish dream pop progenitors Cocteau Twins have a surprisingly dramatic backstory for being known as the ultimate band of ethereal, cryptic musicians. Deep dive with Rolling Stone alum Claire Shaffer, who helps decoding their mystique, as well as to champion the "no English, just vibes" lyrical philosophy of one brilliant Elizabeth Fraser.
Wed, Oct 13, 2021
Part one of mega-episode on Metallica, the biggest heavy metal band of all time. Rolling Stone senior writer Kory Grow has spent years writing about the band, and surfs through the beginning half of their career, from their origins to tragedy to triumph, and off to never never land.
Wed, Oct 20, 2021
Part two of Metallica episode, because nothing else matters. Journalist Joe Gross walks through the latter years of Metallica; the ups and downs of their musical explorations, personnel changes, and famously documented self-help odyssey, all of which follows their 16x platinum blockbuster, the self-titled Black Album.
Wed, Oct 27, 2021
Glenn Danzig's iconic punk outfit The Misfits get the Bandsplain treatment thanks to Mike Gitter, A&R man and progenitor of XXX Fan Zine. Yasi and Mike traverse the spooky landscape of The Misfits, from the history of horror-core to punks pumping iron on tour, and the countless drummers in between it all.
Wed, Nov 10, 2021
Yasi is joined by journalist Natalie Weiner to unpack the four-decade reign of Reba, Queen of Country, from her humble Oklahoma rodeo origins all the way through her world domination as a multi-platinum-selling artist, award-winning star of screen and stage, and intrepid entrepreneur.
Wed, Dec 1, 2021
From Lifter Puller's scrappy Minneapolis origins to the Hold Steady's reign as "America's best bar band," Yasi is joined by writer Darcie Wilder of Gawker to unpack this pair of critically beloved and certifiably cult bands who culled as much from Catholic symbolism and Springsteenian character studies as they did from the social milieu of the Brooklyn aughts zeitgeist.
Wed, Dec 8, 2021
Bob Mehr returns to Bandsplain for an in-depth look at oft overlooked stalwarts of the 90s rock charts, Gin Blossoms. Looking at the history before a slew of hit singles brought the band into the realm of grocery store soundtrack ubiquity (Hey Jealousy, Found Out About You, Follow You Down), Bob walks through their origins in Tempe, Arizona's fruitful scene of the late 80s and the tragic story of songwriter Doug Hopkins to the admirable longevity of some of their best-crafted rock songs.
Wed, Jan 12, 2022
At Bandsplain, all there is to have some fun, and Yasi had the feeling she wasn't the only one. So this week, friend of the show Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast joins to make the case for Sheryl Crow. In 1986, Sheryl's winding road began when she left small town Missouri for Hollywood, where she toured with Michael Jackson, scrapped her own debut album, and survived off trail mix until her breakthrough Tuesday Night Music Club put her on the map. Bethany and Yasi uncover the tragedies and successes of Sheryl's story as she spent the next few decades navigating the underbelly of celebrity and the mess of music media while becoming one of the quintessential songwriters of her time.
Wed, Jan 19, 2022
Barry Johnson of Joyce Manor joins Yasi for a thorough investigation into Weezer, the early nineties major label breakouts who have served as a gateway rock band for many a preteen since. Barry and Yasi plumb the depths of one idiosyncratic frontman, Rivers Cuomo, while examining the transmutations of alt-rock from the nineties to the aughts, and Weezer's robustly maintained fandom community who've stayed with them to this day.
Wed, Jan 26, 2022
Red Hot Chili Peppers Gen X-pert Joseph Patel, producer of Summer of Soul, returns to Bandsplain one of the Pep's most influential, yet under-appreciated, LA scene contemporaries: Fishbone. Their eclectic fusions of punk, funk, ska, metal, and soul earned these childhood friends from South Central a true cult following in the late 80s and early 90s, despite the industry racism and internal dysfunction that fumbled their mainstream potential.
Wed, Feb 9, 2022
Minutemen from San Pedro, CA were a band of childhood soulmates whose experimental sound, working class roots, and lucid politics made them all-timers in the history of punk. Joe Gross returns to highlight Minutemen's DIY ethos of "jamming econo," and the timeless influence they had on the whole of independent music that came after them.
Wed, Feb 16, 2022
The Ringer's Chris Ryan joins us for a long-awaited Bandsplain on one of Yasi's all-time favorite bands: Pavement. Steeped in Californian suburban ennui, the casual, scruffy brilliance of Pavement pierced through the indie rock heyday of the post-grunge 90s to make them one of the most enduring rock bands from that moment.
Wed, Feb 23, 2022
Sublime, the ultimate legacy band for stoner kids everywhere, get explained by return guest Jeff Weiss. Jeff joins Yasi to make the case on how Sublime's Long Beach heritage and their of-its-time infusions of ska, punk, rock, and reggae made them a ubiquitous Southern Californian musical export, even after singer Bradley Newell's passing in 1996.
Wed, Mar 2, 2022
Songwriter laureate of Los Angeles Randy Newman gets explained by the Valley's own Molly Lambert. Infinitely more prolific, and controversial, than his common image suggests as the "I Love LA" and Toy Story theme song guy, Molly takes Yasi on a tour of his extensive and complex oeuvre as Hollywood songman.