A few bars

Hum is one of the greatest bands that I feel like most people haven’t heard of. And even then, they know “Stars” (because it’s an absolute banger) and nothing else. I mean, sure, you have to have a penchant for huge, driving guitar sounds (that border on metal sometimes); clean, pounding drums; vocals that speak […]

Your Older Brother’s 2020 Songs

My friend Dan publishes a list of his top 100 songs of the year and it often inspires me to do something similar. Last year, I ranked my favorite songs of the decade, but this year, I just have 2020 to look back on. Pretty good year for music, I thought. Dan always includes a […]

YOBCast Episode 001: RIDE – Nowhere

Welcome to the show notes for Episode 1 of Your Older Brother’s Podcast! I’m not sure how these will evolve over time, but here goes. I’ve included some links to the bands mentioned in the podcast (perhaps not all of them), and some articles where they help expand on the ideas we were talking about. […]

Your Older Brother’s Podcast

Hello siblings! Today I’m announcing the debut of Your Older Brother’s Podcast – because the world needs another podcast! 😄 We have a few ready to release and I have some more people lined up to talk music. For the first episode, my friend Scott Riggs and I talked in spring 2018. We almost started […]

Samblage – A Decade in Review

I’ve done year-end reviews before, but not a full decade retrospective. I was talking with my friend Geoff, who used to compile what he called ASSEMBLAGE, a yearly compendium of his 100 top songs of the year. He’d send out a zip file with all the songs, and an iTunes formatting file to make sure […]

Give Me Sabroso or Give Me Tacos!

Another great year at the Gringo Bandito Hot Sauce Sabroso Festival! I got there early and chatted with my cousin & her fiancée. They had just finished eating tacos while the beer tents were in full swing. It was an absolutely beautiful day for a punk rock show! First up was Denver’s own Dendrites, kicking […]

ThURGHsday! #14 – Dead Kennedys

As with many of the bands in URGH!, this was the first I knew or saw of Dead Kennedys. I didn’t know they were punk rock. They just seemed weird. Well, Jello did, anyway. The bass player and guitarist simply seemed geeky. Jello’s intro monologue for the song “Bleed For Me” didn’t make a whole […]

Your Older Brother’s 2017 Year-End Music List

After the loss of David Bowie and Prince in 2016, 2017 turned out to be a good year for music. I don’t know if everyone stepped up their game to fill in the gap (not that anyone could fill for those two) or if it was the political climate, but I really enjoyed the music […]

Essential Vinyls for the New Record Player – The Top 10

A friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook with one of my favorite conversation starters: “Random music question for you.” Favorite because I know the discussion to follow will be a lot of fun. It just has to be. After my reply asking what’s up, she continued: “So I just bought a record […]

ThURGHsday! #13 – The Go-Go’s

Once again we return to a superstar band that wasn’t a superstar band when this was filmed in 1980. (Content warning: crowdsurfing woman getting her shirt tugged at) The Go-Go’s debut Beauty and the Beat was released in early July of 1981 and was RIAA certified double platinum the following year. They were already gaining […]