Podcasts by Theme

Here are our thematic, recurring podcasts, organized alphabetically.
Click on the title to see a full list of each one in that series.

Building Blocks

Our “Building Blocks” podcast looks at the influence of a particular artist on what came after.

Dreammmy

“Dreammmy” is a podcast that highlights bands that dabbled in the dream pop. Expect an ethereal, psychedelic, atmospheric set with the occasional subtle boom.

Footnotes

“Footnotes” is a podcast that highlights obscure bands, many of which were barely a blip on their regional radars. No Echo & The Bunnymen, Bad Religion, Hüsker Dü, or The Smiths. Only the artists we wish were footnotes no longer.

Gimme Indie Rock!

As the title would suggest, our “Gimme Indie Rock!” podcast focuses on the early years (1989–1995) of what we now commonly refer to as The Indie Rock. You’ll hear lots of music from record labels like Sub Pop, Touch and Go, Matador, Merge, spinART, Alias, Kill Rock Stars, Teenbeat, etc. Popular subgenres include fun descriptors like “math rock”, “riot grrrl”, “noise rock”, “emo rock”, “lo-fi”, “slowcore”, and “post-hardcore”.

Give The People What They Want

This is our punk rock podcast. On Gang Green’s debut 7″, released in 1984, Chris Doherty screams on the song “Sold Out”: “There’s one easy way to get that money — give the f*cking people what they want!” Well, this is it — a podcast packed full of punk rock goodness from the class of ’77 through ’80s hardcore and beyond.

The Great Cover-Up

Bands in the ’80s were not shy about paying homage to their favorite artists. This podcast features cover songs recorded between 1976–1995.

In The Garage

“In The Garage” examines the resurgence of garage rock in the 1980s as practiced by bands like The Fleshtones, Screaming Trees, The Gories, Hoodoo Gurus, and The Chesterfield Kings.

Just Making Noise!!!

This podcast pays tribute to the noisier side of the college/underground rock scene in the USA, including bands like Mudhoney, Volcano Suns, Naked Raygun, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, Dinosaur Jr., Didjits, and the like.

Left Of The Dial

Our “Left Of The Dial” podcast features American bands from the more radio-friendly side of the underground rock dial in the 1980s. You’ll get the jangle of the South, the rumble of the North, the tunefulness of the Midwest, and the eccentricities of the West Coast. Precisely the sort of tunes you WANT to hear on the radio nowadays.

Let’s Kiss & Make Up

Our “Let’s Kiss & Make Up” podcast is all about the indie pop: from jangly C86 to twee, from Galaxie 500 to BMX Bandits, from K Records to Sarah Records.

Lost Highway

The “Lost Highway” podcast uncovers the influence of Americana and Country Rock on the 1980s underground rock scene. Basically, it’s an exploration of early “alt-country”. A little twang never hurt anyone.

Moody Fuckers

Sometimes we’re sad. And when we’re sad, we turn in to moody fuckers. On this podcast, we spin the gloomy songs that depress the hell out of us. So expect a heaping of goth, dour post-punk, angry/noisy rock, fierce industrial, and trance-inducing EBM.

Powerful Pop

As you might have guessed, this podcast is all about the power pop: ringing guitars, tight harmonies, & hooks galore.

Rebellious Jukebox

“Rebellious Jukebox” is a podcast featuring post-punk from the heyday of the era, 1978–1984, including bands like Wire, Public Image Ltd., Mission of Burma, Bauhaus, Josef K, The Birthday Party, The Fall, Killing Joke, Pere Ubu, Chrome, and the like.

Special Edition

This category is a catch-all for unique one-off podcasts. There’s some really cool stuff in here, like our series on Australian underground rock and our series exploring Los Angeles’ punk and post-punk scene.

Speechless

“Speechless” is a podcast for fans of instrumental music.

Sunday Brunch

“Sunday Brunch” is our flagship, typically two-hour-long podcast and is published, to no surprise, on Sunday mornings. We genre-hop around the Little Records catalog so you get a taste of everything. It’s the perfect mellow accompaniment to rolling out of bed, brewing a pot of coffee, reading the paper, and cooking breakfast.

SYNTHS!

“SYNTHS!” is a podcast dedicated to exploring the role synthesizers played in shaping post-punk and new wave music in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Through Being Cool

This podcast is all about the New Wave. We mine the late ’70s and early ’80s for classic cuts from the underground, some of which poked their little heads above ground for a bit of fresh air.

Tone Bender

“Tone Bender” relives the swirly noise and loud guitars from the shoegaze scene circa the late ’80s and early ’90s. This is where you get your MBV fix.

Typical Grrrls

“Typical Grrrls”, which is a play on the song title “Typical Girls” (by the Slits), is a podcast the reinforces the integral role women play in counterbalancing traditional masculinity in rock music. It features female-fronted bands and female artists.

Weirdos

Allow us this brief respite to let our freak flag fly. Mining experimental, noise, and art rock, “Weirdos” features some oddball tuneage from some crazy cats.

Yearbook

“Yearbook” is our survey of a particular year of music. We hit some of the highs, but also dig up some nuggets you may have missed the first time around.

You’ll Dance To Anything

“You’ll Dance To Anything” — a not-so-subtle wink to the Dead Milkmen — is our interpretation of “dance music”. Upbeat tunes, but not just synth-pop. You can dance to guitars, too.