Jay Ryan and Jason Harvey, bassists for the Chicago-area trio Dianogah, describe the route to -- and surprise release of -- their new, career-spanning 5LP box set. Visit landland.bandcamp.com to order this limited pressing, and follow @dianogah_official on Instagram for more updates.

After 15+ years on the road, Seattle's Minus the Bear said goodbye in 2018... but not for long. Marking two decades since the release of their second album, Menos El Oso -- heralded by both critics and fans alike -- the five-piece are back this year to play the album in full across the country. A sprawling, math-rock masterclass, Menos takes listeners on a globetrotting trail through Spain, Ireland, Los Angeles and more, while vocalist/guitarist Jake Snider inhabits characters seeking escape, be it from fever dreams, crime scenes or soul-crushing day jobs. Today, Jake is joined by guitarist David Knudson, as the pair breakdown Menos track-by-track. Along with host Jim Hanke, they dive into the meanings behind some of the band's most impactful songs twenty years later, and how the genre-bending experimentation of Danger Mouse and DJ Shadow influenced the LP. Catch Minus the Bear at this year's Best Friends Forever Fest in Las Vegas, or on tour cost-to-coast, this fall. Visit minusthebear.com for tickets, social media and more.

On the heels of a fiery new album (Here We Go Crazy), influential indie icon Bob Mould reflects on how record store culture informed Hüsker Dü's formation and why the jukebox singles of his youth still help him get out of the occasional songwriting stalemate. Visit bobmould.com for tour dates, social media and more. 

This is an encore presentation of a previous episode, originally airing in August 2023.

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The two sounds Tommy Prine says he remembers most growing up were having the AM radio on or his father (renowned singer/songwriter John Prine) workshopping tunes at the kitchen table. Journeying through adolescence, his eclecticism later manifested through acts like Outkast and System of a Down. But now, on the heels of This Far South — his debut album — Tommy has found his own unique voice that marries his mom’s Irish wisdom and his dad’s dry Midwestern/Southern wit. On today’s show, Tommy shares why Radiohead’s “Videotape” speaks to him, his experiences working with Nashville talents Ruston Kelly and Gena Johnson on This Far South, and how the artwork for this album feels like both an ending and a beginning. Visit tommyprine.com for your dates, socials and more.

Long before Hot Ones became a viral sensation, there was Man v. Food. Over four seasons on the Travel Channel, host Adam Richman cruised the country going toe-to-toe with fiery chicken wings, monster-sized pizzas, pizza-sized burgers and more. Though the Brooklyn native demolished eating challenges that boggled both the mind and the belly, the heartbeat of MvF was in the small sandwich shops and hole-in-the-wall diners that were suddenly given a national stage. Since then, he's remained an in-demand, jovial educator of eating -- whether helping demystify menus via the YouTube series Pro Moves, embracing UK cuisine through Discovery+'s Adam Richman Eats Football, or tracing the origins of our favorite culinary brands on The Food That Built America (now in its sixth season). On today's episode, Adam dissects the similarities between food and music culture, his vinyl collecting habits, the classic rock staples he first heard through Beastie Boys samples, and the connections he's made with world-class performers who just so happen to be huge MvF fans -- ranging from Warren G to Green Day. Follow @adamrichman on Instagram and watch The Food That Built America on the History Channel, Sunday evenings at 9pm EST/8pm CST. 

Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon (Knives Out, The Shape of Water, Boardwalk Empire, Groundhog Day) and acclaimed musician Jason Narducy (Split Single, Bob Mould Band, Superchunk, Verböten) discuss their friendship through song, and their current tour performing Fables of the Reconstruction -- R.E.M.'s third album -- which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Tickets are available at concertedefforts.com, and you can watch Michael and Jason perform “Driver 8” with their band on The Tonight Show here. Follow @jasonnarducy on Instagram, plus catch the drama Eric Larue -- Michael's first film as director -- arriving in theaters this spring. 

In 1995, a fervent and wry rapper (Sean Daley, aka Slug) and a dexterous deejay (Anthony Davis; Ant for short) helped co-found a platform to help put Midwest -- and more precisely, Minnesotan -- hip-hop on the map. Three decades later, Rhymesayers Entertainment is one of the most popular and influential modern rap labels in existence, releasing seminal LP's by MF Doom, Freeway, Aesop Rock, Brother Ali, and Atmosphere: Slug and Ant's infectious repartee that helped define the Rhymesayers aesthetic from the jump: While Daley puts the listener in a metaphorical chokehold -- thanks to a volatile delivery of vulnerable self-reflection -- Davis' textured musical milieu allows plenty of room for revelry within a hybrid of soul, gospel and rap's golden age. On this week's episode, the pair ponder how record shopping has actively made their lives better, why racially integrated album covers usually lead to great music, and when their first-ever appearance on vinyl became a time capsule of their first-ever collaboration. Atmosphere will commemorate the 20th anniversary of their landmark release You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having by kicking off their aptly-titled Imagine The Fun tour in January. Tickets, social media and pre-orders for Ant's third volume of his Collection of Sounds series (dropping next month) are all available at atmospheresucks.com. 

Bruce Springsteen once said that the secret to good songwriting was striking a balance between the personal and the universal: Get specific with people and locations first before shading in the rest with the kinds of generalities that make your listener relate, and hopefully, feel something. Craig Finn -- leader of the rough-and-ready, Grammy-nominated outfit The Hold Steady -- has subscribed to this philosophy in spades, garnering a cult-like fandom over 20+ years. On critically-acclaimed albums like Separation Sunday and Boys & Girls In America, the band has wheeled-and-dealed jaw-dropping tales of overdoses, arrests, confessional debauchery, and post-party pathos on par with any binge-worthy crime drama. Yet, despite those circumstances, the most fervent fans of The Hold Steady often connect most with the undying optimism that lies within Finn's brash and bewildered characters -- many of which show up on multiple tracks. Recorded in front of a live audience at Pinwheel Records in Chicago, Craig spotlights a lyrical trick he learned from Paul Simon, the babysitter who schooled him on Led Zeppelin, and the intriguing plot of his next solo album, due in spring.

Visit craigfinn.net and theholdsteady.net for news, social media, tour dates and more. You can also subscribe to That's How I Remember It -- where Craig examines the connections between art and memory -- wherever you listen to podcasts.

Live sound engineer: Manny Medina

Between his father's banjo picking and his mother's love of Motown, Superdrag's John Davis eventually began writing tunes that would channel Stax's classic soul and Big Star-adjacent power-pop through the blurred guitar wall of My Bloody Valentine -- an eventual blueprint for the band's cult classic debut album Regretfully Yours in 1996. But between grueling tours and generous MTV airplay for the infectious "Sucked Out," John would discover a second home in local Knoxville, Tennessee music shop Lost & Found Records, where he says owners Mike and Maria Armstrong became like a surrogate aunt and uncle, further deepening his love of vinyl. On this episode, John chats about sobriety, Superdrag's future, and nostalgia's double-edged sword. His latest solo outing titled Jinx is now available digitally, on CD and wax via lostinohio.com. Follow @johndavisbrandmusic and @superdragofficial on Instagram for updates.

This is an encore presentation of a previous episode, originally airing in January 2022.

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Championed by some today’s biggest names on the fringes of country music, singer/songwriter Amythyst Kiah released her breakthrough album Wary + Strange in 2021 to rave reviews. Upon its release, Pitchfork dubbed the record “an intensely personal document (that) examines the realities of being a Southern Black LGBTQ+ woman in songs both defiant and vulnerable.” One of those tracks in particular, the Grammy-nominated “Black Myself,” matches a hypnotic groove and gritty distortion with lyrics addressing the horrors of chattel slavery and the Brown Paper Bag Test, making for an unforgettable statement that channels both Odetta and Public Enemy. On today’s episode, Amythyst discusses “Black Myself” in detail, as well as growing up with an audiophile father, being intrigued as a kid by a particular Santana album cover, and how an a cappella Tori Amos song inspired her to share her most personal struggles. Visit amythystkiah.com for tour dates, social media and more.

It’s not out of bounds to say that the Smoking Popes began as a bit of a joke. Vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Josh Caterer deems the earliest incarnation of the band as “a Spinal Tap version of hardcore punk,” choosing song titles first and how those songs would actually go later. But after finding a propulsive drummer in a teenage Mike Felumlee, the quartet began showing true heart around 1993: no longer just goofing off in the garage, Caterer was penning some of the punchiest, most direct odes to lost love on the college radio dial, emphasizing all the best parts of the Smiths, Cheap Trick, Roy Orbison and the Ramones, while feeling wholly original. It’s now been three decades since Born To Quit, the band’s heroic half-hour featuring “Need You Around” and “Rubella,” put them on the map. And although an LP reissue dropped earlier this year (without the band’s consent or knowledge), Josh and Mike decided that the Popes needed their own “Taylor’s Version” of sorts, in order to take these songs back into their possession — even in the most modest of terms. So before a minimal audience in a small, central Illinois studio, the band chose to cut Born To Quit live, front to back, and a vinyl version comes out this week to put a stamp on the occasion. During this episode, Josh and Mike speak to their longevity as a unit, what we can expect from their brand new album this spring, and what it meant to control Born To Quit’s legacy a bit, with this new approach. We also dive into Mike’s tenure in Alkaline Trio, and Josh’s solo performances pressed to wax during the 2020 lockdown. Visit anxiousandangry.com to pre-order the Born To Quit Live Session, and hit up smokingpopesmusic.com for tour dates, social media and more.

Today's guests are more than just bandmates. Friends since the first grade -- with matching tattoos to boot -- being founding members of the influential Kansas collective The Get Up Kids has taken Rob Pope and Jim Suptic (along with Matt Pryor and Rob's brother Ryan) to seemingly every corner of the world since their 1995 formation. This year marks the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough sophomore LP Something to Write Home About — an album layered in lovelorn distance and declarations of proving oneself. Back then, Jim and Rob say that getting the album out was a frustrating practice in learning who to trust; at the moment, currently on tour playing the album in full, the pair look at the release as a "coming-of-age" album, one that inspired and launched thousands of bands itself through its heroic melodies and relatable points of view. Recorded backstage at the legendary Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, Jim and Rob discuss the two-sided coin of nostalgia, what inspires them about each other, and why maple syrup isn’t always a positive smell. The band's 2LP Something to Write Home About reissue, complete with demos and previously unheard material, is available now via digital platforms, and physically on September 20th. Tour dates and more can be found at thegetupkids.com.

Not everyone can say that both their first and last jobs were behind the counter of a record store. But that's how things ended up for Matthew Caws, before his beloved power-pop act Nada Surf became his main gig in the mid-2000's. Shifting time between New York City and Paris growing up, he points to an eclectic list of influences (classical, disco and late 70's NYC punk) that laid the groundwork for who he'd become as a musician and songwriter. Though their sneering, tongue-in-cheek alt-rock hit "Popular" became an MTV staple throughout 1996, the band has made a deeper impact as they've aged, through genuinely hopeful takes on the human condition like "Inside of Love" or "See These Bones." Today, Matthew talks about color coding his record collection, why double-tracking vocals feels like an act of fiction, the meticulous nature of Nada Surf's album covers, and connecting the dots between Bach and Blonde Redhead. Their new album Moon Mirror -- the group's first for Nashville label New West -- drops September 13th. More details are available at nadasurf.com.

A love affair with records has fueled Tracyanne Campbell for as long as she can remember: Before anyone else woke up in the morning as a kid, she'd already be spinning ELO; thanks to her grandmother, she became a devout listener of American country music and still has a profound memory of first hearing Tammy Wynette's groundbreaking "Stand By Your Man"; her mother even bought her a new 45 RPM single every weekend growing up -- spanning everything from Roxy Music to The Osmonds -- keeping her fervent curiosity alive. Fast forward to the mid-90's, and Tracyanne takes this bag of influences full-throttle, forming Camera Obscura. A band that's worn its AM radio influences proudly on its sleeve for nearly 30 years, they've created a rather timeless jangle that fits snugly between The Magnetic Fields and Carole King. The band's latest album -- Look to the East, Look to the West -- is available on Merge Records wherever music is sold. Visit camera-obscura.net for more info, social media and more.

Early in his career, John Moreland says he existed in a state of what he dubs "under-being": Living in perpetual humility to a fault, believing he wasn't deserving of appreciation for his art, let alone basic kindness. But in 2024, whether being championed by his Grammy-winning peers, or hailed by GQ as "the new face of folk rock,” he's finding being one of the most talked-about singer/songwriters today a little easier to take. And the last 12 months alone have given his fans multiple reasons to celebrate: On top of a raw, live-to-acetate recording at Nashville's Third Man Records and a 10th-anniversary vinyl reissue of his terrific sophomore LP, he suddenly dropped his latest album Visitor, without warning, back in April to wild acclaim. Today, the Oklahoma-based Moreland speaks about learning to love surprises, his infatuation with Sheryl Crow’s harrowing hit “Strong Enough,” and how ditching his smartphone reconnected him with his record collection. Visit johnmoreland.net for tour dates, social media and more.

This is an encore presentation of a previous episode, originally airing in September 2020.

4x Grammy-winning producer, engineer and mixer Vance Powell has worked with a wide range of artists and bands including Chris Stapleton, Buddy Guy and Phish. For vinyl collectors, he's arguably most known for being a consistent studio go-to for Jack White, not only being involved with proper studio releases from Jack and his various projects (The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs) but Vance is behind the boards of most every Live At Third Man Records LP, where bands record short sets in front of a couple hundred fans, direct-to-acetate. On this episode, Vance points to his favorite Third Man sessions he's recorded (including some mysterious Radiohead demos), how Chris Stapleton's famous cover of "Tennessee Whiskey" almost didn't happen, and why Vance's own barbecue kept him from his dream of recording U2. Visit sputniksound.com for more info on Vance's work, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter @vancalot.

While most music-focused kids picked up guitars or drums in the 60's and 70's, John Flansburgh says he was pulled toward the machinery that made art possible. With a reel-to-reel in hand before age 10 and an early love of graphic design, the detailed processes of printmaking, photography and analog recording seemed downright magical to his captivated, creative young mind. Once he reconnected with fellow singer/songwriter and high school pal John Linnell in the early 80's, the duo were off to the races as They Might Be Giants: an indescribable mix of surrealist humor, snappy history lessons, and power-pop sweetness. On today's show, John F. recounts catching one of Elvis Costello's earliest performances, inheriting a "profoundly haunted" record collection from a deceased cousin, and how a broken wrist and a ransacked apartment led to the groundbreaking launchpad for TMBG's storied career: Dial-A-Song. For tour dates, social media and more, visit theymightbegiants.com. 

"I don't have stage fright, I have life fright." Indiana native Timothy Showalter -- the mind and voice behind the moniker Strand of Oaks -- has pulled no punches when it comes to combatting his own childhood trauma and lifelong anxieties through music. And while he says that touring and performing puts him in his most zen state, he has experienced a death or sorts with the guitar-centered music Strand of Oaks has done until now. His upcoming album Miracle Focus finds him piloting synthesizers and crafting, what he calls, "a manual for my life. A soundtrack to connection." And despite a drastic instrumental shift, the core of Miracle Focus is still within the hopeful sonic palette that Showalter is known for. On today's second visit to Vinyl Emergency, he also discusses having a song go #1 in Belgium, what got him kicked out of Moby's restaurant, and his recent TV role on the Sons of Anarchy spin-off, Mayans MC. Visit strandofoaks.net for social media, tour dates and to pre-order Miracle Focus before it drops June 7th.

Esquire editor-at-large and former MTV VJ Dave Holmes discusses how his ADHD allowed him to embrace the chaos of live television, why hitting up a NYC vinyl listening bar with The Mandalorian didn't go exactly as planned, and his new podcast docuseries examining MTV's cultural impact. Subscribe to Who Killed the Video Star?: The Story of MTV wherever you get podcasts, and follow @daveholmes on Instagram and Threads.