Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast

"It's astonishing that a group as dedicated to quality and craft as California's Black Watch could go for...decades with a cult following the size of a kitchen sponge."So begins Michael Toland's entry of the black watch in the Trouser Press Record Guide. But what exactly is a cult band? It's something that we seek to define - with fifteen prime examples, natch - during O3L's Season 6 premiere! Joining us is the black watch's singer/songwriter/guitarist/prolific genius himself, John Andrew Fredrick!It should be noted that Toland follows up the kitchen sponge comment with "...the band's body of work is remarkably consistent, worth searching out by more than just epicures of obscurity." He's right, y'know. John Andrew Frederick has two dozen albums of stellar indie pop to his name since 1988, including a pair of fantastic records in 2024 - The Morning Papers Have Given Us the Vapours and Weird Rooms. You can find those and more at https://theblackwatch.bandcamp.com.What's it like to be a cult hero? What's the most "cultish" thing black watch fans have done? What beloved cult band can John not get behind? Did the lads give John some ideas for his upcoming double album?So whaddya say? Join the "Mark E. Smiths of podcasting" for an episode stuffed to the gills with epicures of obscurity, brilliant failures, and horrible pleasures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy New Year!  After a long 2024, you deserve a weekend six pack to ring in 2025.  This week, we’re going to crack open six tunes that signify not only the changing of the calendar, but a sense of renewal and hope.  And can't we all use a little bit of optimism this year?Imbibe this: SUPER 8 - 'Resolution (Happy New Year)' (single, Think Like A Key) The Okmoniks - 'He Left The Party With Me' (from Afterparty Fever!!!, Slovenly Recordings) The Che Men - 'So It Goes' (from Echoes of the 30s) sparkle*jets uk - 'This Will Be Our Year' (from Box of Letters, Big Stir Records) Brett Vargo - 'New Era' (single, Little Train Rec.) Librarians with Hickeys - 'Everything Will Be Alright' (from How To Make Friends By Telephone, Big Stir Records) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're working late...because we're podcasters. Happy New Year! Here we are at the end of season five. Before we jump back into the classic alternative era of the '70s, '80s & '90s, we bid farewell to 2024 by celebrating some of the best songs of the year!It's O-3-L-T-O-G-O! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from your friends at Only Three Lads! In this brief bonus episode, Brett shares a seasonal message from O3L and his family's 2024 Musical Christmas Card, "Can't Believe It's Christmas".Wishing you a safe and joyous season filled with love, laughter, family, friends...and, of course, music!Thank you for being a part of our journey during our 5th season and beyond. We are filled with gratitude for allowing us to be a small part of your life! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're brat(s). And, as we do every December, the most brat thing we can do is to step out of the O3L era and count down our favorite albums of the year. 2024 has provided a treasure trove of pop culture highlights - it was a big pop girl year with a new crop of superstars. There were massive albums (in terms of sales, impact, and length) like The Tortured Poets Department, COWBOY CARTER, and Cindy Lee's Diamond Jubilee, but also records that were "short n' sweet" (literally and figuratively). There was the Kendrick v. Drake beef. Everyone had a Brat summer (well, almost everyone). And did we mention Shaboozey?!? Oh, actually, we didn't mention Shaboozey, but we wish we had...because it is kinda fun to say.It's also become O3L tradition to have someone who actually created one of the year's best albums join us for this episode, and this year is certainly no exception. This year, we welcome prolific singer/songwriter/producer Tamar Berk to join us for this discussion. Tamar has played in numerous bands in the Chicago, Portland, and San Diego scenes since the mid-90s, and in September she released her fourth solo album, Good Times for a Change. The new album is another brilliant mix of power pop hooks, '90s-leaning indie rock, and introspective songwriting. Every one of the Tamar's records has made Brett's year end Top 100 Albums list for their respective years...if that ain't a feather in your artistic cap, we don't know what is. But she's also received a rave review in Creem magazine and has made a whole lot of other year end best of lists. We guess that's cool too.Can we get a big ol' "Shaboozey" to that?!?Next week: Our Top 5 Songs of 2024! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the most O3L time of the year...always one of our favorite episodes, it's time for the O3L Holiday Party!Every year, we invite listeners from around the world to join us for a special taping full of fun, frivolity, games, friends, and lasting memories. And maybe...just maybe...the Christmas miracle of an Uncle Gregg rant or two. We had a room full of veteran partygoers this year - Julie from LA; Julio from Pueblo, Mexico; Kimberly from Downey, CA; Paul from Stockton, CA; and Tarah from Scottsdale, AZ. But just because you didn't attend the recording doesn't mean you're not invited to the party! Just press play to join in on the fun!This year, we asked our guests to bring their favorite "holiday party starter" song to the shindig. Plus, we play two brand new world famous O3L games: "That's Soooo '24," in which we ruin classic alternative song titles with 2024 slang words, and "Bandagrams," where we scramble up the letters of some of our favorite bands to hi-larious effect! Who will take the crown this year?!Plus: We talk new musical discoveries in 2024! Uncle Gregg shows off his tattoos (and gives plenty of life lessons)! Brett's got balls (and a psychedelic Santa hat)! O3L awards! Fruitcake...yay or nay? Cookies...or disappointment biscuits? Desserts with vegetables! Plus, new seasonal tunes: Swansea Sound - '(I Wanna Wear A) Mirrored Hat Like Slade' The Chesterfields - 'Last Train To Christmas' Glenn Erb - 'Santa's In Jail' Mike Browning - 'It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year' A skibidi time is guaranteed for all! Just like we used to do in Killarney.Happy Holidays from your friends at Only Three Lads! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we celebrate the music of one of the most important bands of the '90s and beyond, Radiohead. Since the release of their first EP Drill over 32 years ago (!!), Radiohead continued to innovate and reinvent their music, challenging themselves and their fans. From their post-grunge anthem "Creep" (1992) to Britpop-era tour de force The Bends (1995) to the ambitious masterpiece OK Computer (1997) to the millennial sounds of Kid A (2000) to latter day masterpieces like In Rainbows (2007), the Oxford, England Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have inspired two generations of forward thinking musicians. Among those musicians are our Third Lads, Heather Dickson and Patrick Ahern* from the avant-garde pop duo Slender Dan.(*NOT "Dan," as Brett erroneously called him before the recording started.)Slender Dan debuted its first EP on KEXP in March of 2021. Since then, the band has released a full-length album, GESTALT, as well as several EPs and singles. As longtime musicians in the Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, and now Nashville music scenes, the members of Slender Dan have come together to create a sound that can best be described as some kind of Thom Yorke/Billie Eilish/Miike Snow/Aphex Twin lovechild.In what could be one of the more unhinged O3L episodes, "Safe Gregg" and "7-Inch Brett" naturally chat with Heather and Patrick about the lasting influence of Radiohead, but also about two-man luges, current pop girls, Kansas, Yo Yo Ma, Napoleon Dynamite, Chumbawamba, puppies, ODing on energy drinks, Electric Company parties, and the distinct possibility that Heather MAY actually be Brett's daughter. Plus, we also shout out a recommended podcast by friend of the show Dave Gebroe: Discograffiti. Extensive and meticulously researched deep dives into some of your favorite artists catalogues, Discograffiti is a music obsessive's dream. Check it out wherever you get podcasts!Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're not content to just talk about great synth-pop albums of the pivotal year of 1980...we wanted to share the discussion with musicians who created one of the great synth-pop albums of 1980! The album, you ask? Party In The War Zone by L.A. band Vivabeat, and we were fortunate enough to have bassist/songwriter Mick Muhlfriedel and keyboardist/vocalist Marina Muhlfriedel joining us.This surely must be one of the most remarkable stories we've heard of living on the precipice of the big time. They had the hooks and the looks. They were discovered by Peter Gabriel (who was inspired by the whistling hook in the band's "Man From China" to write "Games Without Frontiers) and signed to Charisma. Their song "The House Is Burning (But There's No One Home)" was prominently featured in the film Body Double, and the music video subsequently won an MTV Video Award. Their second incarnation included former Japan guitarist Rob Dean, contributing to their standing as the opening act to bands like Depeche Mode and Gary Numan. However, a series of unfortunate events and unscrupulous managers limited Vivabeat's shelf life.Fortunately, in 2024, Rubellan Remasters (www.rubellanremasters.com) re-issued Party In The War Zone on CD for the first time, as well as the vinyl-only compilation The House Is Burning: The Best of Vivabeat 1979-86. Mick Muhlfriedel went on to work on scores for films such as Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, and is currently the President of the wonderful youth organization Downtown LA Soccer Club. Marina Muhlfriedel also got into the film industry, starting as a Production Assistant for Danny DeVito, eventually getting a Producer credit on movies like Throw Momma From The Train. She is a highly experienced storyteller, writer, and producer, who is currently working on her memoir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friday, November 29, 2024 is Record Store Day Black Friday - a day of exclusive releases and fun for record collectors everywhere!Join O3L's Brett Vargo for a brief bonus episode, as he helps you, the discerning classic alternative fan, to put together your shopping list. Happy hunting! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A well-placed song in a film holds the power to shape a viewer's emotions, heighten tension, set the tone, foreshadow events, provide insight into characters, or deepen the narrative. In essence, music is the heartbeat of the cinema that can elevate a film from good to sublime. Take it from someone who knows, like this week's Third Lad, Barry Andrews - he's had songs soundtracking pivotal moments in films such as Manhunter and Band of the Hand.Barry Andrews began his professional music career in the punk era lending his keyboard stylings to a little band that you may have heard of, XTC, giving them one of the most defining and distinctive features of their sound for their first two albums.  After leaving XTC in 1979, he released a fine solo EP and single, formed the short lived Restaurant for Dogs, and played with Iggy Pop and Robert Fripp's League of Gentlemen before forming the band Shriekback with Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen and singer Carl Marsh in 1981.  For the better part of the last 43 years, Barry has kept Shriekback alive through various incarnations, continuing to release music that’s daring, experimental, and artful, as well as maintaining an ambitious and rewarding solo career. Thanks to Paul Richison for the great guest suggestion and introduction.Proud members of the Pantheon Podcasts family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices