Pop Rocks Radio

This week it's all Bomp! Records, start to finish. Greg and Suzy Shaw started one of the last truly independent labels, put out Flamin' Groovies' first single back in 1974 and went on to launch The Romantics, Stiv Bators, The Plimsouls, and Iggy Pop's long-lost Kill City sessions. Power pop as we know it doesn't exist without them. Greg's gone now, but Suzy's still running the label, still doing e...

This week on Pop Rocks Radio — The Boys are our featured artist. London punk's most underrated band, and yes, we know about the Christmas records. New music from Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Woolworthy, Doghouse Rose , and Lex Bauman , plus classics from Vibeke Saugestad, The Undertones , and Sugarbomb . Doghouse Rose even has a track called "The Boys," which we did not plan but absolutely take credi...

This week on Pop Rocks Radio , we're featuring the music of Emitt Rhodes , a man who recorded his solo albums entirely by himself, in his home, before anyone knew what that meant. Dubbed the secret alter ego of Paul McCartney. Sued by his own label. Holed up for decades. And absolutely worth your time. Also, great new music from The Rallies , Julez and the Rollerz , and 2nd Grade , plus classics f...

This week on Pop Rocks Radio — Letters to Cleo is our featured artist, and yes, Kay Hanley is the voice behind Josie and the Pussycats. Connect the dots. New music from The Goods , The Tubs , and Slamdinistas , plus classics from Tommy Keene , The Candy Skins , The Bangles, and so much more. Movie of the Week: Josie and the Pussycats (2001) . Sharper than you remember. Funnier than it had any righ...

This week on Pop Rocks Radio — We've got new music from Hayley and the Crushers, Robbie Rist , and The Chutes , plus classics from Linus of Hollywood and Owsley , along with our featured artist of the week: Knoxville's own, Superdrag . Movie of the Week: Bandwagon (1996). Four misfits form a band called Circus Monkey and proceed to learn everything the hard way. Directed by John Schultz — the orig...

This week on Pop Rocks Radio, we go deep on Jeff and Steve McDonald — in and out of Redd Kross. New music from The chrisVandalay Project, Log Flume, The High Frequencies, a classic from Shoes, and a whole lot more. Our Movie of the Week is Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story (2024). Directed by Andrew Reich. The McDonald brothers' nearly fifty-year story — from playing their first show when Steven...

This week's episode is a full send — Taxi Girls, Jr. Juggernaut, Hurry , and one of the greatest bands in America, Redd Kross . Plus Supergrass . A lot of Supergrass. No apologies. Movie of the Week: Straight to Hell (1987). Alex Cox directs Joe Strummer, The Pogues, and Elvis Costello in a spaghetti western that has absolutely no business existing and is better for it. Our third installment in th...

We're back and we brought snacks. This week: Paul Collins covers Bob Dylan. The Muffs cover Kim Wilde. Julez and the Rollerz just dropped their debut album and it's fantastic. Plus The Tubs, The Dahlmanns, Guided By Voices, Sparks, Gigolo Aunt s, and a whole lot more. Movie of the Week: Reckless (1984). Aidan Quinn. Daryl Hannah. A motorcycle. Very little regard for consequences. Featured Artist:...

Welcome back to Pop Rocks Radio! As we bask in the glow of what madness this summer promises to bring us, we're also bringing you new tracks from The Stems, Gary Klebe, Bruce Moody, and our featured artist this week, The Greenberry Woods. Our Movie of the Week is Last Days Here from 2011. You just gotta see it to believe it (and you'll love it). Check out most of these artists on Bandcamp and show...

We're back! Sort of. We never really left. It's complicated. Pop Rocks Radio is relaunching the podcast this week, and we're not easing into it — new tracks from The Gnomes, The Get Alongs, Julez and the Rollerz, SOFTJAW, Taxi Girls , and a whole lot more. Plus our Movie of the Week: Night of the Comet . 1984. Post-apocalyptic. Valley Girl energy. A rock and roll movie, not about rock and roll. Ch...

On this week’s episode of Pop Rocks Radio , we’ll dive into the solo work of our favorite mad genius, The Nerves’ frontman, Jack Lee . Plus, when she wasn’t documenting the decline of our Western civilization (oh, how I long for the days when they actually thought MUSIC was going to be our downfall), Penelope Spheeris gave us a punk rock western with Flea, Duckie, and an Elvis impersonator who sav...

There was a moment not that long ago when rock ’n’ roll didn’t just soundtrack reality. It tried to change it. This week’s Movie of the Week is Rock & Rule (1983), the strange, ambitious animated rock opera that emerged from a time when music still felt mythic, dangerous, and world-altering. We’re also kicking off a new featured-artist arc focused on the members of The Nerves — beginning with...

Welcome to this week's episode of Pop Rocks Radio! We’re shining a spotlight on artists who came from, played with, or were caught in the orbit of The Quick and their wild little corner of L.A.’s scene. And since it’s Halloween month at Pop Rocks Radio , we’re kicking things off with our Movie of the Week — Elvira, Mistress of the Dark 👁️‍🗨️ Crank it up, grab your tassels, and let the weird times...

This week, we dive into the 1990 cult classic Pump Up the Volume — Allan Moyle’s pirate-radio rallying cry for every kid who ever felt like an outsider. Our featured artist is The Lemonheads — slacker-poet pop-punk darlings whose hooks and heartache made them icons of the ’90s underground. 🎧 Turn it up. Talk hard. Steal the air. Links: https://bompstore.com Today's Tracks Melvic Centre - Thin Jim...

This week, Pop Rocks Radio takes it to Times Square — our Movie of the Week. Allan Moyle’s 1980 cult classic follows two girls who find their voices in the grit and chaos of New York. It’s messy, uneven, and unforgettable — just the way we like it! We’re also featuring the brilliant Tamar Berk , tracing her journey from the Starball days through her solo work, and closing with a brand-new track fr...

This week we dive into Ladies & Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains —teen fury, image vs. message, and why "well-behaved" women watch while "misbehaving" women lead. Straight from the film, we have our featured artist, The Professionals (Steve Jones & Paul Cook): post-Pistols bite, big hooks, zero nostalgia naps. Thanks for listening! 🔗 Links: https://bompstore.com Dom Mariani: Never Done Toda...

This week on Pop Rocks Radio , Bijan sits down with Dom Mariani —the Australian songwriter behind The Stems , DM3 , Datura4 , and a string of acclaimed solo releases. For nearly four decades, Dom has been delivering some of the most infectious power pop and garage rock hooks ever put to tape. From the jangly brilliance of The Stems to the cult following of DM3 , the heavy grooves of Datura4 , and...

Lace up your Beatle boots and follow the fuzzed-out trail back to one of music’s strangest, most beautiful dead ends... This week we slip sideways into The Paisley Underground — the dreamlike LA scene where ’60s psychedelia collided with ’80s attitude, creating some of the most shimmering, jangled, and criminally overlooked sounds in underground rock. Movie of the Week: The ‘Burbs (1989) Dim the l...

We’re back with Episode 51! Season 2 kicks off with a full tank of fuzzed-out guitars, melodic hooks, and cult movie mayhem. This week’s featured artist is Dom Mariani —power pop icon and garage-rock lifer behind The Stems, DM3, Datura4, and more. We trace his musical trail from Perth, spinning tracks across decades and projects. Our Movie of the Week is Garage Days (2002) —a messy, heartfelt ode...

We made it to Episode 50 — so of course we blew up the school. For our season finale, we’re celebrating Rock ’n’ Roll High School — the 1979 cult classic where teenage rebellion comes with blow-up dolls, exploding mice, and the Ramones.. We also have tracks from The Coolies, Sharkeologist, HAIM, and so much more. Plus: a shoutout to Kim Shattuck, a track from Joey Ramone’s solo album, a nod to the...

Love in the food court. Heartbreak on the Sunset Strip. This week, we honor Valley Girl (1983) —the film, the myth, the neon-drenched fever dream—and the bands that made it shimmer. We’ve got Josie Cotton, The Plimsouls, Sparks, Bonnie Hayes , and some present-day weirdos keeping the eyeliner spirit alive. Come for the mall music. Stay for the dive bar dreams. And maybe cry a little in the parking...

This week, we’re going full VHS cult chaos with a tribute to the 1988 film Tapeheads —a weird, wonderful satire about two misfit video-makers on a mission to resurrect their favorite forgotten soul duo, the Swanky Modes. If you’ve ever fallen in love with a band no one else seems to remember, this movie (and this episode) is for you. Also featuring music from Bacci Pouch , Tamar Berk , Geoff Palme...

This week on Pop Rocks Radio , we’re celebrating Scott McCaughey with music from Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5 , plus we've got tracks from R.E.M. , SEXFACES , Mustard Service , and more — delivering a sonic ride from indie rock to punk to pure pop. 🌟 Our Movie of the Week is the 1987 classic Back to the Beach 🎬 . Pee-Wee Herman and Stevie Ray Vaughan in the same movie? Where do I sign???...

Buckle up for Pop Rocks Radio Episode 46, where power pop, punk, and indie collide in a glorious mix of unapologetic weirdness. We’re also diving into The Spirit of '76 , a film about the beautiful, chaotic, colorful mess that was the 1970s. Our featured artist this week is Redd Kross – a band as whimsical as it is genre-defying, consistently delivering offbeat, timeless rock that never fails to s...

Episode 45 is live and packed with bubblegum grit, garage snarl, and power pop perfection with new tracks from The Grogans, Davey Lane, The Minus 5, and more. And, of course, no episode would be complete without a song from my favorite band, 20/20 . Our featured artist is the one and only Nikki Corvette , whose sugar-rush punk still echoes through speakers 45 years later. And our movie this week i...