At First Listen

We're talking about a single from Blood Orange's new album,  Essex Honey . We marvel at the mulit-instrumental talent of songwriter/producer Dev Hynes and we discuss the pitfalls and freedoms that comes with being a true solo artist. Tell us about your first listen at @AtFirstListenPodcast via Instagram. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the eve of the release of the new Deftones album, private music , we’re breaking down the band's “milk of the madonna" single.   Andrew and Dominique ask where the line is when it comes to an artist rehashing their ‘classic’ sound, and how private music is bound to be  the quintessential Deftones album for the new generation of fans who just recently discovered the band and elevated the Deftone...

We highlight progressive metal band Kallias' latest single, "The Final Cleansing," the day their new album, Digital Plague , arrives on all streaming platforms. Andrew and Dominique dive into the many layers of "The Final Cleansing," how the song ebbs between cinematic intricacy and straightforward slam. Tell us about your first listen @AtFirstListenPodcast on Instagram. Subscribe so you don't mis...

We honor the work of Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away this week at age 76.   Andrew and Dominique give Ozzy his flowers for being a much greater singer, performer and ambassador for rock and heavy metal music than people realize.    We talk about the grim circumstances that led to Ozzy co-founding Black Sabbath with Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward, and we consider how Satanic panic unwitting...

We surf with The Beach Boys in memory of the band’s late mastermind Brian Wilson, who passed away in June at age 82.   Andrew discusses his longstanding curiosity about The Beach Boys, while Dominique explains how one of the squarest bands of the ‘60s was an element of her teenage rebellion in the ‘00s.   We discuss why coolness has always eluded the Beach Boys and where the band's legacy stands t...

A band Andrew has traveled across the world to see just released its first new song in years. From Perth, Australia, Karnivool is probably the greatest rock band in the world that nobody knows about! We discuss the new single, "Drone," the merits of having a tight catalog and why Karnivool is such a well-kept secret. Tell us about your first listen at @AtFirstListenPodcast on Instagram! Subscribe...

Foo Fighters released their first new original song since 2023 this week with "Today's Song." We give our thoughts on the track, the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl's famous fall from grace last year and how he got away with having such an annoying personality for so long without anyone saying anything.  Tell us about your first listen at @AtFirstListenPodcast on Instagram! Subscribe so you don't miss an...

We talk about Lola Young’s embrace of 2010s indie music in her unique brand of soul-pop, and how it confirms a change in alt music, who alt music reaches and who can credibly create it.   Tell us about your first listen @AtFirstListenPodcast on Instagram! Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gina Petro a.k.a. singer-songwriter HOLDN takes the wheel and assigns us Banks'  Goddess debut album, one of the most impactful records for Gina's own musical endeavors.  Gina recalls how she backed into being a "singer" in the first place and how she bonded with Banks' music in the back of a van while on tour with her old alternative band.  We discuss the merits of seeing concerts alone, where bi...

Kesha's new single "BOY CRAZY." is an early contender for song of the summer.  We ask ourselves, is Kesha's return a harbinger of an oncoming Boy Summer ... or just a recession indicator. Tell us about your first listen at @AtFirstListenPodcast on Instagram. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode of  At First Listen ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode, we ask why a five-year-old song by Charli xcx is suddenly a hit, and whether the indie sleaze vibe of the official music video for “party 4 u” is a recession indicator.   Tell us about your first listen at @AtFirstListenPodcast on Instagram. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode of At First Listen ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Avril Lavigne released her first new song in a couple of years, and it features her old skate park pals Simple Plan. Like a siren calling out to millennials, "Young and Dumb" might be enough to get the attention of aging emos, but does it have anything more to offer than nostalgia? And is Avril too young to be making these types of songs? Tell us about your first listen via Instagram @AtFirstListe...

Our longest running challenge was to watch the Hulu documentary  Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) and listen to Sly & the Family Stone's  Fresh album, and after several months, we finally completed it! We discuss what struck us about QuestLove's documentary, the highs of the Fresh album and our respective experiences with Sly and the Family Stone's music in our lives. Subscribe so y...

We let our moms choose the music for today's episode! We parse through hits from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Carole King, as well as jazz standards, while contemplating how our mothers shaped our musical experiences.  Subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Call your mom. And connect with us via Instagram @AtFirstListenPodcast! (Episode 34.) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We react to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2025 class of inductees with Q104.3 New York and iHeartRadio Classic Rock brand boss Eric Wellman.  We wrestle with the controversies, compromises and inherent frustrations of the Rock Hall. Eric dives into the Rock Hall’s history and relevance to the radio and music business. Andrew and Dominique weigh the relevance of this year’s nominees and what dir...

Users on social media platforms have been acting Frank Ocean's "Solo" from his 2016 studio album,  Blonde .  Dominique and Andrew discuss what might have sparked this trend, why Frank Ocean is such a pivotal artist for LGBTQ+-identifying people and André 3000's contribution to the accompanying "Solo (Reprise)" track from the album. Tell us about your first listen via Instagram @AtFirstListenPodcas...

It turns out that Americans have been pretty well misinterpreting Smiths songs for quite a long time now. On this episode our guest, comedian and South London native Shem Pennant, leads a seminar on The Smiths and their iconic 1986 album, The Queen Is Dead .   Shem offers much needed context to the album, explains why the Smiths’ phenomenon was so uniquely British, and why he doesn’t let Morrissey...

We have a very serious conversation about gender conformance, surrounding a very unserious song by Detroit-based rapper Rob Apollo. Apollo's song "SHE / THEY" has been circulating on TikTok lately, mainly due to a racy lyric in the chorus that you'd think self-righteous Zoomers would hate.  Dominique and Andrew discuss what teens, tweens and queer people find so fun about the song, and why no one...

Diamond returns to  At First Listen to dig into her favorite album of 2024, Sabrina Carpenter's mega-breakthrough  Short n' Sweet .  With hits like "Espresso," "Please, Please, Please," "Taste" and "Bed Chem,"  Short n' Sweet is brimming with personality. Diamond says there are multiple hits on the album that she's yet to tire of, and she doesn't meet much resistance from Andrew and Dominique.  Su...

In this mini episode we're focusing on "The Giver," Chappell Roan's attempt at a lesbian country song that's making waves in the pop music world. Is "The Giver" a legitimate country song or is it a mere novelty — or is it branding? Is any country music legitimate? We also discuss why Chappell Roan is allowed to “go country,” but it was controversial when Beyoncé or Lil Nas X did it. We talk about...

We're sorting through Lady Gaga's seventh studio pop album  Mayhem with Gaga superfan and iHeartRadio personality Nick Gomez.  Nick is an almost lifelong Little Monster, who credits Gaga with inspiring the love of pop music that steered him towards a career in radio, where he can be heard at night on Hot 99.5FM, Washington D.C.'s #1 Hit Music Station, and in the afternoon on Pride Radio.  Andrew a...

UCBLK's Justin Catchens joins us to celebrate one of his favorite albums of the '00s,  Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor , the debut album by the Chicago-based rapper-turned-MIT-and-Johns Hopkins University professor! Food & Liquor is as dense with prose as a classic work of literature, and we do our best to wrap our heads around the storytelling and social/political messages in Lupe's lyrics. W...

In the second episode our new cohosts recorded together, Andrew gauges Dominique's taste for the hard stuff with one of his favorite metal albums from last decade, Deftones' 2010 mid-career masterpiece Diamond Eyes — by far the most extreme-sounding record we've discussed on the show. We explore why this album was a turning point for the Deftones, why it was the record that converted Andrew to a f...

New York metal singer and rapper Mizzie from the X introduces us to Doja Cat's debut album, Amala .  We explore Doja's complicated persona and reckless online presence. Mizzie explains how Doja's freewheeling art continually inspires her in hip hop, heavy metal and beyond. Mizzie has released two albums with her metal band Dishonest Escape and last year she launched her rap career with the debut s...

Talkin’ ‘Tok - For the second in our bonus series about viral songs on social media, we get into the newfound popularity of “Lockjaw,” an album cut from Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1992  Mack Daddy album.   The song has become a favorite in social media’s ‘makeover’/‘glowup’ genre of videos, so naturally, the conversation turns to mewing, mogging, maxing out, and other Internet sad boy terms that Andrew has n...