The Ringer

Bandsplain

Music EN ↓ 232 episodes

Bandsplain is a show where host Yasi Salek invites experts to explain cult bands and iconic artists—and why people love them.

Author

The Ringer

Category

Music

Podcast website

www.theringer.com

Latest episode

Jul 9, 2026

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Episodes

A Message From Bandsplain 16.01.2025

An update on Yasi and the show. Thank you everyone for your support and kind words. Give to the GoFundMe HERE For other ways to give or support, visit https://www.fireaid.info/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bandsplain’s *Favourite* Albums of 2024 26.12.2024

Normally, on this podcast, we tend to focus on music that was released decades in the past. In this episode, we’re going to do a rare thing and focus on music of the present day. Listen along as Yasi chats with The Ringer’s Rob Harvilla and Justin Sayles about  their five *favourite* albums and top single of the year. EPISODE PLAYLIST: Listen to songs we detail in the episode ⁠HERE⁠  **NOTE: Cindy...

Oasis: Part 2 with Rob Harvilla 19.12.2024

You can have it all, but how much do you want it, babe? Once again, we slip inside the eye of Oasis’ mind for part two. Last episode, Yasi and Rob Harvilla talked about the band’s formation, their debut album Definitely Maybe, and the lead-up to the 1995 Britpop chart battle. Who wins the battle? Who wins the war? We’ll get into the “Oasis quo” and “Chaz and Dave Chimney Sweep Music” of it all. Pl...

Oasis: Part 1 with Rob Harvilla 12.12.2024

By 1994, grunge had waned and Madchester had set the table for the next massive wave of British music—the UK was ready for its next big rock band to refocus the global lens back on ol’ Blighty. That’s when Oasis popped onto the scene fully formed and captured the mantle with their iconic haircuts, perfect clothes, explosive feuds, and of course, their absolute bangers. Join along as Yasi Salek and...

FEUD: Blur vs Oasis with Miranda Sawyer 05.12.2024

We’re unpacking the battle of Britpop as well as the war of words between Blur and Oasis. Did the art school icons or the working class heroes ultimately prevail? Who won over the critics? Who laughed all the way to the bank? Which band’s legacy is stronger today? In this episode, we’re going to answer those questions and more as we rehash the great feud between two Britpop giants: Oasis and Blur....

BONUS: Learning British Slang with Matt Helders of the Arctic Monkeys 27.11.2024

In honor of the holidays, we have a very special bonus episode for our fanatics. Yasi talks all things British slang with Arctic Monkeys drummer and former Kappa tracksuit-wearing lad, Matt Helders. Do you know the difference between a lad, a chav, a bloke, a bird and a geezer? Listen along as Matt quizzes Yasi on all the ways you can say “proper bladdered.” We think you’ll be dead chuffed with th...

Blur with Chris Ryan 21.11.2024

As one of the first Britpop bands, these college blokes from Colchester started out making shoegaze and baggy jams in the Scene that Celebrates Itself before writing a genre-defining album that romanticized British life and paved the way for an indie explosion. They were the UK’s favorite band, that is, until they weren’t. They may have lost the Britpop war, but their third act was brilliant nonet...

Happy Mondays & The Stone Roses: Part 2, The Rise of Rave Culture & the Fall of Madchester 14.11.2024

Ok, Yasi and the Scots are back for Madchester part two. We last saw The Stone Roses after they released their celebrated EP Sally Cinnamon, on the brink of a make-or-break decision: should they sign to Jive or Rough Trade? Meanwhile, the Happy Mondays were riding the wave of their debut album Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), and guess what? Th...

Happy Mondays & The Stone Roses: Part 1, The Birth of Baggy 07.11.2024

Babe, wake up, the new Bandsplain season just dropped. And what dark alleyways is Yasi leading us down next? This season we’re gazing across the pond toward the underground scenes of the 80s and 90s in the UK following the peak of punk music – namely, Madchester, Brit Pop, and shoegaze. For our first episode, music industry savants and known Scots John Niven and Chlöe Walsh look back on “Baggy” an...

Bandsplain Returns November 7: Across The Pond, Innit 31.10.2024

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Introducing 'Break Stuff' 27.08.2024

Hey babes, Bandsplain is still on summer break. But in the meantime, we've got a special treat for you, courtesy The Ringer and friend of the pod Steven Hyden. In 1999, a music festival took place in upstate New York that became a social experiment. There were riots, looting, and numerous assaults. And it was set to a soundtrack of the era’s most aggressive rock bands. Incredibly, it was the third...

The Grunge Draft with Chris Ryan, Rob Harvilla, and Sean Fennessey 25.07.2024

It’s draft time once again on Bandsplain. Chris Ryan, Rob Harvilla, and Sean Fennessey join us for the not just a little chaotic Grunge draft where everybody is a Loser in one way or another. Also, a ska season is suggested as a threat, the gang discuss the most 90’s feeling pop star of today, and we hear about Sean’s cool metal friend from high school. All that and more, on this week’s Bandsplain...

Soundgarden: Part 2 with Hanif Abdurraqib 18.07.2024

Hanif and Yasi are back, as we find Soundgarden on the precipice of releasing their super well known album Superunknown. The vibes? They are not always impeccable, but the songs are phenomenal. Listen as we trace the back half of the Soundgarden catalog, from Superunknown and the underrated Down on the Upside through their reunion album and the Audioslave and solo records in between.  Follow Hanif...

Soundgarden: Part 1 with Hanif Abdurraqib 11.07.2024

One of the earlier bands to form in what would become the biggest music scene of the 90s, Soundgarden started up in Seattle in 1984 when two friends from Illinois named Kim and Hiro formed a band with a local drummer named Chris. The band blended influences and styles from post punk and new wave to Beatles and metal, slowly forming a sound that was all their own. Along the way Chris Cornell took t...

Deep Six With Kim Thayil 27.06.2024

The C/Z Records 'Deep Six' compilation is a thing of legend. An early document of a nascent Seattle scene that would be national news within five years, the comp features several bands that had yet to put out any recorded music, including Melvins, Soundgarden, and Andrew Wood’s first band, Malfunkshun, plus tracks from Green River, Skin Yard, and the biggest band in the scene at the time, the U-Me...

No Alternative with Chris Ryan 20.06.2024

One of the greatest compilations of its time (the greatest time for compilations), No Alternative was the third in the Red Hot series benefiting AIDS relief. The lineup is studded with iconic artists, many on the precipice of their biggest records, from Soundgarden to Sarah McLachlan, and also features influential alternative greats like Buffalo Tom, The Verlaines, and Soul Asylum. It even spawned...

Dinosaur Jr. with Kevin Drew 13.06.2024

Dinosaur Jr. rose from the ashes of a teenage hardcore band looking to make some “Ear Bleeding Country.” They went on to become one of the most influential and interesting alternative rock bands of the 80’s and 90’s. The band went from underground to indie to major label to MTV, shedding a few original members along the way, and eventually broke up before reforming the og line-up in the mid 2000’s...

Mailbag with Rob Harvilla 06.06.2024

It is time once again to hear from our beloved listeners, so we opened up the mail bag to answer some of your most pressing questions. Rob Harvilla joins us to help plan Yasi’s trip to Ohio, discuss the sordid swing dance moment of the 90’s, parse Taco Bell menu highlights, and give some answers of his own.  Follow Rob Harvilla on Twitter @Harvilla Host: Yasi Salek Guest: Rob Harvilla Producer: Je...

24 Question Party People: Clairo 04.06.2024

Claire Cottrill, a.k.a. Clairo, drops by the pod to talk about her sexy, new album, 'Charm'; donkeys; the Beyoncé song that changed her life; her inspired choice of sandwich; listening to the Arctic Monkeys in high school; Dobby the house elf; her favorite Beach Boys era; and more. Host: Yasi SalekGuest: ClairoProducer: Chris SuttonAdditional Production Supervision: Justin SaylesTheme Song: Hether...

Stone Temple Pilots with Sean Fennessey 30.05.2024

The Stone Temple Pilots were given no benefit of the doubt by critics in their heyday, but the band had hits, and did not care. Hailing from Southern California, STP’s equally charismatic, talented, and troubled frontman Scott Weiland helped the band take off quickly, and then frequently kept them in a state of disarray for much of their existence. Along the way Stone Temple Pilots put together a...

24 Question Party People: Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux, RTX, and Black Bananas 28.05.2024

Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux, RTX, and Black Bananas comes by the pod to talk about personal style, early-2000s reality television, lychee fruit, memes from loving husbands, the 'Grease' soundtrack, why she’s a Deadhead, and more. Host: Yasi SalekGuest: Jennifer HerremaProducer: Chris SuttonAdditional Production Supervision: Justin SaylesTheme Song: Hether Fortune Learn more about your ad choice...

The Breeders with Caryn Ganz 23.05.2024

Kim Deal initially formed The Breeders with her sister Kelley as a side project while she was in the Pixies so that she could record her own songs, but it definitely turned into something way bigger, more iconic, and more influential than that. Through shifting line ups and several starts and stops, the band managed to make some of the best rock albums of the 90’s and beyond, setting the bar for c...

24 Question Party People: Shannon Shaw of Shannon and the Clams 21.05.2024

Shannon Shaw of Shannon and the Clams comes by the pod to talk about their beautiful new album, 'The Moon Is in the Wrong Place'; bad smoothies; dealing with grief through making art; Primus fandom; FMK the Beatles; being saved by Drew Carey; her future career as a product jingle writer; and more. Host: Yasi SalekGuest: Shannon ShawProducer: Chris SuttonAdditional Production Supervision: Justin Sa...

Alice in Chains with Rob Harvilla 16.05.2024

Alice in Chains emerged from the Seattle scene an entity unto themselves. Formed from remnants of local hair metal bands, they naturally evolved into the groove heavy band with a distinct vocal style we know today. Rob Harvilla joins us to parse the legacy of perhaps the most populist band of the Grunge era. Follow Rob Harvilla on Twitter @harvilla Listen to songs we detail in the episode HERE Hos...

Remembering Steve Albini, Plus Our Favorite Albini Albums With Rob Harvilla 14.05.2024

Rob Harvilla joins Yasi to talk about Steve Albini's legacy, in music and also outside of it. Host: Yasi SalekGuest: Rob HarvillaProducer: Chris SuttonAdditional Production Supervision: Justin SaylesTheme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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