If You're Listening

After hearing them on the holiday episode, Heather gives Ramsey the full The Maine experience with their 2008 debut, "Can't Stop Won't Stop!" Ramsey compares a band's sound to Weezer, and it's accurate for once! Can Heather guess what this band looks like just from the sound of their music? And Ramsey and Heather plot out the first season of their new CW teen drama inspired by the music of "The Ma...

Your hosts are joined by the wonderful Matt Fisher of the Upright Citizens Brigade who takes them down a different, enjoyable path. So, put up your feet and get ready for some Good Times , as we listen to "Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (and Some That Will Be)!" A discussion of roadside attractions and their exploration! A look at the world of e-sports tournaments through the eyes of a child and th...

Did you think that Heather and Ramsey were friends? So did Ramsey! Then he learned the truth when Heather forced him to do a deep dive into At the Drive-In's "One-Armed Scissor!" A misheard lyric inspires much laughter and deep, biological analysis! Will paying attention to the lyrics of this song help Ramsey appreciate it more? There's a space theme to this? Heather hates space! Ramsey loves it!...

Heather and Ramsey are gonna learn a lot about what's really going on behind the music as they dig in to Coheed and Cambria's first album, "The Second Stage Turbine Blade!" Ramsey and Heather name a new Snow White dwarf, Heather's memoir, and new board game (all with the same name)! Your hosts get DEEP into the lore behind the songs. And some truly insane Genius annotations are read. All this and...

Justin Cross is back and he's brought a confusingly named band along for the ride! It's The Academy Is... with their 2005 album "Almost Here!" Seriously, what's up with this band name? How can music feel like the Midwest and Cali all at once? And our most elaborate episode intro yet! All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check out our  Spotify playlists  for more music choices from Ramsey...

Meet "If You're Listening: Singles," a series of mini-episodes we'll be doing where we do a deep dive on songs old and new. For our inaugural episode we listen to a very recent Death Cab for Cutie song, "Gold Rush," the lead single from their new album "Thank You for Today." How many syllables are too many? Did Ramsey or Heather ever try digging for gold as kids? How does this song sound live? And...

This week Ramsey and Heather tolerate a flagrant abuse of grammar when they listen to an album titled "You're Gonna Miss It All" by the band Modern Baseball! "Gonna" is not a word! Heather hates New Years bits! With very little evidence, Ramsey comes down hard as a member of Team Jake! A double entendre left unspoken!  All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check out our  Spotify playlists...

This week we are joined by music industry veteran and Emo Night DJ, Brian Pacris who is here to celebrate New Year's Eve with some Hot Water Music! "Caution"! 'Cause this one's a hot one! (winky face emoji) A rare second attempt at recording an episode! Ramsey has strong feelings about the two lead singers! What's the difference between Carson Daly and Ryan Seacrest? And a very special countdown!...

Oh it is time to listen to Fire When Ready!! This week Heather introduces Ramsey to the 2005 album "As the Sky Stared Down with Angry Clouds!" Ramsey likes the song titles, until he doesn't! A lot of talk about the punk scene Heather grew up with in Upstate New York! What are the coolest shows Ramsey and Heather have gone to? Exclamation points!! All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check...

This week we are joined by Adam Pfleider who brings us some post-hardcore intensity with These Arms Are Snakes and their 2006 album "Easter!" How is this band like Kanye West? Once again, we fall into talking about the guy who plays Archie on TV's Riverdale! And a musical blast from the past appears to enrage Ramsey! All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check out our  Spotify playlists  f...

We're getting into the holiday spirit with this crowd-sourced Holiday Megamix! Filled with originals and covers of standards, you can listen along on Spotify here to this emo/punk/etc holiday mix. Discover which bands get too Christmas-y or not Christmas-y enough! What some does Ramsey add to the playlist? Are your hosts Christmas people, overall? And, an abrupt left turn in the playlist is made....

The wonderful Steve Ciccarelli is back and here's to drop a ton of knowledge about AFI's sixth album and major label debut, "Sing Your Sorrow!" Learn what AFI stands for, as well as several alternate possibilities! Hear about a super-limited edition booklet that Steve brought in to flip through! Steve's dad meets Hunter from AFI! Learn why the lead singer's new name is Davey "Lil' Broadway" Havok!...

Hey! Step back from that ledge! This week Heather and Ramsey take a listen to Third Eye Blind's self titled album, "Third Eye Blind!" Heather completely breaks. Ramsey shares an embarrassing story from his high school days. "Smooth" by Carlos Santana. And a commercial for the new season of "Serial" from two people who haven't listened to it. All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check out...

Carly Hoskins is here and she's brought audio and video from The Matches and their 2006 album "Decomposer!" Ramsey bakes confections! Heather finds Jesus! And we take it to the next level and introduce a second screen experience all up in this piece! All this and MORE! Video Links: " Salty Eyes, " " Papercut Skin" Don't want to end the fun? Check out our  Spotify playlists  for more music choices...

It's a good old fashioned three-pete from Saves the Day as we listen to their breakout 2001 album, "Stay What You Are!" Bagel and coffee preferences are throughly discussed by each of your hosts. A jukebox metaphor is dissected until it completely falls apart. (Actually a lot of metaphors are discussed. Saves the Day really loves metaphors.) And Heather conducts a song with her fingers on an audio...

Chris Vespoli is back and he brought more music! Perfect, because that's a necessary requirement to be on our podcast! This time it's Dillinger Escape Plan's 2004 album "Miss Machine!" A lot of fake trailers are voiced over! Some spooky music for all your haunted houses! Slipknot/Slipnutz talk ! And Chris says one of the scariest things one could say to Ramsey before playing him an album: "I'm not...

Fresh off the heels of seeing the band perform live, Heather and Ramsey tackle Death Cab For Cutie's 2003 classic, "Transatlanticism!" A classic mini-sode of What's Heather's Beef?™ We discuss the weird/hilarious demo version of "Title and Registration!" And if you're going to write long outros, Death Cab, then Ramsey is going to write new lyrics for them! All this and MORE! Don't want to end the...

Hey! Dave Murray is back and he wants us to listen to Sum 41's debut album "All Killer, No Filler" for some reason! Ramsey attempts to get over his high school snobbery! Pretty guitar duets made up of very few notes! Our dumbest episode intro yet! And is it truly all killer? All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check out our  Spotify playlists  for more music choices from Ramsey and Heath...

It's time to go back to high school with the Gym Class Heroes! Today, Heather and Ramsey listen to their 2006 album, "As Cruel as School Children!" Ramsey is very surprised to discover what genre of music he is about to listen to! We discuss what makes a concept album a concept album. AND a definitive list of the proper ways to prepare a potato! All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check...

John Murray ( The Bosscast, 30 Rock , UCB) is here to talk about a subject near and dear to his heart: The Boss. So why not start with the big one: 1984's "Born in the USA." Learn every single fact Ramsey knows about Bruce Springsteen! Hear insider information, second-hand, about Clint Eastwood's directorial style! And how is Bruce a little bit like emo? All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fu...

Heather expands Ramsey's knowledge of the Plain White T's beyond that one song by introducing him to their 2002 album, "Stop!" Learn the true story of Delilah who is out in New York City! (It's not about the nighttime radio host) Find out what happens when you write a bunch of songs about a bad breakup! And can a musician love their art TOO MUCH? All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check...

Oh wow. Look at that. It's ska time. This week, special guest Sam Gursky brings us a band and an album from 2004, both with the same name: "The Arrogant Sons of Bitches!" Heather and Ramsey immediately begin dropping and hitting their podcast equipment because they are cursed! We attempt to figure out who Sam is punishing more with his music selection! And Ramsey is asked to describe what he think...

You read that correctly. Today we are venturing into Heather's sometimes confusing past to explore John Mayer's debut album "Room for Squares." Ramsey is obsessed with two words from this album. We address urban legends about bodies that are wonderlands. And Heather discusses the duties of a member of John Mayer's street team (yes, that's right)! All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check...

Writer and comedian Daniel Kibblesmith is here to introduce both Heather and Ramsey to The Weakerthans and their 2000 album, "Left and Leaving!" Misleading exclamation points in song titles are discussed. Are some of these songs about ghost ladies? And Sufjan Stevens is an alien! All this and MORE! Don't want to end the fun? Check out our  Spotify playlists  for more music choices from Ramsey and...

It's time to unplug and meet up with Bright Eyes for his very word-ily titled album "Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground." Heather's got the fancy version of this album art! Ramsey has a lot of thoughts about ambient noises! We discuss the two things Ramsey knows about Bright Eyes: one of them involves Jay Leno and one of them involves a very difficult legal drama! All...