Only Three Lads - Classic Alternative Music Podcast

Recycling is good, kids. Sometimes that even applies to song titles, as we look at pairs of tunes that share a title. Totally random example: "The Promise" is a fantastic song by both The Numbers and When In Rome. OK, we can't get anything past you. That wasn't random, because our Third Lads this week just so happen to be Terry & Larry Tutor from the aforementioned Numbers. L.A.-by-way-of-Texas ba...

Spice up your Valentine's Day weekend with six proverbial vials of Love Potion No. 9...it's a brand new O3L Weekend Six Pack! This "show within the show" spotlights six new songs that we think you need in your life! Brett chats with the wildly talented brothers Matheus and Thiago Khouri from Brazil's Banda AL9. Over the past few years, Banda AL9 has earned millions of social media followers, strea...

Ramones. Blondie. Television. Talking Heads. Patti Smith. New York Dolls. Everyone knows the big names that made New York City THE epicenter of American punk rock in the 1970s. But that's only a part of the story... For every band that "made it" in some way, there were hundreds of bands who either faded into obscurity or never got the break they deserved. They shared the same stages at legendary c...

What makes a great frontman? A technically perfect voice? Good looks? Someone who can work the stage and crowd? Someone who oozes personality, charisma, and showmanship? Does your mind instantly go to classic frontmen like Mick Jagger, Roger Daltrey, or Robert Plant? This week, we look at some of those frontmen who carried the torch during the classic alternative era. One of those guys is this wee...

Welcome to the first Weekend Six Pack installment of 2026 - the "show within the show" where we spotlight six new tracks that have rocked our proverbial knickers off! Valentine's Day is coming a couple weeks early this year, because we've got two electrifying new tracks from Marc Valentine album bookending the show - the man who Vive Le Rock calls "the new king of British power pop". Both singles...

Ever since we were young lads, we played the silver ball. From Pacific Beach to Scottsdale, we must have played them all. But you ain't seen nothing like this in any podcast hall. This week, these lads sure talk a mean pinball! Many musicians have been honored with their own branded pinball tables - from The Beatles, The Stones, and Elton John to Iron Maiden, Rush, and Guns n' Roses. What are some...

Get your motor runnin', head out on the highway. Yup, this week we're looking for adventure...and whatever comes our way...because it's an O3L Road Trip! Everyone's piling in the van and bringing five albums with them. Our Third Lad this week has not only spent countless hours on the road, but has made some great road trip albums himself! Jamie James is best known as the singer/songwriter/guitaris...

Ah, 1990...the year of acid washed jeans, Beverly Hills 90210, MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Oh, and lots of Bea Arthur. Of course, none of which we really talk about on this episode. Instead, we're focusing on the best (mostly) alternative albums to come out of that fantastic year. Returning to Third Lad-dom is power pop great Jim Basnight, a fixture on the scene since...

We're not quite ready to say goodbye to 2025 yet. Join Uncle Gregg and Brett as they celebrate some of the year's finest LPs...with YOUR help! Oh, and by the way...you think you're Andy Warhol, but you're not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2025: Was it a "Golden" year for songs or did it coast on the fumes of 2024's hits? This week, Uncle Gregg and Brett dive in to discuss their top songs of the year that was. Better yet, some of YOU chimed in with your opinions as well! Settle in as we recap the year's most listened-to songs, 2025 trends, discuss the future of physical media, give our 2026 predictions, and much more! Albums of 2025...

Think about your favourite records. Go ahead. Chances are, one of the first things that popped into your head was the album cover. And it makes sense...who hasn’t studied an album jacket while listening to a record?  Or scanned the track listing, or read the liner notes or credits?  How many of you have bought an album solely based on the cover art? The artwork colors how we hear the music, and, l...

’Twas the night of the O3L Holiday Party, and all through the cabin The drinks were a-flowin, and the friends were a-blabbin’ Meanwhile, the snow piled up, it was treacherous out there, And Bob Dylan’s words rang true, you ain’t going nowhere. The turntable hummed with a familiar warm crackle, As laughter rang out with a loud joyful cackle. Mixtapes were stacked by the glow of the fire, Each one t...

Get ready for more petty arguments, hot takes and fisticuffs*, because we're back with more cover versions that we feel are better than the originals. Annie, are we OK? You betcha! Joining us for this discussion are two members of the iconic Seattle indie pop band Tullycraft, vocalist/songwriter/bassist Sean Tollefson and guitarist Chris Munford. For more than three decades, Tullycraft has married...

This week, it's all about personal growth with a side of nostalgia. We cover some of the albums that helped to shape or change our taste as music fans, consumers, and/or musicians with Derek Almstead (Of Montreal, Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, Marshmallow Coast, Circulatory System, Faster Circuits) and Emily Growden (Marshmallow Coast, Faster Circuits) from Elephant 6 band Giant Day. In Octobe...

Record Store Day - Black Friday is Friday, November 28, 2025. In this bonus episode, join O3L's Brett Vargo as he spotlights some of the releases that will appeal to classic alternative music fans. Hit our social media and let us know what's on your want list, and what ends up in your shopping bag! Song: American Lips - "Record Store Day" (from the LP On Strike!, Ancient Fashion Records) Learn mor...

**PART TWO** Life is beautiful! This week, we have the extraordinary honour to welcome the creative nucleus of Brett's favourite band of the 21st century...Murray A. Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak from Montreal's orchestral pop noir heroes The Dears! Life is beautiful! We are heading into the future from our normal O3L timeline to the year Two Thousaaaaand (more echo, please) to commemorate the alb...

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Stranger than fiction, larger than life...we are elated to welcome Split Enz singer/songwriter/pianist Tim Finn and keyboardist Eddie Rayner to O3L! This is gonna be a hard act to follow. Formed in 1972 in Auckland, New Zealand, Split Enz, known initially as Split Ends, were, and remain, utterly unique. As the first band from New Zealand to achieve major success beyond the Southern Hemisphere, the...

This week, we are heading back into the weird and wonderful world of the Elephant 6 collective - this time to talk about E6 obscurities. Yes, "obscurity" is relative. To the casual music fan, perhaps it's all obscure. We take it to mean that we don’t need another episode to extol the virtues of Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane, Over The Sea, Olivia Tremor Control’s Dusk At Cubist Castle, or T...

Sometimes too much is just enough! This week, our criteria is simple…but that doesn’t make it easy.  We're looking at albums with 20 or more songs - whether they are long or concise, and regardless of how many slabs of vinyl or hunks of digital plastic are contained within. And, ultimately, it's not about quantity, it's about quality. Just because it's sprawling doesn't mean it can't be purposeful...

Well, geez, you caught us feeling all nostalgic and celebratory. It's time for the landmark 300th episode of Only Three Lads! During this episode, you'll hear: Your messages! A special visit from the original Third Lad...Bueno! New music from Tony Valentino, The Goods, The Melody Chamber, and The Chelsea Curve A brand new O3L game...based off of O3L's past - "Pod Sharks" A new segment of "You Were...

Cowabunga, Moondoggie! Let's pack up the woody and go Huey at the beach! Whaddya say? Yeah, call it bad timing, call it wishful thinking, or call it wistful nostalgia for the bygone summer, but this week we’re having an O3L Beach Party! We’ve got all of the essentials with us, except the most crucial thing: the tunes, man! We each need to pack up some albums for the beach to play on our state-of-t...

You are a brave and adventurous soul... Surprise, all you groovy ghoulies and "eyeball eaters from outer space!" 'Tis the season to get spooky, so we're going "full-on witch mode" with our friends from Big Stir Records - label founders/mad scientists Rex Broome & Christina Bulbenko from The Armoires and sparkle*jets uk evil genius Michael Simmons - in a brand new Halloween Spoooooooooktacular spec...

This week, we tip our hats to the trailblazing all (or mostly) girl bands of alternative rock. Speaking of the trailblazers, today’s ceremonial Third Lad certainly is one. As a musician and songwriter, Genny Schorr (aka Genny Body) was a member of one of the first mostly female punk bands in LA, Backstage Pass, along with past O3L guest Marina Muhlfriedel (aka Marina Del Rey), Joanna Spock Dean, a...

Well, dog our cats...it's a new episode of O3L! This week, lovin' is what EGOT, as we celebrate those artists who successfully traversed the worlds of music AND acting. And, it just so happens that our Third Lad today, Rebecca Pidgeon, has indeed enjoyed a long and fruitful career in both worlds.  As an actress, she has appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows since the late ‘80s, including The S...