Over/underrated: a music podcast with Fran and Babs

We've wrapped up the year once again, each picking our ten favourite tracks from 2022 and discussing our musical highlights and lowlights. However, this year we've mixed it up a little 🍸 and assigned each of our picks to ten categories... In Part I, we'll be talking about each other's favourite song by a solo act, best song by a group, favourite track in a genre we don't normally like, favourite...

Välkomna alla till säsongens sista avsnitt! This week we are joined by Daniel Bellqvist , lead singer of Swedish indie band Eskobar .  Daniel shares some great rock'n'roll anecdotes in this episode, including those relating to this week's overrated act, The Cardigans. While we all agree that Lovefool was extremely popular and played non-stop, is it fair to label The Cardigans overrated - or a...

Hello DARLINGS and welcome to a most flamboyant episode! We're joined by Dr Becky Alexis-Martin and Annie Greatorex to discuss one of the most famous theatrical American musicians of all time and one rather more unknown... Dr Becky is keen to discuss mega-famous, revered Prince - she thinks he's written great songs for women (Sinead O'Connor, The Bangles) but feels many of his own tunes are TOO LO...

Joined by Paula Wiseman, journalist and host of the Divine Comedians podcast , we're back in the UK this week talking about two singer-songwriters some might not realise are even British... Rod Stewart's music career began in 1962 when he started busking with a harmonica - and he's not stopped making music since. But are his songs interesting enough to deserve the worldwide fame? Fran investigates...

Following on from Part I of our new wave episode, focused on The Cars , we're crossing the Atlantic and travelling to Paris to discuss our underrated pick, Indochine. The best-selling French band of all time, Indochine released their first album in 1982 and have continued to make music ever since - but remain fairly unknown in English-speaking countries. Babs fell in love with the band when living...

This week, Fran & Babs talked about new wave and 80s music for so long that we've had to make this a two-parter... We've taken a bit of a different approach with this week's overrated pick...Babs was a fan of The Cars without knowing much of their back catalogue while Fran was less sure how he felt. Therefore, Babs took it upon herself to listen to all seven of The Cars' studio albums and come...

Joined by Mike Lash from the Playlist Yeah! podcast , we're heading back to the sea - but is it boring? Mike certainly thinks that the hype surrounding two-piece behemoths Royal Blood is undeserved - while some of their songs are certainly overplayed, will Fran & Babs agree they're overrated? Babs & Mike also get excited about The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, a difficult to categoris...

We're back in the UK this week, swooping into the East Midlands for our latest episode... Fran is a London Grammar fan, but every time Babs has tried to get into them nothing stuck out for her...will Fran's ten-track playlist turn her into a fan of Hannah, Dot & Dan? Babs is also introduced to Six by Seven, a band Fran remembers having posters of on the wall. However, despite releasing eight s...

Joined by friend of the podcast & afro-pop sympathiser George Thurley, we're back in Noo Yoik City for more discussions of rock.... Babs has never been particularly keen on Vampire Weekend and wonders if this is as much due to their aesthetic as their music. Will George's five-track playlist convince her that Ezra Koenig is more of a genius than she realises? George also introduces Fran &...

G'day mates and welcome to an exploration of two of Australia's biggest musical exports... AC/DC is one of the biggest bands in the world - their album Back in Black is the second best-selling album OF ALL TIME! While Fran & Babs can appreciate their career longevity, how much do they actually like the music? Babs has been a fan of The Vines since they exploded onto the scene in the early noug...

We are joined once again by writer, comedian, broadcaster and podcasting legend Matthew Crosby for Part II of our jazz rock fusion-themed episodes. This time, Matthew is talking about one of his all-time favourite bands - Steely Dan. Matthew admires how Steely Dan manage to make music which is simultaneously "interesting, weird, complex" as well as "singable, hummable, pop" - and loves how their t...

Joined by writer, comedian, broadcaster and podcasting legend Matthew Crosby , we’re diving deep into the discography of two darn groovy bands… Abracadabracalifornication to all you jazz fusion funk hoppers! Or maybe not, because on this episode we find out why Matthew takes such umbrage with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Despite acknowledging they’re brilliant musicians, “everybody seems to like the...

Put on some liquid eyeliner, find your sparkliest eyeshadow and bring out the hairspray - we're talking about some New Romantics legends! Fran is a big fan of the era but thinks that behemoths Spandau Ballet only have a handful of good songs...Babs doesn't know much Spandau Ballet beyond the hits - so will she agree with Fran? Babs is also properly introduced to the band Japan - they're not Alphav...

Joined by Ceri Mitchell from the Playlist Yeah! podcast , we're swooping over The Valleys and landing in Wales' capital.. Ceri studied in Wales and felt the Manic Street Preachers' presence even more strongly there...but it didn't make him a big fan. Despite loving their androgynous image, will Fran & Babs agree that they're overhyped? For his underrated pick, Ceri introduces Fran & Babs t...

It's that time of year again! Fran & Babs listen to all 40 songs from this year's competition and pick their top five best and worst tunes. Who does Babs accuse of greenwashing? Which region of Europe do a lot of Fran's selections come from? And like in our 2021 episode , will some picks appear in opposing lists? If you enjoy this episode, you should check out our 2021 episode and our two-part...

We're joined by music lecturer, writer and podcaster Karlyn King in our latest episode, tackling one of the biggest rock bands in the world - and talking about a blues musician who should definitely be better-known... With blues as the theme, Fran has picked five early songs by The Rolling Stones to argue that they are an overhyped band in this genre. Will Babs & Karlyn agree that they continu...

We can't believe we haven't covered this theme yet... Babs really likes Kasabian - she doesn't want to, but them's the breaks - and wants to convince Fran to see beyond their lad rock reputation and appreciate their use of synths, their psychedelic edge, as well as their more underrated "bleepy bloopy" songs. Naturally, we also address the recent line-up changes and how the band handled them.. Mea...

Joined by Helen Sadler from the Flixwatcher podcast , she has curated two eclectic playlists which arguably fall under the indie folk umbrella... Helen got on board The National train when she saw them live - however, Babs didn't have a great experience watching them during a heatwave at a festival, she felt they were quite boring....will her mind be changed by Helen's picks? Sharon van Etten is t...

A.k.a. we've both wanted an excuse to talk about Depeche Mode for a while, so we've each picked our top five overrated and underrated DM tunes to have somewhat of a theme! Fran's favourite Depeche Mode albums are Songs of Faith and Devotion and Some Great Reward, while Babs really got into the band thanks to her mum buying the 81-85 and 86-98 Greatest Hits in the early noughties - just as the Exci...

Our first episode with two guests! We're joined by Sam Pay and Martin Zaltz Austwick from the Song by Song podcast to chat arty NYC musicians. Martin & Sam & Fran & Babs differ in opinion on how much - and why - they think Talking Heads are overrated. Discussions centre around whether the band's attitude is a bit elitist, David Byrne's standing in pop culture and how many different typ...

Força! We've crossed the Atlantic to discuss the legacy of two of Canada's finest singer-songwriters... Until Babs discovered You Oughta Know, she wasn't a huge Alanis Morissette fan - her biggest songs were definitely overplayed...however, Fran has toured Alanis' discography and chosen ten tracks which show a wider variety of styles than either of them initially thought... Babs is also delighted...

A.k.a. some oldies talk about that newfangled music making waves across the world! We're joined by the lovely Reggie C Crawford - an audio editor, podcaster, audio engineer and voice-artist - who got into K-Pop thanks to his daughters and provides an excellent introduction to the genre to n00bs Fran & Babs. Reggie wants to make clear he is a BIG BTS fan - but nominated them as overrated becaus...

We're starting out pretty chilled in the first episode of season four...one-one-two... Coming into the record, Fran was quite indifferent to trip-hop - so Babs hopes to convince him there's more to Massive Attack than the big hits we've heard on TV shows and adverts.  And with Sneaker Pimps releasing a new album in 2021 - 19 years after their previous one - Babs thought it would be a good opp...

Joined by the talented Kobi Omenaka - a podcaster, digital marketing specialist, consultant and teacher - we're finally diving into a genre we're not so knowledgeable about, hip-hop. Puff Daddy a.k.a. P Diddy a.k.a. Puffy a.k.a. Diddy a.k.a. Sean Combs was incredible successful in the late 90s and 00s - but is his fame deserved, should he be better known as a tastemaker rather than a rapper? We al...

Fran picked his dad's literal favourite band as overrated - so will his dad be insulted or buoyed by our analysis? Fran also wants to convince Babs that Cheap Trick are more than I Want You to Want Me and Surrender - and talks about how the expression "big in Japan" was inspired by their live album "Cheap Trick at Budokan" 🇯🇵  Babs was genuinely concerned when Fran suggested this theme, but t...