Mercury Rev Deserter's Songs

Elliott Smith XO

Sparklehorse Good Morning Spider

PJ Harvey Is This Desire?

Neutral Milk Hotel In An Aeroplane Over the Sea

Beastie Boys Hello Nasty

Sunny Day Real Estate How It Feels to Be Something On

Madonna Ray of Light

Sean Lennon Into the Sun

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🎙️ Episode 1997: Desert Island Classics – The Year That Was Everything

What if you could only bring one year of music to your desert island? For The New Dad Rock, that year just might be 1997.

In this special “Desert Island Classics” edition, Keith makes the case for a trio of albums that still echo through indie rock history:

🎸 Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West
🎸 Pavement – Brighten the Corners
🎸 Radiohead – OK Computer

These three towering releases helped define an era, a mindset, and a mood—sprawling, angular, atmospheric, and occasionally absurd. Steve and Keith unpack their enduring influence, share personal memories tied to these records, and debate what makes an album truly castaway-worthy.

🌴 Also in this episode:

• What counts as a “desert island disc”?
• Are we really alone out there—with only our CD wallets and Discmen to keep us company?
• And which albums from 1997 still feel like survival essentials?
  

No filler. All killer. Come wade into the waters of a year that still resonates like a perfectly delayed guitar loop.

The New Dad Rock—where nostalgia meets noise.

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1996 was a wild, weird, and wonderful year for music. Alternative rock was shifting in unexpected ways, techno was taking over clubs and airwaves, and Gen X was riding the high of a pre-Y2K world—blissfully unaware of what was to come. In this episode of The New Dad Rock, Steve & Keith take a joyride through the sonic landscape of ‘96, from scrappy indie rock to stadium-filling anthems to the rise of electronic music that made rock purists sweat.

So what was in that five-disc CD changer back in ‘96? This episode revisits some of the era-defining records, including:

🎸 Beck – Odelay (Genre-bending brilliance)
🎸 Modest Mouse – This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (A lo-fi road trip for the soul)
🎸 Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (Champagne Supernova, anyone?)
🎸 Cake – Fashion Nugget (Quirky, ironic, undeniable earworms)
🎸 The Olivia Tremor Control – Dusk at Cubist Castle (The Elephant 6 movement at its trippiest)
🎸 Neutral Milk Hotel – Everything Is EP (The precursor to Aeroplane Over the Sea)
🎸 Prodigy – The Fat of the Land (Firestarter ignited a whole new sound)
🎸 Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust (Rock meets rave culture)
🎸 Sublime – Sublime (Laid-back anthems, sun-drenched SoCal vibes)
🎸 Fugees – The Score (One of the greatest hip-hop albums ever)

Along the way, Keith recounts his legendary summer road trips, complete with mixtapes, underrated indie gems, and a time when Olivia Tremor Control was a best-kept secret. The guys also dive into the great genre debate of 1996: Was rock dead? Or was it just evolving into something new—thanks to the rise of electronic music titans like Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, and The Dust Brothers?

It was a halcyon year—carefree, creative, and chaotic. So jump in, roll the windows down, and take a ride back to 1996 with The New Dad Rock.

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Step into 1995—a time when five-disc CD changers ruled the bedroom, cassette Walkmans were essential for the commute, and a record player still held a place of honor in the living room. Not a single MP3 in sight. This was also the golden age of mixtapes, crafted with care and burned onto CDs, blending the past and future of rock into something unmistakably 1995.

This episode of The New Dad Rock explores the birth of an alternative nation, when rock’s underground darlings started gaining mainstream traction, and genre lines blurred in ways that would shape music for decades to come. Steve and Keith take you through the landmark releases that defined this pivotal year, including:

🔥 Pavement – Wowee Zowee (Lo-fi weirdness at its best)
🔥 Morphine – Yes (Jazz-infused, sax-laden grit)
🔥 PJ Harvey – Down By the Water (Haunting, bluesy, and powerful)
🔥 Primus – Tales From the Punchbowl (Les Claypool’s bass wizardry in full force)
🔥 Bjork – Post (Eclectic, Icelandic and electronic)
🔥 Sonic Youth – Washing Machine (Experimental alt-rock, pushing boundaries)
🔥 Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Epic, overstuffed, and unforgettable)
🔥 Red Hot Chili Peppers – One Hot Minute (Dave Navarro steps in, things get weird)
🔥 Blind Melon – Soup (A deep-cut masterpiece, tragically overlooked)
🔥 Everclear – Santa Monica (Power-pop angst distilled into one perfect track)
🔥 Thurston Moore – Psychic Hearts (Sonic Youth’s frontman goes solo)

And as the alt-rock establishment took shape, 1995 also marked the birth of some future legends, including Wilco, Cat Power, Sparklehorse, and Rammstein—all of whom would go on to define their own corners of New Dad Rock.

What albums still hold up? What sounds haven’t aged well? And what exactly was in that five-disc changer back then? Tune in as Steve & Keith revisit the birth of an alternative nation—when mixtapes ruled, rock evolved and Gen X finally had their own classic rock.

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Tune in as The New Dad Rock breaks it all down—one track at a time.

1994 was a year of seismic shifts—both in music and in pop culture. Nirvana’s Unplugged set the tone for the band's tragic final chapter, while Woodstock ‘94 marked the peak (and beginning of the end) of the alternative rock explosion. Meanwhile, the slow-speed chase of O.J. Simpson had the world glued to their TVs, raising the question: What were you listening to that summer?

Steve and Keith dive deep into the unforgettable music of 1994, revisiting the albums, artists, and soundtracks that shaped their listening habits. Was this truly the greatest year in music? Or is that just what a really good YouTube playlist told us? Either way, they explore the grunge, hip-hop, indie, and genre-bending albums that still hold up today.

10 Albums We Talk About in This Episode:

1. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York
2. Weezer – Blue Album
3. Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
4. Portishead – Dummy
5. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
6. Beastie Boys – Ill Communication
7. Soundgarden – Superunknown
8. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong with Love
9. Nas – Illmatic
10. The Offspring – Smash

Expect deep cuts, hot takes, and wild tangents as Steve and Keith debate whether 1994 was really the greatest year in music history? Or is that just nostalgia talking like when CDs came in longboxes and Pulp Fiction was on repeat.

Tune in as The New Dad Rock breaks it all down—one track at a time.

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Oh, the nerve of the season, the audacious charade,
Of this barber shop simulation where reality’s frayed!
I plopped in a chair, unassuming and tame,
In this den of shears and holiday fame.
With old barbers tending, and old carols a-playing,
The sort of tunes that leave your spirit decaying.
Oh, the pomp and the fuss, the ho-ho-humbug so trite,
In a soundtrack that’s anything but merry or bright.
But then came the moment—oh, you wouldn't believe!
A riff so electric, it made me perceive
A fracture! A tear! In the fabric of fate—
It was Halford’s Donner & Blitzen! My confusion was great.
The barbers snipped on, not a soul banged a head,
As the anthem of metal filled me with dread.
Was I the only one who could hear the intrusion?
Was this a glitch in our grand illusion?
And when the song ended, back to yule-tide’s bore,
The hoary old jingles returned once more.
Oh, simulation, you sly, cunning beast,
To slip Rob Halford into this stuffy feast.
So I ask you now, was it code or was it cheer?
Did the matrix hiccup or was my mind unclear?
Either way, dear reader, I’ll cherish this glitch,
For even a Grinch loves a good metal switch. 🎄🤘

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EP 2024: The New Dad Rock Forever: A 2024 Mixtape

In this milestone episode, Steve and Keith look back on their favorite music of 2024, celebrating the sounds that defined the year while pondering how their ever-evolving tastes reflect the state of New Dad Rock. From iconic returns to boundary-breaking debuts, this episode is a whirlwind tour through a wildly eclectic musical landscape.

🎵 Their Top 24 of 2024:

1. The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
2. The Osees - SORCS 80
3. The Hard Quartet (Debut Album)
4. Ye - Vultures 1 & 2
5. Beak>>>>
6. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Flight B741
7. Blood Incantation - Absolute Everywhere
8. 21 Pilots - Clancy
9. Shaboozey - Where I've Been Isn't Where I'm Going
10. Hawkwind - Stories of Time and Space
11. Arab Strap - I Am Totally Fine With It and Don't Give a F&% Anymore*
12. Charli XCX - Brat
13. Joey Valence & Brae - No Hands
14. Tyler the Creator - Chromakopia
15. Kendrick Lamar - GNX
16. HARDY - Quit!
17. Karkara - All Is Dust
18. Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja
19. Haunted Plasma (Debut Album)
20. Idles - TANGK
21. Jesus Lizard - Rack
22. Post Malone - F1 Trillion
23. ISaintJames - This Could Be
24. Ween - Chocolate & Cheese Deluxe Edition

With the usual banter, tangents, and dad jokes, Steve and Keith tackle the big question: Is The New Dad Rock still evolving, or are we just reliving our glory days in a modern guise?

🎶 Sit back, crank up the volume, and join us for this musical journey through 2024.

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1993—The Year Dad Rock Cemented Its Legacy

Steve and Keith crank up the time machine to 1993, revisiting the year where grunge, alt-rock, and indie collided in an explosion of creativity. From late-night dorm radio at WGSU to the first season of Beavis & Butthead, they uncover the cultural threads that tied their formative music experiences together. This episode is packed with tales of Chapel Hill bands like Superchunk and Archers of Loaf, discovering Quicksand’s Slip alongside Helmet and KMFDM, and the unforgettable oddity of Ween performing on MTV Spring Break hosted by Pauly Shore.

The duo also dives into seminal albums from 1993 that continue to hold a special place in their hearts:

• In Utero by Nirvana, a raw and unfiltered masterpiece.
• Vs. by Pearl Jam, where rock met introspection.
• Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins, anthemic and lush.
• Slip by Quicksand, blending post-hardcore and alt-metal.
• Boces by Mercury Rev, a kaleidoscopic psych experiment.

They touch on genre-defining moments like Rage Against the Machine’s politically charged fury, the rise of Beck’s Loser, the enduring mystique of Tom Waits’ The Black Rider, and Phish’s Rift. They also review the latest from The Cure: Songs of a Lost World.

Tune in and take a trip back to 1993, when dad rock was evolving, and The New Dad Rock was just beginning to take shape.

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Did you know that The New Dad Rock has swag? Coffee mugs, pillow and t-shirts in a multitude of colors and arm lengths.