Bandsplain

In the last episode, we were Introducing the Band and exploring the question: did Suede kickstart Britpop? This episode, Yasi keeps making her case alongside longtime British music journalist Miranda Sawyer. Listen along as they unpack the bands imperial phase at the height of the Britpop era from Dog Man Star (1994) to their dispirited split, until they eventually decide to Stay Together.

EPISODE PLAYLIST: Listen to the songs we talk about HERE.

CREDITS: Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalek Guest: Miranda Sawyer @msmirandasawyer Producer: Liz Snchez Audio Editor: Adrian Bridges Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This season, we’ve covered two of the biggest bands in Britpop, but did Oasis and Blur actually kickstart the genre? With the release of their first two singles in the early 90s, Suede may have lit the very fuse. In this episode, Yasi and Miranda Sawyer, British music journalist and author of Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs talk about how Suede – including Justine Frischmann – came together and unintentionally created the genre by, according to frontman Brett Anderson, “trying to play songs about little twisted English lives to rooms full of people obsessed with Pearl Jam.” Listen along, and just maybe Suede – and Brett’s slutty little blouses – will open your ears to British music.

EPISODE PLAYLIST: Listen to the songs we talk about HERE.

CREDITS: Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalek Guest: Miranda Sawyer @msmirandasawyer  Producer: Liz Sánchez  Audio Editor: Adrian Bridges Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode, we’ve asked our podfather Rob Harvilla to pick his perfect 90s British Rock song: “A Girl Like You” by Edwyn Collins. Listen along as Yasi and Rob cover the birth of indie pop, Edwyn Collins’ Orange Juice days, and his earlier solo career, right up to the release of his third album Gorgeous George as well as the Empire Records soundtrack, which helped launch this song into the rock stratosphere. 

CREDITS: Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalek Guest: Rob Harvilla @robharvilla Producer: Liz Sánchez  Audio Editor: Adrian Bridges Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yasi is joined by Big Picture host Sean Fennessey to talk abou music biopics, specifically diving into two films that deal with key figures in the British music landscape, Tony Wilson of Factory Records in 24 Hour Party People (2002), and Alan McGee of Creation Records in Creation Stories (2021). 

CREDITS: Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalek Guest: Sean Fennessey IG: @seanfennessey, X: @SeanFennessey Producer: Liz Sánchez  Audio Editor: Adrian Bridges Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everyone knows the hit track “There She Goes,” a song that sounds like it has always existed and emerged into the world fully formed by the hand of God. Liverpudlian band The La’s made that perfect song, and according to the many musicians it influenced, including Oasis’ Liam Gallagher or our guest, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, a nearly perfect album, and then basically never put anything out again. Join Yasi and Ben as they talk about one of the most interesting, mysterious, and secretly influential bands from the UK. 

EPISODE PLAYLIST: Listen to the songs we talk about HERE

CREDITS: Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalek Guest: Ben Gibbard Producer: Liz Sánchez  Audio Editor: Adrian Bridges Additional Production Supervision: Justin Sayles Theme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices