Episode 153: Sour Rock with Hannah Fidell
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Transcript
Time Crisis back again. On this week's episode we're joined by multiple members
of the Longstreth Fidel household. We talk Olivia Rodrigo, Saab Rock,
Batdance, Batman, 1989, 2021 and much much more. This is a very deluxe episode of
Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig.
Time Crisis back again. What's up Jake? I'm eating a Clif Bar here.
Got to load up on nutrients after the gym. Is that your breakfast? Kind of. I just was at the gym
this morning because you're still on mountain time I'm assuming. I'm on deep mountain time.
Yeah, you're in deep mountain time. So we're in different time zones. Mountains of Central Asia.
We're in very different time zones. But this is the first food you've had today? No, no, no,
I had yogurt and granola like early in the morning. Then I went to the gym. Are you still
on kind granola? I am on kind granola, plain Greek yogurt. Then went to the gym and now I'm wearing a
really sweaty Bruise It Boudiccan t-shirt. Sick. Pounding water and eating a Clif Bar. What type
of Clif Bar? Chocolate chip. Oh, really? What's your go-to Clif? Well, I like the brand and I'm
glad that somebody's still eating them because I feel like they kind of were made to seem a little
passé. They were a little ahead of their time and then suddenly there's so many types of bars
and Clif seems like a little 90s. Same way like power bars really fell off. I don't think Clif
fell off, dude. I'm sure you're right. I'm sure Clif still has like huge market share. I just
think it's, it lost some of its swag. According to a very recent article. Yeah. 2021 Clif Bar
plans to double its sales and positive environmental impact. All right. It's probably like a Trump
thing. Like coastal elites don't like it, but you know, it's outperforming.
Clif Bar CEO, Sally Grimes has unveiled a plan to double the company's sales to $2 billion.
It's a lot of Clif Bars. I would have guessed that was more. Okay. I don't know what I'm
talking about with Clif Bars. I always liked apricot Clif Bars. They were a little tangy.
I thought they were unique, but I never liked the chocolate chip ones. I'm just also picturing
eating a chocolate chip Clif Bar in the morning and feeling weird. But I guess if you're post
workout, you're in a different zone. Yeah. I'm not psyched on it, but it's just sort of a
desperation move. That's what's around. Okay. Fair enough. We should also point out that
another member of the Longstreet Fidel household is in the building. Hannah, what's up?
Hey guys. How's it going? Not bad. Thanks for joining us.
I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to be joining you today.
Yeah. When's the last time you were on a time crisis?
Well, I was supposed to be on a few weeks ago and then I bailed.
Right. My apologies. I have a day job and it got in the way.
Fair enough.
But I think it was when a teacher came out. Oh, right. Yeah, of course. Congrats on all the
huge success. Got that little TC bump. Next thing you know, it's the biggest show on Hulu.
We're glad that we played a small part in that.
Big part. Let's be honest.
Well, we're very glad to have you back racking up those TC appearances. I'm sure you're definitely
approaching being a top five TC guest at this point. We might as well jump right into it because
I know you don't have all day. Initially, Jake said you wanted to come on because you wanted
to discuss Olivia Rodrigo. And as Jake explained it, this is a huge album for you and your cohort
of new 30 something mothers. I guess the first thing I wanted to know is like,
how did that come about that? Obviously, Olivia Rodrigo is like this massive new pop star.
She's just big period. But how did she come to like sweep the moms group?
I wish that I had an answer for you. But I feel like with the way that pop music sort of sinks
into the cultural conversation, it's not like a definitive this is the moment. Well, I guess there
are some bands where that has happened. But for Olivia, it was more like people I was hearing
people talk about her. And then I think all of a sudden, once the album came out, I heard
Driver's License, but it didn't really click for me. And then once I heard that first song,
Brutal, I was like, Oh, this is an incredible album. Dare I say I'm obsessed with it.
It's brutal out there.
I did listen.
Hannah did tell me about 15 times that she was obsessed.
Obsessed with Brutal. That must have been very hard for Jake to hear that you were obsessed
with Brutal because on the one hand, he loves the word brutal. On the other hand,
he doesn't like the word obsessed.
No, I know.
Feels it's overused in today's culture.
I was listening. I was on my way to work and I was listening to I guess it was that episode
of TC where Jake was saying that I use the word obsessed too much. So I...
I didn't know you listened to the show.
Yeah. Sometimes I like to just jump in, you know.
You tap in every once in a while?
Oh, absolutely.
That's tight.
Yeah. But I, in this case, I really do think I am...
Actually obsessed.
Actually obsessed, yes.
I'm so insecure I think that I'll die before I drink.
And I'm so caught up in the news of who likes me and who hates you.
And I'm so tired that I might quit my job, start a new life.
And they'd all be so disappointed because who am I if not exploited?
And I'm so sick of 17.
I'm over this teenage dream.
If someone tells me one more time, "Enjoy your youth."
I'm going to cry and I don't stick up for myself.
I'm anxious and nothing can help.
And I wish I'd done this before.
And I wish people liked me more.
All I did was try my best.
That's the kind of things I did.
I'm relentlessly upset.
They say these are the golden years.
But I wish I could disappear.
Ego crush is so severe.
God, it's brutal out here.
I guess the first question I just want to clear up.
Yeah.
Is there causation or merely correlation with the fact that
you and the New Moms group got obsessed as a group?
Yeah.
Is it because you were New Moms that you were in this zone?
You brought life into the world.
And then you see this young woman bringing a classic album into the world.
And you're just like, "Oh my God."
Or is it just merely you happen to be talking to a bunch of New Moms
because you got something to talk about.
And the same way you would talk about any major news of the day
with whoever you're talking to.
This happens to be the big album of the moment.
Which is it?
It's actually a two-part answer.
Great.
I feel like for this group of 30-something women
who have now very clearly entered midlife,
maybe it is about us all having some sort of midlife crisis
post having a kid
because her music is so representative of a very specific time in one's life.
When heartbreak and first love
and trying to understand the way that the world works,
there's something symbolic in that for sure.
That it brings us back to the before as opposed to the now.
It's interesting that you frame it that way
because maybe there's also some kind of resonance
with first child experiencing a new type of love,
thinking back to those early days of romantic love.
Yeah.
It's got to be some connection.
Yeah, for sure.
But at the same time, I can't remember an album genuinely
that people were continuously saying,
"Oh my God, have you heard it? It's so good."
Right. Especially when you enter your 30s,
unless, I mean, I guess working in music,
you're more likely to get people saying like that
just for the hell of it because it's their job.
It's to be like, "Oh my God, you got to hear this sh*t.
I worked on it."
So you work in the arts, obviously,
it's not a million miles away.
But yeah, I think generally in your 30s
or even by your mid to late 20s,
how often are multiple people being like,
"Have you heard this album?"
It's maybe once every five years.
And also just to get the lay of the land
with your group of friends and your milieu.
I mean, I know Jake's probably hitting you sometimes
with albums and stuff,
but in terms of your friends and...
Sort of.
But actually, Jake, when's the last time you hit Hannah with like,
"Have you heard this new album? You got to check it out."
I have a memory of driving out to the desert
and playing her the Young Gov double album
that came out last year.
Oh yeah, you were riding hard for that.
I love Young Gov.
I might've played you the second grade album too.
I think I played you the second grade album,
which is my favorite album of the last year.
Yeah, you've been riding for second grade.
Jake, after we recorded the last episode,
you were pretty hyped on the new BTS song.
Did that make it back home?
That did not make it back home.
I hope it's on the top five this week.
I hope it's on the top five this week.
I want to hear it again.
[laughs]
Riding right up to me and telling me that I'm her one, cause she can.
She loves, riding right up to me and giving me a big kiss.
Just like this.
She loves me, ever since she told me I've been bang, bang, bang, bang, shooting from the head.
So back to more like your friends, your professional colleagues.
Yeah.
Are you getting lots of texts when like a new Taylor Swift album comes out?
No.
Is like folklore a big deal?
No, not at all.
I think it's fair to say this is the only album that has been discussed on your friend thread.
Correct, yeah.
So this is like taking you back to like high school, college days when albums would come out.
Oh, for sure.
And really people would be like, "Oh, did you hear Interpol?" Like that kind of vibe.
Yes, and I'm sure that I had that exact conversation about Interpol.
So this is like the first Interpol record for 2021 new moms.
Okay, so I really am starting to understand that this is not merely this album connected with you.
It's not even merely that this is your first album you got into seriously since becoming a mom.
This is like bigger.
This is almost a once a decade phenomenon that happened to coincide also with a major time in your life.
Yes.
Okay, that's deep.
Yeah, for sure.
And you found that this was true across the board with the new moms.
Were there any new moms on there who were just like, "I'm a f***ing classic rock fan.
I'm not into this pop s***. Please stop clogging up my texts talking about Olivia Rodrigo."
Or was everybody in?
Everyone was in.
Everyone was talking about the gossip and the love triangle that was going on.
That's the backstory of the record.
But then like on another text thread with old friends from New York, some of whom are still single and childless.
You make it sound so bleak.
I know.
Or they're living their best life.
They might not want kids.
Yeah, exactly.
What they want is a great album.
I think you meant the term childless in a value neutral way.
But for some reason, the word childless, it has an intense valence to it.
Yeah.
Anyway, the New York friends.
Yeah, the New York friends.
They're all into it too.
I feel like maybe it is just a nostalgia for being 19, 20, 18.
I don't know.
But there's something really special about it.
And I feel like it's not, I mean, obviously, it's a huge, this is not breaking news.
It's like a huge hit that spans other age ranges.
But I was on set the other night and these two PAs, I just overheard them just like casually having a conversation about how much they love the LVR Rodrigo album.
And it really brought us together in a way, because I'm not necessarily on set going to have a conversation with the two PAs.
Right, you're the director. You're real busy.
Yeah, but I sort of turned around and then we got into a whole discussion about how we were all obsessed with the album.
And these are girls that are, I don't know, they're probably 25.
And these PAs are now the first AD and the cinematographer.
Yeah, exactly.
Ladies, I like the cut of your gyps. Come with me.
Okay, so this LVR Rodrigo album, this really is like the first Interpol album or the first Strokes album or something.
It's just like the f*** talk of the town.
Clearly not a flash in the pan because at this point it's been out for a few months.
Just uniting people, different ages, people with child, people without child.
All the different demos are gaga for Rodrigo.
And so I see in our notes, I guess in the pre-interview, we heard that you also wanted to discuss John Mayer.
So I know John Mayer has a new album. I have not heard it. Is this album also the talk of the town?
It's the talk of our house.
Oh, okay. Jake, you're a big fan too?
Not a fan, but it's interesting.
I feel like it's been discussed on the Richard Pictures, Mountain Brews text thread.
I've seen it, at least on my timeline, I see it referenced a fair amount.
You find it interesting you're not in, Jake?
No, I was very excited about it conceptually.
Have you seen the cover of it?
We're fans of John Mayer's.
Of Mayer?
Yeah, him as a personality.
Right.
Yeah, he seems like a fun guy.
Yeah.
And obviously he's playing with the dead.
Of course. That's the only time I've ever seen him perform.
And yeah, he's made some classic music, the Continuum album.
There's songs on that album I still throw on.
But wait, are you in on this album, Hannah?
Or you're just like, you're always fascinated when he drops a new record?
There was a long period where I did not give a s*** about John Mayer's music.
It went from Your Body is a Wonderland to New Light with nothing in between.
And then when I heard that song, New Light, I forget when it came out.
It was maybe a few years ago.
It came out in 2018, I think.
That sounds right.
Yeah, it blew my mind.
I was like, whoa, he's doing some interesting stuff.
This sounds great.
I love listening to this in the car.
And I like what he's doing.
And then the album came out and there's some bangers on it.
But then there's like, I think track two to me sounds just like a Tim McGraw song without the country twin.
Is it a concept album?
It kind of has this 80s-ish cover.
It's a concept album kind of about a concept album, if that makes sense.
He's so into the concept of making a concept album that I think it overrides the songs.
It's like a rock opera about a struggling singer-songwriter in the 80s who wants to write a concept album really badly.
Yeah.
Interesting.
But I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.
No, I definitely got to listen to it.
My question for you guys is, the title caught my eye.
I saw some billboards for it.
Sob Rock.
What does that mean?
Is that evocative of the music?
I think I thought of it as a play on soft rock.
It's almost like you are saying soft rock, but you're saying sob rock.
Is it also like the car?
Is it like sob like S-A-A-B-B like you listen to?
That's actually a good interpretation.
I feel like the character that John is playing in this concept album would drive a sob.
I had read about the record before it came out and I was very excited about it.
I saw the cover.
I love the cover.
He said in a press release that he wanted to make a record as if it were 1988 and the album had been lost and just shelved and had just been recently rediscovered.
I was like, "Damn, that sounds really intriguing."
I really hope he goes the full nine with that.
The first song, it does sound like a...
88? What's he going for with 88? Like Richard Marx?
No, that's not like power ballads.
Actually, I thought of Richard Marx yesterday when I was listening to it.
I was like, "Man, I wish there was just balls to the wall like Richard Marx power ballad."
No, I think it was more of like a Steve Winwood, "Back in the High Life Again" kind of thing.
Okay, that's a great reference.
The first song, he brings it with that.
Then the rest of the album, he just completely stops doing the 80s thing.
He could have gone so far with the meticulous dedication to recreating and exploring the 80s aesthetic.
It was weird. I actually read the Pitchfork review, which I never do.
Hannah's suggestion.
In the review, it said...
Well, they were not thrilled with the record.
I was surprised that the writer was like, "Yeah, he really nailed the 80s sound."
He barely even scratched the surface.
The drum sounds on the rest of the record are completely innocuous drum sounds from the last 10 or 15 years.
There's some 80s attack a little bit on some of the solos, but it's such a mild record.
Which to me feels so counter to his personality, which is sort of the bummer of it.
Yeah, there's none of his personality in the record.
He's known to be kind of meticulous.
His records have very clean sounding. The playing's very precise.
He's like a watch guy, too.
Watch guys know a lot of details.
Like wrist watches?
Yeah, he's a wrist watch guy. You didn't know that?
He's known for that?
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Everybody knows that.
Like he's into vintage Rolexes?
Yeah, exactly. Seinfeld's nodding his head, "Yes, you knew this, right, Seinfeld? He's a watch guy."
Yeah, I feel like this is one of his major traits, is that he collects watches.
In addition to Japanese street wear and sartorial other things, but watches, yeah.
I guarantee John Mayer, if you just asked him, if you named two years of the Rolex Submariner and be like,
"Did they change anything between '93 and '75?"
He'd be like, "Oh, where do I start?"
He'd be like, "Boom, boom, boom, boom."
I'm so curious. I've thought about this before.
What is it about watches that gets people excited?
Because the technology of a watch is the same across the board.
It's just in the aesthetic and the play of it?
No, it's the masterfulness.
There's very few master crafts, right?
It's like the same people that get very into whiskey, watches, cars.
It's much more about how refined and yeah.
What Nick just named, whiskey, watches, and cars, I know this from my dear friends in Chromio,
because they're obsessed with this.
Those things are known as the deluxe life or the deluxe lifestyle.
Those three?
Yeah, there's other things, but also guitars.
If you're into guitars, whiskey, watches, and cars, you're into the deluxe life.
This is a real phenomenon.
Wow, I'm not into any of that stuff.
Well, hold on, Jake. You're into at least half of it.
You like whiskey and guitars.
It's true. I do like whiskey and guitars, but I'm not a connoisseur or collector.
We'll get you there.
10 years, you're going to be full deluxe life.
Jake owns like 90 guitars.
I need to rent a storage space, off-site storage with climate control to store all my guitars that I never touch.
This old guitar taught me to sing a love song
Showed me how to laugh and how to cry
It introduced me to some friends of mine
And brightened up some days
To help me make it through some lonely nights
Oh, what a friend to have on a cold and lonely night
I think the love of watches is it does come from a place where they're not really all the same.
It is amazing the craftsmanship that goes into them.
The really high-end watches, these tiny little gears moving.
There are people who appreciate what they call complications.
There's some interesting stuff that I've read about in the 19th century.
People would commission some kind of pocket watch that would be able to tell you the day, the date, show you what stars were out.
That was really cutting-edge technology then.
That would be like a guy in Switzerland dedicating five years of his life to make you something.
There's the craftsmanship element.
Then I guess it's just like with anything, where if you get obsessed enough with something, you start to really care about the years, the history, why it's different.
There, it's just a matter of taste, I guess, if you're interested in watches or not.
I think John Mayer used to write a column for this watch website called Hodinkee.com.
Hodinkee?
Yeah.
Do you have some watches, Ezra?
Yeah, I have a few.
I feel like you're a low-key watch guy.
I'm a low-key watch guy because I've known some hardcore watch guys in my life.
Their enthusiasm can be infectious.
I have some sense of the sociology of the Rolexes, like who buys which ones, what they mean.
I'm almost more interested in that than wearing them myself.
There's a whole thing with watches where there's this one, like a Rolex Submariner, that's a very classic one.
It was originally made for the Jacques Cousteau type dudes because it can go underwater and all this stuff.
But then it became really popular almost with like eye bankers.
Then some other watch heads started to derisively refer to those guys as desk divers.
Like, "All right, you're sitting at your desk with your Submariner? All right, whatever, man."
It's almost like the same with outdoor hiking gear.
It's a whole weird world.
Or like big SUVs you could take off-road but you never do.
Yeah, exactly. There's definitely some desk divers out there who have some crazy SUV that's never seen dirt in its life.
Yeah. I have one very good friend who-
Is a desk diver?
Is a desk diver. I have a few friends who are desk divers.
I have one very good friend who doesn't keep any money in the bank or stock market.
Wow.
He puts all of his money into watches and he keeps the watches in his house.
He has an app on his phone that sort of hourly says how the watches have raised an investment.
It's essentially his life savings and investment is in these watches.
He flips them.
Oh my God.
What if he gets robbed?
Trust me. It's a thing that I talk to him a lot about.
Yeah.
We had another friend who was house sitting and that was all he could think about the entire time when he went out of town for a few months.
Another friend who was like, "I can't be in this house with these watches."
You got to put those in a bank vault.
Yeah, why don't you put them in a safety box?
He probably does keep some but because he's like, "I think that there's real value here," but he can also enjoy it.
Where you keep your money in the market and you can't enjoy it, he gets to wear these watches and they increase in value.
He's also been doing the same with cars.
So he's wearing them?
Yes.
All of them.
All of them at once.
I'm like, "What are you doing, bro?"
Wait, Nick.
How much are these watches?
You don't have to say it, but is this friend John Mayer?
His friend is John Mayer.
No, although I'm guessing John Mayer has the same one.
He's actually a cool guy.
He just put out a new album.
It's called Sob Rock.
I can't say who.
Well, I mean, Jake, you know-
These are like five figure.
Yeah, he'll buy a watch.
I'm sure some of them could be six figure.
Yeah.
The really rare ones.
I know he went to Japan and he said he got a watch.
And I mean, this is crazy to me, but he's like, "I would have spent like $35,000 on that watch."
And as soon as I got back, it was $150,000 and I sold it.
Whoa.
And then I flipped it into that.
Yeah.
I mean, there's like-
Okay, that's crazy.
I will say I had another- I was hanging out before I moved with my neighbor who collects whiskey and he does a similar thing with whiskey.
And he was like, especially post-COVID, it seems, there's this whole master craft commodity thing where it's like being a master at one of these like very technical,
the deluxe life stuff is very-
It's a diminishing- Basically, people are valuing the amount of time it takes to make this stuff.
So, if you collect it, you're finding a lot of people who are like buying and flipping.
It's an entire essentially market.
It's a commodities market for deluxe life.
And so, his thing was-
Wait, because there's a master whiskey maker somewhere who does like four bottles a year?
Yeah, like a Pappy Van Winkle can be at this point.
You could have bought it for 120 bucks 10 years ago and now it's like $3,000.
Are they drinking that?
Wait, I've heard this name before.
What the f*** is Pappy Van Winkle?
I've never heard that name in my life.
I've heard things like that Pappy Van Winkle before.
Pappy Van Winkle is a very high-end whiskey where it's a very small batch.
It's a family batch.
I know about it.
American?
It's American, Kentucky.
It does sound like-
It sounds a little bit like-
Which we'll talk about later.
It sounds a little bit like a "I think you should leave now" sketch.
Can you just picture like Tim Robinson just be like, "It's called Pappy Van Winkle.
It costs $50,000 a bottle.
Are you f***ing stupid?
It's Pappy Van Winkle."
Okay, but Pappy Van Winkle is real.
Yeah, it's real.
It's a Kentucky family.
Is he real?
My understanding is that he was real.
I'd like to know a lot more about it, but I'm looking at it now and you're seeing bottles that are $7,000, $10,000 bottles.
Probably up to $20,000 bottles.
What the hell?
My story about this-
The reason I know about Pappy Van Winkle is I made a pilot years ago, right before or right around when we had Max.
I really fought hard to have this director shoot this pilot.
No one wanted me to have this director shoot this pilot.
I'm really far from him.
I didn't know him, but I really liked these music videos he'd made.
Everyone's like, "You shouldn't. I don't know about him."
I said, "No, no. I believe in him."
It was the worst experience I ever had.
He was the biggest piece of s***.
He made my life absolutely hell.
It was a truly awful experience.
At the end of this horrific-
I've been pretty lucky to really enjoy the people I work with.
This really left a mark on me.
He bought me this bottle of Pappy Van Winkle as a gift,
which I knew was expensive.
It was probably a couple hundred dollars at the time.
Then it just sat on my-
I couldn't really look at it because it just reminded me of this guy.
I remember at some point, someone was like, "You know that bottle now is probably $700."
I was like, "What?"
I looked at that bottle, and now I'm looking at it, it's probably about a $4,000 or $5,000 bottle now.
I remember taking that bottle out and saying, "You know what? Let's just drink this."
Going out with some friends and sitting in a hot tub and just drinking it out of the bottle and finishing the whole bottle.
Jesus.
Basically, because I was like, "I don't like having-"
It was almost out of spite.
I didn't even enjoy it.
I just didn't want to look at the bottle anymore because it reminded me of this person.
I look back now, I was like, "That was so stupid."
I mean, it was so stupid.
I just pounded this bottle of what is now one of the most expensive because that's at least 10 years old now.
Wow.
To answer your question, Jake, do people drink it?
My next door neighbor who collects whiskey basically was like, "I want to turn this hobby of mine and this thing that I love, which is drinking whiskey, into
essentially a-
Retirement.
No, not a retirement.
If not a cost because he's not trying to wealth hoard his whiskey.
It's different than the watches in that when you drink the whiskey, the value plummets to zero.
He was like, "I want to turn this," and I thought this was kind of cool.
He was like, "I want to turn this into, if not a cost negative, just a true, I get to drink a bottle, I flip a bottle."
Basically, it just evens out.
Break even?
He breaks even on something he really loves.
He'll buy two bottles of extensive whiskey, one he'll then flip into another, and he just gets to have-
He has 70 bottles of whiskey in this.
Again, it's like Mayer with the watches or whatever, but I'm sure Mayer has this app on his phone that tells him his collection and its market value.
Here's a question.
You have your buddy that has all his wealth, all his money stored in watches.
How liquid is a watch?
If he wanted to sell one of his watches today, he could do it.
That's what I'm saying.
My understanding, and this was news to me, is that he could sell it in minutes.
I guess the good news is if war breaks out, grab that suitcase full of watches, you end up in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, France, whatever, you're going to be able to sell those
Rolexes, no problem.
Now, how stable is the watch market?
Do the prices fluctuate?
We can have him on to talk about it.
I'm just curious.
It's like a market.
I don't know if it's like-
This is the thing is I think if you know what you're doing, you know you're buying either a rare watch or you're buying one that you know will become.
I think that there's a thought.
You don't just go buy an expensive watch, and this is what I think the Chromio guys know.
It's like if you know, then you know.
Truly, it's like they're these classic brands that it's like these guys are not betting on some up and coming bullshit.
There's certain watches that are just so beloved that if you- it's the same with guitars kind of.
If you have a Rolex Day-Date from this year or Audemars Piguet or whatever, they're pretty evergreen or they've proven to be so far.
Okay, it sounds like we got to line up a watch guy, whiskey guy.
We actually have had a car guy on the show before.
That's true.
But we could do watch guy, whiskey guy, vintage guitar guy, and maybe bring back the car guy and we're going to do Deluxe Life December.
I love this idea.
And also it'll be-
Just in time for Christmas.
Very relatable content.
For any of our billionaire listeners.
Yeah.
I'm trying to find the man I never got to be
But when I pushed down on the pavement I found the whole thing so much harder than it seemed
The only deal I ever signed No devil drew a dotted line
The stage was set The words were mine I'm not complaining
Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey Water, water, water, sleep
Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey Wake up, shake it off and repeat
It's just a phase It's not forever
It's just a phase But I still might have a ways to go
Guys, I got to run in about 10 minutes and I got to tell you I'm itching to see Jake's reaction to this.
Travis Scott.
Oh, right. Hold on. Let me grab it.
So what is this?
Oh, yeah. So, Travis Scott.
Yeah, Travis Scott has a spiked seltzer that came out a few months ago.
Yeah, it's a 7% volume.
There's Hannah holding it up.
It's called cacti and it's alcohol infused agave seltzer.
7% alcohol volume.
It's 11 o'clock in the morning.
And I just I managed to come across some of this hard to find cacti drink.
And it just felt like, you know, Jake with his history of worst margaritas and all the rest of it,
something that would be interesting to get his his candid reaction to.
And also, let's not forget Jake, a guy who I think merely a year ago said to us on this very program,
Wait, who's Travis Scott?
So we know Jake's not going to bring cultural baggage to this.
He can objectively judge this beverage as a beverage.
Cacti, pineapple, agave spiked seltzer.
Oh, you got a different flavor than me?
Yeah. What do you have?
I appreciate you dropping these off.
I saw them when I got to my office.
So, yeah, my pleasure.
For context, just for our listeners, I live like a block away from where Jake works.
Yep, that's right.
I was I was able to swing by and just leave a bag with a couple of flavors.
I think there was also pineapple.
Was it a strawberry and pineapple?
What do you have?
What do you have, Hannah?
I have a strawberry.
All right, here we go.
I'm going to crack that open.
A morning cacti.
The way Travis intended.
Hannah does not look pleased.
It's real trebly.
It's going straight to the head.
I'll take two more sips.
It doesn't taste like strawberry to me.
It's all high end.
Is it sweet?
It's like weak Sprite.
Is it hard?
Can you taste the alcohol?
It's got a real terrible kind of metallic aftertaste.
Yeah, it does.
Are you trying it too, Seinfeld?
Seinfeld's drinking one too.
Are you drinking on the job?
Yeah, I'm drinking on the job.
Well, it's just a sip, but I would agree with all that.
This is an Anheuser-Busch product, just for context on this as well.
I'm kind of working on an empty stomach too, so that is three sips in and that is...
Chocolate chip, Clif Bar, into cacti.
That's a noxious brew, I got to tell you.
I would feel physically ill if I drank this whole thing.
That sounds kind of right.
Yeah.
I mean, a Clif Bar and a cacti.
It sort of sounds right.
Oh, it's getting worse with every sip.
Yeah, it's really... It has a metallic taste.
Terrible product, Travis.
Can I say, this might be the worst tasting alcoholic beverage I've ever consumed in my life.
Agreed.
No exaggeration.
I'm with you.
For real?
Yeah, it's really bad.
Seinfeld, I think it's better than the Yingling Hershey's combo.
No, I don't know.
That wasn't that bad.
That went down a lot smoother than this.
Also, and of course, I don't have the show notes in front of me, but wasn't this the highest selling Anheuser-Busch product upon release?
What?
Matt, can you confirm that?
Can I just ask, is any of it context? I mean, it is early.
No.
Late night, you're hanging with your friends, playing some Olivia Rodrigo.
Travis Scott.
And/or Olivia Rodrigo.
And/or Olivia Rodrigo, and someone's like, "Oh, I just brought over a six-pack of this stuff."
And you're like, "Ooh."
That one didn't go down great that first sip, but then three sips in, you're like, "Oh, I'll have another."
It's no white cloth.
It's a recipe for a hangover, for sure.
In its first week, Cacti outperformed the launch of Major Hard Seltzers and secured the highest first-week rate of sale for a variety pack in Anheuser-Busch history.
That's a weird metric, that this is the highest first-week rate of sale for a variety pack.
How many variety packs is Anheuser-Busch doing?
Like, is there like a Bud variety pack, where you get like one Bud, one Bud Light?
No.
Okay, so they're cooking the books.
Yeah, that sounds fishy. It outperformed the launch of Major Hard Seltzers.
All right, like, which ones?
And it's, okay, I don't know if Cacti's going to have a long life.
And also, the first week of this is also going to be a lot of like Travis Scott heads buying them and not drinking them.
Obviously, for a beverage to really have legs, it needs to grow.
It needs to be word of mouth. People got to enjoy it.
So we'll see. I haven't tried it yet.
Are you expecting cases of this Travis Scott beverage with the hope of selling them in five years as a profit?
Like watches and whiskey?
Absolutely. Luxury lifestyle.
Is part of the deluxe lifestyle is hard seltzer.
Well, yeah, because obviously as millennials are entering middle age now,
even some of Gen Z is kind of like entering like, I'm not even sure, they're hot on their heels.
You know, there's going to be a new definition of deluxe life.
If the old deluxe life was whiskey, guitars, watches, the new one's going to be Travis Scott Cacti.
Travis Scott Chicken McNugget body pillows will probably be something that people be trading and buying for years to come.
Travis Scott will probably, as his audience gets a little older, he'll start rolling out a new form of deluxe life.
I think maybe already is.
With a much more consumer friendly price point, because, you know, not everyone can get in on these five figure watches.
These four thousand dollar bottles of whiskey.
I mean, he's outrageous that people listening to this show are just like, who are these people?
Deluxe life.
I got to run, guys. Thank you for indulging.
Thank you for dropping the cacti off.
See you guys.
See you, dude.
In my white tee, call up Mike Williams for the hype, please.
They gon' wipe you before you wipe me.
Unbox these checks, not my Nike's.
Cacti's not no iced tea.
Got them bamboozled like I'm Spike Lee.
You need more than Google just to find me.
I just call up bae to get a high fee.
Incredible, general.
I just start the label just to sign me.
Me and Chase connected like we signed me.
We been on a run, feel like a crime spree.
Talk to me nicely.
I seen his face, yeah, on his white tee.
So, I got to check out Saabrock. I'm very curious.
They're on track one.
I like track one.
Oh, yeah. I mean, this sounds like what he pitched.
Totally.
It sounds a lot like Mountain Brews to me.
I was about to say that.
Do you think he heard Mountain Brews' third EP, Raised in a Place, 80s Brews?
Right.
Well, no, because he was saying, there was quotes in the Pitchfork review that he was sort of like,
he's like, "What if a 60s rock star was making records in the 80s?"
And I was like, "Wow, that's exactly what the Mountain Brews Raised in a Place idea was."
I'm sure we had it.
Yeah.
He's been working on this record for a long time.
So, call it convergent evolution.
But we both had the same idea.
Fair enough.
Yeah, this song is awesome.
Yeah.
Strong start.
Good vibe.
So, this has some members of Toto.
Oh, really?
Lenny Castro.
That's what it says.
It also says, "Lenny Castro and Greg Phillinganes."
Greg Phillinganes was Michael Jackson's keyboardist for a long time
and actually has a dope solo album from the 80s, too.
That's funny.
I remember I was texting with a friend of the show, Stephen Hyden, a while ago.
I was telling him that we were working on another 70s country rock,
Mountain Brews thing.
He was like, "I wonder if you could hire Don Felder to play a solo."
Yeah.
I was like, "I don't know if I can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And I was like, "I don't know if I can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And I was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And I was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And I was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And I was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And I was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And I was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
And he was like, "I don't know if you can do that."
- Well, because think of-- I bet there's so many people,
and if you're just like, "Oh, man, Hotel California's solo,
one of the all-time greats," they'll just be like,
"Absolutely, Joe Walsh."
Even though Don Felder wrote the original, you know,
he's doing-- he's right there with Joe Walsh.
- Right, right.
- He's got less name recognition than Joe Walsh or Don Henley.
- For sure. It's just like-- I just thought of that.
- Reach out to Felder.
- Yeah, maybe like a future project, get Felder to rip a solo.
That'd be really funny.
- Absolutely.
- That song was fun.
- Okay, and that's 100% what you guys were describing.
- Yeah.
- And he says, "Mayor told Zane Lowe,"
shout-out Apple Music,
"about the influence of Quentin Tarantino's
'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' ensemble."
- Oh. - Interesting.
- He said it was an aesthetic achievement,
and he described himself as a director
comparing his vision for an album
to that of a feature-length film.
So, okay, based on what you're saying--
- Okay. - He probably saw
"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," great film,
and was like, "Quentin Tarantino has this love letter to an era,
but tells his own story that's not historically accurate."
But, you know, you get to be there--
- I see what you're saying. - --in 1969 Hollywood,
and you get to see these familiar faces,
but it's still weird and his own thing.
And maybe John Mayer wanted to do that for 1988.
But you guys are saying that--
- He didn't follow through on the record. - He didn't--
I mean, with that aesthetic.
I was very excited if he'd really just drilled down.
- He didn't get weird. - Mm.
I think that's the general consensus,
is he played it--
- Oh, really? - --he played it safe, yeah.
I wasn't expecting him to get weird.
I was expecting a more faithful
and meticulous attention
to the aesthetic concept of the record.
The rest of it's very kind of--
fairly innocuous, kind of coffee shop,
- acoustic, kind of driven stuff. - Maybe we need a Jake remix.
Jake gets in and actually makes sure that everything sounds like 1988.
I mean, yeah, I guess if he really wanted to go full Tarantino,
he would have hired some local L.A. DJ from the '80s.
Would have had interstitials that'd just be like,
"You're listening to KCSW,
home of Sob Rock,
bringing you all of the late '80s greatest Sob Rock hits.
Next one coming up,
we got something real nice from John Mayer.
All right, drive safe out there."
- You know, or something-- - That'd be cool.
I don't know, write a song about the 1988 election.
Oh, yeah.
- Well, you got me in lyrics. - Cocker's versus Bush.
I mean, we haven't even just--
The lyrics are real disappointing.
Even "Last Train Comin'" is sort of just like--
That's so innocuous. There's no--
Well, but that's period-appropriate.
I mean, yeah, sure, I guess so.
I had higher expectations, that's all.
I mean, your relationship to John Mayer's had a lot of ups and downs.
After that first time you saw "Dead & Co."
Right.
You judged his playing very harshly, but then he won you right back,
so maybe this'll be the same thing.
- Right, yeah. - "Sob Rock 2," 1989, is gonna come out,
and you're gonna be like, "This is what I was looking for."
The attention to detail is immaculate.
- Thank you, John. - Thank you, sir.
Thank you, John.
I feel like just writing a four-paragraph comment in the iTunes store.
"Thank you, sir."
"I was deeply disappointed in 'Sob Rock 1.'"
I respect that he's even just putting those vibes out there
in terms of being like, "I wanna make a 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'
for 1988 soft rock,"
even if you didn't feel like doing that for every song.
- Wow. - You got my attention.
Serious question, though. Do you think he's listened to "Mountain Bruce"?
- Unlikely. - I don't think it's impossible.
- Unlikely? - I don't think it's impossible.
I think there's like a 10% chance that Mayer's heard "Mountain Bruce."
Do you think he's listened to "Time Crisis"?
I would say a 35% chance he's listened to "Time Crisis."
He's definitely a fan of Vampire.
I remember when "Harmony Hall" came out,
he shouted out the attention to detail,
the meticulousness of the recording of "Harmony Hall."
I saw him in person once after that.
Me and Ariel were at a party and we chatted a little bit.
He has very nice things to say.
I really appreciated it.
I gotta remember back to that conversation.
Did I tell him, "Man, you gotta check out this new 'Mountain Bruce' EP
that's gonna come out in a few months.
It's kind of like an 80s-- So you know the first two?
Well, this is kind of like an 80s version."
"I think I said it. Wait, hold on. Hold on. I think I said it."
[laughter]
"Oh, damn. It was you."
"Wait, his name was John Mayer, too.
Oh, s--t. It was you."
One day we'll have Mayer on the show, hopefully.
And we'll have so much to talk about.
He'd be a great guest.
But I do like what he's putting out there.
♪ I was raised in a place ♪
♪ that's become a disgrace ♪
♪ Everything that I once knew ♪
♪ now there is no trace ♪
♪ The pumpkin patch, the fall harvest ♪
♪ has been paved with a new target ♪
♪ They call it progress, but for whom? ♪
♪ They tell us all, but it's only a few ♪
♪
♪ They tore the old buildings down ♪
♪ replaced them all in beige and brown ♪
♪ What do I see when I drive around? ♪
♪ It's all the same ♪
♪ From town to town ♪
♪
♪ From town to town ♪
♪
There is a funny genre of album
that's similar to the third Bruise EP,
which truly is like--
what do you call that?
Like when people write their own version of history in fiction?
Oh, historical fiction?
No, but it's like alternative histories.
You know, like Philip Roth,
The Plot Against America.
What do you call that?
I thought you'd call it historical fiction.
Or speculative fiction?
Okay. Speculative fiction.
I think there's another--
alternate history.
I've always liked that idea for music.
I mean, I found that as a tool
for the way I think about music a lot,
where it's kind of just like--
conceptually, just like what if
there was a band that sounded like that,
but they listen to that?
Of course, I think everybody does that a little bit.
But like truly an album
being on that Bruise level,
of being like the third Bruise EP,
it takes place in this moment in time,
it's imagining somebody from the '60s,
but they're making their '80s record,
every track points in that direction.
I wonder how many records that are like that.
There's one that I could think of
that I always found kind of interesting.
I've barely heard it, but you know that band XTC?
That like great punk new wave band?
Because those guys love like '60s music so much,
they recorded--
it might be an EP, it might be a full album,
but they basically made up a full band
called Dukes of the Stratosphere,
and they made a record
that was as if it was like
a lost late '60s garage psych record.
I can think of a few examples like that.
Phish made a fake album a few years ago.
They kind of made up this like Scandinavian band,
this kind of like synthy thing.
But in terms of like a big--
Famously--
Famously, Chris Gaines.
That's not really an era,
but that was more of like a genre.
And he's inventing a whole persona.
But I'm saying what these things have in common
is that they're all like kind of cinematic
in that you're truly imagining like a world.
And it's not just like a mood board.
Like most albums have a mood board
where you're like, "Yeah, we want a little bit of this vibe."
You're literally imagining a world
in which this album exists.
Which maybe is like from an alternate timeline.
I'm sure for John Mayer, for any like big artist,
it probably feels like
you could use that as an organizing principle,
but maybe it feels like if every song's like that,
are people going to be too weirded out?
Is it like too inside baseball or like nerdy
to go full like 1988?
Maybe he knows his audience
and he knows that a guy like me is not really part of it.
Although it would delight me.
Right.
But he's not worried about me.
Sob Rock 2 is for the jakes of the world.
No, if he fully...
Because I've been looking at the notes and it says
he used TikTok a lot for like rolling it out.
You could imagine like a universe where he was like,
"I'm only promoting this album using 1988 technology."
Actually, that would be kind of cool.
Imagine he was just like, "I'm deleting all of my social media accounts.
Definitely won't see me on TikTok."
You're welcome to use TikTok if you like the songs,
but my entire campaign is going to be
me just doing like going in person to like...
Late night?
Late night TV and like in-person radio.
Like we try to get him on Time Crisis and he's like,
"Is it AM or FM?"
We're just like, "Internet."
He's like, "Nope, that's not Sob Rock, man.
It's not '88."
No can do.
Internet radio?
No can do.
Even like his publicist is like going to like the newspapers
and like magazines and they're just like,
"Well, you know, of course, we'll probably throw it online
a few days before the print hits."
Absolutely not.
This only can exist in print.
Maybe Sob Rock 2. That's the Sob Rock 2 model.
Did you see any of his TikToks?
Because actually that's what got passed around with my friends.
And this was him promoting the new songs?
Promoting Sob Rock.
They got you psyched on Sob Rock?
They got me psyched on his TikToks.
Jake, I showed you.
Yeah, it was straight up funny.
Yeah. He was like, "Oh man,
the label's telling me I need to promote this
album but do it in like a catchy, fun way.
So here we go."
And it's just a photo of his dogs, or a video of his dogs
jumping into a pool.
That's it.
That's fun.
Yeah, it was great.
All right, you know what?
Sob Rock has clearly made a mark one way or another.
I'm excited to listen to it.
And I'll be thinking quite a bit about how it intersects
with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
I'm going to bounce.
Okay. Thanks, Hannah.
This was great.
Hannah, thanks for coming on the show.
Thanks so much for having us.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah, please come back soon.
Maybe we'll have you on in a few more months
just to see how Sour by Olivia Rodrigo is holding up
in the second half of the year.
All right, have a good one.
We'll see you soon.
Bye, guys.
I like saying thanks for having us
to someone who came over.
Like, thanks for allowing us into your life.
Thanks for having us, but you had me.
No, man.
You had us.
I like it when people want to end a conversation
and they're like, "I'm going to let you go."
Oh, yeah.
And you're like, "Oh."
I've heard people claim that that's like a Midwestern thing
because it's that classic--
it's like that Minnesota nice kind of vibe
where everything has to be couched in niceness.
Right.
I say it sometimes as a joke.
I'll say that to, like--
I don't know.
I couldn't say that with a straight face.
I could say that, like, jokingly to, like,
someone I'm close with.
"Well, I'll let you go."
"All right, I'm going to let you go."
I've had people say it to me, like,
in a totally straight-up way, and I'm like,
"I thought we were talking here."
My favorite is if you listen to a lot of Howard Stern.
He basically ends every interview,
like, when he wants it to go away, right?
And, you know, these celebrities, he goes,
"Whew, well, we've said it all."
Like, literally, I'm sure you can get, like,
hundreds of times he says some version of,
"Whew, we've said it all."
And then you're like, "Oh, he wants this over.
He wants it over."
Yeah, no, that's great in regular conversation.
Like, I think there is this awkward thing
where sometimes both parties know
that you've said it all, at least for the moment,
but people just, like, don't quite know
how to, like, move on 'cause it seems rude
to be like, "Well, I'm done."
'Cause, honestly, there's often times
where both people are done, but I like that.
"Well, we've said it all."
"All right, man, catch you next time."
And then, like, just straight up go, "What else?"
Like, when the conversation--
Like a natural resting point.
And you'd be like, "Yeah, what else?"
That's kind of like a comedian thing, you know?
That's like an old-school comedian thing
to be like, huge applause and just like,
"What else, what else, what else? Ah."
It'd just be like me and him.
(laughter)
And I'd be like, "Yeah, I don't know, man.
What else? What else, what else?"
"Oh, I'll tell you something.
Have you ever been waiting in line at Quiznos?"
Like...
"Get this. Get this."
"What else, what else?
Ooh, here's one. Ooh, here's one.
You have the new job in John Merrow?"
(laughter)
Well, it's a shame 'cause Seinfeld's
a huge fan of the show, but I referenced it before
so we could just talk about it briefly 'cause we--
- Sure. - We're already kind of
very late on it, but I think you should leave season two.
It's out now, streaming on Netflix.
Recommend it for anybody.
Truly one of my favorite shows of the last few years.
I thought the first season was flawless.
This one's great, too.
And me and Arielle made a small song for it
which some people caught.
I really didn't know if people would recognize it
because it was just like kind of a funny thing.
They asked us to do a song for what I think might be my--
outside of any of the music or anything like that.
This definitely is one of my favorite sketches of this season.
The sloppy steak sketch,
which has this strange flashback
where a group of guys go to a restaurant
and have sloppy steaks, which they define as
a steak where you pour some water on it.
And then they go to this restaurant
where the waiter says to them--
this just kills me-- the waiter goes up to the guys,
"Hey, guys, no sloppy steaks tonight."
And they're like, "Oh, come on! What are we gonna do?"
And then as soon as he leaves, they start dumping water on their steaks.
Anyway, they wanted a song, and they wanted it to be--
they wrote these kind of crazy lyrics that were like,
"It's a dangerous night, the night is a knife,
it's the light of my life, I want a dangerous knife."
And they were playing me this weird music.
It sounded like what they wanted was
what I would define as post-Bon Iver,
post-Frank Ocean pop music,
which has nothing to do with those artists in and of themselves.
But these are people who listen to those artists a lot
and then made slightly lame pop music
trying to use some of their vibes.
That's how I would describe it.
When we were talking, I was like, "Oh, wait, so you want that
post-Bon Iver, post-Frank Ocean, not quite as good pop music?"
And they were like, "Yeah, maybe."
Anyway, that's kind of what we were going for,
so that's kind of the vibe of the song.
But anyway, that's the story with that.
- I think you should leave. - Well, that's kind of an alternate.
Do you have a relationship to them, to Tim,
or did they just sort of--
I mean, for such a small moment
in the series to reach out to you
to just be like, "Hey, we want this sort of joke song
that will play sort of in the background.
Does Vampire Weekend want to record it?"
I mean, I like a big swing, but I sort of had to assume
either you tweeted about it
or some version of how they DMed you.
- How does that come about? - No, I have met Tim a few times.
And actually, he was at the Hollywood Bowl show,
so maybe he saw Richard Pictures.
Who knows?
But the producers are Lonely Island,
and I met those guys before,
and Akiva from Lonely Island is very involved.
And actually, I have this longer history with it.
This is so dumb,
but I got a text or something from Akiva a few years ago
saying, "I'm producing a new sketch comedy show for Tim Robinson.
There's a sketch that maybe you could be in
that we need a musician.
Would you be open to it?"
And I remember thinking about it,
and I swear, I'm not trying to be funny.
I thought to myself,
"I mean, Akiva's really funny and stuff.
A Tim Robinson sketch comedy show seems weird.
I guess he's kind of a comedic actor.
Tapeheads was kind of funny."
I even wrote back a text, something about tapeheads,
and I think he was just confused.
And I really was thinking for a long time,
"That's random.
He must be in his 60s now,
starting a sketch comedy show with the Lonely Island guys."
I was like, "I mean, maybe?"
The thought was so weird,
I just didn't know what to make of it.
And I swear to God, for months,
if it would come up,
like Akiva hit me up again,
I was like, "Oh, man."
I wasn't trying to get out of it or anything,
but I was just a tiny bit confused,
and I was like, "Me and Tim Robbins?"
I don't know. It just sounded kind of strange to me.
And I put it out of my head.
I wasn't kidding at all.
I just totally saw the name Tim Robbins.
And I knew who Tim Robbins was.
I remember him from SNL.
He had this show, Detroiters.
I thought he was really funny.
But the moment I saw the text,
I just really thought it was Tim Robbins.
I have nothing against Tim Robbins,
but I think I was just confused by it.
I feel like it was much later
that I realized I felt so stupid.
And then I saw Akiva way after that,
and I was like, "Dude, I swear to God,
I thought it was Tim Robbins."
I was so confused about it.
Anyway.
I like the idea that Netflix would greenlight
a full-on sketch series
starring a 60-year-old,
basically dramatic actor who's funny.
But he's going to be funny.
He loves characters.
I could see it.
No, but it's such a weird--
I don't know.
You know Nick Cage has a sketch show.
Anyway, what do you mean?
Wow, that sounds amazing.
No, no, but yeah.
He's doing a bit in someone else's sketch show?
No, no, no, no, no.
Nicholas Cage has a sketch comedy show.
It's produced by Lorne Michaels.
He's going to play hundreds of characters.
You know, there'll be some--
I mean, it's just such a weird--
especially when you know people chasing cool and everything.
I don't think it even got far enough
that I was actively thinking about it.
But maybe some part of my gut
was kind of like,
"Tim Robbins' sketch show.
I'll wait to see the first season, I think.
Let's see how this works."
It just didn't totally make sense to me.
But of course, I trust Akiva.
I'm sure it would be great.
But this is something you want to see first, I think.
Tape Heads!
I swear to God, I was like,
"Yeah, Tape Heads. That movie was funny, I think."
Just like a deep--
And you know, it's one of those things too
where, you know if randomly
somebody was like--
an actor like Tim Robbins--
if somebody said, "Oh, do you know that he was
on SNL '81 to '83?"
I'd be like, "No s***."
"Okay." You know what I mean?
Sure.
Why not?
Robert Downey Jr. was on SNL for one season.
I didn't even know that.
Makes sense, though.
Yeah, so it was one of those things where somebody said,
"No, no, actually his background is sketch comedy."
And you know, he got in this dramatic--
Sure, a lot of people go from comedy into serious roles.
Tom Hanks was kind of more of a comedic actor at first.
Tom Hanks' sketch comedy show?
Makes sense.
I like the idea of Netflix
also dropping
at the same time
a Tim Robbins sketch comedy show.
Right, just very confusing.
Drop it like a week after the Tim Robinson one.
We got Robinson.
We got Robbins.
Netflix, the new home of sketch comedy.
They really worked that angle
and all the press.
Yeah, so that's my whole relationship to it.
So anyway, when season two came out
and they asked if we could do some song,
of course, this time I fully understood
what it was,
who was involved,
and we said yes, and me and Ariel
banged it out real quick.
I don't think it even says in the show,
but we had to pick an artist's name,
so we called it
Sloppy Steak Mafia.
Yeah, maybe I'll throw the song up
sometime. It's just not a complete song.
We just edited it
for the show.
Anyway, I think you should leave season two.
Check it out.
What you have to do now is make an entire
Sloppy Steak Mafia record
that you don't release.
Right, and then in 20 years
maybe drop it.
Exactly.
We do a whole Sloppy Steak Mafia album
that's basically
Trump era EDM.
Like Chainsmokers?
Yeah, it's
kind of like a fake Chainsmokers record.
It's like...
That would rule.
We could go full Sob Rock on it where
the vibe is...
I could actually picture this dude.
I think this is definitely a real
person, somebody who grew up being
deeply influenced by
Frank Ocean, Bon Iver,
and Chainsmokers.
That's definitely a real person.
I want to make music that has the best elements
of all of these artists. For sure.
I could totally see it.
Alright, ten tracks. I would love to be
involved with that record if at all
possible. I'll pen some lyrics.
Something.
Trump era EDM record.
Track three featuring Mountain Bruce.
Hell yeah.
Sloppy Steak Mafia album. We're going to record
it soon. We're going to sit on it for a while.
Maybe drop that in the 2030s,
2040s.
That would be a really cool throwback.
Making an album deliberately to sit on it.
Now that's what I call
Trump era EDM.
Yeah, it's like
in 2042. It's like, alright.
So everybody knows that Trump era
EDM is totally trendy.
Everybody's super into it.
Paris Fashion Week, all they were
playing was Trump era EDM.
Well, hold on guys. If you thought you've
heard all of it, there is a
record that was recorded
just after that era that nobody's
ever heard. It's got, you're going to hear
a little bit of Frank Ocean Bon Iver flavor
and a lot of chain smokers.
It'd basically be like the Neil Young record.
A lost classic.
From the early 2020s.
Please don't live in fear.
We can see from here
right now.
Send it up from here.
And feel
your mind.
You know
it never stays the same.
They will never tell you you're
out to blame.
You know
it never stays the same.
They will never tell you you're
out to blame.
You know
it never stays the same.
They will never tell you you're
out to blame.
You know
it never stays the same.
They will never tell you you're
out to blame.
Out to blame.
It never stays the same.
Let's get into the top five.
It's time
for the top five
on iTunes.
So this
week on the top five we're doing
89 vs 2021.
Why did we choose 89?
I don't know actually. Hannah chose
it. Okay and we had Hannah choose
because we thought she might do the top
five with us? Yeah. Or just because she was
a guest? Yeah I think we maybe
thought she'd do the top five but
she had to bounce and... Okay
you know what it actually works out because
you might think we should have chose
88 because that's kind of
the spirit year for Sob Rock
but Sob Rock 2
which is the one that Jake is
going to consult on. It's got a little more
attention to detail. That actually
takes place in 1989 and it's
coming out later this year.
It's going to come out in December during
Deluxe Life December.
So perfect. So we're
doing the 2021 iTunes chart
vs the 1989
Billboard Hot 100.
And we're going to start with the number five
song in 1989.
Ooh starting out with
a big song.
Martika - Toy Soldiers.
Step by step,
heart to heart, left
to right, left. The
Is this been sampled?
Yeah Eminem.
I don't know if I know this song.
This was number one
for two weeks.
Man imagine Sob Rock 2
track one sounds like this.
I mean that would be sick.
That'd be insane.
That's what I'm just trying to say about the Sob Rock
record. It's like there's so much potential
and it was just, he left so much
on the cutting room
floor or whatever.
I cannot comment until I
spend some serious time with it.
It's your heart
that takes
takes
a fall.
Won't you come back
and play with me?
Step by step,
heart to heart,
left to right, left.
We all fall down.
Toy Soldiers.
Who's Martika?
I don't know anything about her.
She's kind of a one hit wonder but
she was a child star on the TV
show Kids Incorporated.
Fergie was also
on the show.
Is she British?
I don't know. I need a little more info.
And this song is about a friend who's battling
a cocaine addiction.
No, Martika's American.
She was born in Whittier,
California.
Yeah, she was like a child actor.
Yeah, so she was like 20 years
old. So she was like
Olivia Rodrigo of her era.
How could I be
so blind to this addiction?
If I was done,
the next one was gonna be me.
It's very slow.
What would you guess the BPM is on this?
Like high 60s?
Something like that.
Yeah, Eminem sped it up.
Also, she only released two
albums. This one came out in '88
called Martika
and then in '91 she released
Martika's Kitchen.
That's a tight album title.
That's a great title.
Oh, here we go.
Hmm.
Period guitar playing.
Does Mayer rip some solos like this?
Not quite like this.
He rips some 80s solos, but they're not
like... That had kind of like
a slight metal edge to it.
He doesn't ever go there.
I think, Jake, you tell me.
I don't have a great vocabulary
for talking about the tone stuff, but he has
a very specific way.
He has a specific guitar tone he doesn't
really deviate from. It's a very
soft ballad, but it is not...
He doesn't...
He plays a certain kind of guitar. He's not like going
right into the full
metal-y ballad. He's not playing
like an Ibanez through a crappy
distortion pedal. That wouldn't be his
typical thing. Yeah, most of the Mayer stuff
is like bluesy. I mean,
I like some of the guitar playing for sure, but
again...
Sort of how I feel about some of the
Grateful Dead studio records. I'm like, "Jerry,
give us more
solos on the actual record."
And that's how I felt about the Mayer too.
I was like, "Dude,
have this solo be longer."
Alright, well, throw in the Eminem song
for a second.
Yeah, it's faster.
Eminem version.
Awkward beat.
It's really awkward.
That snare is like...
Boom, cow, boom.
I never do, never wages a toy soldier.
I'm supposed to be the soldier, who never closes composure.
Even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders.
I ain't never supposed to show it, my crew ain't supposed to know it.
Even if it means going toe to toe with the Benzino.
It don't matter, I never drag them in battles that I can handle.
Unless I absolutely have to, I'm supposed to set an example.
I need to be the leader, my crew looks for me to guide them.
If some shit ever does pop off, I'm supposed to be beside them.
That job's what I tried to squash it, it was too late to stop it.
I'm in a certain line, just don't cross it, cross it.
I heard them say, "Hate these people, I'm sorry."
I'm not the one that caused it, I'm the one that caused it.
I've seen things not right, I've seen things not right.
I've seen people die, I've seen people die.
I'm not the one that caused it, I'm the one that caused it.
Honestly, I'm exhausted and I'm subcontinent.
I almost feel I'm the one who caused it.
This ain't what I'm in hip hop for, it's not why I got in it.
I'm not the one that killed, why would I want to destroy something I helped build?
It wasn't my intentions, my intentions were ruined.
I guess maybe he got caught in the crossfire of some 50 Cent Ja Rule beef.
So, you know, Eminem famously helped discover 50 Cent, so they're kind of allies.
And there were a bunch of 50 Cent Ja Rule were beefing at the time.
And Ja Rule made fun of Eminem and his daughter.
And he even used Eminem's own words against him.
Where he said Eminem says that his ex-wife is a known derogatory term for women.
And that his mom's a crackhead.
So then he said, "So what's Hayley going to be when she grows up?"
Saying, "Oh, you tell me that your family lineage is so messed up.
Grandma's messed up, ex-wife is messed up.
What's your daughter going to be when she grows up?"
That is crossing a line.
He did it in a song or in the press?
In a song called "Loose Change".
Where he also--
No, it's a song called "Loose Change" where he was going after 50 and Eminem.
And also questioning the official narrative of 9/11.
Okay, throwing a lot in there.
No, that's an inside joke.
No, because there's a documentary, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Maybe he was inspired by it.
So anyway, I guess Eminem makes this very dramatic song where he sampled Martika to like really talk about--
I guess it's a crisis of leadership.
Where Eminem's like, "I'm personally offended by this. I want to go after this dude.
But Dre's telling me, 'Hold back. I'm kind of like a leader now.
Now I'm kind of like this career artist.'"
This is in 2004.
So Eminem's been around for years at this point.
How's he supposed to act?
He's got a whole crew that looks up to him.
So I guess he was wrestling with a lot.
Okay, that's the number five song.
I can say this. It's a very 1989 song.
Just kind of like depressing, weird, late 80s.
Trebly.
Trebly.
Like that drink.
The number five song on iTunes right now in 2021 is the Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber with "Stay."
This is kind of sob rock.
Yeah, this is tight.
1988.
Interesting to see Charlie Puth among the songwriters.
Oh yeah.
He's out there.
Sort of sounds like an Olivia Rodrigo song.
Is this the same chart that we did last time?
The iTunes store?
Yeah, it's the iTunes.
Okay, it is.
Matt just emailed me, "Interesting that Jake knows who Charlie Puth is."
I feel like early TC days was that Charlie Puth on the hook of that "See You Again" song.
Yeah, I know who Charlie Puth is because of TC.
He has a hit or two.
No, we've really watched his whole career blossom because he started out being, he was just the guy on the hook of,
"It's been a long day without you my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."
And who's that?
You don't remember that Jake?
I remember the song, now that you're singing it.
He sings that part?
Yeah, he was on the hook, but he was kind of an up and comer.
That's "Woods Califa," right?
Oh yeah, it was "Woods Califa."
For "Fast and Furious."
Yeah, it was a tribute to Paul Walker.
And then anyway, after that, Charlie Puth had a very illustrious career writing hits of his own,
because he's writing with other people.
This is perfect, back to the '89, the number four song, "Richard Marks," right here waiting.
Oh hell yeah.
I mean, this is so Sob Rock.
Again, I haven't heard the album, but just my concept of Sob Rock.
Picture this, Sob Rock 2, just like track seven.
Straight up John Mayer doing this song.
It would rule.
Just like a cover.
Yeah, I would love it.
With a really long solo.
That would be so sick, like an eight minute version.
Okay, we got a consultant on Sob Rock 2.
Eight minute Sob Rock 2, colon, 1989.
Eight minute, right here waiting.
I can picture Mayer singing this.
Oh yeah, it'd be perfect for him.
'89 is off to a slow start.
But it's that same late '80s, just depressing.
Oh my God, dude.
Does this count as Eileen's Car?
This is textbook.
Yeah.
This is foundational text.
This also just reminds me of like,
sometimes watching like very dark,
late '80s European movies.
Like, Kristoff Kieslowski movies,
or, wait, who's the famous, you know, Michael Haneke?
Oh, sure, of course.
Have you ever seen his like '80s movies?
They're so dark and just like vibey and weird.
The first one where the family destroys their house?
Yes.
And I feel like there's moments in that
where they're like watching TV
and there's like a late '80s,
depressing-ass song like this on, you know?
Yeah.
Yeah, this just makes me think of like
a family destroying their house in late '80s Germany.
Or Austria.
Too dark, too dark, let's move on.
Yeah, this is a real bummer.
Sob Rock 2 is gonna be so dark.
Okay, number four song back in 2020.
I actually wanted to hear this.
I heard there was a new song,
Lil Nas X's new song with Jack Harlow.
Jake, do you know who either of those people are?
I know who Lil Nas X is, I think.
Did he do, he had a big hit last year or two years ago?
Yes.
Was it like the country?
Yes.
Country Road or whatever?
Close.
Country...
You're on with the road part.
Yeah, the word country is not in it.
Old Town Road.
Old Town Country Road.
Old Town Country Road.
Gonna take my horse to the country road.
I don't know who Jack Harlow is.
Jack Harlow is a rapper.
He's Caucasian, I believe he's from Kentucky.
And he's become very successful.
All right.
And this is their new song, Industry Baby.
Is Lil Nas X from that same part of the country?
I don't know where he's from.
This looks like it's co-produced by Kanye.
Oh yeah.
Produced by Take A Day Trip and Kanye West.
Take A Day Trip.
Cool name.
Yeah, that's a good name.
He's from Lithia Springs, Georgia.
Probably has that.
Oh yeah.
Old Town Road.
Lil Nas X was in the studio and he was trying a lot of songs, nothing was working.
And then they were playing him some beats.
And he said, "Hold on, what's that?"
When I first heard it, I was like, "Wow, that sounds like some King intro kind of Jay-Z/Royalty."
That's totally true.
There is that 2000s era, trumpets, royalty type beat.
It's a little Rocky, a little Jay-Z.
I feel like Drake has a lot of songs in that vein.
Old songs.
I think of All of the Lights.
Oh yeah.
Royalty.
This shit on the drum.
Drumming.
Oh.
And this one is for the champions.
Ain't lost since I began.
Funny how you said it was the end.
And I went and did it again.
I told you long ago on the road.
I got what they waiting for.
Falling from nothing, dawg.
Get your soul.
Tell 'em I ain't laying low.
You was never really rooting for me anyway.
When I'm back up at the top, I wanna hear you say.
You're all wrong, nothing, dawg.
Get your soul.
Just tell 'em that the break is over.
Did you see that photo of the hovel that Kanye is living in?
Oh yeah, the stadium?
Yeah, but his sleeping quarters.
I mean, yeah, well, 'cause it's probably just a locker room.
Yeah, just like a mattress on the ground.
That looks like a classic backstage area.
Yeah, so they're like, "Alright, we'll get a mattress in here real quick."
I mean, I love the concept of just like taking over a stadium until you finish your album.
Kanye providing interesting narratives deep into his career.
Classic male sleeping quarters.
Mattress on the ground.
No frills.
Oh, and also, you know, he's recently divorced.
Right, that's just like divorced guy sleeping quarters.
Got the studio apartment.
Did you see he has his dumbbells?
I loved it.
To work out a little bit?
Yeah, it's just dumbbells.
Like not a whole set up, but just like light dumbbells, you know, which I appreciate.
It actually looked like the kind that, um, adjustable weights.
Okay, like power blocks?
Yeah, power blocks.
He could be.
Well, good for Kanye, and one thing's for sure, I mean, I'm a huge fan, but, you know, like anybody's got his haters.
One thing is for sure, he really cares.
He doesn't really do publicity stunts.
Like, I believe that he's just like in there trying to finish his album and is just like, "I don't want to keep going back to the hotel.
Let me just stay here, be more efficient."
And he's just in there.
But why does he make it in a stadium?
That's what I don't understand.
Is that where he's recording it?
Yeah, I didn't understand.
Well, he had, at least part of it was that they had a listening party, which is funny because that often happens when something's done.
But, you know, obviously that's not true for Kanye.
So they had a listening party in the stadium, which is already like, you know, a big classic kind of Kanye idea.
You know, like he's had, he's thrown like parties at the Garden before, like where he just played his record.
And so, you know, took over a stadium to like invite people just come listen.
So I think he was probably there.
And because they were doing this event there, he was like, "Well, let's set up a studio here and we can finish it."
And then it went long.
And then next thing you know, he's sleeping on the floor.
And there's no other events happening at the stadium?
I think there have been football games.
I'd love to know kind of the backstory of just like the core people who like work in like logistics at the stadium.
Right.
Okay, so Kanye on game day, I'm going to need you to move into the broom closet.
I mean, there is.
We're going to need you to clear out your power blocks and your mattress on game day.
I think he went to the game.
Yeah, there was a famous Atlanta United.
It was an Atlanta United game over the weekend and he showed up wearing...
Oh, that's the soccer team?
Yeah, it was the soccer team and he showed up and he's walking around in his red outfit that he wore.
You know, this giant puffy red outfit and wearing his sort of nude ski mask mask.
And he just watched the soccer game.
And yeah, it was, I mean, it's a confusing sight.
That is cool.
My only note would have been he just should have worn a bathrobe and slippers.
That would have been tight.
Just like his hair still wet, just kind of pops out of one of the doors and just kind of comes out and just like, "What's up, guy?"
Has like a plate of like scrambled eggs, cup of coffee.
Yeah, do you think he's like just post-mating everything?
Because there's probably no kitchen on site.
Well, maybe there is.
Maybe there's a kitchen.
I mean, there must be for all the food.
Yeah.
He's probably just eating, you know, really sh*t stadium nachos and drinking terrible margaritas.
That'll be for the...
That'll be...
How about this?
Like a late era Mountain Brews record called Stadium Rock.
And Jake lives in Dodger Stadium until it's done.
Incredible.
Drinking the worst margaritas ever.
During the baseball season.
Yeah, during baseball season.
Artist in residence, man.
It's really not that weird of a concept.
People have that everywhere.
Okay, the number three song back in '89, "Love and Rockets" with "So Alive".
"Love and Rockets" is...
Jake, do you know who "Love and Rockets" is?
No, that name is familiar.
I feel like it's some people who were in bands before.
Right.
Hold on, I'm going to look this up.
They're an English alternative rock band.
Former Bauhaus members.
Okay, and they're named after the comic book series "Love and Rockets" by the Hernandez Brothers.
Which is like a kind of long-running alternative comic.
I've never heard Bauhaus either.
Bauhaus is tight.
That seems like a real '80s thing of like guys that were in kind of edgier, artier bands earlier.
I'm thinking of like the New Order guys.
And then kind of like make a new band.
Yeah, there's so much of that.
They were in a punk band in the late '70s and they started kind of like a bigger new wave band in the '80s.
Obviously Phil Collins from Genesis to Solo Career.
Obviously Peter Gabriel.
This is like a big hit.
Yeah, this is boring as hell.
I mean, I'm into it, but this is like amazing.
This is a number three hit.
Is this the chorus right now?
I think so.
I don't get it.
Whoa.
That's a very Lost Boys vibe.
Yeah.
Which is '87, I guess.
This would definitely be perfect for like a movie soundtrack of this era.
Well, this is very high on the charts.
I'm shocked.
Good for Love and Rockets.
Well done, Love and Rockets.
It's just like so low stakes, so low energy.
It's like, "I got everything to do with you."
Like, that's literally what he's singing.
And then someone goes, "Ahh."
I like the drums.
Drum machine, you think, or real drums?
I don't think there's been a fail yet.
Yeah, probably drum machine or sampled real drums.
Yeah, I like that little conga.
Yeah, this reminds me of some late era Suzy and the Banshees.
I feel like a lot of goth musicians ended up in this zone by the late '80s.
Like, post-Jesus and Mary Chain, kind of like weird '50s.
Right.
I mean, it's so kind of in the middle, aesthetically.
Yeah.
Do you think it sounded really minimal at the time?
Or what did it sound like at the time?
Was it like--
Yeah, I wonder.
I wonder if in '89, the heads were like, "Yo, that Love and Rockets song
[bleep] crossed over, dude.
That's number three on the charts.
Oh, I'm sure.
That's crazy.
But I wonder if it sounded more commercial to the old Bauhaus heads
or the early Love and Rockets heads.
I mean, '89 is like--
I always think a classic late '80s song is like, "She Drives Me Crazy."
So I could see this going kind of side by side with that.
Sure.
I don't know.
Real mystery.
The number three song in our era is our good friend Ed Sheeran
and his Bad Habits.
I have been hearing this song a lot.
I was thinking about the TC crew every time it comes on.
Did we hear it last time?
Yeah.
Yeah, we did.
[MUSIC - ED SHEERAN, "BAD HABITS"]
Where have you heard this, Ezra?
Just like stores, restaurants.
Like in the grocery store?
I feel like I just heard it on the street.
Like maybe some restaurant had an outdoor speaker and I heard it.
Maybe blasting off the radio in a car.
I love that vibe.
[MUSIC - ED SHEERAN, "BAD HABITS"]
Oh, right.
This one.
It's a heavy song for the grocery store.
Yeah, you're in the soda aisle picking up a 24-pack
of Mountain Dew like Bad Habits makes you want to move.
All right, guys.
I got to jump off.
I'll talk to you both later.
All right.
Peace.
Wow, the whole crew is just kind of slowly--
Well, I mean, we only have a couple minutes left.
If this other call goes short, I'm going to hop back on.
All right.
See you.
Down to just me and Jake, the core, core crew.
Back to basics here.
We've lost three other people.
We lost Hannah, Seinfeld, and Nick.
Hilarious.
Dwindling throughout the episode.
I mean, this is a good song.
It sounds better to me this week than last week.
Yeah.
[MUSIC - ED SHEERAN, "BAD HABITS"]
Good vocal performance.
[MUSIC - ED SHEERAN, "BAD HABITS"]
Would you say this is adjacent to Trump-era EDM?
A little.
I mean, this is post-Trump EDM.
[MUSIC - ED SHEERAN, "BAD HABITS"]
[VOCALIZING]
I wonder what Ed thinks of The Chainsmokers.
I feel like he would like some of their more songwriting-y songs.
Yeah, actually, I have no idea.
I wonder what Ed Sheeran's all-time artists are.
I bet he probably listens to everything.
[LAUGHS]
Listens to everything.
You know, man, Bob Marley.
Yeah, just Bob Marley, The Beatles, Chainsmokers.
Floyd.
Probably.
Probably loves Radiohead.
I mean, but he did start out as just kind of like a dude with a guitar.
So I wonder if he has like an acoustic guitar, like just dude idol.
Oh, I wonder if he like loves John Mayer.
Wouldn't shock me.
I wonder if he's heard Sabrock.
Oh, I'm sure he's heard it.
Speculating on what Ed Sheeran has heard recently.
Just doing a 20-minute riff, imagining Ed Sheeran listening to Sabrock.
OK, we just got Ed Sheeran's eight favorite songs.
Thank you, Matt.
Oh, wow.
OK.
[LAUGHS]
I don't know where this comes from.
Number one, Layla, Derek, and the Dominoes.
Great song.
Classic.
'70s.
Especially the outro.
Oh, yeah.
Carrick, Fergus, Van Morrison, and the Chieftains.
I don't--
That's tight.
I mean, that's like a traditional song.
I think that's from this Chieftains album where they like linked up with a lot of like
famous singers to do a lot of traditional stuff.
Stan, Eminem.
Very cool.
Classic.
Volcano, Damien Rice.
Not familiar.
I don't know it.
Flooded, Quarry, Nislopi.
Not familiar.
Cool title.
They Won't Go When I Go, Stevie Wonder.
What era of Stevie is that?
Not sure.
I don't know that song.
Indian Sunset, Elton John.
All right, he's picking some deep [BLEEP]
I don't know that one.
And then Two Shades of Hope, Foy Vance.
Huh.
But who's Foy Vance?
An Irish musician.
OK.
Interesting.
I guess this guy is like, yeah, Ed Sheeran's toured with him.
They have like a close relationship.
OK, the next song, back to 1989, Bobby Brown, On Our Own from Ghostbusters 2.
Produced by Ellie Reed and Babyface.
Not familiar.
Donald Trump makes an appearance in the video for this song, which shows Brown in scenes
from the movie projected on buildings and signs around New York City.
But he wasn't in the movie?
No, he's just in the video, I guess.
Ghostbusters 2, that's the one with the painting.
Yeah, Viggo the Carpathian.
Oh, yeah.
Classic film.
Classic film.
If they want something bad, you gotta wanna give your all.
'Cause I believe so much in we, and no, we're not kidding.
If you feel the same as me, you gotta wanna take the ball.
Now I find out that nothing is given.
Don't know where the cards came from.
This sounds sick.
It sounds great.
But even this song is tinged with sadness.
1989, just a very sad year.
It's a rough palette, man.
Yeah.
'89's a tough palette.
It's melancholic.
It's not warm.
It's not kind.
We've got to take control.
If it's up to us, we've got to take it all.
Oh, yeah.
This is a sick chorus.
Now can't you see that all we need is a big ol' dinner?
Gotta make it on this stage now.
Gotta go for what shit now?
It comes a time in our lives.
You wanna be bigger.
Gotta keep, keep on pushin'.
Are these lyrics about Ghostbusters in any way?
The first part was.
You want something done, you gotta do it yourself.
Yeah, I think this is gonna be another one of those funky ones.
Wait, because, yeah, 'cause the Ghostbusters always have to just do shit themselves.
They get no support from the municipal government.
That's always the vibe, right?
Right, and then in part two, they're disgraced.
They're out of business.
Everyone's forgotten that they saved the entire city five years prior.
Ray Stantz is running a cult bookstore called Ray's Occult.
They're on their own.
And then there's the rivers of slime under the city, right?
Right.
All the psychic turbulence is metastasized into.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
A river of slime.
I love in those movies how Ackroyd plays all of the kind of like paranormal knowledge and all of the technology they develop.
He plays it so straight.
Mm.
Too hot to handle, too cold to hold.
They call the Ghostbusters and the N.E.T. Troops.
Oh, this is rapping about Ghostbusters.
There we go.
Well, all the while the slime was under the building.
All the while the slime was under the building.
So they packed up and got a grip, came equipped, grabbed their proton packs off their back,
and they split right out of harm's way.
The master of evil.
Found out about Vigo, the master of evil.
Try to battle my boys?
That's not legal.
Just a Ghostbusters rap.
You think he'd seen the movie when he made this song or it was earlier in the pipeline and they had to give him like a screenplay?
They might have.
They just had to read the screenplay.
They might have shown them a rough cut.
Yeah.
Could have.
We're gonna have to take control.
We got, we got, we got.
If it's up to us, we've got to take it on.
We're gonna have to cope with the Ghostbusters and the N.E.T. Troops.
Well, I guess we're gonna have to take control.
Gotta, gotta take this one.
If it's up to us, we've got to take it on.
Gotta, gotta take it on.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Okay, great vibe.
Still a little melancholic.
Okay, number two song on the iTunes chart, our old friend Walker Hayes with "Fancy Like."
I've thought about this song a few times since we heard it.
This is the one about going to Applebee's?
Right. This is not the one that is 30 minutes door to door to the Walmart or the grocery store.
Different song.
No, that was Aaron Lewis.
Oh, yeah, that was Aaron Lewis, you're right.
And by the way, apparently at an Aaron Lewis show recently, he busted out "It's Been A While" like twice.
He might have heard us talking on the last TC and was like, "I want to break something off for these guys."
Hell yeah.
You know, I thought of when I saw that was Vampire doing A-Punk three times in a row.
That was a classic moment.
Classic moment.
Lost Blues 2018.
Although, I guess the way that I didn't read the article, but just the headline sort of implied that maybe he was drunk
and he didn't realize that he was doing it for the second time.
Oh, he was just like plastered?
Apparently.
I could be wrong.
I just, that's the impression I got just from like my two seconds of scanning it.
That he was just like, "Have I played this one already?" Like just hammered.
Country song of the summer.
Yeah, we fancy like Applebee's on a date night.
Got the barbers to your state with the Oreo shake.
Jake, when's the last time you did like a full meal at Applebee's?
Or anything comparable.
TJ Friday's, Ruby Tuesday.
Um, I feel like, does Denny's count?
That's different, but yeah, actually I feel like I've been to Denny's way more recently than I've been to an Applebee's.
There's just like way more reason to go have breakfast at Denny's.
I did like a lunch at Denny's like within the last year or so.
Like on a drive up to Northern California, like on the, like hit a rest stop.
Um, Applebee's it's probably been a couple years.
Um, I've definitely done it though.
Oh yeah, me too.
Wait, which one has Jack Daniels sauce, Applebee's or TJ Friday's?
Damn, this one we need Seinfeld or Nick.
I couldn't tell you that.
Are you sure it's not a Chili's?
No, it's definitely not Chili's.
I feel like Chili's is like more Southwestern.
Chili's is the same stuff.
It's just burgers and sandwiches and...
Really?
You know, they got the Bloomin' Onion.
Yeah, the Bloomin' Onion, that's more like some cowboy sh*t.
Is it?
That's cowboy stuff?
I thought that was just like kind of like another version of like fried stuff.
Wait, does Chili's have like tacos?
Oh, Chili's has baby back ribs, famously.
They have like a huge ass, like one of those huge laminated menus.
I'm sure you could get tacos at Chili's.
I just feel like because they got that big chili pepper on it,
I kind of assume that it's like...
Yeah, maybe it's really not that different.
All these places have the same sh*t.
Yeah, I think it's pretty burger intensive the way Applebee's is.
Chili's has tacos and quesadillas and fajitas.
Do you think you can get a fajita at TGI Friday's?
No, but I bet you could get one at Applebee's.
Yeah, it all kind of bleeds into each other.
Where were you when you hit an Applebee's? Do you remember?
No, I mean, I'm thinking of a time a really long time ago.
I have a very distinct memory of seeing a movie with my sister and my grandma.
And then, I mean, this must have been...
This is probably like 20 plus years ago, actually.
Oh, Jesus.
This is not the last time.
I know, this is just a distinct memory I have of the first time I had Jack Daniel's sauce
and it being like a little underwhelming.
Is that on a steak?
They have it on a lot of products.
You know what I've hit these places a lot?
Is when I'm out...
And I haven't done this in a little while, but if I'm out photographing all day
and it's in the summer and it's hot,
and I'm photographing stores or landscapes,
it can be kind of like taxing work.
Then I'll be like, "Okay, it's one in the afternoon. I've been doing this for hours. I'm hot.
I'm going to go and do a sit-down lunch in one of these places that I just shot a photograph of."
I'll go do a sit-down lunch in Applebee's solo.
And just get an ice cold beer?
No, I won't do a brew.
Oh, really?
I'll keep working the rest of the day.
Right.
I don't drink beer during a work day.
Even on a really hot day?
I think on a really hot day...
I mean, you're much more of a beer drinker than me,
but I'm very into an ice cold beer lunch in the summer.
Interesting.
If it's a weekend...
I'm down for it all summer long. Weekdays, weekends.
Wow.
I'll always do an ice cold beer.
For me, it's like if I'm working, I save the beer for the end of the day.
So I'll do an Arnold Palmer and a turkey club or something at an Applebee's
in West Covina or something.
Love it.
Okay.
The number one song this week in 1989, also from a film.
1989 had a lot of big movies, including Batman, the first one.
The first Tim Burton one.
And the single from the Batman soundtrack was "The Bat Dance" by Prince.
'89, a weird year.
Wow, there were six Prince songs.
Yeah, he essentially did the soundtrack.
How insane is this?
We've been living with Batman movies pretty consistently for 32 years.
No, it's never going to end.
It's going to be like James Bond,
where you'll be talking with your grandchildren,
and they'll be like, "Grandpa, who's your favorite Batman?"
You'll just be like, "What are you talking about? Christian Bale.
He f***ing nailed it."
And they'll just be like, "Wait, which ones was he in?
I've never actually seen those ones."
For me, it's a toss-up between Robert Pattinson, Justin Bieber,
and Kim and Kanye's son.
Right.
And you'll be like, "You've got to check out the Bale ones.
Christopher Nolan, those ones are excellent."
And you'll be like, "I tried. They're so f***ing boring.
They're so boring. I don't understand how you could be into those ones."
They're way too arty.
No, those suck.
And isn't Bale the fourth Batman at that point?
Right.
And you'll be like, "Well, have you seen the Michael Keaton ones?"
And they'll just be like, "Who's that?"
"Who?"
Like, "All right. You're about to sit down and watch 'The Founder' with Grandpa.
I'm going to get you into Michael Keaton. Come hell or high water.
We're watching Jackie Brown."
I remember I was 12 and 89 when this movie came out,
and I was very excited for it.
And I remember like-
Oh, I bet.
Everyone started wearing Batman t-shirts all of a sudden,
just like that simple black shirt with the yellow logo.
I remember being at this Little League game
and seeing this kid in the bleachers wearing it.
I was just like, "Damn, I want that shirt so bad."
You know what I mean? I'm not like a big-
It's total grail.
I'm not like a big shirt guy. I never have been.
Yeah.
And I was just like, "That Batman shirt rules."
But if I could have known that there would be Batman-
I mean, I guess when I was 12, if someone said,
"There'll be Batman movies,"
very consistently for the next 30 years,
I probably would have been like, "Awesome."
[laughs]
I probably would have been very stoked.
But I mean, it was sort of novel in '89.
Thank you, universe.
Yeah.
Right. No, this was the first big superhero movie
since Superman in the '70s.
Right.
It was not a very different time.
I mean, by the way, what are we listening to?
It's crazy that this song was number one.
Just like Prince f***ing around.
This is a terrible song.
[laughs]
I mean, it's just a f***ing-
It's crazy, man.
You're right.
It totally is just him messing around in the studio.
I just had this vision of some crazy after-party.
Michael Keaton just f***ed up.
Just his shirt open on the dance floor,
just f***ing going hard to this song.
Oh, yeah. '89, just- Oh, man.
Just wild, man.
Yeah.
Oh, man.
Hi.
Bruce Wayne.
I tried to avoid all this, but I can't.
I just gotta know, are we gonna try to love each other?
Stop the press. Who is that?
Vicki Vale.
She is great, isn't she?
Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah
I wanna bust that body
Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah
I wanna bust that body
Ooh, yeah, ooh, yeah
I wanna bust that body
What's he saying?
I wanna bust that body
Ooh
You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?
I always ask that of all my friends
Jack Nicholson just kind of sitting at the after-party with sunglasses on,
just bouncing his head, "All right, all right, all right."
I can definitely hear the influence, Prince's immense influence on Ween in this song.
Oh, yeah, totally.
With just like the funky guitar and the drum machine, just like...
Give me the electric chair for all my future crimes, oh
How long is this song?
Give me the electric chair
Oh, yeah
Hey, Jack Nicholson, this is six minutes long.
It's honestly six minutes long.
It's not a huge leap from here to Piraguava.
Oh, not at all.
It's really not.
This is one of the weirdest top fives he's ever done.
I love it.
89.
89 was gold.
It's a really bizarre year.
Got you so
Hey
Got you shown up
Get off
Make the devil throw up
This is like buying the cassette single of this.
I mean, it's cool.
Prince is really doing his thing.
Wait, what did he just say there?
The town needs an enema?
It was the Joker.
Says the town needs an enema.
Power
I'm not good at this.
So let's do it
This is going...
I'm getting in on this song.
Yeah, I mean, it rolls.
I'm getting way into this.
Yeah, I mean, we got to make Batman freaky again.
I have a feeling the Robert Pattinson one's going to probably be really dark again.
We need to make a funk, man.
They should just make a movie called Batdance
that just lives in the Batdance universe.
It's very funky.
Prince is a character in it.
Wait, is there a Robert Pattinson Batman out already or is it coming out?
I don't think it's come out yet.
Is it a standalone Batman film or is it part of Batman's hanging out with Superman?
No, it's a standalone, I believe.
Standalone.
I don't know, maybe we'll get lucky.
There could be a Green Lantern cameo, I doubt it.
Well, no, I would prefer...
I'm not going to watch...
I don't watch any of the ones where it's like everyone's hanging out.
A standalone movie with Pattinson, I'll probably actually watch that.
You're thinking Justice League?
Yeah, I can't watch any of that stuff.
And you're not into the Avengers either?
Oh, hell no.
I love that your umbrella category for group superhero movies is everyone hanging out.
Oh, yeah.
You're just not into ensemble films generally?
Can't stand Robert Altman, can't stand the Avengers.
I'm not into everybody hanging out.
I don't like this.
Too many people.
No, I mean, Pattinson's a great actor.
You know, Batman is classic.
Oh, yeah, he'll be good.
That I'll actually maybe watch.
I'm not expecting that.
Who cares?
Too bad that Prince song ended.
Yeah, that was dope.
They need to make a Batdance movie.
Please, DC Universe.
You're failing so much compared to Marvel.
You need to get freaky.
Just make a movie called Batdance.
Hire f***ing Tim Robinson to write the script.
I guarantee you it'll make a billion dollars.
Batdance, the movie, it takes place in 1989.
Tim Robinson writes the script.
What the f*** else?
But just do it.
And it'll be big.
Get like a crazy soundtrack.
Yeah, all funk.
Yeah, all 70s funk.
Okay, and the number one song this week in 2021.
Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood, "If I Didn't Love You."
This is new.
This was not on the last Top 5.
No, I think it's brand new.
Jesus.
This is pretty Chainsmokers, actually.
Yeah.
It's like a 20-year Chainsmokers.
I think there's already some serious nostalgia for Trump-era EDM.
I really feel it kind of filtering back into the culture.
Oh, those power chords on the chorus.
Very like Def Leppard, like guitar time.
Yeah, not bad.
This is kind of like the drop part.
This is very depressing in its own way, in its own '89 sort of way.
This actually has '89 energy.
All right, you know what?
For sure.
Breaking news, I don't care.
Yeah, this is...
Breaking news, I don't care.
I actually don't have much to say about it.
Well, especially after that wild Prince song.
Yeah, bat dance is the way to end.
This has been another great addition to Time Crisis.
We're going to play you out with a little more bat dance.
And we're very excited.
They just greenlit the movie.
Tim Robinson is acting in it and writing.
He's playing Batman.
He's playing Batman.
The Prince Estate is totally on board with it.
It's really exciting.
And they just announced Zendaya is going to be in it,
as well as Timothee Chalamet and Bill Murray.
Wes Anderson is directing it.
It's very exciting.
Anyway, here again is Prince with "Batdance."
We'll see you next time.
Get down the bar and go!
Batdance!
Get down the bar and go!
Go, go, go with a smile!
Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig.
Keep busting.
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