I recently joined the Emo Kids Anonymous podcast to talk about a wide range of topics. We talk about AbsolutePunk, bands from the past and the little resurgence our scene is having now, and what it’s like running a community like this in 2025. You can check it out on YouTube, Spotify, or Overcast.
Read More “Emo Kids Anonymous Mends Broken Hearts”
I really enjoyed this Diabolic Lies podcast that looks at both “Ethical Consumption” and the history of “Selling Out.”
I’ve decided to try something a little different and see how it works. I recorded an audio version of my “Back to 2005” article from a few weeks back and have pushed it out to the Encore podcast feed. I’ve heard from quite a few people that they’d like to see the featured articles (and even the weekly newsletter) in an audio form.1 So, I’m going to start playing around with a few new ideas and see what happens. With the current pandemic and quarantine rules, I’ve got the time.
Comments are, of course, welcome. And if this is something you’d like me to be able to do on a consistent basis, please consider becoming a supporting member of the website.
Read More “Encore: Best of 2005 (Re-Ranking) (#162)”The written word just doesn’t travel as far these days.↩
On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by Pat and Garrett of The Maine. We talk about the band’s upcoming album, You Are Ok, and dive into working with Matt Squire, talking about a few songs on the album, and exploring the band’s progression over the years. We also talk about growing up in this music scene and how it’s changed from the early days of AbsolutePunk.net, and we end with a discussion of redefining success and being independent. This was a whole lot of fun and I think everyone will really enjoy it.
Read More “The Maine (Encore Episode 161)”
We are back with a special episode of Encore to talk about our favorite albums (and other things) of 2018. I am joined by Craig Manning as we run down our personal best of 2018 lists as well as the full contributor list. We talk about surprises, sleeper albums, disappointments, and try and work through why certain albums ended up in certain spots.
Hey, look what we have here, a new podcast episode. On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by Craig Manning to discuss the ten year anniversary of one of my favorite albums of all time: The Gaslight Anthem’s The ’59 Sound.
As some of you may know, I started AbsolutePunk.net over 15 years ago as an MxPx and Blink-182 fan-page. Those were the first two bands I truly loved. They shaped my entire music taste and starting that website changed my life. I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for those bands and those albums. Listening to “Doing Time” as a teenager gave me hope. Discovering pop-punk music and the community around it made me feel like I belonged to something special. Small, right outside of the mainstream, but undeniably special. The music was unlike anything I was listening to at the time and hit me right when I needed it most.
Last week MxPx released their new, self-titled, album. It’s their first album since 2012. Today, I’m excited to debut a new episode of Encore featuring lead singer Mike Herrera. This episode is a joint episode with Mike’s podcast, “The Mike Herrera Podcast,” which I also recommend subscribing to and checking out. In this episode we go deep on the new album. We talk about the recording process, the inspiration behind the songs, and then I walk through each song with Mike and get his thoughts on different aspects. I share some thoughts too, but mostly I was trying to get at what made this album feel so fresh, and yet so wholly MxPx, here in 2018.
We also recorded the FaceTime conversation we had doing this podcast and the video is available on the MxPx YouTube channel. I look ridiculous and my cat walks into the office to have lunch a few minutes in, but we thought being able to see each other and read and react to facial expressions would bring a fun vibe to this episode. I think it worked. This is one of my favorite episodes of the podcast I’ve ever done.
Show notes are below, the band’s new album is available on all streaming platforms, and physical copies are available at MxPx.com right now.
On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined once again by special guest Craig Manning. This episode is all about our favorite albums of 2017. We talk about our personal lists, the staff list, the albums we loved the most, why, and the albums that didn’t make our list and shocked us. There’s also some talk about movies, tv shows, and books toward the end.
On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by special guest Thomas Nassiff to talk about one of our favorite topics: Star Wars. This episode is full of spoilers all about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so I would highly recommend you see the movie before listening. We give our thoughts on the film, break down favorite and least favorite scenes, and talk about catching up with favorite characters, both old and new. Also porgs.
I wanted to get this episode out before the holiday weekend so you’d have something to listen to while visiting family and friends. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a Merry Christmas, thank you to everyone who reads and supports this website on a daily basis. I truly appreciate it.
On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by special guest Ryan Gardner to talk about one of my favorite times of year and the music that comes along with it. We talk about why we like fall music, what makes something, specifically, a “fall album,” and then we dive into some of our favorite albums and songs that we think fit into this category. I’ve also put a playlist together (Apple Music and Spotify) that includes some of our favorite fall songs from the albums we talk about in the episode.
I’d love to hear other albums people associate with this time of the year, so hit me up on Twitter or in the forum and let me know what kind of music you break out when the leaves begin to change.
On this week’s episode of Encore I am joined by special guest Deanna Chapman. Deanna returns to the show to discuss music and technology. We talk about Brand New’s High & Low set (which Deanna saw in person), new albums from Mutemath, Foo Fighters, The National, PVRIS, and more, and then go deep on the latest Apple event. We talk about the new products, Apple Music, iOS 11, and what we think we want to upgrade and not upgrade.
On this week’s episode of Encore I am once again joined by special guest Thomas Nassiff. Thomas returns to the show to discuss the album we spent most of our time recording this show waiting on … Brand New’s Science Fiction. This episode of the show differs from the previous episode in that we we spend most of the time talking about the album roll-out and the industry ramifications of this new album. We talk about the band going #1 on the charts, how this specific roll-out was the only way they could live up to expectations, and the chance of there ever being a band like this again.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself that this actually happened.
You may have had to wait a few extra weeks for a new episode of Encore, but that doesn’t come close to the eight year wait for a new album from Brand New. But, it’s here, and we’re gonna talk all about it. I am joined this week, once again, by special guest Drew Beringer to break down Science Fiction. We talk about our history with the band, our thoughts on their catalog, and do a track-by-track through the new album. We discuss the band’s place in the music scene, why they resonate so much with fans, and argue how the new album stacks up in their discography.
There’s never been a band quite like Brand New, and we may never see anything quite like them, or their rabid fanbase, again. I hope you enjoy our deep dive as much as we did recording it.
I loved this podcast from Bill Simmons, Jim Miller, and Bryan Curtis on the evolution of ESPN and their past and future. There’s some really interesting stories and tidbits about the company and where they made mistakes and missteps over the years.
Read More “Bill Simmons Podcast: Inside the Evolution of ESPN”
On this week’s episode of Encore I am once again joined by special guest Drew Beringer. This week we are doing a deep dive on the new album from Manchester Orchestra. The album, A Black Mile to the Surface, comes out on July 28th, so you can decide if you wanna hear all our thoughts on the album now or wait until you’ve heard it for the first time. We walk through each song on the album, so expect “spoilers.” And, we’re both pretty excited about this one.
Read More “A Black Mile to the Surface (Encore Episode 151)”