Tonight's Musical Guest, Today

In the mid 70s, some arty weird kids in Athens, GA shared a volcano cocktail at a Chinese restaurant. That party took them to many others, armed with hugely influential guitar licks, beehive hairdo wigs, and dancing from another world. It's THE B-52s week!

It's episode number 50 of TMGT, and the show kicks off with a performance on SNL that changed Dave Grohl's life. Jon insists on covering a clip of the band at the 1...

She emerged from the caves of Iceland with a singular voice and singular vision. As the ultimate blank check artist, she combined international textures with innovative electronic landscapes to both astound and baffle listeners. It's BJÖRK week!

Björk leans into her Sugarcubes and London club influences early with quirky and catchy performances on Conan and Leno. A turmoil-filled run up to Homogenic produces an intense 1997 per...

Mix 1 part traditional irish folk, 2 parts punk, and 3 parts irish whiskey (just not the protestant kind): stir and drink well. Grab a Guinness and sing along: it's THE POGUES week!

Joining the show is a long-time friend who played many a sweaty Boston punk show with Alex and Jon over the years, Kevin Bogart (Trophy Lungs, Better Sense)! Kevin and the guys discuss the upcoming New Warden/Trophy Lungs reunion show at O'Brie...

This western Massachusetts trio combined elements of hardcore, folk, and guitar virtuosity to become unlikely godfathers of grunge. But in between classic 80s indie releases and 2000s reunion albums, lots of other stuff happened too. We discuss. It's DINOSAUR JR. week!

Joining the show is the creator of the indie punk and rock publication see/saw and former Pitchfork News Editor Evan Minsker! After giving the first Lou Barlow e...

Good genes. Industry access. A lack of initial meritocracy. These artists reaped the benefits and pitfalls of simply being the children of some of the most famous musicians of all time. It's NEPO BABIES week, grab bag style!

We start off nepo week in style with Nancy Sinatra performing a stone-cold classic on Ed Sullivan in 1966 with an array of groovy back up dancers. Ziggy Marley leads a nepo baby band at the height of his po...

In the early 90s, two guys pretending to be brothers from New Hope, PA somehow snuck into the major label system making aggressively hard to listen to 4-track jams. And then went on to be one of the greatest cult acts of all time. It's WEEN week!

We begin the show with a quick but illuminating 1991 clip from Dutch television. Pauly Shore is the only person that enjoys Push th' Little Daisies at MTV Spring Break. Gene and D...

Dubbed the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band, they invaded America, its TV screens, and changed it all. It's an episode that would maybe even make Ed Sullivan proud. It's THE ROLLING STONES week!

Joining the show is iconic drummer and the King of rock and roll weirdness, Jon Wurster (Shannon/Narducy & Friends, The Mountain Goats, ex-Superchunk)! Jon and the guys watch a pod-record 8 performances from 1964 to 197...

CHILL! This rap-rock-metal-funk-reggae outfit was dominating the modern rock charts before the term nu-metal was coined. Armed with positivity, a turntable, and marijuana enthusiasm, they carried a mid 90s nation mourning the end of grunge. It's 311 week!

We come clean up top about our varying levels of adoration for the band 311 before talking about them for 2 hours. The loveable lads from Omaha make their TV debut with "...

His live TV debut on SNL has gone down as maybe the most famous moment in late night music history. But the decades that followed were just as surprising, rebellious, and at times baffling. It's ELVIS COSTELLO week!

Joining the show is comedian, actor, and Elvis Costello historian Connor Ratliff (Dead Eyes, Tiny Dinos, The George Lucas Talk Show)! Connor does his best to walk the guys through the overwhelming twists a...

We're following up Christmas day with the second most famous resurrection story of all time. Except this California band rose not just once, but twice from the ashes. It's RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS week!

The clips this week surprisingly begin all the way back in 1984, with the first iteration of the band performing with the energy of 8th graders on Thicke of the Night. Clips on Arsenio and Letterman show the transfor...

Pounding robotic trance desert stoner rock. Is that enough adjectives to describe what is maybe the last great mainstream hard rock band of the 21st century? We find more to use. It's QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE week!

For a band often described as "The Josh Homme Project", we find ways to discuss the careers of way too many musicians on the show this week. Early clips on Conan and Kilborn capture the short-lived...

Remembered as schmaltzy elevator music, this sister-brother duo dominated the charts for much of the 1970s. Driven by the one-of-a-kind voice of Karen Carpenter and the orchestration of brother Dick, they epitomize the former power of television monoculture and the murky arc of cultural memory. It's THE CARPENTERS week!

Almost unlike any other group covered on the show, the clips this week are bountiful, explanatory, ...

Garage Rock. Indie Sleaze. Electronic Dance Pop. This Brooklyn trio has done it all across a surprisingly long career, out lasting almost all of their early 2000s NYC contemporaries. It's YEAH YEAH YEAHS week!

Joining the show this week is Boston-based musician Matt Ozelius! As drummers for him in recent years, Matt weighs in on the great debate over who is better behind the kit-Jon or Alex-before diving into the thea...

Inarguably the biggest and most successful band of the grunge era, they persisted while others could not. They fought the man at every turn, did it their way, and are an undeniable live juggernaut. It's PEARL JAM week!

Joining the show as our second-ever returning guest is show promoter and pod-favorite Ryan Agate aka Ryan the Terrible! Back to back performances on SNL capture the big early moments of Pearl Jam, inclu...

They're quietly one of the most successful bands of the 90s, selling over 50 million records over the course of their career. Dominating the softer side of alt-rock radio, they took over America out of nowhere as the biggest Irish band since U2. It's THE CRANBERRIES week!

We begin this week with two very different performances of "Dreams" and "Linger" on the Irish late night show Kenny Live, w...

They were cool looking boys from the large apple. Leaders of a NYC and retro guitar rock revival, they wrote two of the catchiest and most memorable records of the early 2000s. Was that it? It's THE STROKES week!

The Strokes make their network TV debut on Conan with a perfect sounding rendition of "The Modern Age". An early performance on SNL with a dreamy Julian Casablancas propels the band up the charts. W...

They came from the heartland to destroy us all. More brutal death metal than nu, maggots from every corner of America rejoiced at their one-of-a-kind stage show, technical precision, and devil-fueled aggression. It's SLIPKNOT week!

The guys explore the incredible backstory, lore, and turmoil of one of the most visually arresting bands the show has ever discussed. Slipknot make their UK television debut on TFI Friday, ...

They exploded onto the 90s Britpop scene with fresh faces and clean teeth. Steven Spielberg wanted to turn them into the next Monkees. Instead, this UK phenomenon eschewed America and just did it their way. It's SUPERGRASS week!

Joining the show is a long-time musical hero of Alex and Jon: lead singer and guitarist of the legendary Boston-based band Piebald, Travis Shettel! The guys and Travis talk through the past an...

She holds eye-popping album sale records, ushered a whole new style of pop music into the mainstream, and did it all as a socially conscious black woman in conservative white America. But one TV performance clouded all of it. It's JANET JACKSON week!

Joining the show this week to help uncloud that cultural memory is music journalist Robby Seabrook III! Robby and the guys discuss Janet's early Jackson family life ...