Tonight's Musical Guest, Today

The craziest bass playing you've ever seen. Atonal metal breakdowns. Songs about meth heads burying bodies. And multiple top-ten records. How? It's PRIMUS week!
It's a guestless, Alex-pick episode: buckle up. Primus breaks on to the national TV scene on the Dennis Miller Show. "My Name is Mud" is a hit somehow, and Primus performs it on MTV's Haunted House Party with White Zombie and Penn & Teller. Les, Ler, and Herb dress up in penguin suits to perform their biggest hit to the dismay of David Letterman's showrunner. We finally return to Farmclub.com to see Primus awkwardly fitting into the Nu-Metal moment. Plus the debut of South Park Sucks!
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Jerry was a Race Car Driver/Tommy The Cat, 3/20/1992 on The Dennis Miller Show
My Name is Mud, 10/30/1993 on MTV's Haunted House Party
Wynona's Big Brown Beaver, 6/16/1995 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Shake Hands with Beef, 7/16/1997 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Antipop/Greet the Sacred Cow, 3/5/2000 on Farmclub.com
Lee Van Cleef, 10/24/2011 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

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, including a super rare 3-song stint a week after the death of Kurt Cobain. David Letterman can't get Black out of his head, has the band on his show multiple times, and ultimately inducts them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jeff Ament wears lots of hats. And Ryan and the guys somehow watch multiple movies and tv series during the record.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Alive/Porch, 4/11/1992 on Saturday Night Live
Not For You/Rearviewmirror/Daughter, 4/16/1994 on Saturday Night Live
Hail Hail, 9/20/1996 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Wishlist, 5/1/1998 on The Late Show with David Letterman
World Wide Suicide/Severed Hand/Alive, 5/6/2006 on Later...with Jools Holland
Alive/Given to Fly/Better Man/Rockin' in the Free World, 4/7/2017 on The Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

So what-cha want? An episode on the prolific decades-spanning run of Ad Rock, Mike D, and MCA? No problem. It's BEASTIE BOYS week!
Joining the show to break down the iconic rhymes, beats, and general coolness of the B-Boys is Texas Monthly writer and former AV Club Editor in Chief Sean O'Neal! The guys discuss the group's teenage punk roots and watch it in action on a 1984 public access clip. A ridiculous 1987 clip from the Late Show with Joan Rivers featuring a pole dancer captures their License to Ill era a little too well. The Boys kill it on back-to-back Letterman clips, including a Sabotage peformance for the ages. And Jon kills the vibe by digging too deep into the personal life of Don Cornelius.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
White Shadow/Untitled/Egg Raid on Mojo, 1/28/84 on The Scott and Gary Show!
(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)/Time to get Ill, 1/15/87 on The Late Show with Joan Rivers
Shadrach, 1/27/90 on Soul Train
Live at PJ's, 11/5/92 on Late Night with David Letterman
Sabotage, 8/4/94 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Three MCs and One DJ/Intergalactic, 9/10/98 on The MTV Video Music Awards
Ch-Check it Out, 6/14/04 on The Late Show with David Letterman

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 and present of Piebald before breaking down the unique and winding career path of Supergrass. Gaz Coombes and co. bus in all their Oxford buds for their TV debut on The Word. Ray Cokes of MTV Europe has the band flush a smashed watch down a toilet in between peformances of the big 'I Should Coco' hits. And Jonathan Ross returns to the show to the dismay of all involved. Plus the debut of "Chunk, Drag, or Grass?"!
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Mansize Rooster, 2/10/1995 on The Word UK
Ray Tripper/Alright/Caught by the Fuzz, 7/11/1995 on MTV Europe's Most Wanted with Ray Cokes
Going Out, 3/11/1996 on TFI Friday
Moving/Mary/Faraway, 11/28/1999 on Later...with Jools Holland
Rush Hour Soul, 12/6/2002 on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
St. Petersburg, 9/25/2005 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

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 theatrical TV appearances of Karen O and co! The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are on Letterman a lot, and unfortunately Dave is a weird creep for over a decade. A garden-themed performance of "Maps" on the MTV Movie Awards is equally pretty and impressive. A broadway choir backs up the band in 2013, and Karen sings on top of molten lava nine years later on Kimmel.
Want to watch along with us? Check out the links below for the performances discussed this week!
Date with the Night, 6/26/2003 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Maps, 6/5/2004 on The MTV Movie Awards
Gold Lion, 3/29/2006 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Down Boy, 7/26/2007 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Zero, 4/14/2009 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Sacrilege, 4/5/2013 on The Late Show with David Letterman
Burning, 9/29/2022 on Jimmy Kimmel Live!