Over/underrated: a music podcast with Fran and Babs artwork

Over/underrated: a music podcast with Fran and Babs

107 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago -

Do you believe the hype? Fran and Babs talk about bands and artists potentially given undue credit & musicians who should be more famous, by curating five or ten-track playlists to argue their case

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Episodes

S7E10 - Special Episode: Fran and Babs' Best of 2023

December 29, 2023 04:55 - 1 hour - 89.1 MB

The final episode of the season is our annual special where we each pick our favourite songs of the year! Like in 2022, we have picked songs according to pre-determined categories: favourite song by a solo act, best song by a group, favourite track in a genre we don't normally like, favourite song not in English, best collaboration, best sync song, favourite song we'd like to hear live, best new artist, best rock song and favourite non-European song. Which two artists come back again for ...

S7E9 - Avant-pop: Björk (Overrated) & Bat for Lashes (Underrated)

December 21, 2023 08:55 - 1 hour - 62.5 MB

Fran & Babs listened to (almost) the entirety of Björk's discography - having only previously dipped in and out of her music - and collaborated on a ten-track playlist spanning the decades to properly deliberate on her music and legacy... Natasha Khan a.k.a Bat for Lashes is this week's underrated artist - Fran thinks she has many good songs beyond her hits, while until now, Babs was mostly indifferent...will his ten-track playlist convince her otherwise? You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for...

S7E8 - Australia Part III 🇦🇺 INXS (Overrated) & The Go-Betweens (Underrated) - with Bill Cummings

December 15, 2023 05:55 - 1 hour - 70.9 MB

Joined by writer & broadcaster Bill Cummings, we're returning down under to discuss two bands who experienced wildly varying levels of success... INXS have sold a whopping 95 million albums worldwide - they're one of Australia's most successful musical acts ever. With their crisp new wave sound and iconic frontman, will Fran & Babs feel the hype is nevertheless deserved? Bill picked The Go-Betweens as "the quintessential underrated band" - with nine studio albums to their name, they never ...

S7E7 - Special Episode: Overrated & Underrated Cover Versions

December 07, 2023 04:25 - 1 hour - 67.7 MB

We often discuss covers, so it was about time for a special episode dedicated to the ones we admire, as well as those we don't love so much... We've picked ten overrated cover versions - those that are better known than the originals or ones we don't enjoy - as well as ten underrated covers, songs we feel add to, or even improve on, the original. Tune in also for a slightly controversial pick, which lead to an in-depth online and offline discussion on what the difference is between a remix...

S7E6 - Britpop Part III: Stereophonics (Overrated) & Ash (Underrated) - with Robin Allender

November 30, 2023 04:50 - 1 hour - 92.2 MB

Joined by musician, comedian and podcaster Robin Allender, we are back feeling nostalgic about the late 90's... Stereophonics are clearly one of the more successful acts to emerge from Wales - to date, their most famous song Dakota has had over 200 million streams on Spotify - but are Fran, Babs or Robin fans of the band? Robin picked Ash as an underrated favourite in part due to the influence their Trailer EP had on him as a youth, especially the song Uncle Pat...Fran & Babs are Ash fans...

S7E5 - Pop Singer-Songwriters: Billie Eilish (Overrated) & Charli XCX (Underrated)

November 23, 2023 05:04 - 1 hour - 102 MB

Billie Eilish is undoubtedly one of the world's most famous pop stars and Babs enjoys quite a few of her songs. She pitches some of her faves - and a couple of not-so-faves - to Fran, as we both ponder whether the hype is justified... Babs also FINALLY gets to chat Fran's ear off about how much she loves Charli XCX. Charli is undeniably also a famous pop star, but Babs is frustrated that she doesn't have enough mainstream recognition and not enough people know the breadth of her back catalo...

S7E4 - Goth: The Cure (Overrated) & Xmal Deutschland (Underrated) - with Ryan Schaff

November 16, 2023 09:47 - 1 hour - 69.1 MB

Joined by our first ever returning guest - Ryan Schaff, host of ⁠The Broken Record Player podcast⁠ - we're breaking out the eyeliner, black nail varnish and discussing what makes a band truly goth... Ryan is a huge fan of The Cure - they're in his top five favourite bands of all time - while Fran & Babs don't exactly muster the same level of enthusiasm...can he get them more on board? Xmal Deutschland's 'Incubus Succubus' might be considered a 'goth classic', but Ryan argues that this 80's ...

S7E3 - Special Episode: Underrated music from The Netherlands 🇳🇱 with Lieselotte Smets

November 09, 2023 04:11 - 1 hour - 64.7 MB

Joined by friend of the podcast Lieselotte Smets, we're learning more about the musical landscape of the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Lieselotte is Belgian, but has lived in the Netherlands for many years. Despite being Flemish - and therefore a native Dutch speaker - she realised there was a massive gap in her Netherlands music knowledge, so she has been keenly exploring the country's lesser-known gems. For this episode, Lieselotte created a ten-track playlist of some of her favourite underrated Dutch ...

S7E2 - Post-punk: U2 (Overrated) & The Psychedelic Furs (Underrated)

November 02, 2023 04:53 - 1 hour - 69.1 MB

U2 are obviously one of the biggest bands in the world, with 15 studio albums to date - Fran believes there's a lot of gold in their extensive back catalogue and that some of their albums are more underrated than others...will Babs agree? We also discuss The Psychedelic Furs' back catalogue in some depth - Babs had previously dipped into the band's music but not gone much beyond their biggest hits...can Fran convince her they should be known for more than Pretty in Pink? You can find ⁠⁠the...

S7E1 - Special Episode: Interviewing Bob Stanley, music journalist and founder of Saint Etienne

October 30, 2023 10:35 - 1 hour - 67.8 MB

We're kicking off our new season with a very special episode! We're interviewing Bob Stanley, a very talented writer, musician, DJ, and film producer. Since founding the band Saint Etienne, Bob has enjoyed a parallel career as a music journalist. He came on the podcast to talk about two of his books, which - together - span the entire history of pop, from the invention of the 78 rpm record at the end of the 19th century to the current modern pop age. This being Over/underrated, we still wa...

S7E1 - Special Episode: An interview with Bob Stanley, music journalist and founder of Saint Etienne

October 30, 2023 10:35 - 1 hour - 67.8 MB

We're kicking off our new season with a very special episode! We're interviewing Bob Stanley, a very talented writer, musician, DJ, and film producer. Since founding the band Saint Etienne, Bob has enjoyed a parallel career as a music journalist. He came on the podcast to talk about two of his books, which - together - span the entire history of pop, from the invention of the 78 rpm record at the end of the 19th century to the current modern pop age. This being Over/underrated, we still wa...

S7E1 - Special Episode: An Interview with Bob Stanley, music journalist and founder of Saint Etienne

October 26, 2023 03:18 - 1 hour - 67.8 MB

We're kicking off our new season with a very special episode! We're interviewing Bob Stanley, a very talented writer, musician, DJ, and film producer. Since founding the band Saint Etienne, Bob has enjoyed a parallel career as a music journalist. He came on the podcast to talk about two of his books, which - together - span the entire history of pop, from the invention of the 78 rpm record at the end of the 19th century to the current modern pop age. This being Over/underrated, we still wa...

S6E10 - Prog Rock: Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Overrated) & Marillion (Underrated) - with Joz Norris

June 01, 2023 02:23 - 1 hour - 85.7 MB

Joined by comedian, writer & performer Joz Norris, we're finally delving into prog rock for our last episode of the season - and we hope, like us, that you don't take it TOO seriously... Joz picked Emerson, Lake & Palmer as overrated because he feels that they represent the wildest excesses of prog and contribute to its pretentious reputation. With one of the songs on Joz's playlist called 'The Three Fates: i) Clotho ii) Lachesis iii) Atropos', will Fran & Babs agree they're too ostentatiou...

S6E9 - Glam Rock: Queen (Overrated) & The Ark (Underrated) - with Christian Patrick

May 25, 2023 03:16 - 1 hour - 82.5 MB

Joined by content creator, musician, amateur historian, YouTuber, journalist & author Christian Patrick, we're discussing two glam bands on, arguably, the opposite of the fame spectrum this week... First up, another sacred cow under the microscope - we're talking about behemoths Queen, specifically their output from the 70's...like most people, Christian, Fran & Babs like some of their output - but going into the discussion, we all agree that they're overrated...will a five-track playlist c...

S6E8b - Record Label Special, Part II: Jade Tree Records (Underrated) - with Mark Fraser & Chris Cusack

May 22, 2023 02:59 - 1 hour - 58.6 MB

Joined by Chris & Mark from the Unsung Podcast, it's Part II of our Record Label special, where we're talking about Wilmington, Delaware's Jade Tree Records (check out Part I where we discussed Washington DC's Dischord Records). Fran & Babs hadn't previously heard of Jade Tree Records - and didn't know many of the bands on their roster. Founded in 1990 and initially focused on post-hardcore and noise rock bands, Jade Tree began incorporating emo, punk, melodic hardcore, and experimental gro...

S6E8a - Record Label Special, Part I: Dischord Records (Overrated) - with Mark Fraser & Chris Cusack

May 18, 2023 02:40 - 1 hour - 61 MB

Joined by Chris & Mark from the Unsung Podcast, it's a different approach for today's episode - our guests have picked two different record labels and five bands who released records from them to make up each playlist, and we're all discussing whether a label can be classified as overrated or underrated. In Part I we're talking about Washington DC's Dischord Records, an ⁠independent record label⁠ specializing in ⁠punk rock⁠, co-founded by Fugazi's Ian MacKaye & Minor Threat's Jeff Nelson. ...

S6E7b - Special Episode, Reviewing Worst Kept Secret: The Subwoolfer Eurovision Documentary - with extra European guests 🇪🇺

May 11, 2023 02:49 - 30 minutes - 23.8 MB

Following on from our Eurovision 2023 episode, we popped online for a quick chat to talk about an entertaining short film - Worst Kept Secret: The Subwoolfer Documentary which is available on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel. Fans of Eurovision 2022 will definitely remember Subwoolfer, the yellow Norwegian space wolves who managed to keep their identities under wrap throughout the competition - or did they? The documentary explores how the song was conceived at a writing camp, h...

S6E7 - Special Episode: Eurovision 2023 - with extra European guests 🇪🇺

May 09, 2023 02:47 - 1 hour - 64 MB

It's our yearly Eurovision special - we've listened to all 37 songs from this year's competition and picked our five favourite and least favourite tunes. This time, we're also joined by contributors across Europe giving their opinions on the competition and some of the entries we talk about! If you enjoy this episode, you should check out our 2022 and 2021 episodes as well as our two-part special with Babs' dad, which analyses Eurovision 1958-2019 - both the underrated and overrated aspects...

S6E6 - Southern Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Calvin Harris (Overrated) & Frightened Rabbit (Underrated) - with Shane McMenemy

May 04, 2023 02:55 - 1 hour - 84.3 MB

Joined by Shane McMenemy from the Mixtaping Identity podcast, we're talking about one of his all-time favourite bands - as well as a DJ he's not super-keen on. It's not that Shane massively dislikes Calvin Harris (Dumfries), but he feels his music is "cynically-produced and commercially-driven" - Shane feels Calvin is good at capitalising on trends, but there's little substance. Will Fran & Babs agree - or is his music hitting them right in the feels? Frightened Rabbit (Selkirk) are a huge...

S6E5b - British Singer-Songwriters, Part II: Nick Drake (Underrated) - with Tom Haigh

May 01, 2023 02:52 - 1 hour - 56.7 MB

Friend of the podcast Tom Haigh joins us again - he previously talked about David Bowie in Part I of this British Singer-Songwriters theme - and this time he's talking about musician Nick Drake. An influence on many big artists like R.E.M., Kate Bush and The Cure, Nick Drake's profile was low during his short lifetime - and, argues Tom, still not high enough these days for such a talented musician... Tom's brother Jack is an extremely talented guitarist - you should check out his videos and...

S6E5a - British Singer-Songwriters, Part I: David Bowie (Overrated) - with Tom Haigh

April 27, 2023 02:50 - 1 hour - 67.2 MB

Joined by friend of the podcast Tom Haigh, we had such fun chatting to him that it's gonna be another two-parter... Fran & Babs have wanted to talk about David Bowie for ages and Tom is a mega-fan, primed and ready to defend him - he has picked some deeper cuts to introduce lesser-known Bowie tunes to two people who feel that he is, at the very least, overhyped... Tom's brother Jack is an extremely talented guitarist - you should check out his videos and follow him on Instagram @jackhaighm...

S6E4 - Electro: Kraftwerk (Overrated) & Henric de la Cour (Underrated)

April 20, 2023 02:35 - 1 hour - 82.5 MB

While Fran acknowledges Kraftwerk have been a huge influence on many bands he likes, he's never been interested enough to dip into into their back catalogue too heavily...Babs is a fan and hopes to convince Fran that Kraftwerk's source material is worth listening to in more depth... Fran introduces Babs to Henric de la Cour, a solo act who also used to be the main singer-songwriter in the bands Yvonne and Strip Music. Through his ten-track playlist, Fran hopes to get Babs interested in anot...

S6E3 - Australia Part II 🇦🇺 Jet (Overrated) & King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (Underrated) - with Brad LeBaron

April 13, 2023 02:33 - 1 hour - 84.7 MB

Joined by Wisconsinite podcaster and YouTuber Brad LeBaron, we're heading back down under... Melbournites Jet are obviously best known for their smash hit 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' - but they produced three albums and supported huge acts like the Rolling Stones, Oasis, Green Day and Bruce Springsteen...however, do Fran & Babs agree that a lot of their music sounds derivative? Brad is a huge King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard fan and with 23 studio albums to their name, it was tricky for him...

S6E2 - 90's Rock: Foo Fighters (Overrated) & Feeder (Underrated) - with Jen Dixon

April 06, 2023 02:22 - 1 hour - 61.9 MB

We're joined by Teesside-based singer songwriter Jen Dixon this week, who brings two nostalgic rock bands for discussion.. .Jen is a huge Foo Fighters fan - drumming from a young age, she was especially in awe of Taylor Hawkins...Fran is a Foo Fighters fan and says they're excellent live - but Babs has always felt they're overplayed (and that Dave Grohl shouts a bit too much in songs). Will Jen's playlist and Fran's arguments help change her mind? Welsh band Feeder have been going for almo...

S6E1 - Leeds Part II: Kaiser Chiefs (Overrated) & The Music (Underrated)

March 30, 2023 02:30 - 1 hour - 89.6 MB

'Ow do! We're back in Yorkshire to discuss two more Leodensian rock bands, having talked about Alt-J and Duels back in our first season... Kaiser Chiefs might be best known for their songs and albums of the noughties, but the band has continued to release music as recently as 2022...Fran has put together a playlist spanning most of their albums so he and Babs can talk about whether their top tunes have been overplayed - and whether they should be better-known for their most recent hits. Fr...

S6 Trailer

March 23, 2023 09:03 - 59 seconds - 1.17 MB

We will be back next week with the first episode of Season Six! Bands we'll be discussing in this series include David Bowie, Queen, Nick Drake, The Ark, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Jet, The Music, Kaiser Chiefs, Kraftwerk, Calvin Harris, Henric de la Cour and Frightened Rabbit. In the meantime, find out what some of our BIGGEST FANS have to say about the podcast....

S5E13 - Special Episode: Interviewing Chris Olley, Six by Seven

January 19, 2023 03:20 - 1 hour - 105 MB

Rounding off this season is a special bumper episode with Chris Olley, musician and lead singer/guitarist from Six by Seven. If these names sound familiar, it's because Fran picked Six by Seven as an underrated band in our previous Nottingham episode - so this conversation is an Over/underrated first!  Chris listened to our episode, got in touch and we invited him to come on to talk about whether he agreed with our assessment of the band and hear more about the music he's making now. We als...

S5E12 - Christmas Special 🎄 with Richard Delahay

December 24, 2022 03:25 - 1 hour - 60.9 MB

Santa Fran & Babs welcome you to our first ever Christmas special! We're joined by festive music appreciator and friend of the podcast Richard Delahay, who has picked his top five overrated & underrated Christmas songs... How much has working in retail and catering traumatised Fran & Richard's reactions to Christmas songs? How much of our conversation will be dominated by discussing the various Band Aid versions? And will Christmas pessimist Babs react to Richard's picks in a particularly b...

S5E11b - Special Episode: Fran & Babs' Best of 2022, Part II

December 19, 2022 02:09 - 1 hour - 63 MB

We've wrapped up the year once again, each picking our ten favourite tracks from 2022 and discussing our musical highlights and lowlights. However, this year we've mixed it up a little 🍸 and assigned each of our picks to ten categories... In Part II, we have five more categories to discuss: best sync song, favourite song you'd like to hear live, best new artist, best rock song and favourite non-European song. Check out the accompanying Best of 2022 Part I episode which came out last week -...

S5E11a - Special Episode: Fran & Babs' Best of 2022, Part I

December 15, 2022 02:35 - 57 minutes - 46.9 MB

We've wrapped up the year once again, each picking our ten favourite tracks from 2022 and discussing our musical highlights and lowlights. However, this year we've mixed it up a little 🍸 and assigned each of our picks to ten categories... In Part I, we'll be talking about each other's favourite song by a solo act, best song by a group, favourite track in a genre we don't normally like, favourite song not in English and best collaboration. Join us next week for Part II and to find out the o...

S5E10 - Sweden Part II 🇸🇪 The Cardigans (Overrated) & The Tiny (Underrated) - with Daniel Bellqvist

November 17, 2022 02:57 - 1 hour - 81.3 MB

Välkomna alla till säsongens sista avsnitt! This week we are joined by Daniel Bellqvist, lead singer of Swedish indie band Eskobar.  Daniel shares some great rock'n'roll anecdotes in this episode, including those relating to this week's overrated act, The Cardigans. While we all agree that Lovefool was extremely popular and played non-stop, is it fair to label The Cardigans overrated - or are there more underrated gems in their back catalogue? Fran & Babs are also introduced to The Tiny, D...

S5E9 - Theatrical Americans: Prince (Overrated) & Jill Tracy (Underrated) - with Dr Becky Alexis-Martin and Annie Greatorex

November 10, 2022 02:45 - 1 hour - 75.9 MB

Hello DARLINGS and welcome to a most flamboyant episode! We're joined by Dr Becky Alexis-Martin and Annie Greatorex to discuss one of the most famous theatrical American musicians of all time and one rather more unknown... Dr Becky is keen to discuss mega-famous, revered Prince - she thinks he's written great songs for women (Sinead O'Connor, The Bangles) but feels many of his own tunes are TOO LONG! Will Fran, Babs & Annie agree - or will they be too busy doing the Batdance? Annie introdu...

S5E8 - British Blue-Eyed Soul: Rod Stewart (Overrated) & Robert Palmer (Underrated) - with Paula Wiseman

November 03, 2022 08:05 - 1 hour - 72 MB

Joined by Paula Wiseman, journalist and host of the Divine Comedians podcast, we're back in the UK this week talking about two singer-songwriters some might not realise are even British... Rod Stewart's music career began in 1962 when he started busking with a harmonica - and he's not stopped making music since. But are his songs interesting enough to deserve the worldwide fame? Fran investigates by making a five-track playlist of hits to discuss... Paula has been a huge Robert Palmer fan ...

S5E7b - New Wave, Part II: Indochine (Underrated)

October 31, 2022 03:54 - 1 hour - 48.5 MB

Following on from Part I of our new wave episode, focused on The Cars, we're crossing the Atlantic and travelling to Paris to discuss our underrated pick, Indochine. The best-selling French band of all time, Indochine released their first album in 1982 and have continued to make music ever since - but remain fairly unknown in English-speaking countries. Babs fell in love with the band when living in Luxembourg in 2002, following the release of their smash album Paradize - and also credits t...

S5E7a - New Wave, Part I: The Cars (Overrated)

October 27, 2022 01:49 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MB

This week, Fran & Babs talked about new wave and 80s music for so long that we've had to make this a two-parter... We've taken a bit of a different approach with this week's overrated pick...Babs was a fan of The Cars without knowing much of their back catalogue while Fran was less sure how he felt. Therefore, Babs took it upon herself to listen to all seven of The Cars' studio albums and come up with a ten-track playlist which represents their long career.... We will be back in Part II to...

S5E6 - Brighton Part II: Royal Blood (Overrated) & The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (Underrated) - with Mike Lash

October 20, 2022 01:47 - 1 hour - 75.4 MB

Joined by Mike Lash from the Playlist Yeah! podcast, we're heading back to the sea - but is it boring? Mike certainly thinks that the hype surrounding two-piece behemoths Royal Blood is undeserved - while some of their songs are certainly overplayed, will Fran & Babs agree they're overrated? Babs & Mike also get excited about The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, a difficult to categorise band who clearly influenced many of their contemporaries. This episode was recorded before the news t...

S5E5 - Nottingham: London Grammar (Overrated) & Six by Seven (Underrated)

October 13, 2022 01:57 - 1 hour - 70.6 MB

We're back in the UK this week, swooping into the East Midlands for our latest episode... Fran is a London Grammar fan, but every time Babs has tried to get into them nothing stuck out for her...will Fran's ten-track playlist turn her into a fan of Hannah, Dot & Dan? Babs is also introduced to Six by Seven, a band Fran remembers having posters of on the wall. However, despite releasing eight studio albums and being touted as "the next Radiohead", they have flown very much under the radar -...

S5E4 - New York Indie Rock: Vampire Weekend (Overrated) & Nation of Language (Underrated) - with George Thurley

October 06, 2022 01:55 - 1 hour - 68.7 MB

Joined by friend of the podcast & afro-pop sympathiser George Thurley, we're back in Noo Yoik City for more discussions of rock.... Babs has never been particularly keen on Vampire Weekend and wonders if this is as much due to their aesthetic as their music. Will George's five-track playlist convince her that Ezra Koenig is more of a genius than she realises? George also introduces Fran & Babs to self-styled "working class synth-pop" band Nation of Language. Formed in 2016, Nation of Langu...

S5E3 - Australia 🇦🇺 AC/DC (Overrated) & The Vines (Underrated)

September 29, 2022 01:55 - 1 hour - 80.2 MB

G'day mates and welcome to an exploration of two of Australia's biggest musical exports... AC/DC is one of the biggest bands in the world - their album Back in Black is the second best-selling album OF ALL TIME! While Fran & Babs can appreciate their career longevity, how much do they actually like the music? Babs has been a fan of The Vines since they exploded onto the scene in the early noughties but remains distraught they're mainly known for their early work. She maintains they've cont...

S5E2b - Jazz Rock Fusion, Part II: Steely Dan (Underrated) - with Matthew Crosby

September 26, 2022 01:56 - 1 hour - 55.3 MB

We are joined once again by writer, comedian, broadcaster and podcasting legend Matthew Crosby for Part II of our jazz rock fusion-themed episodes. This time, Matthew is talking about one of his all-time favourite bands - Steely Dan. Matthew admires how Steely Dan manage to make music which is simultaneously "interesting, weird, complex" as well as "singable, hummable, pop" - and loves how their tunes are also accompanied by arch, witty lyrics. However, he's had some difficulty in generati...

S5E2a - Jazz Rock Fusion, Part I: Red Hot Chili Peppers (Overrated) - with Matthew Crosby

September 22, 2022 01:50 - 1 hour - 54 MB

Joined by writer, comedian, broadcaster and podcasting legend Matthew Crosby, we’re diving deep into the discography of two darn groovy bands… Abracadabracalifornication to all you jazz fusion funk hoppers! Or maybe not, because on this episode we find out why Matthew takes such umbrage with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Despite acknowledging they’re brilliant musicians, “everybody seems to like them” and he’s not quite sure why… Fran & Babs have made fun of RHCP and Anthony Kiedis in the pas...

S5E1 - New Romantics: Spandau Ballet (Overrated) & Japan (Underrated)

September 15, 2022 03:55 - 1 hour - 77.1 MB

Put on some liquid eyeliner, find your sparkliest eyeshadow and bring out the hairspray - we're talking about some New Romantics legends! Fran is a big fan of the era but thinks that behemoths Spandau Ballet only have a handful of good songs...Babs doesn't know much Spandau Ballet beyond the hits - so will she agree with Fran? Babs is also properly introduced to the band Japan - they're not Alphaville of Big in Japan, we'll have you know! Fran loves the band but says he hasn't met anyone w...

S4E10 - Cardiff: Manic Street Preachers (Overrated) and Mclusky (Underrated) - with Ceri Mitchell

May 19, 2022 03:31 - 1 hour - 69.3 MB

Joined by Ceri Mitchell from the Playlist Yeah! podcast, we're swooping over The Valleys and landing in Wales' capital.. Ceri studied in Wales and felt the Manic Street Preachers' presence even more strongly there...but it didn't make him a big fan. Despite loving their androgynous image, will Fran & Babs agree that they're overhyped? For his underrated pick, Ceri introduces Fran & Babs to Cardiff-based band Mclusky. It turns out Babs had saved a couple of their songs back in 2016 but hadn...

S4E9 - Special Episode: Eurovision 2022

May 10, 2022 04:30 - 1 hour - 59.4 MB

It's that time of year again! Fran & Babs listen to all 40 songs from this year's competition and pick their top five best and worst tunes. Who does Babs accuse of greenwashing? Which region of Europe do a lot of Fran's selections come from? And like in our 2021 episode, will some picks appear in opposing lists? If you enjoy this episode, you should check out our 2021 episode and our two-part special with Babs' dad, which analyses Eurovision 1958-2019 - both the underrated and overrated asp...

S4E8 - Blues: The Rolling Stones (Overrated) and Memphis Minnie (Underrated) - with Karlyn King

May 05, 2022 03:30 - 1 hour - 55.9 MB

We're joined by music lecturer, writer and podcaster Karlyn King in our latest episode, tackling one of the biggest rock bands in the world - and talking about a blues musician who should definitely be better-known... With blues as the theme, Fran has picked five early songs by The Rolling Stones to argue that they are an overhyped band in this genre. Will Babs & Karlyn agree that they continue to receive way too many accolades? Karlyn also introduces Fran & Babs to Memphis Minnie, a fasci...

S4E7 - UK 00's Indie Explosion: Kasabian (Overrated) & (British) Sea Power (Underrated)

April 28, 2022 02:50 - 1 hour - 85.1 MB

We can't believe we haven't covered this theme yet... Babs really likes Kasabian - she doesn't want to, but them's the breaks - and wants to convince Fran to see beyond their lad rock reputation and appreciate their use of synths, their psychedelic edge, as well as their more underrated "bleepy bloopy" songs. Naturally, we also address the recent line-up changes and how the band handled them.. Meanwhile, Fran would love more people to get into Sea Power - previously known as British Sea Po...

S4E6 - Indie Folk: The National (Overrated) & Sharon van Etten (Underrated) - with Helen Sadler

April 21, 2022 03:00 - 1 hour - 58.6 MB

Joined by Helen Sadler from the Flixwatcher podcast, she has curated two eclectic playlists which arguably fall under the indie folk umbrella... Helen got on board The National train when she saw them live - however, Babs didn't have a great experience watching them during a heatwave at a festival, she felt they were quite boring....will her mind be changed by Helen's picks? Sharon van Etten is this week's underrated pick - hailing from New Jersey, Sharon has recently moved further away fr...

S4E5 - Depeche Mode Special

April 14, 2022 03:00 - 1 hour - 66.7 MB

A.k.a. we've both wanted an excuse to talk about Depeche Mode for a while, so we've each picked our top five overrated and underrated DM tunes to have somewhat of a theme! Fran's favourite Depeche Mode albums are Songs of Faith and Devotion and Some Great Reward, while Babs really got into the band thanks to her mum buying the 81-85 and 86-98 Greatest Hits in the early noughties - just as the Exciter era hit.  It was hard to make the playlists - there's a lot of songs to pick from - and it...

S4E4 - New York Art Rock: Talking Heads (Overrated) & They Might be Giants (Underrated) - with Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay

April 07, 2022 03:00 - 1 hour - 85.8 MB

Our first episode with two guests! We're joined by Sam Pay and Martin Zaltz Austwick from the Song by Song podcast to chat arty NYC musicians. Martin & Sam & Fran & Babs differ in opinion on how much - and why - they think Talking Heads are overrated. Discussions centre around whether the band's attitude is a bit elitist, David Byrne's standing in pop culture and how many different types of sounds DB can emit (Fran is deffo compiling a spreadsheet). As for They Might Be Giants - who have, ...

S4E3 - Canada 🇨🇦 Alanis Morissette (Overrated) & Nelly Furtado (Underrated)

March 31, 2022 03:00 - 1 hour - 86.1 MB

Força! We've crossed the Atlantic to discuss the legacy of two of Canada's finest singer-songwriters... Until Babs discovered You Oughta Know, she wasn't a huge Alanis Morissette fan - her biggest songs were definitely overplayed...however, Fran has toured Alanis' discography and chosen ten tracks which show a wider variety of styles than either of them initially thought... Babs is also delighted to finally chat about one of the most famous singers of Portuguese origin, Nelly Furtado. Her ...

Guests

Matthew Crosby
2 Episodes

Twitter Mentions

@oumusicpod 99 Episodes
@joshweller 3 Episodes
@rocking_bob 3 Episodes
@weirdoscomedy 2 Episodes
@matthewcrosby 2 Episodes
@lartymcparty 2 Episodes
@flame_me_up 1 Episode
@thecatfilmfan 1 Episode
@billbones80 1 Episode
@sampay 1 Episode
@itssophiedavies 1 Episode
@jendixonmusic 1 Episode
@joznorris 1 Episode
@clarefrog22 1 Episode
@bradthebaron 1 Episode
@martinaustwick 1 Episode
@str8talkenglish 1 Episode