All Our Pretty Songs

This time on AOPS, we discussed The Offspring in a wide-ranging conversation that touched on sincerity, unemployment, medical doctors, William Carlos Williams, fiscal conservatism, and—of course—self esteem vs. confidence. Our theme song is by Golden West Service, featuring Shreddie Vedder.

For this episode, we discussed two 90s classics: "Closer," by Nine Inch Nails and "Closer to Fine," by the Indigo Girls. We touched on topics like God, the id, the ego, Rasputin, cafeteria cookies, "a port in a storm," Hélène Cixous, parabolas, and college. Our theme song is by Golden West Service, featuring Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we discussed the work of Sarah McLachlan, touching on Second-wave feminist naming conventions, "The Second Coming," The Rules, "Building a Mystery" poems, angel investors, shaving, the Garden of Eden, Andrea Dworkin, Christmas songs, Rock star on the road songs, Lifetime movies, and, of course, the ASPCA. Our theme song, as always, is by Golden West Service featuring Shreddie Vedder. Marisa's book, Diary.

For this episode we discussed Oasis, a band one of us described as "Two brothers and some other people." We also touched on landslides in popular music, synesthesia, trolls, The Beatles, rhyme scheme, ghosts, "parents just don't understand," made up words, hearsay, and movies in which people get buried alive. Our theme song is by Golden West Service featuring Shreddie Vedder.

We've reached 1995 in our ongoing exploration of the top 20 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 for each year of the 90s, and this time the choices were REALLY impossible. Listen for our excellent discussion of some incredible songs, plus: crises of faith, freaks, "freak flags," school dances, personalized silk pajama sets, skin hunger, Fantasia, rollerblading, and a little something we like to call the "Advent Calendar of Loneliness." Our theme song, as always, is by Golden West Service featuring Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we discussed the original soundtrack for the absolutely essential 90s film, The Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994). We also had a fight about Rage Against the Machine and discussed 90s haircuts, being born, fast forwarding, Edgar Allen Poe, the difference between "can't" and "won't," and the concept of revenge. Our theme song, as always, is by Golden West Service featuring Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we discussed The Breeders in a wide-ranging discussion touching on wishing wells, "going up Troy's bucket," quotidian landmarks, sleepovers vs. slumber parties, Thor, Melville & Hawthorne, onomatopoeia, and the male privilege of jumping in a pool and yelling, "CANNONBALL!!!" Our theme song is by Golden West Service featuring Shreddie Vedder.

We begin our new season by embarking on an experiment in building a collaborative playlist starting off with, for some reason, with Billie Myers' 1997 hit, "Kiss the Rain." Our theme song is by Golden West Service featuring Shreddie Vedder.

For our final episode of 2022, we discussed the iconic Fiona Apple! Topics include: Hamlet, hot tubs, misogyny, the Bible, the male gaze, dream journals and more. Happy holidays! Our theme song is by Golden West Service featuring Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we finally discussed Metallica, and took a rare trip back into the 1980s. Additionally, in honor of our long friendship, we agreed to always try our best to dub one another "forgiven" whenever possible. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we decided to return to our exploration of the 90s most salient one hit wonders. We discussed Fuel's "Shimmer" and Veruca Salt's "Seether," two songs connected by, well, mostly just their titles. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

We decided to tackle the '90s output of Silverchair. We discussed the simple wisdom of youth and gave Daniel Johns some constructive criticism about his hair. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

This week on the pod, we dove deep on the Top 20 songs of 1994's Billboard Hot 100, where we had to come to terms with our everlasting love for 1994 Ace of Base. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

We finally took on the '90s catalog of Bjork. Though we had a bit of the giggles, we also got into some pretty heavy stuff, including our feelings about "emotional landscapes." Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

On this episode, we each chose our top three '90s songs of the '70s. We had a lot of different thoughts about what that could mean, and we explored as many of those as possible to arrive at the songs from the '70s that feel the most '90s to us. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

This week we discussed Poe while veering off into discussions about soap operas, hauntings, jokes, and much, much more. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

This week we discussed Third Eye Blind, big feelings, extremes, and the endless desire for "something else." Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we decided to take on two more of the 90s best one hit wonders: "Steal My Sunshine," by Len & "Sunny Came Home," by Shawn Colvin. Saying that these songs are "about" the sun might be a little inaccurate, but whatever. Tune in to listen to your hosts learn about butter tarts in real time. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we dove into the 90s catalog of our culture's foremost philosophers on the subject of time: blink-182. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.

This week, we explore the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's 1992 film, Singles. We discuss the lure of dating amidst the Seattle grunge scene, examine Edward Vedder as a writer and thespian, and get into a heated debate about the concept of seasons. Our theme song is original music by Golden West Service & Shreddie Vedder.