Over/underrated: a music podcast with Fran and Babs (Barbara Mendes-Jorge and Fran James)

Joined by DJ and podcaster Tara Court, we're reminiscing about the 90's again! First up it's the The Verve a.k.a. releasers of the 18th best-selling album in UK chart history with Urban Hymns. Their music seems to have stalked Tara a bit too much over the years - but do they deserve the overrated label? While most people only know their biggest hit Wide Open Space, Tara and Fran are huge Mansun fans and enthusiastically introduce Babs to the weird and wonderful world of Paul, Chad, Stove et al. Mansun's music is definitely more sophisticated than your average Britpop band and their lyrics touch upon gender fluidity, Karl Marx and self-hatred among MANY MANY other things.... Tara's horror podcast is called The Killening and it's available on Patreon. She hosts a weekly radio show, The Weekend Immune System, every Sunday 6-8pm UK time on Edge Radio. You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode. Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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, Daniel's favourite Swedish band of all time - he discovered them live and loves the atmosphere they create, despite their sound being very different to Eskobar's. 

Check out Daniel's band Eskobar, as well as Danny the Swedish Musixian on YouTube, a channel where he regularly livestreams and shares videos of him reacting to music.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode. We've also added five of Fran's favourite Eskobar songs, so we really recommend checking it out.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 Fran & Babs? Which artist is picked twice in two different categories? And which song is described by Babs as being "a drum’n’bass, trap metal nightmare?" 💘

Listen to our Best of 2022, ⁠Best of 2021⁠ and ⁠Best of 2020⁠ episodes to see our faves from previous years. 

You can find the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠ - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Bluesky. We are ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram - and now also @overunderratedmusicpod on Threads although we have done nothing there yet! You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which we check on a semi-regular basis.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

Joined for the second time by podcaster Matt Latham - whose output includes the Pick A Disc podcast - we are back in the biggest of apples to discuss two quite different bands...

KISS have nailed the marketing of their band probably better than any other group - but what do we think about their music, especially as most people in Europe only know a few of their hits?

And Matt picked Brooklyn-based Teen Girl Scientist Monthly as underrated, outlining how his well-trained algorithm led them his way and how he's forged a lovely relationship with the band...

We previously talked to Matt about Manchester bands The Courteeners and (We Are) Performance, so we recommend checking out that episode too.

Listen to Matt's podcast Pick A Disc ⁠in most places you find podcasts⁠. Matt also hosts three other podcasts. Babs has previously guested on Pick A Disc, where she picked the album ⁠Future Perfect by Autolux⁠ and was a guest host on a Matt Picks episode discussing Get RiD! by Robots in Disguise.

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠- it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram, and @oumusicpod.bsky.social⁠⁠ on Bluesky. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 Language definitely wear their 80's synth-pop influences on their sleeve. While this is normally very much up Fran & Babs' street, will they think the band's music stands out enough in the 2020's? 

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 and a cover version...and find out what some of our favourite karaoke songs are 🎤

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠the playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all our chosen cover versions, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 band deserve more success and recognition beyond one song - and we discuss whether singing mostly in German may have hampered their success...

You should listen to ⁠The Broken Record Player podcast⁠ - Babs has guested three times, discussing ⁠⁠PJ Harvey's debut album Dry⁠⁠, ⁠Toxicity by System of a Down⁠ as well as ⁠The Chemical Brothers' Dig Your Own Hole⁠. You should also check out Ryan's previous guest stints on Over/underrated, where he talked about grunge bands Pearl Jam and L7.

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠the playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from Ryan's playlist, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

Babs lets out years of rage against Oasis while Fran passionately discusses Rick Witter & the boys...

You can find the playlist for this episode 'Over/underrated - Episode 1: Britpop, Oasis (Overrated) & Shed Seven (Underrated)' on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists discussed during the episode.

The Oasis "shine" compilation is on YouTube.

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. 

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 to narrow his playlist down to five tracks showing the breadth of the band's back catalogue - but he's done his best to entice Fran & Babs over to the Gizzverse...

Check out Brad's podcast The Album Concept Hour where he discusses concept albums in depth - of course, we'd recommend starting with the episode we guested on, talking about Radiohead's Kid A. You should also check out Brad's YouTube channel Flyover State Park.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Brad's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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't explored further, so will she get on board the Andrew "Falco" Falkous train? And is there perhaps too much shouting for Fran's taste?

Check out Ceri's podcast Playlist Yeah! where he and co-host Mike "shove a mixtape down their guests' throats" (sound familiar...?) 😄 and he was in the band Threatmantics - check out their album.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, rate us, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 change anyone's mind?

Christian is close friends with his underrated pick - Swedish band and Eurovision participants The Ark - having met them when he was living in Milan. He's such a fan, he even wrote a book about them. Fran already knew the band - and says the best gig he probably has ever seen was their show at Barfly (!) - but Babs doesn't know them very well (although it turns out, she had known their Swedish-language song Kolla Kolla from the film Shortbus). Can she be convinced to become a fan on a similar level to Christian or Fran?

Christian is on Instagram @Obscurist_Tourist. Check out Christian's YouTube channel Obscurist Tourist, for "travel videos and reviews of hidden gems, quirky places, and all things off the beaten path." He also has a website. Christian's book on the Ark is called 'No End: The Story Of The Ark'.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Fran & Babs were delighted to be joined by music producer/mixer/engineer/arranger extraordinaire Ben Hampson for a special episode focused on bands from the region he's based in, Sussex. 

Ben picked five songs from five top Sussex bands - most of whom he has worked with - in one of the most solid playlists ever created for the podcast.

Along the way, we also chat about a range of topics including Ben's Agricultural Audio studio in the Lewes countryside, the AA Sessions collaboration he oversees, the demise of b-sides, the Spotify algorithm and the state of (British) rock music. Ben also kindly let Fran & Babs ask a lot of geeky questions about what a music producer does, which was fun for us - and we hope for listeners too!

Ben's website showcases some of the records he's worked on, and we recommend following AA Sessions on Instagram to keep an eye on the songs released on the last Friday each month - and we also think you should pop over to AA Sessions' Bandcamp page and pre-ordering Volume II on vinyl.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all the songs from Ben's playlist, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 fascinating genius who wrote around 200 songs, including the Led Zeppelin-covered When the Levee Breaks. How is it possible that she's not more famous? And which animals does she like writing songs about?

Listen to Karlyn's podcast Songs are Spells, where she talks to people in the music industry about what music and magic means to them. Karlyn is also a music lecturer and is about to complete her PhD at University of Birmingham which explores the enduring format of vinyl records in the digital era - find out more on her website.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Fran picked his dad's literal favourite band as overrated - so will his dad be insulted or buoyed by our analysis? Fran also wants to convince Babs that Cheap Trick are more than I Want You to Want Me and Surrender - and talks about how the expression "big in Japan" was inspired by their live album "Cheap Trick at Budokan" 🇯🇵 

Babs was genuinely concerned when Fran suggested this theme, but tried not to judge too much beforehand...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We're back discussing Paulo Mendes-Jorge's selection of the most unfairly ranked songs in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, a tall order - and we end on perhaps our most poignant note to date, discussing the wider symbolism of the competition and European politics...but don't worry, it's still funny.

Fran managed to find the interview where Jonathan Ross strong-armed Radiohead into agreeing to participate in Eurovision, it's available on YouTube.  

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We are BACK - and taking on a pop behemoth in the first episode of season three!

Babs has a bit of a vendetta against her dad's favourite band ABBA - sure, they're influential but do they deserve ALL the hype? Meanwhile, Fran wants to raise awareness of the indie band kent - who sing mostly in Swedish - to the English-speaking world, and beyond...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

It's another special episode! Fran & Babs are both very keen to discuss local music talent in their areas, so this is Part I of II of our neighbourhood chats...

Fran hails from Bournemouth and has made a ten-track playlist showcasing musicians from "Wessex" a.k.a. Dorset & Hampshire. Some are well-known (PJ Harvey, Klaxons) others definitely more underrated (Ed Dowie, Betika)....and who does Fran call the region's "local Jarvis Cocker"?

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from Fran's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠@OUmusicpod⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠ for our logo.

It's been a while since we did a hip-hop episode and today we've picked two quite different acts to discuss in this episode!

Eminem is one of the world's most successful rappers, who definitely helped popularise hip-hop among white audiences - however, he has always courted controversy with his deliberately caustic lyrics...Fran has toured his discography to make a ten-track playlist and we both discuss whether his notoriety is merited....

Babs chose Chicago rapper cupcakKe as an underrated pick because despite having healthy streaming figures, Babs wonders how well-known she is outside of the younger, online, LGBT+ community - and she is keen to hear whether Fran finds cupcakKe's frank lyrics very funny too...

The song cupcakKe featured on that Babs temporarily forgot about is thankfully still on YouTube - it's called Pu$$y Market and you should check it out immediately.

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠- it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 introduces us to Jill Tracy, who describes herself as a "musical conjurer, storyteller, sonic archeologist". Her music is undeniably atmospheric and she has an incredible voice - but will we all want to spend an "Evil Night Together" with her?

Dr Becky is a lecturer in cultural and political geography and an expert nuclear warfare. Check out her Nuclear Geography website and her book Disarming Doomsday, which explores "the secret history of nuclear weapons by studying the places they build and tear apart", and won the 2020 LHM Ling Outstanding First Book Prize.

Annie is a multi-disciplinary artist who works across the genres of music and visual arts. She opened the Wiseheart & Wild gallery and textile art studio in 2019, located in New Mills, Derbyshire - check out the events they're currently hosting.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 almost thirty years and released an album as recently as 2022. However, Jen has chosen them as her underrated pick because she feels that too many people only associate the band with their biggest hit, Buck Rogers...hopefully, her playlist will introduce more people to some of their lesser-known songs...

We highly recommend checking out the original and the new videos for Feeder's track Just a Day to make you feel better...

Follow Jen on Instagram and Twitter - her handle is @JenDixonMusic. Jen's EP Less Than a Feeling is coming out digitally on June 30 and you can pre-order it as a beautiful blue vinyl here. You can also already listen to and buy Jen's music on Bandcamp.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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, how A1's Ben Adams and Norwegian Idol runner-up Gaute Ormåsen became semi-permanent Subwoolfer members Keith and Jim, why they chose to hide their identity in the first place and how Norwegian journalists managed to uncover them way before they revealed themselves spectacularly at the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix 2023.

As with our previous episode, we invited some special guests to send us voice notes about this year's Eurovision competition - so thank you to François Diderrich, Ceri Mitchell, Paulo Mendes-Jorge as well as teacher Les Pemberton and students Elene and Sofia from the British International School of Tbilisi, Georgia for their contributions to this episode 🇪🇺

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes our Eurovision 2023 best and worst picks from our previous episode, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during this episode...

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We are BACK for Season 2! In sunny California, Babs has curated a particularly ecletic QOTSA playlist, while Fran introduces genre-blenders and exciting live act Grouplove.

Babs' Chasing Time playlist of break-up bangers is over on Spotify. And to get a taste of what Grouplove are like live, check them out on YouTube.

You can also find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

In the first episode of 2021, Fran is questioning whether Fatboy Slim deserves so much praise - he hasn't released that many new tunes recently - while Babs wants Blood Red Shoes to receive more accolades, especially from British rock fans...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists discussed during the episode. 

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 another lesser-known Swedish act 🇸🇪

The Kraftwerk Pop Art documentary we mention in this episode is available to watch on YouTube.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Brad's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by comedian, spoken word artist and sculptor Clare Ferguson-Walker, we are tackling a very sacred cow as our overrated pick - does Bruce Springsteen deserve all the accolades? 

Clare also introduces Fran and Babs to the soulful Frazey Ford, an original member of The Be Good Tanyas. We recommend watching her music videos as well as listening to her songs - especially Done.

Check out Clare's website to see her amazing work - you can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram. 

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 wanted to ask Bob for five of his most beloved underrated artists - and we have picks as far back as 1950!

Bob's book 'Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop' starts at the dawn of pop in the fifties to its increasingly digital existence in the 21st century. Re-released this year with a new chapter, Bob has successfully and engagingly charted the history of modern pop.

We also discussed Bob's latest book 'Let's Do It: The Birth of Pop' - a prequel to Yeah Yeah Yeah and "the only book that brings together all genres to tell the definitive story of the birth of Pop, from 1900 to the mid-fifties." Winner of the Penderyn Book Prize, Let's Do It shines an encyclopedic light on pop's pre-history.

Densely packed and consistently fascinating, we music nerds really enjoyed geeking out on both of Bob's books - and recommend you grab yourselves a copy of each also.

Check out Bob's website and find out more about his back catalogue of books and records. You can follow 'Rocking Bob' on Instagram, Twitter/X and Bluesky.

You can find ⁠the playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠ - it includes all songs from Bob's playlist, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media: it's ⁠@OUmusicpod⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also @OUmusicpod on Bluesky - as well as ⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠Mark Abbott⁠ for our logo.

We're back in the world of pop, having previously discussed Billie Eilish and Charli xcx last season (and Charli xcx's BRAT in this season too)!

The two playlists for this episode were created by Pop Underrated, whose Linktree you should check out.

P!nk is currently ranked as Spotify's 100th most-popular artist in the world - she has gone through many musical phases and is more outspoken than the average pop star, especially as she started in the noughties...but how do we feel about some of her hits?

Referred by some as "Norwegian Kylie", underrated pick Annie straddles the pop, electro and indie worlds with ease - however, in the more siloed music world of the noughties, her resistance to categorisation may have hindered her success - which is a shame, given how many pop bangers she clearly has under her belt...

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 acts, which we discuss in depth - and we also talk about the dreaded 'Dutch disease' at concerts...

The Guardian article we mentioned was called Sounds of Europe: The Netherlands.

You can find ⁠⁠⁠the playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from Lieselotte's playlist, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 other five categories we've picked for song rankings 🏆

Listen to our Best of 2021 and Best of 2020 episodes to see our faves from previous years. 

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram or on our YouTube channel. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

As has become tradition, we have each picked our ten favourite tunes of the year!

Like in 2023 & 2022, we have picked songs according to pre-determined categories - however as we spoke quite a lot during this episode, we've divided it into two parts (the next one will be out on New Year's Day)...

In Part I, we discuss the best song by a group, favourite track in a genre we don't normally like, favourite song not in English, and best song to listen to live.

In this episode, we learn more than expected about the country of Niger, and Babs is surprised that a 'trap-pop' song by a popular singer is on her list...

Listen to our Best of 2023, ⁠Best of 2022⁠, ⁠⁠Best of 2021⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Best of 2020⁠⁠ episodes to see our faves from previous years. 

You can find ⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads, and we're giving Bluesky another go ⁠@oumusicpod.bsky.social⁠ - we're also still on Twitter/X ⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, for now. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 past - but will they agree with Matthew? Or do they believe there are some gems buried in the Deserts of California? Whatever you think, Babs definitely recommends watching Josh Weller’s “Every Red Hot Chili Peppers Song” video.

Matthew will be back in Part II to discuss his underrated pick, Steely Dan.

Listen to both of Matthew’s shows - become a neighbour on Pappy’s Flatshare, which Matthew presents alongside his Pappy’s sketch troupe colleagues Tom Parry and Ben Clark. You can catch Matthew every Sunday morning (8am-11am UK time) on the Ed Gamble & Matthew Crosby on Radio X show - and if you can’t listen live, there’s also a podcast of the show available for all the Lazy Snoozans. You can also follow Matthew on Twitter and Instagram.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Matthew’s playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

It's the final episode of the season and we're joined from New Zealand by Chris Webb, host of the film podcast Still Any Good?, who brings two different alternative bands from Glasgow for discussion.

Despite not being a huge Primal Scream fan, Chris listened to ALL THEIR ALBUMS IN A ROW (!) and came with his five favourite songs to try and convince himself, Fran & Babs they're better than he thinks. Chris is also a longtime Teenage Fanclub fan - Fran knows and likes them, but Babs has only ever heard of them. Will Chris be able to convert them to feverish fandom?

Listen to Chris' film podcast Still Any Good?, which claims to run the risk of "ruining childhoods by revisiting fondly remembered films".

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 - you can also listen to our Best of 2021 and Best of 2020 episodes to see our faves from previous years.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram or on our YouTube channel. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 catalogue...will Fran agree?

Babs fully recommends Charli xcx's Netflix reality TV show 'I'm With the Band: Nasty Cherry', where she puts together an all-girl band.

You can find ⁠⁠⁠the playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from Babs' playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

Welcome back to Season 8! Delighted our lockdown project continues, thanks so much for listening.

We're back in the noughties, and our overrated pick is a hugely popular rock band that neither of us are particularly keen on, especially since their first album...nevertheless, Babs made a wide-ranging playlist of Arctic Monkeys songs so her and Fran could re-assess whether there's more gold in their back catalogue than previously thought...

Fran chose Berkshire band The Cooper Temple Clause as his underrated pick as he feels that they're a pretty solid act - with especially great singles - yet they are not included enough in the discussion of great British indie bands from the era. Babs owns one of their albums, but will she agree with Fran's assessment and enjoy his playlist?

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

Yep, we've tweaked the format again 😁 this week we're discussing twenty overrated and underrated tracks by boy bands and girl bands from across the years...find out which boy band Babs gushed about for so long Fran had to cut 'about 20 mins' out and which notorious girl band's cover of The Smiths is Fran and Babs agree is 'not as bad as you would think....'?

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

The Point Break documentary is on YouTube, as is the hilarious Luke McQueen Car-boot Kareoke with Abz from Five video.

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo

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, but is their favourite Ash era the same as Robin's?

Check out Robin's music podcasts: on The Clientele Podcast Robin interviews the band and their fans about what makes The Clientele's music unique. On Your Own Personal Beatles, Robin and co-host Jack Pelling talk to guests about how their lives have been influenced "by the greatest band of them all."

Check out Robin's music on Bandcamp and his Linktree for all of Robin's creative endevours.

You can find⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠the playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from Robin's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

We've CONTINUED our discussion, picking twenty more overrated and underrated tracks by boy bands and girl bands...but this time, we have a special guest accompanying us! Dan Bull from the Track by Track podcast joins Fran and Babs and while the trio are in agreement for a lot of the overrated picks, the deep cuts lead to a few more disagreements... 

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

We recommend checking out Dan's Track by Track podcast, a warm and fun show analysing brilliant pop albums, track by track! You can check it out here. 

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 bah humbug-y way?

For more end-of-year cheer, check out our Best of 2022 episodes - Part I and Part II. You can also listen to our Best of 2021 and Best of 2020 episodes to see our faves from previous years.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram or on our YouTube channel. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 ostentatious - or will they get on board the ELP train?

The underrated pick this week is Marillion, who Joz feels are often unfairly treated as a joke band and should be better known for more than their smash 1985 hit 'Kayleigh' - especially as they were pioneers in fan-funded music and are still making records and touring to this day.

We recommend you checking out ⁠⁠Keith Emerson's flying piano on YouTube⁠⁠ - and we mentioned Zoltan Koscis playing Bartók's Allegro Barbaro and Khatia Buniatishvili playing Mussorgsky's The Hut on Hen's Legs (Baba-Yaga) as stunning piano highlights.

You can find Joz on Twitter and Instagram - he is @JozNorris in both places. If you're based in or near London, Joz will be recording a few comedy specials at the Moth Club on 16 July. Before that, he'll be hosting an all-day comedy workshop at The Bill Murray on 29 June. More of his shows, films and radio sitcoms are available on his Linktree.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Joz's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We're travelling to one of our favourite eras, joined by special guest George Pringle - a music producer, artist & gallery owner.

George made both playlists for this week's episode, and we start with a discussion about Eurythmics. Their influence in synth pop is undeniable - as was Annie Lennox's look, attitude and progressive politics - but is the hype justified?

Fran & Babs had never heard of Deux, a French synth-pop duo formed in Lyon, who determinedly made music to listen to in your bedroom. Will we want to join them with George at Paris / Orly, or is it all too much of a Game and Performance?

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Follow George on Instagram @georgepringletv and listen to her music! Babs recommends starting with her personal favourite tune Physical Education.

The original version of No More "I Love You's" by The Lover Speaks is on YouTube, you should check it out.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 from her country/Americana origins by incorporating more synths into her music, which sounds like it could be right up Fran & Babs' streets...

Listen to Helen's podcast Flixwatcher, which reviews films available on Netflix in the UK and assigns them a unique scoring system - Babs & Fran have both guested on it, talking about Beats, Superbad and School of Rock. Follow Helen on Twitter @TheCatFilmFan.

Check out The Horrors brilliantly covering Your Love at Glastonbury on YouTube. And of course - support live music 🤘🏻

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by Ryan Schaff, host of The Broken Record Player podcast, we took such a deep dive into grunge that we broke up the episode into two parts.

In this second episode, Ryan takes us on a ten-track tour of "fierce feminist pioneers" L7. We talk about how sexism definitely contributed to their underratedness and how many bands they still influenced along the way. While Fran is not so keen on all of L7's oeuvre, he watched the 'L7: Pretend We're Dead' documentary and recommends it to any music lovers interested in the grunge movement. 

Listen to Ryan's music podcast The Broken Record Player podcast. Babs previously guested on Ryan's podcast where they discussed PJ Harvey's debut album Dry in GREAT depth.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 groups later on that decade. Chris & Mark make a good case for it being underrated, picking five interesting, diverse acts from the label.

Check out Chris & Mark's ⁠Unsung Podcast⁠, especially the two Muse episodes Fran & Babs guested on (Side A & Side B) as well as the Millionaire episode which sees Babs discuss some of her fave Belgian music in depth.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Mark & Chris' playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 for many years and is very keen to introduce Fran, Babs and our listeners to more than just the hits. Will we all become Addicted to Robert - or has she left us just Looking for Clues?

As well as loving Robert Palmer, Paula is also the "Official No.1 Divine Comedy fan" - and we recommend checking out her Divine Comedians podcast, where Paula talks to comedians about their life, career and the music they like. Previous guests include Ardal O'Hanlon, Marek Larwood and Phill Jupitus.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We've wrapped up the year once again, picking our 10 favourite tracks from 2021 and discussing our musical highlights and lowlights - look out also for Fran's excellent suggestion for Brandon Flowers' next solo single...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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....

A.k.a. some oldies talk about that newfangled music making waves across the world!

We're joined by the lovely Reggie C Crawford - an audio editor, podcaster, audio engineer and voice-artist - who got into K-Pop thanks to his daughters and provides an excellent introduction to the genre to n00bs Fran & Babs.

Reggie wants to make clear he is a BIG BTS fan - but nominated them as overrated because, well, they're one of the biggest bands in the world at the moment! Do Fran & Babs think they're too hyped up or will they be won round to the charms of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook?

Fran & Babs are also introduced to mega-group NCT, which consists of 23 members divided into four different sub-units 🤯 Reggie's music picks are mostly from Seoul-based NCT 127 who have some undeniably catchy tunes...

We recommend checking out Reggie's company and podcast Sonic Embassy - Babs has guested on two episodes talking about potatoes and pasta!

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode. We also recommend watching dance practice videos for all these songs because they are INCREDIBLY IMPRESSIVE!

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We're starting out pretty chilled in the first episode of season four...one-one-two...

Coming into the record, Fran was quite indifferent to trip-hop - so Babs hopes to convince him there's more to Massive Attack than the big hits we've heard on TV shows and adverts. 

And with Sneaker Pimps releasing a new album in 2021 - 19 years after their previous one - Babs thought it would be a good opportunity to take Fran through their wide-ranging discography, although she might live to regret it...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 @jackhaighmusic.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Tom's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Veteran Eurovision fan, podcast newbie - and Babs' dad - Paulo Mendes-Jorge takes us on a tour through the best and worst of the world's longest-running annual international televised music competition....and there's a surprising amount of naughty chat?! 

Although he only picked five overrated and underrated songs respectively, we had such a fun time chatting that this episode is going to be a two-parter - in this episode, we only discuss overrated songs. Paulo, Fran & Babs will be back in Part II listening to the underrated choices.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by comedian Adam Larter, we're discussing two very different bands who came up in New York at the turn of the millennium. Adam thinks The Strokes have little substance beyond becoming the template for hipsterdom, but can he convince fans Fran and Babs otherwise? 

Adam picked The Hold Steady as his underrated act because of the great lyrics and the "heart and soul" they pour into their songs - but given their songs are quite melodic, Babs is sceptical...will she be won over by their beautiful storytelling?

Adam is on Twitter @lartymcparty and he is part of Weirdos Comedy - who you should really check out live if you can.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any  suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on  social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

'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.

Fran & Babs have been fans of difficult-to-Google band The Music for ages and are keen to discuss them - they were very hyped before their first album even came out, described by some as "the best unsigned band in Britain", but the British music press was not always kind to them after the fame hit a high...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 also asked Chris to pick five songs from acts he thinks are underrated to add to the episode's playlist.

In our longest ever episode, conversations include what it was like for Six by Seven to play on Later...with Jools Holland - but miss out on Top of the Pops - Chris' visits to the legendary Rockfield Studios with his fans, his collaboration Walls of Dada with Pete Holmstöm from the Dandy Warhols, what he makes of Six by Seven comparisons to The Church's Under the Milky Way, how Chris makes music every day and, even, what Chris was planning to take to the tip the next day...stay tuned for this and some other fantastic rock'n'roll stories.

Six by Seven are on Bandcamp, Facebook and Instagram. On the episode, Chris mentioned the Radio Bremen sessions and the books he has written - one of which, in his words, "details his mental breakdown over seven albums...!"

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes Chris' underrated picks, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram or you can subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Babs wants to convince you alt-J Δ aren't just your average nice posh boys, while Fran ponders where Duels disappeared to after burning bright in the mid-noughties. 

You can find the playlist for this episode  'Over/underrated - Ep 3: Leeds, alt-J (Overrated) & Duels (Underrated)' on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists discussed during the episode. 

Laura Snapes' Pitchfork review of Alt-J's An Awesome Wave is here and you can find the hilarious Alt-J parody song on YouTube.

In Cold Blood is dissected by Alt-J on the podcast Song Exploder. The Guardian review of Duels' second album 'The Barbarians Move In' is here and the Duels x monkeys on bikes video is on YouTube. 

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Fran takes us through the best of R.E.M.'s back catalogue and Babs pleads with us to take The B-52's more seriously.

You can find the playlist for this episode  'Over/underrated - Episode 2: Athens GA, R.E.M. (Overrated) & The B-52's (Underrated)' on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 who likes Japan. Can he convert Babs into a David Sylvian appreciator - beyond his good looks?

For god's sake, go and look at David Sylvian's beautiful face.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 discuss Babs' underrated pick - the legendary French band Indochine. 

Check out the weird, Andy Warhol-directed video for Hello Again and take a look at how fit Benjamin Orr was.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 Power - because they are a unique indie band...however, he often has a hard time convincing others of their merits. Will Babs be won round - especially when Fran has included an almost 14-minute long song on his playlist? You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode. Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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.

As people involved in the punk scene, Mark & Chris have been extremely influenced by both the music and ethos of the label - Dischord is notable for employing a DIY ethic, producing all of its albums and selling them at discount prices without financial input from major distributors. While the label is undoubtedly important and produces some excellent music, does it completely deserve the high pedestal it's on?

Join us next week for Part II where we'll be talking about Wilmington, Delaware's Jade Tree Records.

Check out Chris & Mark's ⁠Unsung Podcast⁠, especially the two Muse episodes Fran & Babs guested on (Side A & Side B) as well as the Millionaire episode which sees Babs discuss some of her fave Belgian music in depth.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Mark & Chris' playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too. You can email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We're back travelling across the UK to (Greater) Manchester with special guest Matt Latham from the Pickadisc podcast. We discuss whether Courteeners successfully manage to escape the "landfill indie" label - despite having some great lyrics? Also, Matt introduces Fran & Babs to (We Are) Performance, who make "catchy, '80s inspired pop with a dance-rock bent" - something which, on paper, sounds right up our streets...

Listen to Matt's podcast Pickadisc in most places you find podcasts. Babs previously guested on Pickadisc, where she picked the album Future Perfect by Autolux.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any  suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on  social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 follow him on Instagram @jackhaighmusic.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Tom's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

As has become tradition, we have each picked our ten favourite tunes of the year!

Like in 2023 & 2022, we have picked songs according to pre-determined categories - however as we spoke quite a lot during this episode, we've divided it into two parts - you can already listen to Part I here.

In Part II, we discuss the best rock song, favourite collaboration, best song from outside of Europe, best solo song and favourite sync track.

In this episode, Fran mishears a crucial lyric in a Denzel Curry song and Babs gets obsessed with a certain Luca Guadagnino film soundtrack...

Listen to our ⁠Best of 2023⁠, ⁠⁠Best of 2022⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Best of 2021⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Best of 2020⁠⁠⁠ episodes to see our faves from previous years. 

You can find ⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads, and we're giving Bluesky another go ⁠⁠@oumusicpod.bsky.social⁠⁠ - we're also still on Twitter/X ⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, for now. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

Joined by the talented Kobi Omenaka - a podcaster, digital marketing specialist, consultant and teacher - we're finally diving into a genre we're not so knowledgeable about, hip-hop.

Puff Daddy a.k.a. P Diddy a.k.a. Puffy a.k.a. Diddy a.k.a. Sean Combs was incredible successful in the late 90s and 00s - but is his fame deserved, should he be better known as a tastemaker rather than a rapper?

We also learn a lot more about alternative hip-hop legends Jurassic 5, who Babs affectionately dubs "The Gilmore Girls of rap".

Check out Kobi's work, especially the Flixwatcher podcast and The Wire: Stripped. And do yourselves a favour: watch Puff Daddy's batshit music videos as well as the excellent Come With Me. 

The Cardinal Burns 'Old School vs. New School Rap' sketch is on YouTube - as is the Mark Ronson 'How sampling transformed music' TED Talk.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any  suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on  social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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, of course...

Thanks to Paula Wiseman, Shane McMenemy, Iva Babić, Riku Pudas, Sara Lucas, Georgette Cullum, Tena Lavrenčić, Daniel Bellqvist & George Thurley for their contributions to this episode 🇪🇺

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes our Eurovision 2023 best and worst picks, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during this episode (as well as songs relating to an upcoming bonus episode)...

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 hugely important band for Shane - for the music as well as lead singer Scott Hutchison's heartfelt lyrics. Falling under the indie folk category, the band is much more up Fran's street than Babs' - so can Shane's playlist soften her hardened heart?

You should check out Shane's excellent ⁠Mixtaping Identity podcast⁠, especially - of course - the episode that Babs guested on, picking a fifteen-track playlist that defines her life so far.

The charity set up following Scott Hutchinson's death, Tiny Changes, aims to "transform young people’s mental health in Scotland". Check out their website and their shop to find out more.

Shane is YakEnemy on Twitch and he also wanted to shout out Jacqui Lumsden's song Closer.

Please also enjoy some Calvin Harris memes: wenomechainsama and Me As A Professional Pianist For Calvin Harris.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Shane's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠.

We're slowly adding our episodes to YouTube and would love it if you could subscribe to our channel there too.

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Why hello there people who snag their tights on lawn chairs, mean girls and those who think everything is romantic - don't worry if you don't understand what this means, join us anyway for a special episode where we discuss Charli xcx's latest album BRAT in depth - the songs and the cultural impact it is currently having this summer...

We'd previously discussed Charli xcx (and Billie Eilish) in some depth on our pop singer-songwriters episode last season, where Babs picked her as underrated because she felt Charli didn't have enough mainstream recognition...

WELL, a lot has changed since then as her latest album BRAT is not only extremely popular and critically-lauded, but has taken the internet by storm thanks to a genius marketing campaign and brand identity...

In this episode, we do our best to explain the BRAT phenomenon, Babs talks about how good it feels to be a long-time Charli xcx fan (a.k.a. Charli's Angel) while Fran rates each song from BRAT out of ten (but not the three extra songs from 'Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not' - we discuss those and some of the remixes too, although unfortunately the Guess remix with Billie Eilish came out after we recorded...)

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads. Fran & Babs try their best Apple dance over there, so it's definitely worth checking out.

You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

Joined by Ryan Schaff, host of The Broken Record Player podcast, we took such a deep dive into grunge that we broke up the episode into two parts.

In this first section, we ponder one of grunge's biggest successes, Pearl Jam. Ryan is a big fan - who has never seen them live - and he's here to convince Babs & Fran - who are not big Pearl Jam fans despite both of them having seen them live - to reconsider. 

Through an eclectic playlist, we discuss their wide-ranging lyrical themes, the relationship between music and driving, as well as whether Pearl Jam truly fall into the category of grunge - and what grunge actually means. Ryan will be back in Part II to talk about his underrated pick, L7.

Listen to Ryan's music podcast The Broken Record Player podcast. Babs previously guested on Ryan's podcast where they discussed PJ Harvey's debut album Dry in GREAT depth.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We're visiting the "City of a Thousand Trades" via Abu Dhabi, with special guest Tim Colledge - a personal trainer, fitness business owner and podcaster - who feels Ocean Colour Scene have more to offer than just their Britpop greatest hits. Fran, Babs & Tim also discuss whether The Streets offer more than just pure noughties nostalgia...

Tim hosts the Coffee with Coaches podcast, where he discusses his "no bs take on anything related to fitness training" with a range of guests - you can check it out here.

You can also find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Fran & Babs discuss whether Ramones are only about "1-2-3-4" and t-shirts - or is there more to them than meets the eye? 

Babs is also delighted to promote one of her favourite bands - The Stranglers - whose output is far more broad and experimental than most people realise, even if they are aware of Golden Brown, Peaches and No More Heroes...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Fran and Babs (@flame_me_up) are music fans living in two different countries (England and Belgium). After meeting online thanks to a mutual love of music and comedy, they decided to start a podcast together as an outlet for their passionate opinions - so they came up with a format, hopped on Zoom to record, and lo - a new music podcast was born 👼🏽 

How does it work? Well, we think of a topic, for example a place (Brighton) or a genre (Britpop). We then each pick a band or artist one of us thinks is overrated, and the other one thinks is underrated (see how we came up with that genius title?!). 

We each then make a five or ten-track Spotify playlist showcasing why we think an artist is brilliant (or terrible), go off and listen to each other’s selections, then come back to discuss - and see if we can change each other's minds. We’ll make the playlists public so you can listen back to our selections and we’ll also include any other interesting songs discussed in each episode. 

Sound like your kind of thing? Then please download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. 

Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by comedian and podcaster Sam Lake, we're talking about one of the most successful British contemporary popstars (and where Sam listens to her songs while he's at the gym), and one of the girl bands we're most fond of (as well as which snack Sam associates with each of their songs).

Dua Lipa is a mega pop star - she has the two most streamed albums by a female artist of all time on Spotify and was the youngest female artist to accomplish one billion views on YouTube with her video for New Rules'. Are we hallucinating or is the hype justified?

Sam chose Sugababes as an underrated pick - as a band, they've had quite a journey, many different line-ups, but their comeback has been an undeniable success. Are they now finally taking a deserved place in the pantheon of British pop icons?

We highly recommend checking out Sam's podcast 'I've Had a Rosé, Let's Talk About Feelings' and his stand-up special 'Cake', which you can watch on YouTube.

Babs also recommends watching Dua Lipa peforming live with St Vincent at the 2019 Grammys.

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠- it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads, and we're giving Bluesky another go @oumusicpod.bsky.social - we're also still on Twitter/X @OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, for now. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

After analysing Eurovision 1958-2019 in the previous episodes, Fran & Babs listen to all 39 songs from this year's competition and pick their top five best and worst tunes. Will some picks appear in opposing lists? Are the songs we make up on the spot better than some in this year's competition? Listen to find out....

Josh Weller is trying to understand every singer in 2021 here. And the incredible 2017 Ukrainian interval act Babs keeps banging on about is ONUKA with the NAONI Orchestra - you can watch them on YouTube.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 biggest songs are from the early and mid-noughties, but Babs argues that she never stopped making bangers...will Fran agree?

We recommend watching Nelly Furtado being interviewed by Larry King on YouTube and her absolutely mad Big Hoops (The Bigger the Better) video.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs discussed from the playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode. 

Download,  subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's  @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by Adam Corner - a writer and researcher specialising in climate change communication and culture/climate collaborations - we talk about two bands linked by the flimsiest of themes!

Metallica are much-loved rock gods, but none of us quite get the hype - will Adam's considered playlist change any of our minds? Adam and Fran also reminisce about Grandaddy, which Babs was sceptical about as they're meant to be a bit twee...so will she like any of their songs?

Check out Adam's website - and we promised him we'd plug Grandaddy's Bandcamp page, go and support Jason!

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Fran & Babs recently realised they're seemingly different types of Radiohead fans - Fran thinks The Bends showcases them at their strongest, while Babs - controversially? - says Hail to the Thief is the best Radiohead record.

In this Album Showdown Special™, they've picked their five fave songs from each album and, as ever, try and convince each other they're right. Will they agree on anything or will it just retreat into a Sulk? (sorry....)

Babs has since watched The Darkness' cover of Street Spirit (Fade Out) and can't quite believe how good it is. You should also check out Thom Yorke dancing alongside a professional dancer in the Atoms for Peace Ingenue video.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any  suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on  social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Joined by Sophie Davies from the It's an S Pod Thing! podcast - which analyses S Club 7's various TV shows - we ponder whether the band's music holds up and hear about how the placing of some their songs in the TV show negatively impacted Sophie's opinion about them! 

Unfairly labelled "Flopstars" Liberty X, runners-up of the 2001 TV show Popstars, are also in contention this week - as it turns out they have more bangers than you might think...

Follow Sophie on Twitter @ItsSophieDavies. As well as It's an S Pod Thing!, Sophie also hosts the podcast Smashed Prawns in a Milky Basket, focused on the work of "comedy writer/performer/director/all-round genius Julia Davis". 

S Club 7 storming out of an interview with Claudia Winkleman is on YouTube. The Josh Weller parody of "the rap verse in the middle of the song" is on Twitter. You can also find Kevin Simm's tear-inducing The Voice audition on YouTube.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Crowded House are the closest Fran and Babs have come to a musical fall-out, but thankfully they both put their differences aside to discuss how good Ladyhawke is...

Babs highly recommends checking out the Young At Heart compilation which someone has kindly put together on Spotify. Relatedly, the Spotify playlist The '80s All Lined Up is one of platform's best. 

The playlist for this episode 'Over/underrated - Ep 7: New Zealand, Crowded House (Overrated) & Ladyhawke (Underrated)' is on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 generating a similar level of enthusiasm about Steely Dan amongst his friends. Will he be able to convince Fran (dad rock specialist) & Babs (melody sceptic who previously thought they were an Americana band from the late 80s) to get on board the yacht rock boat? 

We recommend checking out the "The Very Best of Jazz Club" (presented by Louis Balfour) from the 90's TV show Fast Show on YouTube.

Listen to both of Matthew’s shows - become a neighbour on Pappy’s Flatshare, which Matthew presents alongside his Pappy’s sketch troupe colleagues Tom Parry and Ben Clark. You can catch Matthew every Sunday morning (8am-11am UK time) on the Ed Gamble & Matthew Crosby on Radio X show - and if you can’t listen live, there’s also a podcast of the show available for all you Lazy Snoozans. You can also follow Matthew on Twitter and Instagram. 

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from Matthew’s playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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, at time of recording, released 23 studio albums - Sam & Martin are keen fans, joking that they could devote another podcast to discussing TMBG's eclectic back catalogue. Fran was already a fan - he had the TMBG documentary on DVD, natch - but will they get Babs on board, given the occasional melodic playlist pick?

Martin is a musician, podcaster, performer, and Honorary Associate Professor at CASA (UCL) - find out more about his work on his website. You can also tweet him @martinaustwick.

Sam is an actor/musician working mostly in theatre. He's a pianist, accordionist and a "technically incompetent brass player who keeps his own songwriting as secretive as possible." You can tweet him @SamPay. 

Check out their Song by Song podcast, devoted to the music of Tom Waits. Sam & Martin have set themselves the goal of listening to Tom Waits' back catalogue from beginning to end, devoting each episode to discussing each track. We obviously recommend starting with the Blood Money episodes Fran & Babs guested on.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 continuously put out good music and frontman Craig Nicholls was hard done by in the press. Can she convince Fran that The Vines have more great tunes alongside their classics?

Babs recommends reading 'Why The Vines deserve a serious reappraisal they'll never get' by Al Newstead.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Tweaking the format slightly to finish the year on a more positive note, Fran and Babs have each shared their 10 favourite songs of 2020 and discuss their top over/underrated musicians and moments of 2020. How melodic will Fran's playlist be? Will Babs' selection be filled with "angry, soulless" music? Ultimately - will they agree on a single song?! 

You can find the playlist for this episode 'Over/underrated - Special Episode: Best of 2020' on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists discussed during the episode. Babs' 'Bah Humbug' alternative Christmas playlist is here. And you should definitely check out Compact Disk Dummies' cover of Britney Spears' Toxic.  

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 aspects, of course...

The incredible 2017 Ukrainian interval act Babs keeps banging on about is ONUKA with the NAONI Orchestra - you can watch them on YouTube. Слава Україні! 🇺🇦

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 - so Fran is hoping to get Babs and O/U listeners on board... 

You should watch the Six by Seven documentary 'The Dream Is Sweeter Than The Taste' on YouTube.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Our first bonus episode! Why? Basically, not long after we recorded our California episode, our underrated pick Grouplove released a new album...so we decided to take the time to analyse it track by track in depth...while going off on some tangents along the way - who is wearing make-up and who isn't in this episode? And do you agree #albumsarecool?

We've added the extra songs discussed here to our already existing California playlist on Spotify.

Get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Our first episode with a special guest to help us broaden our musical horizons! Punk professor Kate Allvey from the Straight Talking English podcast joins to ask if anyone likes the Sex Pistols' music and introduces us to the German kings of psycho horror, Mad Sin... Listen to Kate's podcast and follow her on Twitter @Str8talkEnglish. 

You can check out Kate and Babs' Retro RAW special episode of their university radio show Trivial Rebellion on Mixcloud.  Comedian and podcaster Gabriel Ebulue investigated the My Way curse on the BBC Radio 4 documentary Karaoke Rage. You can watch Mad Sin x Beethoven on YouTube and donate to the Corona Crisis Friendship Fund at the Psychobilly Store. 

The playlist for this episode 'Over/underrated - Ep 6: Punk, The Sex Pistols (Overrated) & Mad Sin (Underrated) - with Kate Allvey' is on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists discussed during the episode. 

Download, subscribe and get in touch! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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 their music with motivating her to improve her French. Will Monsieur Fran agree that les rosbifs should embrace the sound of Nicola Sirkis and co - or will he be saying 'sacré bleu!' instead?

You should definitely check out the live versions of Indochine's tracks, such as this one. Babs also recommends the hella catchy Paixão by Hérois do Mar as an introduction to Portuguese new wave.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter and @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We are back in Alba for the first episode of our latest season, which will continue to be released monthly!

Fran has been a Simple Minds fan for a while - the band has 19 albums to their name, but Fran knows most people only know a few of their hits. He hopes his ten-track playlist introduces Babs and our listeners to lesser-known Simple Minds gems...

Once touted as the 'next Coldplay', Idlewild made some impact on the UK's noughties indie scene, but their fame peaked with their 2002 album The Remote Part - despite making many more records since then. Can Fran convince Babs there are many more songs to enjoy from their back catalogue?

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠- it includes all the songs from Fran's playlists, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram, and ⁠@oumusicpod.bsky.social⁠⁠ ⁠on Bluesky. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 secured an Australian or UK Top 40 single (although the band has had a bridge named after them in their native Brisbane!). Fran & Babs knew almost nothing about the group, so will they join Bill on the other side of the Go Between Bridge?

Bill is the founder of God Is in the TV, an online music and culture fanzine which you should check out. He also hosts the Show Me Magic podcast, which is focused on new music.

You can find⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all songs from Bill's playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss. Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X - and now also ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Bluesky - as well as ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.

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 that the band are releasing an expanded reissue of ‘Hörse Of The Dög’, with liner notes by Edgar Wright. Will Fran jump onboard the TEMBD spooky train or has he decided to stay on the platform?

You should really check out Guy McKnight's side project The DSM IV, especially SCUMBAG. 

Check out Mike's podcast Playlist Yeah!, especially the episode that Babs guested on - Episode 14, Over/Underplayed! YEAH.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, rate us, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

For the last episode of season one, Fran and Babs are joined by a special guest, the multi-talented Matt Hoss: comedian, podcaster, Twitcher, author and lover of HAIR METAL! 

Matt became enamoured with hair metal - or is it glam rock? - as a teenager, and still holds a torch for the genre. In this episode, he tries to convince us Skid Row should definitely be more famous (even though they're problematic, which we also discuss) and joins Fran and Babs in having a cathartic rant and tour through the worst of Bon Jovi's back catalogue (we apologise in advance, Bon Jovi fans)...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Catch Sebastian Bach as Gil from Gilmore Girls covering Hollaback Girl on YouTube. The book Babs mentioned is Under My Thumb: Songs That Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them, an essay collection edited by Rhian Jones and Eli Davies.

Matt's website has links to all of his work - we highly recommend checking out his podcasts, especially Castival and Miffs. You can stream and buy his stand-up debut Here Comes Your Man - and a few other things - on his Bandcamp page.  

Follow him on Twitch @MattHossComedy for regular comedy broadcasts - and you can also find him @MattHossComedy on all the socials. Matt has also written a speculative fiction book about the environmental end of the world called PURIFY which you can buy online here. 

We are taking a short break but we'll be back in the springtime 🌻 meanwhile: download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

Part II of our neighbourhood chats! Fran & Babs are both very keen to discuss local music talent in their areas and today we're discussing musicians from Belgium...

Babs has lived in Brussels for eight years and been a fan of Belgian music since her teens. She has made a ten-track playlist showcasing some of her fave artists from Flanders, Wallonia AND the capital...and highly recommends watching the videos accompanying the tunes, although be warned - some are hella disturbing.

Everybody should watch the fascinating The Sound of Belgium documentary, especially those interested in the origins of the UK rave scene.

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any  suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on  social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

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's unclear whether we'll agree on what the best and worst eras of Depeche Mode are...

You can find the playlist for this episode on Spotify - it includes all songs from our playlists, plus bonus ones from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss! Follow us on social media - it's @OUmusicpod on Twitter, @overunderratedmusicpod on Instagram. You can also email us at overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com. Thanks to Mark Abbott for our logo.

We're back to the noughties, discussing two British indie acts who have more than a flavour of electro in their tunes...

Babs never really got into Foals after their first record, so she asked Fran to make a wide-ranging playlist - how will they rate the Oxford band's career?

And Babs is delighted to finally delve deep into Tom Vek's back catalogue - so much so that her playlist includes not one, not two, but THREE b-sides - will she get Fran on board or is she just Pushing [Her] Luck?

You can find ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠playlist for this episode on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - it includes all the songs from our playlist, plus bonus songs from other artists we've discussed during the episode.

Download, review, subscribe and get in touch - especially if you have any suggestions for future themes or musicians to discuss.

Follow us on social media: it's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@OUmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Twitter/X and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@overunderratedmusicpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram & Threads. You can also email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠overunderratedmusicpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Thanks to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mark Abbott⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for our logo.