Hey, everybody! It’s Ronnie DiCola!!! The WHATEVER HAPPENED TO P.J. SOLES? tour is in the home stretch as we welcome the third partner in the Local H throuple to the show. For the very first time! You’d think we’d take this opportunity to query Ronnie about his hopes and dreams and history playing drums in Chicago institutions like The Arrivals and All Eyes West. But noooo! We squander that chance with inane chatter about Was Not Was, Three 6 Mafia, Gabe’s cats, WHAT’S THE BEST?!? road movies, boob jokes, the fucking LIFERS movie, and a skit about Kris Kristofferson (R.I.P.!) and Toby Keith.

Local H are STILL on the road. So you know what that means. ANOTHER ROAD REPORT!!! But this time we’re dragging Sincere Engineer’s Deanna Belos into the hotel chat room to talk about laundry, P.J. Soles movies, Riot Fest, New Found Glory tours, M.A.S.H, Hootie & The Blowfish, Bruce Springsteen noogies, and (as promised) a supersized round of WHAT’S THE BEST?!?: Novelty Songs.

Local H are back on the road. So you know what that means. ROAD REPORT!!! On this episode we talk to Scott and Ryan about their hotel in Pennsylvania, teenage hoods who won’t shut up during “Beetlejuice”, Figdish, Deer Tick, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO P.J. SOLES? shows, Buffalo Wild Wings, Unpunk Ryan, Gabe’s local gas station/UPS store, days off, the apocalypse, walking the dinosaur and Thai food’s kinda bullshit. Where ARE we?

You’re listening to SONG IMPLODER — where musicians take apart their songs piece by piece and tell the story of how they were made. And then talk shit about those songs and make you embarrassed you asked about them in the first place. On this episode we conclude our examination of Local H’s 5th studio album: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO P.J. SOLES? Released in April of 2004, the album marked a major stylistic departure and reevaluation for the band — paving the way for all that’s come in its wake. Now on the day of a remastered re-release, we join singer/songwriter/guitarist Scott Lucas, producer Andy Gerber, and master of his domain Gabe Rodriguez to look back on the writing, recording and reception of the album that Lucas and many of the band’s fans have come to see as their finest. I’m Ben Reiser.

You’re listening to SONG IMPLODER — where musicians take apart their songs piece by piece and tell the story of how they were made. And then talk shit about those songs and make you embarrassed you asked about them in the first place. On this episode we examine Local H’s 5th studio album: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO P.J. SOLES? Released in April of 2004, the album marked a major stylistic departure and reevaluation for the band — paving the way for all that’s come in its wake. Now on the eve of a remastered re-release, we join singer/songwriter/guitarist Scott Lucas, producer Andy Gerber, and master of his domain Gabe Rodriguez to look back on the writing, recording and reception of the album that Lucas and many of the band’s fans have come to see as their finest. I’m Ben Reiser.

When people think of Electrical Audio Recording in Chicago they usually only think of the late, great Steve Albini. But the studio is (and has been) home to a distinguished troop of engineers and operators that continue to keep the venerable institution running — including our pal Greg Norman, who’s been doing the Lord’s work over at Electrical since he LITERALLY helped lay the foundation of the building before the studio opened its doors in 1997. On this episode we talk about sneaking into Shorty shows at Lounge Ax, Albini’s tighty whities, Adobe bricks, Alain Delon’s dog, The Jesus Lizard, The White Album, The U.K. Squeeze, broken Calrec Soundfield mics, and WHAT’S THE BEST?!? recording production.

Like most lifers, Johnny Wator has no intention of going back. He’s not going back to a life of shit jobs, he’s not going back to being told what to do by assholes, and he’s definitely not going back to his hometown with his tail between his legs. But after 11 years of ups and downs on the road with his band The Last Vegas — those outcomes were starting to look very likely. So what’s a guy to do? You bet on yourself, of course. What else? Through grit and determination, Johnny is the one-man owner/operator of DAREDEVIL PEDALS — the coolest boutique guitar pedal company in Chicago. Anyway — on this episode we talk about Johnny’s band The Evictions, Green Day, the Crybaby Fuzz Wah, Slayer, Nirvana, going on tour with Motley Crue, screaming in a 3 piece, Phil Donahue, Atomic Cocked, and a WHAT’S THE BEST?!? featuring ‘80s hair metal jams.

This week: Ben is on the road again so we catch him at his hotel in Pennsylvania to talk Metallica weekend in Chicago, new seats for the Music Box, Stan Bush’s “You’ve Got The Touch”, the history of government cheese, and WHAT’S THE BEST?!? “Seinfeld”.

Our ol’ buddy Dave Rockland comes to the show ready to play — which means he’s wearing his X-tra large Gabe Rodriguez “God’s Gift” Local H shirt. What does THAT mean? Find out on this week’s episode as we talk to Dave about spending over his half his life working at JAM Productions, living down the street from Gabe & Scott, litigious Local H shows, X-tra large Prince jerseys, and WHAT’S THE BEST?!? from 1993.

If you were at all worried that famed Chicago rock critic, SOUND OPINIONS co-host, and prickly pear-par excellence Jim DeRogatis might be mellowing with age — fear not! We’re here to assure you that Jim is just as fearless and opinionated as ever. And it’s a delight. On this episode he talks about being transformed by Lester Bangs and The Velvet Underground, seeing The Feelies 100 times, 8 1/2 months of Rolling Stone, 22 years of R. Kelly, assholes at The Sun Times, Wire cover bands opening for Wire, getting the truth out of Genesis, and WHAT’S THE BEST?!? drummers.

In these hopelessly divided times, is it possible to come together and talk about our differences while understanding and revelling in our commonalities? Uhhh… Nope. So instead we talk about tiny alligators, old jokes, vegans, keyboard warriors, and farting in the tub. Viva la diplomacy!!!

Let’s get political! This week we’ve got punk rock legend Vic Bondi on the show to scare the hell out of us and talk about the specter of fascism in America. Fun stuff! We also talk about Vic’s band Articles Of Faith, his other band Jones Very, Howard Zinn, Microsoft, KFC, The Clash, Chicago punk rock, John Haggerty, Reed Mullins, Husker Du, Redshift, and why living in Seattle sucks so bad.

“A bartender is the aristocrat of the working class”. Douglas Coughlin said that. And he could’ve been talking about Mike McIntyre. Like all great bartenders, Mike is an iceberg: You look behind the bar and you see a guy with a sharp sense of humor and wicked way with a cocktail shaker — but underneath the water is a hustler with gravitas and a shit load of life experience. On this episode we talk to Sir McIntyre about alligators, fishing boats, Mike O’Connell nicknames, 9 Day Wonder, the Chicago music scene of the ‘90s, beating Steve Albini at poker, holding court at Simon’s Tavern, bar jokes, and bon vivants. Good day to you, sire!

“An art house version of ‘Friday The 13th’ from Jason’s point of view” is the kind of brilliantly simple movie hook that makes every armchair director slap their forehead and shout “Why didn’t I think of that?!?” And from the moment he was given the script to Shudder’s very fun horror hit IN A VIOLENT NATURE, editor Alex Jacobs knew he had to work on it. Turns out, he was the perfect guy for the job. With a history in experimental “ambient” video —and his deep love for horror and genre films— it was a match made in slasher movie heaven. On this episode we talk to Alex about Racer Trash, Norm MacDonald, the UW Cinematheque, video store employee bucket lists, knowing the right person at the right time, uneven franchises, Ozu summers, and we pick the BEST(!!!) horror movie kills. Boy, oh boy! Drop your crocs and grab your socks. Let’s do this!

This week we’re all about rockers and their movies. After Scott engages in some hemming and hawing over the threat of competing “pseudo-narrative” concert films, the guys welcome rock and roll movie director Dimitri Coats to the show to talk about his new OFF! flick: FREE LSD. We touch on the upcoming final OFF! shows and his first band Burning Brides, but Dimitri’s laser focused on his cinematic future — and what’s more LIFER-ey than that? So here’s a list of where you can see the future cult classic FREE LSD: July 17 — Music Box Theater — Chicago July 19 — Village East Cinema — NYC July 21 — Coolidge Corner Theater — Brookline, MA July 22 — Ritz Movie Theaters — Philadelphia, PA July 27 — Grand Lake Theater — Oakland, CA July 28 — Palm Theater — San Luis Obispo, CA July 31 — Hillcrest Cinema — San Diego, CA August 2 — Nuart Theater — Los Angeles, CA August 6 — Laemmle Clairmont 5 — Clairmont, CA

Some have claimed that Freud thought the Irish were impervious to therapy. While we may never know if he actually said that — we know for goddamn sure that John Haggerty is impervious to any of Scott’s lines of questioning. But that’s okay. Like all great heroes, John’s stoicism belies a heart of gold beating with generosity, fairness, and a firm belief in the human collective. Did we mention that he’s also a hell of a guitar player? On this episode we try to get Mr. Haggerty to talk to us about Pegboy, Naked Raygun, the Chicago punk scene, Steve Albini, Stratocasters, Herb Rosen, O’Banion’s, disco duds, plumbers, Renaissance faires, and the loneliness of saxophone playing guitarists.

This week on LIFERS we’re getting schooled on goth, punk, the ‘80s club scene, Diamanda Galas — shit, we’re getting schooled on EVERYTHING! We must be talking to Chicago legend DJ Scary Lady Sarah. Sarah just celebrated her 36th year as a professional DJ and producer of the longest running goth event in North America: NOCTURNA. Take that, whippersnappers! On this episode we talk about Chicago hardcore shows, NEO, sushi with Siouxsie Sioux, The Damned, Joe Shanahan and the Metro, putting Peter Murphy in a deprivation tank, Pandemic Goths, The Bellwether Syndicate, being the Elizabeth Taylor of goth, and Scott gets gonged.

Angela Mullenhour’s voice is like a force of nature. And nature is kinda scary. Luckily, her band Sybris is the sort of band that can keep up with that force — loud, bold, and capable of summoning up hurricane squalls of melodic noise. After an extended haitus, the beloved Chicago band is back with their long-awaited third record “Gold On Hold” (set for release in September on Absolutely Kosher) and we here at LIFERS couldn’t be more excited. On this episode we talk to Angela about rainy street fests, open mic Steve Miller covers, mall-goth, JCM and suckin’ on chili dog country, Touched By Ghoul, collaborating with Local H on “8:46”, the psychopathy of Rod Stewart, “All Nerve” by The Breeders, and we pick the best songs about MURDER!

It’s great to have an old friend on the show — and this week we’ve got Jonny Polonsky. Lucky you. This is a great episode where we talk to the great singer-songwriter-studio rat about moving to and prospering in LA, growing up as a backstage-teenaged Chicago presence, bossing around Rick Rubin, Mark Lanegan, playing on a Neil Diamond session, being Frank Black’s boy, Chris Cornell & Dio, Gabe as Sid Haig, and Jonny’s great new record that comes out June 7 on Loosegroove records.

Unleashed in the East! Gabe and Ben talk to Scott and Justine while they’re doing laundry in a hotel in Osaka before making their way to Monkey Island. Confused? You won’t be after you hear this episode featuring Japanese metal bars, overconfident deer, Hear ’N Aid, Bali belly, Japanese toilets, Louise Stratten, rainy neon umbrella nights, Facebook posts that are actually ransom notes, and songs that start with choruses.