Bandsplain

Summer 2026 new music is the focus as Yasi Salek and returning guest Patrik Sandberg trade favorite recent releases and the upcoming records they’re most excited about. The episode then shifts to Jennifer Herrema and Kurt Midness of Black Bananas to talk about Bad Bunch, physical media, and artistic life.

J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. joins Yasi for a conversation that moves from the band’s new record There Near to Gilmore Girls, neighborhood bike rides, and even a debut feature film idea. It sounds loose, funny, and full of personality beyond the music.

Interpol is the focus here, with Sarah Lewitinn joining Yasi to place the band in the early-2000s New York scene that shaped their rise. The conversation also gets into the Joy Division comparisons, the challenge of following an instant classic, and how the band’s story extends to This Mirror Weighs a Ton.

Indie sleaze gets the draft treatment as Yasi Salek is joined by Rob Mahoney and Sean Fennessey to debate the era, its essentials, and its gray areas. Expect category arguments, Strokes discourse, and a heart-over-strategy approach to picks.

The Strokes are the focus as Yasi, Amanda Dobbins, and Chris Ryan dig into the band’s rise, the lasting pull of Is This It, and the uneven years that followed. It’s a look at how hype, songwriting, image, and internet-era rediscovery shaped their legacy.