Rhythm on the Rocks

The rum guzzlin' continues as Frizz and Bob tackle one of the greatest musical accidents ever, the Buena Vista Social Club. Join us for a tale about how passport issues led to Ry Cooder finding some of the greatest musicians from the golden age of Cuban music, and together recorded an album that is a brilliant time capsule of that country. We talk about a ton of traditional Cuban musical styles and the folks who made it possible. Also, we laugh at a very silly name and elephant butt hairs. 

Today we celebrate a belated Valentine's Day by diving into our favorite singles with a theme of love. Join Frizz and Bob as they chat about Factory Records, the Titanic, friend of the show Seal, the Skatt Bros, and more! 

Today we bring you a comeback album for the ages: 1984's Private Dancer by Tina Turner. Join Frizz and Bob to hear the story of how a daughter of a sharecropper from Nutbush (heh) became one of the world's biggest stars in her 40s. Along the way, learn about Bob's habit of rum guzzlin', Frizz's secret love of Michael Bolton, and both of our love of Tim Capello.

This week, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life. Frizz and Bob take on Prince's Purple Rain. Join us as we tell the tale of a kid from Minneapolis who made it big. We talk about his musician parents, early mentors and projects, and then tell the tale of one of the biggest albums of the 80s. In addition, we talk about Tipper Gore, parental advisory labels, basketball plays, and text message spelling. Let's go crazy!

Today, it is finally happening - Frizz and Bob tackle one of the greatest genre bending albums of all time. Frizz pours a genre bending scotch finished in a bourbon barrel. Bob pours a genre bending bourbon finished in a scotch barrel. Things go crazy while we talk about the history of race records, a man named Fathead, Diet Pepsi, country classics, smarketing, and uncover yet another tie to yacht rock.

Frizz and Bob dive headfirst into one of the most important and controversial metal albums of all time: Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast. Bob pours Ardbeg Ardcore, Frizz reaches for Cardhu Gold Reserve, and together they trace Iron Maiden's scrappy rise from Christmas Day to cult favorites and lineup changes. Track by track, they explore Viking invasions, twin-leads, psychic children, existential imprisonment, Satanic panic, colonialism, death-row dread, and the Eddie imagery that lit the fire of fear across the nation.

We're back and diving straight into one of the best albums of 2025: Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party. Bob pours Los Dos Amigos Reposado tequila, Frizz grabs the Cairngorm Reindeer Gin, and together we break down Hayley Williams at her rawest and sharpest, touching on relationships, mental health, Nashville politics, Parahoy! lore, Strange Fruit, and a well-earned dunk on racist country stars. It's reflective, vulnerable, insanely catchy, and a love letter to her fans as much as it is for herself. We also learn Frizz is not opposed to ice in her orange juice.

Happy Holidays! This week, we bring you our BIGGEST episode to date - the 12(ish) Guests of Christmas! Join us as some of our best friends and favorite guests from the last few years join us to uncover some of the most obscure holiday songs, share some of our wildest holiday memories, eat puppy chow, laugh about the weirdest nativity set, and find out what the definitive WORST Christmas song of all time is. And - be sure to stick around until the end to answer the age old question - "Mary, did you know?"

Frizz and Bob clink a Coors Banquet and a bottle of Orange Groove Wine as they host the most prestigious, unserious award ceremony in music - the 3rd Annual Rhythm on the Rocks Annual Awards Show. Part celebration, part chaos, part Slim Jim fever dream - together, they hand out honors like Hidden Banger of the Year, Most Disappointing Album, and the coveted Ballbag of the Year, while revisiting everything from Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds to Erykah Badu, Springsteen to Grunge, and conspiracy theories & beyond. At our loosiest and goosiest, we cheers to another year of deep dives and good vibes.

Frizz and Bob take a big-picture dive into Pop: Then and Now. Naturally, Bob pours some Old Grand-Dad Bonded, and Frizz downs a new glass of Johnnie Walker Black Ruby, as they unfold how we got from troubadours and Tin Pan Alley to MTV idols, Max Martin machines, and TikTok-engineered hooks for the FYP. They trace pop's constant reinvention through technology, Black innovation, and generational shifts, while taking a look at Sabrina Carpenter's new-stalgia, Taylor "Showgirl" Swift, and the way virality now shapes what's considered "success." It's a fast tour through pop's past, its present chaos, and a game so hard... you'd wish you wrote a whole song about it.

Frizz and Bob raise a mug of coffee and sit down with Nashville duo Friendship Commanders, a band that makes heaviness sing and melody hit like a hammer. Buick Audra and Jerry Roe join in to talk about their new album BEAR (out NOW on Magnetic Eye Records) - a powerful, soul-baring journey through belonging, identity, and resilience that bridges hyper-melodic light and crushing weight. We dive into what makes this album shine through the darkness, classic horror films as creative fuel, Gen X culture and disillusionment, sludgegaze, and the lasting influence of Steve Albini.

Frizz and Bob raise a glass as they take on the impossible beauty and chaos of Grace — the only album Jeff Buckley ever released, and one of the most beloved cult records of the last 30 years. Frizz is sipping Talisker Distiller's Edition, Bob's pouring Mellow Corn, and together they trace Buckley's story from café corners and strange gigs to record deals, mythmaking, and tragedy. It's a journey of genius and self-destruction, mothers and muses, church organs and Led Zeppelin, and far too many moments where Frizz almost dry-heaves from various things. Why not make it a drinking game? This is Jeff Buckley at his most divine, doomed, and dazzling — proof that one album really can feel eternal.      

This week, we reunite with our good friends and favorite riff-summoning adventurers, Howling Giant- the Nashville-based doom lords blending sludge, prog, psych, and sci-fi into some of the most mind-melting metal you'll ever hear. They're back on the show and ready to unleash their most massive and mind-bending record yet - available October 31st! With Frizz sipping a special-edition bottle of Woodford Reserve and Bob going full Kentucky Gentleman, we dive headfirst into Crucible and Ruin, an album that plays like a campaign through storm-forged planets, endless archives of worlds and legends, and battles waged with both scepters and scythes. We talk about their new dual guitar attack, cosmic world building, how their sound just keeps getting bigger, and why this October 31st release is going to shake the doom-metal cosmos. Strap in and roll for an exclusive first listen, while we confirm once and for all: yes, this album rips. And yes, your ass is grass.

Frizz and Bob are cracking open the crypt of music's strangest rumors, shadowy whispers, and full-blown tinfoil-hat territory. Frizz is sipping Ardbeg's Wee Beastie, Bob's got a Dark Apparition Stout from Jackie O's, and we're diving headfirst into the world of music conspiracy theories. From lizard people and faked deaths to government psyops and murder plots hiding in plain sight, we're peeling back the layers of the weirdest stories the music world has to offer. Did Jim Morrison escape to Africa? Was Laurel Canyon a CIA experiment? Does Garth Brooks have friends in low places? Stories so creepy that even Stephen King couldn't have written them... or did he? Lock the doors, dim the lights, and pour a strong one because things are about to get weird.

Frizz and Bob take the other road in the Genesis breakup and following Peter Gabriel straight into So - the bold, bizarre, and beautiful album that turned an avant-garde art rocker into an unexpected pop icon. Frizz is sipping Ardnamurchan AD Single Malt and Bob's pouring a glass of Uncle Boojie's Double Oaked as we track Gabriel's transformation from inflatable stage props and silent retreats to chart-topping soul bangers, groundbreaking drum sounds, and the most iconic music video of the MTV era. This is Peter Gabriel at his most human, strange, spiritual, and romantic - and it might just be the weirdest way anyone's ever taken over the world.

This week, Frizz is sipping Great Glen's Yuzu Gin and Bob's got a glass of Ardnahoe's Inaugural Release Single Malt Scotch as we dive into Invisible Touch - the sleek, synth-driven album that launched Genesis into full-blown pop superstardom. We unpack how a band that started with prog epics and fox masks ended up dominating MTV, topping charts, and soundtracking an entire decade. From political puppets and breakup ballads to keytar solos and stadium-sized hooks, this is Genesis at their most confident, polished, and unexpectedly iconic.

Frizz and Bob crank up the neon and dive into one of the most fearless and fabulously weird pop debuts of all time: She's So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper. Frizz brings out her wild side with Wild Turkey 101 while Bob brings the spice with Ole George Rye. We explore how a thrift-store fashion queen with a four-octave voice and endless heart rewrote the rules for women in pop. From feminist anthems to filthy controversies, Cyndi turned cover songs into queer-coded ballads, danced through our TV screens, and even changed pro wrestling forever. It's one of the most iconic albums of the '80s - so come she-bop, belt, and dance with us as we raise a glass to the defiant and totally unforgettable Ms. Lauper.

Frizz and Bob trade in the grunge for grooves this week with a soul-cleansing deep dive into the radiant world of Earth, Wind & Fire. Frizz pours a Speyburn 10 Year Old Single Malt, while Bob sips on the peaty Kilchoman's Sanaig as they celebrate a band that blended funk, jazz, soul, gospel, and a little mysticism into pure musical joy. They dig into Maurice White's visionary genius, their rise through college campuses and cult films, and their evolution into one of the most dazzling, uplifting live acts of all time. From Love Is Life to September, Shining Star to Let's Groove, this episode is packed with towering horn lines, falsetto magic, cosmic stagecraft, and enough musical insight to make even Miles Davis tip his hat. Cue up the kalimba, light up the disco lasers, and get ready to sing a song because this one's all about hope, movement, and a legacy written in the stars.      

Today we wrap up Grunge Month by looking at one of the all time great 90s bands, Soundgarden. Frizz pours Kurayoshi 8 year old Pure Malt Whisky and Bob pours Bluegrass Distillers' Elkwood Reserve Spanish Oak Bourbon. Join us as we look at their rise from complete obscurity into the superunknown. We'll talk about a spoon man, friends who MIGHT be turds, a rusty cage, and a crazy lady with a knife and a smile. 

Join us as we get down and dirty with one of the heaviest records ever made: Alice in Chains' Dirt. Frizz has a cold, hard seltzer, Bob's sipping an Iron City Light, and we're diving into the story of two Seattle misfits who scribbled the same twisted joke in their Dr. Seuss books and went on to write one of the darkest, most honest records of the '90s. Addiction, decay, and despair are all laid bare. So, pause Beavis and Butt-Head, grab a seat in your angriest chair, and settle in. We're heading down a hole with Alice in Chains.