Jokermen

irreverent and insightful discussion of music that deserves more attention than it’s gotten, highlighted by evan’s spot on impressions and ian’s pitch perfect radio/podcaster voice. plus just a fun hangout vibe. highly recommended!

These guys are smart, engaging, and committed to their craft and chosen artists. As a 64 y/o who’s been listening to Dylan for many, many years, I appreciate the Jokermen’s knowledge , sincerity, and unique insights.

Great project, deep diving one artists work, one album at a time. Love the close reading of the music. The tangents and detours are satisfying and color the broader story. Learned a lot about Bob, Lou, John, Van, Mark, Don, Walt, Scott. Looking forward to The Beach Boys odyssey and all the left turns that includes. Everyone knows the classic records, but these are classic *artists* and looking at their projects holistically is excellent.

I do love the Jokerman mindset. Five stars because I always look forward to the show. The fellas do a fine job contextualizing and deeply listening to under-appreciated records from geniuses. Always fun and interesting. The show seems like an exercise in rock genius fundamentalist apologetics at times (some songs defended/celebrated, particularly some Lou songs, are inexcusably bad!) but I thank the Jokermen for inspiring me to revisit some records I previously paid scant attention to. Fine work! Looking forward to Wilson/Beach Boys.

I started listening because I like hearing about all things Brian Wilson. At first I thought this show was a worthy source-they do have some good guests and that does bring some of their broadcasts a serving of gravitas. However, these two gentleman know little about music itself. While all opinions are subjective, and I chose to listen to theirs, they regularly misrepresent basic musical tenants and speak so authoritatively that one might actually believe that they know of what they speak. I understand that any broadcaster needs to have an opinion, they base theirs based on conjecture. There’s plenty of Beach Boy rumors and tales, but when one speaks on certain subjects it would be best to rely on facts rather than apocryphal rhetoric. I personally get upset when they judge people they don’t know, based off of stories they’ve heard, without having any reliable, factual, material on which they can report. I’m glad Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys are getting a thorough examination, but I’m increasingly convinced that these two are not the best adjudicators of this body of work.

Wherein two dolts confuse loudmouthed narcissism with critical discourse. Not particularly skilled orators, these hosts take vaguely contrarian opinions and hold them with tremendous sanctimony; they seem to believe that there’s only one correct way to experience art. It’s amusing for self-styled freethinkers to brand their views as a “mindset,” a mob mentality - the lack of self awareness is painful. The Jokermen exemplify the late capitalism yuppie hipsterdom with their nasty, cynical gatekeeping and snobbery. You know the kind: where they choose to ridicule the enthusiasm of somebody else because what that person likes doesn’t fit their own perception of what is cool. A dangerous mindset which rules many roosts of white middle class boys, an often applied survival kit for the person who was bullied in school, themselves becoming taste-bullies. You won’t learn anything new or hear anything insightful here. The Jokermen are retchingly typical of that part of the world where being a parasite goes for legitimacy, the predators and carrion feeders of journalism who Dylan & Reed satirised, despised and loathed without mercy. 🙏🏽