85. Stephanie Phillips Discusses The Amps, Pacer

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Musician and author Stephanie Phillips is this week’s guest, and she introduces Al to The Amps’ one-and-only album, Pacer. Steph talks about why she picked Pacer for this episode, the differences and similarities between this album and Kim Deal’s other work with Pixies and The Breeders and which tracks on the album stand out to her. She also talks about her band Big Joanie’s upcoming album and tour and her book, Why Solange Matters.

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@Stephanopolus on Twitter

@steffimusics on Instagram

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@Big_Joanie on Twitter

@bigjoanieband on Instagram

Al is on Twitter at @almelchiorBB, and this show has accounts on Twitter and Instagram at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.

1:11 Steph joins the show

1:45 Is Pacer a “lost Breeders album”?

2:55 Al’s preparation for this episode was a little different

3:42 Steph explains why she picked Pacer for this episode

5:15 Steph details what’s special about Kim Deal’s songwriting and vocals

8:11 Deal’s approach to playing has influenced Steph’s songwriting

10:30 Steph and Al have trouble categorizing The Breeders and The Amps

12:06 Al found the title track to be an odd pick for an opener

15:19 Steph enjoys the entire album as a journey, rather than focusing on individual tracks

17:28 Steph views some Pacer tracks as a harbinger of future Breeders albums

18:27 Steph and Al both like “Breaking the Split Screen Barrier”

22:31 Steph points out that Deal repurposed a couple of the tracks on Pacer

Observations about additional tracks:

24:15 Bragging Party

27:59 Mom’s Drunk/First Revival

30:06 Hoverin’

31:55 Tipp City

33:43 Empty Glasses

34:32 Al missed some of the album’s subtleties on his initial listens

36:07 There are a couple of tracks that Steph will listen to on their own

37:57 Al talks about his favorite track from Pacer

39:23 Steph thinks Pacer is a good album for getting a feel for Deal as a songwriter

40:56 Steph recommends watching videos of The Amps’ live performances

42:25 Steph talks about the music she listened to around the same time she was initially listening to Pacer

43:50 Steph explains how she decided to write Why Solange Matters

47:09 Steph discusses Big Joanie’s upcoming tour plans

The outro is from “In My Arms” by Big Joanie.

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