In House #1663: Greg Graffin's Cold As the Clay; New Grant-Lee Phillips, Magnolia Electric Co.

We'd be remiss to dismiss Greg Graffin as the usual punk cliche-- not that one would after watching him front one of the most cerebral and socially-conscious punk bands around for the last twenty-five years. The Bad Religion frontman holds a Master's degree in geology, a Ph.D. in biology, and grew up in the rural Midwest singing songs like "Talk About Suffering," and "Kickin' My Dog Around." Yeah, who knew? Graffin has gone back to the roots, both his own and those of American music, with the new solo album Cold As the Clay, on which he is joined by The Weakerthans and Jolie Holland for versions of eleven traditional tunes. The results are rather stunning, particularly if all you know of Graffin is Bad Religion. "I wanted to show how my work with Bad Religion was informed by other, seemingly disparate and unconventional genres of music that at first glance may appear to have nothing to do with punk," as Graffin tells it. Indeed, though there's not a "punk" song on the album, it may serve as fresh of a breath in that genre as any. Cold As the Clay was released last week on Anti.

Greg Graffin

In House #1663.
Airdate: 7/17/06
Focus: New release from Greg Graffin, Cold As the Clay, plus new music from Grant-Lee Phillips, Magnolia Electric Co., The Hiders and more.

BONUS MP3s-
Bad Religion: "Leave Mine to Me" (MP3)

Greg Graffin:
"Don't Be Afraid to Run" (MP3) and "Talk About Suffering" (MP3)


PLAYLIST

In House PODCAST #139