151 - Arcade Fire - Funeral - Dustin Nickerson

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers – Episode 151: Arcade Fire - Funeral with Dustin Nickerson

Introduction

In Episode 151 of The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers, host Josh Adam Meyers delves into Arcade Fire's seminal debut album, Funeral, alongside comedian and avid Arcade Fire fan, Dustin Nickerson. Released on July 16, 2025, this episode marks the countdown to Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, positioning Funeral at number 151.

Personal Journeys and Lives on the Road

Before diving into the album, Josh shares anecdotes about his bustling schedule, including upcoming concerts and travels across Europe. Dustin reciprocates by discussing his own tours and connections within the comedy and music scenes.

Exploring Funeral by Arcade Fire

Funeral is widely regarded as Arcade Fire's breakthrough album, lauded for its emotional depth and innovative sound. Both Josh and Dustin express their admiration, though they also critique its placement within the top 500, pondering whether its influence warrants a higher ranking.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Adam Meyers (07:00): “This is probably what most would consider their strongest. It's been on both lists, so it’s on this list and it's on the 2020 list.”
• Dustin Nickerson (08:16): “Yeah, you know, some people just get a motorcycle, but you're going a different direction and I respect that.”

Track-by-Track Discussion

1. Neighborhood 1 Tunnels

   • Overview: Opens the album with a theatrical feel, depicting a town grappling with an ice storm.
   • Insights: Josh references personal experiences with power outages, while Dustin highlights the song's narrative on alienation.
   • Quote: Dustin Nickerson (09:19): “Yeah, this was listened to headphones with wires as I took the 31 bus from Ballard over to the U district.”

2. Power Out

   • Overview: A driving, urgent track reflecting feelings of isolation and the desire for escape.
   • Insights: The song's versatile nature makes it suitable for various moods, from workouts to introspective listening.
   • Quote: Josh Adam Meyers (65:14): “It really does rock. I love, like, the bells and stuff that are in it.”

3. Rebellion (Lies)

   • Overview: Discussed as one of Dustin’s least favorites on the album, viewed as a filler track.
   • Insights: Despite its placement, the song holds significance for fans and its thematic depth relating to truth and deception.
   • Quote: Dustin Nickerson (90:06): “It's not a bad song. But again, I think I like the analogy I used earlier. It's... it kind of got buried in the lineup.”

4. Crown of Love

   • Overview: A vulnerable exploration of lost or unrequited love.
   • Insights: Both hosts appreciate Regine's vocal performance, emphasizing the song's emotional resonance.
   • Quote: Josh Adam Meyers (76:12): “It's a tear jerker over song. So they are even...”

5. The Funeral

   • Overview: The album's title track encapsulates themes of grief and transition.
   • Insights: Josh reflects on personal connections to the song, linking it to his father's passing.
   • Quote: Josh Adam Meyers (93:45): “It made me think of him. And I had a really good cry over it.”

Personal Reflections and Emotional Connections

Dustin shares his personal journey with Funeral, highlighting how the album served as a musical anchor during pivotal moments in his life, such as starting college and navigating relationships. He emphasizes the album's ability to evoke deep emotional responses and its lasting impact on his perception of indie music.

Quote:

• Dustin Nickerson (51:56): “They very much resonate with me. So... yeah.”

Comparisons to Other Artists

The conversation touches upon comparisons between Arcade Fire and bands like Radiohead, discussing how Funeral fits within the broader landscape of indie and alternative music. They explore the album's influence on subsequent musical acts and its innovative use of unconventional instruments.

Concluding Thoughts

Both Josh and Dustin acknowledge Funeral as a cornerstone in Arcade Fire's discography, praising its lyrical depth and musical craftsmanship. While they debate its exact placement within the top 500, there is unanimous agreement on its significance and enduring legacy.

Final Quote:

• Josh Adam Meyers (102:30): “This album led to some crappy music. And so in the elevator pitch, you almost have to go, we're back in 2003 before you've heard a lot of the annoying stuff.”

Guest Promotion

Towards the end of the episode, Dustin Nickerson promotes his own work, including his tour dates, podcast "Don't Make Me Come Back There," and his book How to Be Married to Melissa.

Conclusion

Episode 151 provides a comprehensive and heartfelt exploration of Arcade Fire's Funeral, enriched by Dustin Nickerson's personal anecdotes and critical insights. The discussion not only celebrates the album's artistic achievements but also reflects on its profound influence on listeners and the indie music scene at large.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Josh Adam Meyers (07:00): “This is probably what most would consider their strongest. It's been on both lists, so it’s on this list and it's on the 2020 list.”

• Dustin Nickerson (51:56): “They very much resonate with me. So... yeah.”

• Josh Adam Meyers (93:45): “It made me think of him. And I had a really good cry over it.”

• Dustin Nickerson (90:06): “It's not a bad song. But again, I think I like the analogy I used earlier. It's... it kind of got buried in the lineup.”

These quotes encapsulate the essence of their discussion, highlighting both admiration and critical perspectives on Funeral.

Transcript

[Josh Adam Myers]

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[Dustin Nickerson]

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[Josh Adam Myers]

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[Dustin Nickerson]

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[Josh Adam Myers]

Is brought to you by Distrokid. Bring your music to the masses. The 500 the 500 JM been walking us down through that 2012 edition so it ain't nothing to you. Hundreds more to go and in need of a friend. The King of Peace for angelo. Talking the 500 until the end. Talking the 500 until the end with my man JL on the 500 talking the 500 until the end. That is Wake up by Arcade Fire from their debut album Funeral. That is number 151 out of 500 on the 500 with Josh Adamaya. What's up fleece army? It is me, the king of fleece and I am going through Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums from 2012, not the new one. And we're chipping away 151. So many people thought we would never get this far. What is going on with me right now? Gearing up. I got Wu Tang tonight at Madison Square Garden. I just saw Anthony Green. My buddies from Shinedown are in town on Sunday. I just saw Weird Al Yankovic. I saw Tyler the Creator. So much. So many concerts happening in New York. I'm leaving to go to Europe on the 29th and I'll be in London seeing Oasis doing Shows at the Comedy Store there and top secret comedy club almost every night. So come one come all UK people. I was trying to do a one off show but I didn't prepare. But I am going to be doing shows in Paris, Ibiza, Belgium and Amsterdam and then I think I'm going to go to Auschwitz and then I'm going to come back and hopefully be a new guy as we finish these strong that being we're recording a bunch right now so this one's great. Get ready for the next one, dude. Darkness on the edges down. We're about to blow your fucking scoodles through your doodles. Want to watch the podcast YouTube.com the500podcast? That is the way to do it. Every Thursday the episodes drop. We don't get big numbers on there. Maybe we should add more. But you know, support. The best way to support is our Patreon. For $5 a month you get to ask questions to the guests and you get Master Fleece theater with my regulars DJ Morty Coyle, Wayne Fetty, Wap Fetterman. And when he's available and not having Covid Jeremiah Boom Boom Tittle rep the show. $25 a month, we'll get you that merch. So patreon.com backslash the 500 podcast. Join the fleece Army. Support us because we love you and we need the support. Big shout out to Emily, Peter, Adam, Logan, Crazy Evan. I think he still does the Facebook page. I've been saying it for years, but you know, just everybody that's involved with the show. We love you. I love you and you love them. We love each other. All right. But I get back from Europe and I'm out on the road for almost the rest of the year. Fort Lauderdale. I will be. Fuck, I wish I had my list in front of me. I'm not prepared. Fort Lauderdale, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Phoenix, Arizona, La Jolla, Minnesota, New Orleans, Pittsburgh. Oh fucking hell, Tampa. I'm doing the jam on the Joke, not the Jokers. I'm sorry, the this is important podcast cruise with Adam Devine, Blake and Der and a bunch of other great comics. So when I get back from Europe the end of August. Oh, first show back would be Plano, Texas. So Dallas, Fort Worth, people. Let me see you out there. That'll be the last weekend in August. Joshadamyers.com for tickets. I'm gonna have a poster up soon. Ticket link should be available now on joshadamyers.com but either way, come to the shows. Let's make 2025 ending and 2026, the best year of my career, guys. All right, Arcade Fizzle, big band, a lot of great records up front. Not so much recently, but man, were they strong at the beginning. And this is probably what most would consider their strongest. It's been on both lists, so it's on this list and it's on the 2020 list. It was at number 500, which we'll talk about. And my guest today is a very, very funny comic named Dustin Nickerson. You know Dustin from his incredible specials. Dustin's got a great podcast with his wife, don't make me come back there. It's on all platforms. He's also got a book, how to be married to Melissa, and you can get that wherever you get your books. And he is on tour right now, so go see this guy. He is extremely funny. Really cool dude and a big Arcade Fire fan. Really good comparisons between his biblical upbringings and this record. I think you guys are gonna like it. We got through most of the tracks. Raid review and most Importantly, subscribe to the 500 Listen Pre On Pre on all platforms or anywhere you get your pods. Follow me at Josh Adam Myers on all social media. The podcast at the 500 podcast. Email the [e-mail] Follow the Facebook group run by Crazy Evan. And for all things 500, go to the website the 500podcast.com. All right, y'. All, nothing left to say, but here we go with number 151 out of 500 with funeral by Arcade Fire. Just walked in on. On Josh's vision quest journey. As I, as I backpacked through Europe for a month to try to find myself, a lot of the Motorcycle Diaries or any, you know, thing that love it, a middle aged white guy is eventually done where it says, I just need to get away.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, you know, some people just get a motorcycle, but you're going a different direction and I respect that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, I'm going to see Oasis and then.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I heard you on. I listened to the Radiohead episode with Swartzen and you're seeing Oasis. Yes, right.

[Josh Adam Myers]

A few times. We're gonna meet him. But that's. That's the. The thing is. Here's the thing about all of this is that that Radiohead episode, man godamn Nick Swardson and his diabetes. Because I got. I got a lot of complaints, J from people that love the show. That said, for it being one of my top three records of my lifetime, to only do an hour, he goes, you need to go back with him and do another like 30 to 40 minutes, which I think we can. I think we can because it was too short. Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I. My. This is the comedian in me. Because, you know, I'm listening to as a music fan and as a Radiohead fan and stuff. My favorite moment was how mad you got when you realized he had to.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Go, oh, yeah, dude, bro. All right. Can I, like, listen? I. I mean, I am not on Swardy at all. Swarty has been one of my favorite comedians and a close friend of mine. We spent the last four or five days together while he. Excuse me. While he was in New York getting food, hanging out. And I threw that. Like. I threw that. Ali. Oop. I'm not Ali. The word. The Hail Mary. Because, you know. And I don't know if you said it in the episode, but, like, he was supposed to do Russia Blood to the Head by Coldplay. And it got down. There were a couple that we waited until, like, the last second, one of them being Sinbad, which. I'm so glad we got that Sinbad episode. Yeah. Because it was so good with Albert King. We did it at his house on New Year's. On New Year's. New Year's Day. And thankfully, I think he was, like, sick. So his family went to, like, a football game, and then. And then we waited until the. I mean, literally a pubic hair away, where I was gonna go meet him at a bar and just record it in, like, a booth. This is before we were doing, like, video and, of course, Zoom and shit like that. So for me to get him to do Radiohead was great, but it's like, you know, we didn't talk about the tourists. We barely mentioned Karma Police.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I don't think we mentioned Letdown, which is, you know, I'm gonna. I'm in a very big Radiohead kick right now.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I am.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I've been sending Jeremiah clips of just. Just. There's so much music of theirs. It's literally like. It's like. It's like indie rock, Matzo Ball soup for me, where it's just. Yeah, it's very comforting. And there's so much music I forgot about. So.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Radio. It is a band, not unlike Arcade Fire, that I do find myself coming back to a lot, where it's not like I listen to them all the time, but you just. There's certain times where you're like, I'll look back, and I'd be like, oh, this is all I've listened to for the last three months. Again, Like, I've done this several times. In my life now, Oasis is the same way, where I'm just. All I listen to is Oasis for a couple months, and now all my TikTok feed is just Oasis reunion. And you know, the couple of state states that they're doing I can't go to, which is brutal. And also my teenage daughter, she loves Oasis and she's like, come on, dad, we can go. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I can't. I have a one nighter in Stamford I have to do.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, come on, dude, you don't. I just watched. I just watched it. I just watched a clip of you that, that, that, you know, by the way, you're. You're a. You're Code Orange on the Kagan meter. Our booker. Our booker. You're not Code Red. You're not Code Red, but she pushed you for a while, so. So you're Code Orange.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Good to hear.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Code Red is like. The Code Red is like. Who's Code Red? Penn Jillette, who else? Who else did we say was another. Another Code Red? We just had Paul F. Tompkins. Well, do we want to expose Jeff Daniels coming on? Is it too soon? Jeff Daniels? We do have Jeff Daniels. God, I wish we had Bill Paxton, but he's dead. You know what I mean? I would.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I really want Paul Reiser because I want to talk to him about aliens. So my new favorite. It's new. It's. It's finally topped my. I have a number one movie now that I now know is my number one movie, which is. Yeah, we need.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Every time you bring up aliens, as I say, then you could get Tom DeLonge and talk about actual aliens.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, nice. Just met him. He met. He met my dog, fell in love with my dog.

[Dustin Nickerson]

He hangs around the store, I think a decent amount. Right.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I was in. I was in San Diego with Jeff Arcurie and, And he was in the theater because he, He. Him and his wife know. Jeff's wife. Oh, that's cool. And he was just the coolest guy. And like, yeah, he loves dogs. So.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I, I live in San Diego and he is royalty. He's like, San Diego is a really interesting city because. Is rare that it pushes ambitious people because everyone's pretty happy there. Like, it's hard to have drive when you feel like you live in paradise already. And Blink is the exception of someone who kind of made it despite the. Despite that they have. Yeah, they like, they're San Diego's pope, essentially. Like if. If Tom delong was going down, if Blink was In town of the Pope. Then. Then Blink's going to draw better than the Pope.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So who. Who did. You started stand up comedy in San Diego?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Oh, wow. Did you guys hear that lightning? I did.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm in New York, dude. It's just a heat wave. We.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, yeah. I'm in New Orleans right now, so I stare. Yeah, I started comedy, so Seattle is where I'm from, but San Diego is where I started comedy.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Who is your group? Is it like Taylor Tomlinson and all those?

[Dustin Nickerson]

I have, yeah. I have a nice group, like my starting group. And. And Taylor is like a sister to me. I still open for her a lot. We're super close. We text every day. She's in London right now too, actually.

[Josh Adam Myers]

After she has hotel hookups. Can I use some more points? Can I use some of her points? Her Hyatt points?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Hey, Taylor, Joshua wants to know. No, she has. So Taylor. And then Brian Simpson was in that class as well. And then Derek Poston, Asana Mod. Those are mothership guys. Like, they're. Well, they're not just mothership guys, but they're based in Austin now. Yeah. And then there were, you know, those were kind of the name, like the guys who were kind of out and about headlining right now. And then ahead of us was, were guys like Zoltan Cassis, who is just a crusher and has had this like, almost like canane like, career of just like he's. He's not talked about as much as he should be and he's not talked about as much as his fans talk about him because people are like, oh, man, Zoltan Cassis. I've heard of him. And. But yeah, he just sold out a theater in your city and they're like, what? So he's. And he was kind of. He was one of the first guys to start bringing me out on the road and stuff. And yeah, so there's been a lot of great comics to come out of San Diego. Bobby Lee, Jimmy O. Yang, Vicki Barbalac, Taylor Williamson, you know. But then my specific class was, was Taylor, Brian, Derek, myself.

[Josh Adam Myers]

He forgot about possibly the greatest comedian to come out of San Diego. And that is sir dad fan of that fan.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I've never. Yeah, that was definitely.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Don't just drop him, dude. Don't drop that guy. One last comic standing on. On 25 minutes of whole.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, I have no comment on that fan.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I like how for the listening audience though, you're wearing the Mariner's hat, Dustin and the Ion San Diego T shirt.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, that's totally just. I'd love to say that this was an intentional shout out to what feels like my two home cities, but it's just what was clean on the road right now.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I. I would. I mean, I. Not the ball's on you to wear two cities on your body that are not the same. I won't wear, like, I remember. Like, I won't wear, like, my Wu Tang Nike dunks if I'm wearing like a band T shirt. Like, I can only be. And I'll wear like. And I'll wear like a wizard's jersey or like, I'm wearing a Pistons jersey because I work out in these. These champions.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But, like, I won't. I'll never. Like, I won't wear. It's got to be one thing. If there's one label, that's the label. And everything else needs to be blank.

[Dustin Nickerson]

So.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So good on you for not giving a.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It's. It's not even. It's whatever I wore on stage last night, that is my shirt for the next day until I shower again. That's. It's. I. I don't change my shirt in the morning. I change it between showers. So. Exactly. And then it's whatever hat I brought on the road this weekend.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But wait, so you don't. So you don't take off the shirt that you're wearing, your stage shirt and let that, like, relax and make sure you keep it nice and. And not ruffled just in case. Or even like, hey, man, this is my. This is my. I'm going on stage with this shirt.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Like, I'll have a rotation of tees for the weekend. So my. On stage, I wear a flat, a flannel and a T shirt. And it's never not wrinkled. I mean, it's what. I dress wrinkled on stage. Unless I'm opening for Taylor at the Beacon. Then maybe I'll run an iron on something, you know?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

But. Yeah, I think that my fans and audiences, I think the. The 40 year old, this, you know, dad who doesn't have it put together is. It's kind of what they're expecting anyways.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They're like, I love it.

[Dustin Nickerson]

His wife's not out with him. Why would he look nice anyways? And that's.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I love. I love it. So. So let's talk Arcade Fire, because let's. You know, this. This record is. What number is it here on our list? It's 151 on the new 2020 list. This is the 500th album. This would have Been our first episode. If we did that, is it, is.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It a great album?

[Josh Adam Myers]

I, I. And I've seen Arcade Fire four or five times. One of the times I just saw them at, at the Brooklyn Paramount. They played their new record, Pink Elephant all the way through. It was good. And then they came back out and then they did like, you know, everybody now wake up. Yeah, Reflector. Like, they really, they put on a good show and then they do this thing and they did this in Brooklyn too. When I saw them at Barclays, they, they have this. I guess there's this like African group that like travels with them and plays like tambourines and Congos. And then they just like there they did wake up to end the show and then they just walk off stage through the audience and like with the African people like hitting the, the Congos and, and then they go outside and then it started this like they get on top of like a car and there's everybody's like dancing for another like 20, 30 minutes. Great live show. And by the way, the way I started doesn't mean I don't like Arcade Fire. I do like Arcade Fire.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I just don't know if it should be this low. I think the 500 is actually closer than, you know, than, than 151.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I would be curious to see not where this like, like, I think this low to me is probably more reflective of its average voting and not its mean voting. Because I think this is a lot of people's favorite album of all time. Like, this is their number one. Like, it's this and then Pet Sounds like. Because this, this album is a lot of people's. Okay computer. Like it, like, you know what I mean? Like, it is this, this album for. It's not, there's, there's not a ton of people that are ambivalent about Arcade Fire. So I think that this, the reason that this is categorized where it was is to a lot of indie music fans, this, this is it. This is like the pivotal number one album for a lot of people.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No, I, I see that. You know who turned me onto this? Jeremiah, Steve Zuraf. Zuraf was the one that one of our, one of our high school buddies was one of the guys that was like, you gotta check out Arcade Fire. And I think the first song I heard was Rebellion Lies, because I think that was what mtv, which, which, you know, not to get into our favorite songs on the record yet, but it's definitely up there. You know, it, it took me a while. If this came out in 2004. I think I got more into Neon Bible first before I got in to Funeral because what turned me. What turned me on to. To Funeral was there was a. I think it was the Victoria Secret Fashion show and Arcade Fire and David Bowie did a couple songs together. They did like. They did like a Bowie song and then they did Wake up and that kind that was like. I remember that being around the time I moved to LA. So I'd say that's like 2007 or maybe early 2008. And watching that made me be like okay, and this is pre Spotify. So I had to figure out a way that I could get the record and.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Right.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And. And I think dude, it took a while for me to listen to this record all the way through and it's not bad at all. I know the audience. I know Fleece Army. I know you guys probably think the way that I'm sounding because I don't usually sound like this. I just don't know if I want to call this. They're. They're putting this up there like we'll get into all this. They're putting this up there with Kid A as one of the. As the greatest record of the 20 of the 21st century. I don't think you had mentioned this is okay Computer. I'm not saying that's not apt. I just think that okay Computer did something so different because you have. You have the bends and you have Pablo honey to compare OK Computer to. We have nothing to compare this record to. So in a sense this is like. This is like. This is them coming out. Is it. Is it revolutionary? It did change indie music moving forward. Because I don't think you have bands like Modest Mouse. I don't think you have the Lumineers which are more Americana shit like that. But even like Mumford and Sons are somehow song structurally similar to. To what Win and Regine. I hope I said her name right. Are. Are doing in this record and. And that being said, it's it. It is a phenomenal record. I just don't think it's one of the. Find out. Pull up that list of. They just. They just released a list of like the top records from the. From the 2000s and see where this comes in. Yeah, I know Kid A is number one as it should be.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Well what I'm saying is it wasn't. The specific comparison is not to okay Computer. What I mean is. Is this like what. What was its ranking again?

[Josh Adam Myers]

1151 on this list. We're doing the 2012 list, and then 500 on the 2020.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Right. So a segment of the population is exactly where you are, which is like, hey, this seems a little high for this album. And then the rest of the population is like, that. It should be number. This is a top of all time. And no. So I bet no one thinks that this is properly ranked. Does that make sense, what I'm saying?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like, sure.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's the. So I think this is a ranking that is almost out of respect for the reverence that some people hold this album in, you know, especially as a debut album, by the way, for it to be this influential and talked about and monumental and to have especially a Wake up. Like, Wake up, like an anthem that is still in commercials now.

[Josh Adam Myers]

We. We did. We did a out the. If you. Have you been to jfl, like, in Montreal, they have the hotel, the Hyatt, and then they have this big outdoor area with a huge stage. And in 2000, 15 or 16, we did an outdoor show for, like, what they quoted was like 15, 000 people. I would say it was probably closer to like 4, 000 at the most. And a lot of them were like, you know, French Canadian families. So the first thing they said to me was like, don't cuss. And then I think the first thing I said when I got out there was like, what's up, you? And we thought it would be good to open with the. You know, the beginning of Wake up, because they're a Montreal band, so we came out with a. Danny.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Right?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Gotta go.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They could have given a. They. They really. They did not give a. Like, I think in a way that.

[Dustin Nickerson]

They were over it. You think, or.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I don't even knew it. I don't even know if it's that. I don't know if it's like. It's like they, you know, Richard Ashcroft right now has been opening for. For Oasis, and they call Bittersweet Symphony the British national anthem. And is it the most popular song, you know, out of British history? Of course not. Is Richard Ashcroft one of the biggest bands in England or in English history? Not at all. But, yeah, everybody knows Bittersweet Symphony, where Wake Up, I don't think. I think just also, I think just French Canadians are cunts. So I think, like, there's like. I mean, we don't have a big French Canadian listening base, Jeremiah, so don't.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I'm not offended.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's just quite the generalization.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Well, I actually. I don't remember the number. This didn't clock Very Wake up didn't go very high on the Billboards. Not compared to Bittersweet Symphony. I mean, that's like one of the most known songs ever. So I agree with you that, like, I. I always use like the My dad test. Like, my dad has not heard of Arcade Fire. He has not heard the song Wake up. And if he has, it was in some. It was in some movie trailer once. Oh, I've been. Yeah, so it is. But he's heard Bittersweet Symphony. He would whistle along to it if it came on. So, yeah, I agree with it that it's not for a segment of the population. Absolutely. But it is not in the zeitgeist of the casual music fan in a way that A Bittersweet Symphony or like a Creep or something like that. A song that really broke through.

[Josh Adam Myers]

There's so many and. And there are so many great songs on this record. I do think a couple is. We'll get into the filler. We'll get into what we love in a moment. We'll go through the tracks. But let's take it back to. Let's find the exact date. This record came out on September 14, 2004. Should I do the history before I ask? I asked Dustin where. How he got into it, because the history is. It's really short. They're a Canadian band. You know, he. He's in a relationship with Regine Wynn Butler. They. They. They start recording this in their apartment. And the beginning of the record, this album's broken up into two parts. So you have the opening. The, you know, the first four tracks. Is it. Which are the. The neighborhood. What would you call them? Suites? Tunnels. Like I. Then. Then one. I can't say at all. Power out and kettles. And then you have the second half of the record. The band starts recording it every. Like they all start experiencing death in their families. Like everybody starts.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Right? Yeah. It's crazy.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All of them start losing. They link up with the producer. Well, no, they were working with him. It was. I guess it was their engineer who. They start recording at this place called Hotel Tatango in Montreal. They're doing it all on analog recording format. They're not using a lot of studio tricks. The reverb that they're using is real reverb from old instruments. They. They finished the record and they hate it. They do not want to release it. Like the band. The band doesn't think it's good. Wynn thinks this is a terrible record and he's convinced to release it. And then of course, what Happens is it becomes, you know, a life changing music changing. Let's call it that. Because I. Like I said, man, it definitely changed the sound of music from when this record came out. A lot of copycat bands came out.

[Dustin Nickerson]

A lot of people had a weird instrument in their band all of a sudden. That was one of the main things. You're like, does Florence and the Machine have a harp? All of a sudden there was a very unconventional. Like, did you ever see that SNL sketch, the new cast member or Arcade Fire member? It's a very funny sketch. It's very, very funny. And it's right when, like, Kyle Mooney got on. And the basic idea is it's Tina Fey is hosting and Keenan is the. Tina Fey is the host of the show and she's the guest on the game show, and Keenan is the game show host. And they bring out a new cast member and a member of Arcade Fire. And Tina Fey has to guess who. Who's who. And at one of the points that, like, she can't tell who's who and. And she goes, can I see them with some old timey instruments in their hands. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

This is their little clip of that. All right, skip ahead a little bit. Let's get to. Let's get to the meat.

[Dustin Nickerson]

This is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, what am I watching all six minutes of this?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You are correct. That is right. This is the new SNL cast member.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Hey there. Yeah. Do the one with.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Keenan. Oh, wait, no, right here.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's good. Right here.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Wow. Those look massively stupid. I don't know. The one in the polka dots is in Arcade Park.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, I'm sorry, that's incorrect. That is actually a new cast member. Tina, it's such an honor to meet you.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I mean, the homies that I got in the comic.

[C]

No R, you get no R. Next.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Time you give it an R. Okay.

[C]

Get out of here.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Get your ass out. That girl didn't last very long. Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

The next one win comes out again. Oh, the next one's a win.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I am very sorry.

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, that's okay. I remember back when I was a new cast member. This isn't an interview.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Here comes round three.

[Dustin Nickerson]

May look alike. Oof. Okay, this guy in the tie is coming in real hot. Seems way too happy with himself. And on the left, we got some kind of hipster. Paul Bunyan. Could be a Civil War reenactor, a Serbian basketball player. Now, I can't tell who's on snl. Can I see them? Do an impression.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Gentlemen, your finest dinero.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Sure are you talking to me? Are you talking to me? I'm watching.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Look at Win. You can cut it off. That's enough of those. They're all that. Cast members are gone. Except for Keenan. He's still there.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, well, the. The idea that it was just the. The ridiculous. Those look stupid. I know. The instruments.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That regime. Right.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Is.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's like the weirdest that I've never.

[Dustin Nickerson]

What is that thing?

[Josh Adam Myers]

So I. So I was saying. The first half of the album, dubbed the Neighborhood Suite, centers around a town struggling with a power outage in the middle of winter. Based on personal experience during the North American ice storm of 1998. Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

You.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You grew up in two areas where there were never. You've never had an ice storm, have you?

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, no, we've had some floods and some fires and the occasional earthquake, but no, we've not had. We've. Ice storms have not been the one that have gotten us.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Have you ever seen the movie the Ice Storm where it's Ang Lee, Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Klein. It takes place in the 70s. Toby Maguire, Christina Ricci. It's about swingers. Yeah. Dude, we should watch it. It's a great movie. I'm just. I don't know why I brought that up. That's. This is not an ad for that movie. But if. If there's people that are out there that have seen it, they know what the I'm talking about.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Is this why you brought me here, Josh? To pitch this movie?

[Josh Adam Myers]

And Aliens, you have to watch Aliens. So pull that up.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Pull that up.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So. So take me back to 2004. Like, what's going on in your life? And how do you get into this record?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, so I do. I graduated from high school in 2003, and so I. But so I'm starting. Not my freshman. This is a personal story that's not that interesting. But I'm starting off in college my junior year, because my last two years of high school, I did community college. So I graduated high school with my first two years of college done, and so I'm walking. This would have come out in the fall. Yeah, fall 2004. So I'm. It's a good time to be getting into music because. Or, like, it's a pivotal. It's a transition time in my life because I'm going off to college. Right. You're moving out? You leaving the house with my dad. I grew up in south of Seattle in Federal Way, Washington, Raised by my dad. And so I'm walking the campus of the University of Washington I got my ipod, you know, with music that I'm literally. Oops, sorry about that. I'm literally burning, you know, transferring the CD into it. You remember how tedious it used to be to get the music actually onto. And I, I was trying to remember where it like popped, but I think so the, the radio station that I listened to growing up is we like was. I listened to a ton of radio growing up because we. I was raised by a single dad. We didn't have a ton of money. The most music that was played in my house was my dad' music, which was all like outlaw country, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr. Johnny Cash. Like I kind of grew up.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Take this job and shove it Boom boom Gonna shoot you in an alley Cause you stole my moonshine girl.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I do too. Yeah. And it. I mean, country got such a bad rap because of late 90s, early 2000s country. But anyway. But the music station that I listened to the most was our alternative station, 1077, the end. And Dave would play and wake up would play on there and it had to have been radio play or at least somebody told me about it. But I do remember buying the album. I went to Easy Street Records in Queen Anne, bought the album, put it in a CD player then eventually. So this was, this was listened to headphones with wires as I took the 31 bus from Ballard over to the U district and walked around UW in between classes. And like that was one of the introductions for me for the idea that you could have your life like curated music playing. And it made so you all feel like you're in a movie. And this music very much makes you do feel like you're like, if you're just walking around feeling like you're the main character of the world. And this is the type stuff that's going into your ears. It adds to this kind of grandiose feeling of your life when in reality you're just going to Econ 100.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The album opens with Neighborhood 1 Tunnels. Yeah, theatrical is the way I would call this. It almost feels like you're. You're opening up the curtains of a, you know, 1865, like, you know, Canadian pub. The lyrics describe grieving against a town buried in snow with a young man who escapes his neighborhood to meet his girlfriend in the town square to plan their future as grown ups. According to Wynn, the guitar part was accidentally recorded with a microphone meant for vocals on the other side of the recording room instead of in the intended guitar microphone. This tape was kept in the final version that is One thing that I will say after I watched the documentary, Excuse me, about the making of. Excuse me, about the making of this, is that it has a very unique sound. And the fact that they did this all analog and it, it kind of goes. It's, it's, it's, it's so funny the way Arcade Fire started as like, you know, like pilgrims, and now they're like, we are Arcade Fire. We are from space and we are flying in super torpedo spaceships. It used to be this no color. Brown, gray. Like they dress like communists. Like, yeah, they dress like the proletariat. And now. And now it's like they're. We are futuristic.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I, I actually think what you're speaking to does that kind of. Or what you're saying kind of speaks to how people have, at least for me, an, on again, off again relationship with Arcade Fire. I've always been very album to album with them, you know, where like, you're like, oh, man, I really like. But like, because they'll sound very different and they'll look very different and they'll present very different, and that's great. That's their prerogative as an artist, you know, and it's not like Dylan going electric, shocking from out, but it is enough that you go, oh, that didn't. I don't know, it's like, you know, that one just didn't. Didn't do it for me. Maybe I've changed you ever. That one just didn't hit me in the. In the same way that the last one did.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know, I think I, you know, and, and I'm not being influenced by our past guest, Anthony Fantano, the busiest music nerd on the Internet who thinks.

[Dustin Nickerson]

This is an overrated album. Right? He's, he's changed his tune on this album.

[Josh Adam Myers]

He does. But, but I don't think this is overrated. I don't think this is overrated. I think this is a. I think it's a very good record. Do not get me wrong. Yeah, everything I'm saying, I just think I'm, you know, it's just one of those things of doing this podcast where sometimes you're in the mood to listen to a record and sometimes you're like, I want to listen to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Radiohead. And, you know, I just wanted to go see this movie and, and found out about this artist, Jacob Banks, and I want to listen to that. So it's like, ah, but I know, but I know this record. So how much need to do on this Record, meaning listen wise. And then I listen to it and. And. And when listening to the gym all the way through. And I. I mean, I'm telling you, like, out of the 10 songs, I think six of them are brilliantly perfect. Yeah. And I think four.

[Dustin Nickerson]

The hits are hits. They're bangers.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Right? Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But then there's a lot of. I wouldn't say filler. It's more like scene setting of a movie or something, you know?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. No, there's a couple that I have skipped every time or, like, I didn't like, the first time or. And I just. It's not like a chore to listen to, but I'm like, what's this one doing here? You know, it doesn't feel like it fits in, you know, Or. Yeah, so I get what you mean. That there are. It isn't, like, a start. I like this album a lot, and I actually. I've been listening to it a lot since we confirmed this.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And it's been pleasant for me to go back to it. I do think that this album is not a casual listen for me, though, like, because it's about a funeral. It's grief. It's a grief song. It's about, like, this kind of optimistic nihilism that they kind of get to at the end of, like, things are meaningless, but that's okay. And it's about transitioning and growing up and, you know, the lies that our parents tell us that we. That are. It's okay that they told us, but we realize they're, like, losing your innocence. It's a lot of that. And then it's not. It's not like a Weezer album that you're just like.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, yeah. I want to wrestle with Jimmy. Jimmy's fun guy, dude.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I can listen if Weezer comes on. You're like, hell, yeah, I'll listen to this. Like, for me, I'm just like, this is a casual. I do want to live in Beverly Hills, man.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. I want to go off what you're saying. I want to go up exactly what you're saying. And I want to get back because I. I want to. You were talking about loss, and. And I want to ask a serious question, but I think Weezer has always worn their nerdiness and their.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Their.

[Josh Adam Myers]

They've worn their, like, their theme on their sleeve of being like, we're dorks. We make fun music.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

We're not taking ourselves too seriously. Dude, I wanted. They did the Blue album in its entirety at Madison Square Garden. It was such a Fun show. They came out on, like, this last tour.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I was. I was there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Was it. That's crazy. Dude, I have a really good streak on September 11th. They're going to great concerts. Except on the actual September 11th, that day. That day. And somebody stole my. They did the same thing that I said about Michael Jordan announcing his unretirement. Another comedian or broadcaster said the same thing that. Where I thought that when everybody was around the television, I thought it was because on the night before on the ticker, they said Michael Jordan to unannounce his retirement and come back and play the Wizards. And so on September 11, I woke up expecting the press conference. I ran downstairs after I got out of. After I got out of history of electronic media and film. At 8:00am, 8:45, I go to the student union, people around the TV, and I ran in there going, jordan, baby, Jordan. And then. And then the second town, the second plane hit, and I was like, oh. I was like, not only am I shouting, Jordan, but Jordan is also a Middle Eastern country right now.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, man. But.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But that's the thing. Now back to bringing it back to Arcade Fire is. Is. Arcade Fire is always. There's. It's their albums, their music is so serious. And then you see Wynn playing power forward in the NBA celebrity game, and you're like, oh, this guy is co. You know, like, maybe he doesn't. Maybe he's not as, like. He's just this, like, you know, woodworking, you know, blacksmithy thing. And I. And I think, like. I think that's the difference is that. Is that Weezer is just having fun. And. And at least in this record and even the second record. Oh, no. That up until. Up until Everything now or whatever came out was either reflector or Everything now after the Suburbs, I feel like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I feel like they've just been really serious and now it seems like they're kind of, like, loosening up. And I only think that they're kind of loosening up if, you know, not to bring it up too early, but you know that the show I saw them at Barclays, which was for the Wii album, I think the one with, like. With Age of Anxiety, which I love. I really love that record, too. Yeah, he got in trouble, almost canceled because of. I don't know the exact details, but I think it was like they were swinging or something or blah, blah, blah. And, like, Beck was supposed to be on that tour with Feist, and both of them canceled.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And I got a ticket, like, extremely cheap So I don't know if like they're, they're, that, they're that band that just keeps going up and up and up and up. I feel like they've plateaued and they're now starting to like, I, I was watching the new reviews of their new record and it's not, they're not the best. Yeah, but it's not a bad record. Yeah, but that, that checks out. I mean, they're Arcade Fire.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, they're still Arcade Fire. And, and Lauren has acts that Lauren likes. I mean, they've done snl. Is this like the fifth time?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Six times every record probably.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. And they were on the anniversary show, so they, that's been kind of a, an open door for them.

[Josh Adam Myers]

So definitely not canceled for sure. Like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, no, yeah, exactly. I think they, it was definitely bumping the road and it's definitely anything that they release or anytime they're talked about that will be in the comments somewhere. One of those type cancels, you know, like a Louis one where you're like, yeah, there's been a bounce back like as far as like touring and releasing and stuff and projects, you know, but they're like for kind of, There will always, this will always kind of be attached to them. I, I, at least from my perspective.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Speaking of them, somebody building a tunnel to meet a girl in, in the town square. What is the, what is the craziest you ever did to get laid or get with a woman?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, I'm the wrong person to ask on this. I mean, I get married at 19. How about that?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Okay, well you did. You must have done something in high school. Snuck out of your parents house like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's been a couple. I was, yeah, I, when my. So I've been with my wife since high school. We were like, we met in high school and, and you know, when she the closest would. So when she graduated from high school, her family moved to Lancaster, California, which is the worst city in America. I hate it with everything in me. I actually don't have anything negative to say about any city except Lancaster, California. I hate it with my whole heart.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But you must have never been to Naples, Florida. Which I will be in September.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yes. So my dad grew, worked for Alaska Airlines and he was like in cargo and so we could fly like non rev for like $20, like non rev, you know, tickets. And I would, I would like I had a job at the time, but we were dating and we were in college and she was living down. I would fly down to Southern California for the Day and fly back that night for like 40 bucks, you know, because I had to go to school or work the next day. So there was a summer there where I flew down for a day trip to meet her in la, probably six or seven times, you know, so. Because she'd moved and she was like. She was going off to school, too. You know how it is, like, when you're like, oh, we were together and now you're going off and you're like, hey, please don't forget about this guy that you like from Seattle. And I was kind of trying to convince her to go to college in Seattle at the time, too, which she eventually did. And then we got married and lived up there and stuff. So that was. It wasn't sneaking out. I wasn't supervised enough as a. As a teenager to really Even being like. If I were to sneak out, my dad, I think, would have just thought I was leaving. He wouldn't have cared. The first time I smoked. The first time I smoked pot was with my father, you know, like, so my. And it was.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Did he open up? You did. He opened up about Alaska Airlines. He was like, man, God damn these people's bags. Throw them to.

[Dustin Nickerson]

He's like, this freaking union. If I gotta pick it again, you know, they're getting greedy. And I'm like, I don't know about union stat. I'm 12. Sounds like a complex issue. Yeah. So, no, that was my family. I can't. I wasn't like, a rebellious kid anyways. But I think if I ever would have lashed out, it would have almost been like, to try and get noticed. Like, hey, remember that every once in a while you need to.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

My sister is three years older than me, and when she graduated and went off to college, I think mentally, my dad was like, they're both gone now. So.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I like your dad.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, he's a cool guy. I'm close to my dude. We're still very close. Still very close.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All right, moving on. Neighborhood 2, like, definitely different than the opening track, which I love. I love how you open the record with that first song. And. And going into this, there's a much more of a sense of urgency. It's faster, it's driving, emotional lyrics. Let's see. It's a reflection on the feeling of alienation and the search for escape. With references to the Soviet space dog.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Became the first animal to orbit Earth. It's a tragic story. Did you know this?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah. I learned that through this album.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Really? I didn't know that the song Was about. Until now.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Well, so when this album came out, I was listening to the Decemberist a lot, and I don't know if you know the Decemberist.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, yeah, I know. I know.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. This makes perfect sense. They go hand in hand.

[Dustin Nickerson]

They do. And I remember being like, are these true stories or not, these songs? Because the Decemberists, for those who don't know, and I'm sure a lot of you do, they make up fake stories in their songs. There are these anthems, there's these tales, and it's very fun. I like a fake story in a song, you know? And so I remember being like. For the first song when I'm like, is this an actual thing that happened? Because, you know, we didn't have as many. There weren't as many Fantanos out there. There weren't people doing reviews as often. It's harder to get information about records back then as it was now. And this was like, is this. What is this song about? What is this reference to? Who is Alex? You know, the. I didn't know if the stories were true or not. So I remember doing, like, some deep dives, and I was like, oh, this is out the Soviet dog and being alienated and feeling alone and stuff. I had no idea.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, that dog was the first living creature in space. That's so up, dude. I feel bad.

[Dustin Nickerson]

They had monkeys, too.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It says the dog, dude. It says the dog became the first animal to. Or. Okay. To orbit Earth. All right. With no plan for it to return. Dude, I feel weird. I feel weird giving. Giving Lekka a Xanax if she's going on a plane. Can you imagine? Like. Like. And now I don't even give her anything because she's. She gets the deal and she just lays there. Could you imagine being a dog treat? That's all you think? And then it's just like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It's not great. It's not great tragedy, you know, It's a real sad story. Yeah, it was the Lekka.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

How do you say it?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Like. Like. But lekka is kkk. Yeah, there are.

[Dustin Nickerson]

There are a few tracks on this album that I don't confidently pronounce.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The same neighborhood too, dude. At the live shows, the band Will. Will and Richard Reed Perry usually take on percussion duties, often engaging in eccentric and sometimes violent acts, while the rest of the band continues to perform. Hey, everybody. So you guys have probably heard me talk about how I've been in band my whole life. I love writing songs and performing in front of crowds. Just, like, with comedy As a musician, it can be kind of hard to cut through the noise and really stand out. As an artist, I feel like half the music projects I've been in have ended just because we couldn't figure out the answer to that eternal question of how do we get people to hear us. But then again, that was before there was Distrokid. Distrokid is a digital music distribution service that that brings your sound to the masses. It's a one stop shop for getting your songs on itunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and many more. What's Deezer? I never even heard of Deezer. How many of them are there? I know. That's like the holy grail of streaming services though. And getting paid. We want to get you paid for your music. That's huge because a lot of bands go broke before they get big. But Distrokid collects earnings and payments and sends 100% of these earnings to artists minus banking fees and applicable taxes. And that's just one of the tons of benefits of using Distrokid. You can send big files to anyone with their Instant Share feature. You can use the Hyper Follow feature to promote your release and get pre saves on your song. You can even create personal landing pages for yourself, your band, your brand, and whatever you like. It has a free Spotify Kid Canvas generator too to generate your own Spotify Canvas for your songs. And the Mixia feature instantly masters your tracks for higher quality audio. So if you're ready to bring your band to the next level, it's time to check out Distrokid. The Distrokid app is now available on iOS and Android. Go to the app or Play Store to download it. Listeners of this show show can get 30% off their first year by going to distrokid.com VIP the 500 that's distrokid.com VIP the500 for 30% off your first year. Dig it.

[Dustin Nickerson]

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[Josh Adam Myers]

Rules and restrictions apply. Have you what's the craziest thing you've ever done on stage? Could be like, have you. Have you got into fights with hecklers? Like, really bad. If anything ever come to blows, you ever had somebody try to attack you?

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, I've never had any. I've never had any. I've seen plenty of tapes and anymore people getting on stage, I mean, I got booed off stage at a college once that was. That was pretty rough, that I. That was the. So I. Yeah, no, I did a college where, you know these college gigs where you're supposed to go up and do 60 minutes and you're introducing your. This story takes a bit of a setup, but it's in the middle of nowhere. It's day 11 of 12 on the road. I have a skin infection. I'm sick. I just need to do this Tuesday night gig at 9pm in the cafeteria or whatever. And I get in there, there's nobody there. There's like, table. There's like two tables. They're like, hey, you're on at six. I'm like, okay. They're like, well. And class gets out at 6:10. I was like, well, why don't we start at 6:30 when there's some people in here? They're like, no, no, no. You just get started and then people will kind of sit down as you're doing the show. And I'm like, whatever. It's, you know, at this stage of your career, it's two grand or whatever. Like, this is huge. So anyways, I go on stage. I'm bombing. It's bombing. There's a couple people playing soccer in the back. There's a table in front. And I try to do some crowd work. And I remember they go like, hey, why are you talking to us? And I go, well, you know, you're. I'm trying to do some crowd work. You know, it's a comedy show. And then they go, we didn't ask for this. And I was like, everybody. And I remember being in that moment, being like, they are. Right? I'm interrupting them. They're here trying to study. Anyway, so sure enough, class gets out and I'm on stage, and in the distance is the cafeteria. And everybody starts getting into the cafeteria and ordering their food. And all I can hear is like a murmur in the back. And then I keep hearing like, the sandwich lady yelling out the orders like, josh, turkey on rye. Like. And I kind of do some bits on that. And that's. I'm supposed to do 60 Minutes, by the way. And I'm sick. And I'm. And I'm like. And the masses. The mob kind of gets the sense that there's a comedian bombing on stage. So like, suddenly there's, like, blood in the water, and they start heckling and they start, like, yelling, and there starts to be, like, some booing, and I'm like, dude, what am I supposed to do? I don't even know how to. There's no. Nobody's in charge. There's no. There's nobody. There's no club management. There's no security.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, nobody's policing.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Exactly. And I'm trying to do some crowd work. You're trying to do any. I'm also, like, five years into comedy. I'm pretty green at this point. And at one point, I go, anyways, yeah. So I'm trying to ask some guy his name, and I go, what's your name? And he goes, dee. I go, what? He goes, dee's nuts.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Fell right into that, dude.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I did. Yeah. And as I said it, there was, like, a beat, like, a theatrical pause, like. And then it was like, people started jumping on the tables and, like, ooing me off like that are, like, going crazy. And, like, what is going on? I'm like, people aren't even listening to me. I'm supposed to do 60 Minutes, right? I look down at my phone for the time I'm at. 17 minutes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Been there, dude.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And I just go. And I didn't have the skills to get out of it. I'm like, I didn't know what to do. And I'm, like, looking around for help or anything. And I just put the mic in the stand and I go, I don't need this. And I walked out.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Did you get paid?

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, of course not. I didn't get paid. Yeah. No, no, no. But it was. I didn't have the skills to get out of it. I was too green. I was too. I didn't have the material. I was nervous about doing the 60 minute if it was a good crowd. So that one. Because I remember being like, I don't even know how to start the next joke. You know what I mean? I don't know. How do you get into a premise after that? I didn't have the crowd worked. I didn't have any of the abilities that, you know, 15 years in, maybe I might. But, yeah, that one was wild. That one. And, like, you get on stage the next night, you get out, you shake it off. You know, I have to drive two hours and go take a red eye and Go back to my day job the next day. Like, it's a brutal. Oh, by the way, I wake up on. This is a Facebook error. I wake up on Facebook the next day and I check my notifications and there's a bunch of people from that college being like, got him. He's nuts. Like, they trolled me later and they. All the stuff about like, you know, you're stronger and, you know, failure. You know, you get back on it, you get back on the horse, it makes you. And that's. I still wish it would have never happened.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. Never go to St. Mary's College in Frederick, Maryland. That's where it is.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I've never been booed off stage. And if I ever. And if anybody ever booze, I'm going full burr in Philadelphia. I, I think you just burned that down, dude.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Yeah. And I, I mean, that's. Again, if I had any of this, I was too green. I just didn't have, you know, I didn't have that. You know, when Bird was in Philly, it was a 15 year comic.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Sure. But. And, but also I've, I, you know what, I do reflect. I have been booed. And it was at the rave in Baltimore that I was supposed to do an hour at. At a rave on a huge, like 30 person, 30, 000 person rave. And same situation when it. The booze were coming, they started throwing at me at this one stage of like 3, 000 people. And I look over at my buddy and I say, how much time do I have left? And he's like, dude, you've got 53 more minutes. And I'm like, oh, my God. And I just stayed up there because it's a rite of passage. And I was, I was a year and a half into Stand up up. And eventually, eventually you, I think what you would look and you're, you're like. You say you're green and I get it. It's like you. That's the, it's the worst situation to be in as a young comic because, you know, you're already in that thing where it's like they're not laughing and so you don't have them. And so, you know, you always see that new comic, like, tell a joke. And then he's like. And that's when I said, you know, you get it. And then there's no laugh. And then he's just like, all right. And then again, there's that awkward moment where it's like moving on to the next thing. And so You. You kind of just. I think, you know what I did was just say it, dude. If I get off, they win. And so I'm gonna stay up here, and I'll just. You figure it out.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

How much were you supposed to get paid?

[Dustin Nickerson]

It was like two grand or something like that. Yeah. So it was. No, it was terrible. I. You definitely. I regret not. Not staying on for what you say. All the things you're going through. Your mind is a comic, you know, And I've had since then, you know, a million gigs where. I mean, I've been booed since. At times, I've done shows where you just. You like, or that you're bombing or you just have to get through the hour or it's the drunk late show or whatever it may be where you've since done the time. It's the only time in my career I haven't done my time. And so I still think about it, you know, because, again, that's a comic. It is the rite of passage. You do your time. You don't let the crowd win. It's the one time that I just. I was just like, ah. I don't. I don't.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I don't.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I don't know how to get out of here, you know?

[Josh Adam Myers]

You gave up. All right, I want to check on. To make sure I get. This is the next song. Is the one that I think it is. Okay. Yeah. Un and sans lumiere. This is not one of my favorites. It's not a bad song. It's not a bad song, but it's just. It's definitely a calm, and I think it's like. It's more like the calm before the storm of the next track, which is Power Out. Do you have any thoughts on this on UNAN before we move on to the next one? I wanna. Because I'd rather talk about Power out more than I about that one.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Sure. No, I actually think that the end of this song becomes a different song that is meant to transition to Power Out. You know how the end of this song is a totally different song. All of a sudden, I. It does feel like an appetizer for Power Out.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And then. And then Power out just kicks the in.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And this song rocks.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It really does rock. I love, like, the bells and stuff that are in it.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I love.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I love the cadence of his voice. I love the way that he, like, sings over it. He actually won a Juno award for this song, along with two other tracks from Funeral, which Juno is like, the Canadian Grammys.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Okay.

[Josh Adam Myers]

That. That bare Naked Ladies is probably one every year. Them and Nickelback and like. Like Atlantis, Morissette.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

This music video, guys.

[Dustin Nickerson]

My favorite song on the track.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, this is it on the album. All right, well, you buried the lead, because we're gonna ask you that in the end, so. No, it's okay. It's. Well, we already. Now we can cut time at the end anyway. Despite the pessimistic atmosphere, Butler had indicated that there are two sides to the lyrics. It can be interpreted as uplifting, noting the lyrics and the powers out in the heart of man. Take it from your heart, put it in your hand, says Butler. If there's something up in your heart, you're going to put it in your hand as a sword. The lyrics also refer to Butler's idea that it's impossible to completely hide one's secrets. A lot of people have the idea that there are aspects of your life that are hidden or secret, but I think the people are pretty much open books. He. He adds that the song can be interpreted politically as current political figures have been accused of acting with hidden motives. You think?

[Dustin Nickerson]

I don't think they're even hiding anymore.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No. Did you ever. I mean, I don't think. You know. Have you ever been a part of a power outage?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, yeah. Not like an extended one. You know, I mean, we. No, no. We've had, like, some overnights here and there. You know, let's light some candles, that kind of stuff. But have you.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, yeah. I mean, we. Dude, we had that. Jared, I don't know if you remember, were you still in Maryland at the time when we had that big snowstorm? That was what I wanted to talk about at the beginning, too, because that was the first time I took Ambien. I remember I went to Paul Blimmins and Maurice. Remember when they used to live together?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

In that apartment. And, you know, my mom has this great medicine cabinet, so I used to always, like, steal drugs and bring them over to my friends. Like, guys, I got Lipitor, they got Pressure. And. And I brought over Ambien. And I remember I was like, let's each take, like, two of them. And. And we all just went to bed. We all just went to sleep and woke up, like, eight hours later, like. Like, refreshed.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's very funny. There's. There's a comic in. In Portland, a guy named Jordan Kazner, and he talked about getting into his dad's. He's got a joke about. It's like he didn't know what he was taking he went in. He's like, yeah, dude, I went in. I took eight ibuprofen. He's like. And I just felt great for the first time. I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm in no pain. But he thought he was doing something crazy, but same thing. He got a great night's sleep. What a rush.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But the funny thing was when. I think when we got there, the power was out, and then when we all woke up, the power was back on. On, so. But it had been, like, a couple days because the pat. The snowstorm was so bad. I mean, Maryland and D.C. are pretty on it.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Kind of LA. We. When I lived in LA, during some windstorms, the power lines, because they. They're stupid. And they got all the power lines up above everything, which is why the city keeps burning down. But it's like being a power outage. Unless it's the summer where it's, like, hot. That. That sucks.

[Dustin Nickerson]

But.

[Josh Adam Myers]

But anything else, like, you give a dude if it's the winter in LA and the power goes out, you're like, oh, my God, it's. It's 65 degrees. Like, yeah, open the windows, dude. Who gives a. Oh, yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

What a nice breeze. That's nice. You know, it's. No, that's like. It's. It's. It's a novelty. It's almost kind of fun, you know, like, oh, let's get our flashlights. Yeah, we.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Let me see what's next. The kettles. All right, hold on. Just to make sure I get them all right. Because I. I don't know them all by names.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Well, it's hard to remember the names of this. These tracks. They're all, you know, neighborhood. Half of them are in French. And they don't necessarily always immediately, like, make sense of the. It's not always a direct associate. Like, I wrote some of this stuff down because I'm like, I gotta remember which track. Like, you said, which one. How does this go together? So I. I'm with you on that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I like kettles because, you know, a hot but never boy.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I just love that.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I'm really into. I'm really into. Like, I know I sent you Jer punch up at a wedding. I love that, like, that lyric in it. You know, the pot will call the kettle black. It's a junk. Oh, dude. I learned it on piano. I'm like, yeah, that's what you do when you have. You have to fill. You have to fill 8 hours of your day before you have shows. You just start learning. Mandy. By Barry Manilow on piano.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Perhaps the most understated of all the tracks off of funeral of the neighborhood tracks in particular is. Is seven Kettles. It's Butler's reflection on the inevitable passage of time. The watch pot in the reframe is time itself. He says, you can't stop time. You focus on particular moments regardless of their eyes are closed or not. The passage of time is inevitable. I say that to everybody. I say, well, you know what the most valuable commod is in its time. And that's why. That's why the biggest insult you can say to somebody is, you're wasting my time. Like, that's. That's like. In my opinion, that's the biggest you. That's more than just you, but being like, dude, you're like. Because anytime people watch some of my Internet clips and they. They're like, I hate this. And I'm like, well, I'm sorry I took a minute and 30 seconds from your life. You know what I mean? I apologize.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, that's funny. Yeah, the. Go ahead.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No, I was gonna say, what's the worst troll thing anybody said about one of your clips?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, I get some of them. They're. I get told I look like the Green River Killer in every video. Oh, my God.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You look like a skinny btk, too. I'll take that.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Oh, dude, when I take my. And you see down the hairline, it's very. I'm very. Well, you know what's funny is I grew up 10 minutes from Gary Ridgeway, where he. That like those. My dad drove those streets to the airport. Yeah. So I get. I get the Green River Killer one a lot. And I. Yeah, dude, cut the mustache, bro.

[Josh Adam Myers]

If you cut the mustache, well, then.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It'S Macklemore and.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It might be better.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Than the Green River. Another. Another Seattle. Another Seattle. I. So, yeah, the. That. That's the one I get a lot. It is funny when. You know what? Like, the fun not funny one does not bother me because what we do is all very. You know, it's very subjective. You know, you. You might like it, you might not, but when people start talking about the way you look, you're like, dang it, that one, I don't love that. Waste my time is. I don't think the. That one doesn't get me. The ones that get me every once in a while, they'll be like, the worst is when a video doesn't perform well and there's just one negative comment. That one kills me. Like. Like when people say like, don't read the comments. You're like, well, there's only two. And. And one of them will be. Just be like, people, I'll get this one every once. Or like, God, this guy is so annoying. He said similar to the waste of time. Like, you're like, oh, my gosh. You just. I upset you. I bothered. There's something about me that gets under your skin. I'm kind of working on it as a bit, but I think this is a funny too. Like, even if somebody. Somebody is positive about the way I look, everyone, if somebody says something nice about me, me, it's always with a qualifier.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It'll be like a compliment.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Like, I don't know what's wrong with me, but I think this guy's attractive. And you're like, what do you mean there's something wrong with.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, dude. Jer. Dude. My producers ex wife Christine, she used to give me the most backhanded compliments ever, you know?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

God. It was like, why do you hate me? I love you. Yeah, I would never say that.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I got one once that said I look like a really tired Donnie Wahlberg.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, my. People are nailing it, dude.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's already the less attractive Wahlberg. And then you added tired.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Dude, that Green river thing is. Please tell me.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, yeah, yeah, go ahead.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No, no, I finish your thought and then I'll say mine. Go ahead.

[Dustin Nickerson]

So much so that whenever somebody comments on it, a lot of the time I will be like, we've covered this on this page before because the jokes about me looking like him have. I've posted them a few times, but you know how it is on the Internet. You never know what people have seen. Like, people will do it like, oh, my gosh. You got to be careful saying this guy's last name. And you're like, yeah, that's like a joke that I had that went viral a few times. But you don't know what people have seen of your stuff, you know, So I have. I do talk about it. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Angelo Bowers is my buddy that passed away, which is one of the reasons we do this. He very nerdy looking guy, curly hair with glasses. He had the most brilliant joke that was like, I'm trying to get acting roles. It's been hard. But I recently just got cast in an off Broadway play playing the woman that killed Selena. And he looks just. I mean, like, can you pull up a picture of Angela real quick?

[Dustin Nickerson]

And just.

[Josh Adam Myers]

It's so like, he. The way he stands and the way he looks. He looks exactly like that woman. And it's just when it's such a reference, like, even the Green River Killer is such a deep cut. You know what I mean?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Because he's not. He's not one of the big ones. He. He was. He had. But he's not Bundy, you know, he's not. You know. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. He wasn't one of the big ones. Ones. But if, you know, it's very. It's, you know, and everyone in the Northwest does.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. Here's, like. There's, like, he looks like. And I'll pull up the woman that killed Selena. I have it here. Hold on. Yeah, like, right there. The blue shirt. The blue shirt. Or in the white. Like, he looked without. It's just. He. He looked just like her. God damn. It was so great. Great. I love those.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All right. Crown of Love. Let me just refresh. Okay. Yeah. See, Crown of Love. I like this one, too. Beautiful song.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I love.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I love when Wynn sings and I. You know, I'm nothing against Regine, because In the Back Seat is such a great, powerful song. And the way that she sings it at the end. And I love watching, by the way. I forgot to say this. I'm in love with their violinist. Their violinist is so hot.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Hot.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And she's like that girl Nita Strauss, that. That guitar player that plays with Alice Cooper that's, like, blonde and hot and got all the makeup on. She's like, shredding. The violinist knows that she's attractive, and she knows that people are looking at her, and she just kills it. Regine, you know, is. Is. Is. I think she has her moments where I really, really dig it. But I love. I love the parts of the album where Wynn is taking lead vocals. This song has a deep sense of longing and vulnerability. The central themes revolve around love that has been lost or unrequited. And the singer's emotional struggle with that loss, he said, suggests that love, while a powerful, beautiful force, can be a very heavy burden. Like a crown that one is forced to wear, whether or not it is deserved.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, this song. Yeah, this song is interesting because I. I've read the lyrics to it, like, you know, 20, 30 times. And it is one of those things where it's like. It's. It's like a numbness. And they were in love, but he's not. But then at the end, there's like a desperation, like the. You gotta be the one. You gotta be the. Almost like he's trying to convince himself that they are supposed to Stay together. It's a. Even though he said that stuff earlier, like the spark is not within me. Which is like a. Like if you've ever been in one of the relationships where it just doesn't. It. We're just over, you know, where like I'm with you, but it's not there anymore. There's like a Death Cab lyric where he says similar. Like, she's beautiful, but she don't mean a thing to me. You know, that same idea of like, you're here but there's nothing in between us. And then this song has like a disco break at the end of it. A few of the tracks do this where they turn into different songs at the end of the song. Song.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What was I about to say about this song? Oh, no, I wanted to ask you. Is like. So you've been with your wife since high school?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, we've been together a long time. Yeah, 23 years.

[Josh Adam Myers]

How did you meet? He was like in class, I'm assuming. Like, do you have a project together?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Dude, we got married at 19. Where do you think we met? We met in church youth group.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh my God. That's Jared. That's me. Hey. I'm a pk. A preacher's kid, so.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, you're a pk. Yeah. Beautiful. There you go.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And that's why I probably love Arcade.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Fire so much and maybe why you do too. Outside of the great music, there's all these like, you know.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Neon Bible was amazing. 100 he. Because he's a PK, isn't he?

[Josh Adam Myers]

I think so. Yeah. I think I just found. I just had. I just had random facts up about them. Hold on, let me see if I can pull them back.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I think win is a. I think his dad was. Or some. I. I might be misremembering.

[Josh Adam Myers]

His grandmother was a member of an all swing band called the King Sisters Band. Purchased an old Church in 2005 where they recorded Neon Bible in the suburbs. Kind of. No, it could be. I've got all these anti religion. If you. I mean like all the messages in their songs are.

[Dustin Nickerson]

They very much resonate with me. So. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, something really cool. William Butler also missed a performance of when they played Conan o' Brien because he was still in college and his professor wouldn't give him permission to leave Northwest for Eastern to perform 50 interesting facts about Arcade Fire on Amazon.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, his dad is a geologist. In no way whatsoever. A pastor. I don't know where I grabbed that, but you know, it's. I'll just throw it out there, did.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You hand your white. Did you give her like a note that said like, want to go out with me? Check. Yes, no, or maybe?

[Dustin Nickerson]

No, no, no. I, I asked her out outside of an apple box piece, which is, you know, romantic in its own right. So. Sorry. Yeah, yeah. And I was like very like shy and downplayed like, yeah, I think you're pretty great. I don't know if anything will come of this, you know, but, you know, I'm also like 17 at the time. I'm not gonna beat my 17 year old game up too much. But yeah, we, you know, it's very common amongst young religious folks. We got, we got married pretty young because the joke that I told my old special is because, you know, we were rule followers and we were eager. Yeah, we were. That's, you know, like, all right, well, what do we have to do to have sex? Get married. Great. Great. Yeah, yeah, let's, let's line that up.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Let's hurry. Let's speed this up. Good for you, dude. I love that. I like, I always look at like Johnny. I'll keep mentioning a lot of people from our pass in this episode, but Johnny and Lisa, two of our best friends, they were high school sweethearts and they had a break for like a year or something where they both got to, I guess so the Royal Oats, but, but they got back together and you know, and then Jeremiah Watkins, another Jeremiah, he's been with his wife and he was a virgin up until then. So, you know, I, Yeah, there's like.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Like I mentioned, there's like. I'm really close to, with Taylor Tomlinson because we started together and she's like a sister to me and, and Taylor is single. And sometimes there are songs like Crown of Love where there's another one. I don't know if you guys have kept up with Not a Surf, who had the big song popular and stuff. They put out some great stuff since then too. But they have this song called Inside of Love. I want to know what it's like on the inside of love, you know, and, and it's, and it's pretty. It's about his relationships and he's. I know the last page, so I don't want to start the first. I know how these end and, and I, I'm. I. A lot of the time I, I will. I've told, I've joked with Taylor. I'm like, sometimes I like, I read songs, lyrics to be like, oh, yeah, no, that sounds pretty tough. Being single. It's just like a Naive. Like, man, people are really going through out here, you know, it seems like there's a lot of pain going out here, here. And she's like, you idiot. Dustin, I'm sorry. You've been married since you were 15. You don't know what it's like to go through a breakup.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I know you one and done, dude. One and done.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Yeah. So I'm very grateful and I don't take any of it for granted with your wife.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Is that right?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Don't make me. Yeah, yeah. It's a funny podcast about family. We're on neighbor Gazi's network, Natelands.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I love him. He's the best. Wake up. This Waiting for the Moment. The song. This is the song. This is it. This is. I mean, I don't know if it's the best song on the record, but I think it's the one that they play every single show. They. People need to hear it. It's anthemic. The O's in it. The chant is. I mean, it's. It's. You feel it in your bones. Even the lyrics. I love the. You know, with Just A Million Little Clouds. Yeah, It's a call.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And Wake Up Children. It's definitely a highlight from this record. And they usually play it as their encore. Yeah. Thoughts, Thoughts. The first time you heard this, did you. Did it affect you? Because I don't know if it really got me immediately, but I definitely. After seeing the Bowie version, I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, the bow.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, the Bowie. Bowie was such. Was a fan of Arcade Fire, right. He kind of famously said of Reflector, if you don't release this, I'm going to steal this song. Like, he was a big fan of. Of Arcade Fire. Oh, he knew them before. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Well, no, I think. I think he heard that. He heard this record, dude. This record? Yeah, this record, like we talked about, it's. It was probably one of Bowie's favorite records of the year. And, yo, he's the kind of guy that probably. I mean, maybe there's an article about if you want to look it up and see if we can find a chair. But, like, because I'm just freestyling what I probably think, but I'm just assuming it's the same thing with, like, Prince. Like, he was like, oh, I like what you do. It's like, we should work together or we should do something.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, you know, which I'm sure for them, you know, Like, I don't know who your favorite comics were growing up, Josh, or who you said Your influences are. Or I'm sure for Arcade Fire to be like, get a call from Bowie, you know, king of the weirdos. Like, cool, weird, awesome. They've gotta be like, well, where do we go from here? There was a moment where Arcade Fire, like the little bit of, you know, punk rocker that I have on me in me, got too big for me to like amongst cool hipster type. And it was not just what he starts doing with Bowie, but I remember Chris Martin said they were the greatest band of all time. Chris Martin called Arcade Fire. Like, I think this might have been after like neighbor, like after like the suburbs. It was very early on, but he called them the greatest band ever. And you're like, okay, it might be time to pump the brakes a little bit. But. But that being said, this song was. Yeah. So the right word. Anthemic. That it's the great anthem where you, you don't even have to know the words. A lot of people just sing. Just a million. And everyone yelling together that. I think I caught this probably on a radio once. But this, it is reflective of. We talked about this earlier, like, kind of comparing them to Weezer. Like, I kind of have to be in a mood to listen to that song. It's not a cat in this whole album. It's not like a casual listen to me. It's like, I don't know, it's like a. More like a fine dining meal or like, or like a deep dish pizza. You're like maybe once a year.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, it's a good analogy. Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Otherwise it's too much for me. It's like a whole thing for me to dive into this.

[Josh Adam Myers]

This, you know, it's not the easiest album to listen to, but I think, you know, while listening to it, I'm excited knowing that this song is coming up, you know, and, and it really does and still has since the first. Not the first. Maybe. I don't know. I mean, I don't know, maybe it did get me the first time, but I, I just remember seeing the Bowie thing first. But, but it's always been. Been one of my favorite songs by them. And I think, you know, you get, you get. Not every band. Some bands are lucky enough to write like, you know, 20 songs like this and, and just to be able to get one and. On your first record. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's. It's powerful. It's. It's a beautiful song, has a great message and you know, I think, I think that that's. This is like, the hard thing about having your best record be your first one. And I don't think the Suburbs is their best record. I know that one album of the year. You know, I think this. I think that was kind of a miss. That was like a makeup for this one. I think it was like. It was like they gave back Morning Morning phase or Morning. Whatever that morning record was when he should have given it to him first. Morning View. But really, it's Morning View.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Is it it? Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Morning View is Incubus.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. This is like. This is like. What did Leo finally get right, Best actor for? It was like, something.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Dustin Nickerson]

The Remnant, which was, like, good, you know, but it was like, all right, we got to give you one of these. You know, we messed up last time, you know, so I get that. Yeah. I, I, I. You know, it's obviously, it's hard with words like best but favorite. I mean, this certainly is my favorite album of theirs. And it might have been just because it was the debut, because it was the introduction in a lot of ways to not just a whole new band, but, like, you know, a whole different kind of sound than I was super familiar with. I mean, there were people, like, in that scene, like Sufjan, who were doing similar things, and I mentioned the Decemberist and. And of Montreal was kind of floating around similar time frames, you know, but they, you know, took it to such a more, you know, bigger. Both mainstream and bigger, almost like arena type sound with songs like this.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And they can fill it, man. They. I mean, they. They killed the Barclays. It was. It was a phenomenal show. And, And. But. But I definitely, you know, have seen, you know, I. I know they did Brooklyn, Paramount, which they could have done a bigger venue and because it sold out pretty quickly. But, you know, I. I just think there's been this steady. It's hard when you come out with three great records and then they just made the shift. I do like everything now. I love that song. I love that song. I love some stuff off Reflector. I love some stuff off We. The new record I haven't really listened to either yet. But then, like, it's like this. It's like where you're gonna get. Because the next song I want to talk about is Rebellion, Lies. Because I don't. I don't like Haiti. I think Haiti is.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Even though it's, you know, I skip it every time. Every time I skip it. Yeah. And it's just a chore for me to listen to yeah. And. And. And I feel bad because this is a song that means a lot to her, you know, but it just. It just has never done. Done anything for me.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Means nothing to us. We don't give a. About Haiti, dude.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It's not even that. Just the song just. It just. You're like, all right. Especially. And maybe it's just like a comedy lineup that, you know, somebody has a hard time following the act before it.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, you're right. No, you're right. You're right. You are. That's a really nice. Because the next one's a great truck. Give me lies Give me rebellion lies Rebellion lies Come on. Rebellion, lies I love this.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. By the way, just before I forget, you mentioned we. That the Lookout Kid Unconditional Great is actually my favorite Arcade Fire song. So. Which even though the album is not, I like the album. But as like a dad that song is. And it's like my wife's. What that might be my wife's top five favorite song ever. Yeah, it's very great. Very. You know, there's no rock without. You know, so it's all. There's no God without a soul. There's like it's. And it is like it's a. It's a tear jerker over song. So they are even. That was kind of like a redemptive because you talked about. Have they kind of like maybe popularity mainstream kind of plateaued, but like out of nowhere they released probably my favorite song. It was exciting.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I. I love. I love that you love that song because I love that song too. But that's the thing about where they've gone. They. They're not writing these brilliant records anymore to the. To like the passive fan that wants to be involved. They're writing. I'm getting three great songs and then the rest I could give a. About about. Or I'm getting two great songs and the rest I could give a about or even sometimes like on Reflector. One great song, which is a reflector, and then the rest I could give a about.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I love.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Dude. When the Suburbs came out. Not even the Suburbs. When the song the Suburbs came out. Me and a comedian, Benji Aflalo, were driving down to San Diego to do a gig and I had to drive his. His like, BMW because he wanted to sleep or something. And on the way back, we were listening to a radio station and they played the Suburbs. And then I went home that night and on YouTube, I listened to the Suburbs Herbs at least a hundred times. Like, I love that song. I. I know that's but the rest of the record, it has some great songs, but there's some stuff in it. I'm kind of like, okay, it's fine, but I'm not.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Right. Right.

[Josh Adam Myers]

You know, I think like. And we've talked about it and already said it in. In abundance, which is the. The first two records are, I think Arcade Fire's best work. And then I. Then like you said Lookout Kid, Age of Anxiety, Rabbit Hole. I mean, there's. There's some good show, but. And. And that makes me go, oh, the album doesn't suck because that stuff's on it. But this one has, you know, like I said, six out. I'd say six to seven out of ten songs. And one of them being Rebellion Lies, which, you know, that's what's great about Haiti is that you know that this song is coming up because I. After I listen to the album a bunch, I know that I was like, oh, Rebellion's after this.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And it's just such a. A great song. I love that. This is how the first time I heard them was this. You know, just the build up, the violins in it. I. Dude, I was.

[Dustin Nickerson]

It's nice. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

People play air guitar at the gym. I was playing air violin yesterday.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And this song is about the lies that your parents tell you.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What's the biggest lie your parents ever told you? Or like, not even the biggest lie, but like, not Easter Bunny or Santa or like that. Like, what's.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, you know, my. This is like. This might be more of like a heavy one. My dad. My dad was very good about not letting everyone know how much the divorce was my mom's fault until I was an adult. Does that make like.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. Like, he really. My dad is a good man. Went out of his way to be like, you know, to kind of COVID a lot of that up. And now as an adult, you hear some of the stories and you're like, oh, oh, my God. So that was it. And you're like, oh, man. Like, and as a parent, you realize, like, there is. Is an element of not. You're not always lying to your kids, but you are withholding.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Sure.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Because you're just like, you're not ready for this. You can't hear this. And it is for your own good. And you would never understand that as a kid. You're like, tell me the truth. And you're like, yeah, you know, it's actually. You're not ready for this. So that was, you know, that one is one that I've realized in like the last five, ten years of relationship with my dad.

[Josh Adam Myers]

As you should. As you should know as you get older. But maybe as a kid, that's gotta be too heavy. It's the same, Same funches. Has a really funny joke about, about, like, how he lies to his kid. Like the government lies to us. It's like, it's not. You don't have to know everything. You know what I mean?

[Dustin Nickerson]

You don't have to know everything.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

You wouldn't be able to. That's how I feel about the government. I was like, if, of course the government is lying to us, just let me know, like, one at a time. Don't dump it on me all the same time. Yeah. You know, I can't. I can't handle that. That'd be too much.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. The backseat. Let's mention it. We've already kind of talked about it. It's. It's a great song. I think it's a great way to end the record. It's, it's. I definitely think it's probably one of Regine's best songs that she's done with them because it's. You can. And especially towards the end of it, when she really goes into that, like, powerful, like, whale. It's. I think it's. I think it is, you know, I think it is the perfect song probably to end the record with.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I agree. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. You know, I, I, I love, I love the sequencing of this album. You know, it's. It's not a no skip record, but the songs on it that rule.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. It feels. This album, to me, feels like this, like you're going through just. I mean, it isn't feel. It is. It's different stages of grief, you know, of just like denial and anger. And this one, to me, is very reflective of the end of, of looking back at your childhood. Right. Of that innocence of being in the backseat. But it feels in tone, like acceptance to me, of just like. It's kind of. We've kind of, like, reached that, that, like, reflective kind of time, and it doesn't have the. It has some of, like, the melancholy of acceptance, but not like the grief and the anger and the rage that we've seen earlier on and in the album, you know, So I think it's a great. It's one of favorite ending songs to an album.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Totally, totally, totally, totally. I wanted, I wanted to ask you. Well, first of all, is there anything that we missed, Jared, that needs to be talked about for this record? I don't think So, I mean, it was. The super bowl used Wake Up. What was that? 20, 2010 Super bowl used Wake up as kind of the. The theme song.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

To Haiti. Just health. Relief efforts in Haiti for the earthquake.

[Dustin Nickerson]

So it also was the. I remember it was the. It was the track for the. I'm pretty sure, at least it was the track for the movie for where the Wild Things Are.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Wake up was. It was.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Was the director. Yeah. So my. Because you normally would ask what your favorite favorite song is. What you already said. Sorry, I was like, you know, it's fine. It's fine. So I want to ask you. I want you to rank all the Arcade Fire records from. From worst. From best to worst.

[Dustin Nickerson]

From best to worst. I'm gonna pull them up just so it's easier for me this way. Is that okay?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Please? Yeah, do it. I can pull it up, too, if it helps you. Yeah, pull them up so I can see him too.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Too.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Jer.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna throw in Pink Elephant because I haven't. Can I not. Can I pass on Pink Elephant Because I haven't gotten into it enough.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Just put that as last right now, because. Yeah, that'll be the bottom one.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

This will be amended.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. So we've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to rank here. Yeah. I mean, my number one is funeral. I come back to it so often, and it's got some of my favorite tracks on it. So Funeral, it probably goes Funeral. And then chronologically, we're staying the same in Neon Bible. I just. Neon Bible's got some great tracks in it. And, you know, kind of to your point, either it does have some interesting kind of religious tones and talks and songs to it. You know, working for the church as your family dies. You know, like, there's like. There's some really good stuff in there that I really liked. This is where it's Suburbs and then. And then kind of a tie for Everything Now Reflector and we. I know that's kind of a pack ass, but I just kind of. You were kind of getting at it earlier, Josh, of just like they each have some stuff that does something for me, like a couple track. But as far as albums, you know, the first three are kind of what do it for Me. And then everything else, I kind of pick and choose. Does that make sense?

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I go Neon Bible, Funeral, we, the Suburbs. Everything now reflects actor. And then.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

And then. And then Pink Elephant and her. I don't really Know, but I like Neon Bible a lot more than I like Funeral. And I think I like. I, I, I like more songs off of we than I like off of the Suburbs. But I. The song that I love of the suburbs, I really like Reflector. I only feel as one. Everything Now's got a few good ones and yeah, but I think Neon Bible is.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Neon Bible. I think I would have to go back and listen because I don't think I've listened to it in a couple years. I mean, the tracks come up every once in a while, but obviously Funeral is more, you know, front of mind right now. But it does. Neon Bible is a great album.

[Josh Adam Myers]

No Cars Go. It really, the ending part, really like it just. Just thinking about it kind of like chokes me up. It's such a good song. For some reason, it's like you were talking about, like, you know, especially that. That album being the first record being about loss. It's no Cars Go. For some reason, it, it, it just makes me think of my dad and I and it's like my dad passed away a long time ago and I hardly ever think about him. It's not like I'm not. I don't not love the guy. Of course I love him. But that song, I remember the first time I really listened to that in 2007. It made me think of him. And I had a really good cry over it. So because of that, that and then Keep the Car Running Black Mirror Intervention and then My body, My Body is a cage.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's one of Wynn's best vocal. So good for me. I really like that song. Yeah, I could go. I could be convinced easy on Neon Bible. Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Listen to it again. Listen to it again. And then when we post the comment so all the fans can see like, you know, of your. Your thoughts on that or maybe even I put the re ranking when on our underneath the Instagram post.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Okay. Killer. Yeah. If you do another listen.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All right, so we know your favorite song. What' least favorite song on the record?

[Dustin Nickerson]

Haiti. Yeah. Yeah. It's not a bad song. But again, I, I think I like the analogy I used earlier. It's. It kind of got buried in the lineup.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Did can you to this record or have you.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yes and probably yes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yay.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Yeah. No, I'm a little indie rock kid. You know, there. You know, I. In some ways I think it shows a Power out is the most versatile track in a lot of ways. You know, because you can work out to that song. You know, you could make some. Some more aggressive Love to that song, you know, there. But you got to be careful on this, on this. You couldn't pull the full album because you might, you know, you might get into something a little too heavy. Grieving wise.

[Josh Adam Myers]

The ending is very emotional. Very, very emotional. I just can imagine you like eating box to like, ready to start off of the suburbs. What would be your elevator pitch to get someone to listen to this record? Like, how do you sum this album up?

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's a great question. I, that I, I know the question. It's, it's, to me, this is like such a, you know how when they talk about comedians, sometimes, like hicks will ruin a generation of comedians behind them.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah.

[Dustin Nickerson]

I do feel like this album led to some crappy music. And so in the elevator pitch, you almost have to go, we're back in 2003 before you've heard a lot of the annoying stuff. That this was fantastic. Was a big critique of this. I, I, I heard it, watched his YouTube video on it. It was essentially the music that it led to annoyed me. And you're like, well, that's not a great critique. You know, that's not their fault. But, you know, it's, it's, it would be, hey, we're going to give you an alternative music that is blended with this weird kind of folksy Americana. And it's going to have almost like, almost like a depth of lyric that a lot of like the grunge lyrics had that you're like, I'm sorry, we're talking about death in this right now. So it's, I think it's as, you know, as a 40 year old millennial from the Pacific Northwest, I mean, that checks a lot of boxes for this guy right here.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Yeah, for sure.

[Dustin Nickerson]

And I also think that this band is very like, very visually interesting too, which I think did lead to a lot of their success.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I think that. I like that you said that about the Seattle maybe. I think that is a reason why this record probably resonates, you know, with the rain and the mood. It's like it is a very, you know, British or, or Seattle sound type record. It's like you only get that kind of emotion when it's like you're locked inside and it's only sunny for, you know. Yeah, 30 of the day. Day.

[Dustin Nickerson]

That's what I'm telling you, Josh. I'm listening to this song in my wired, you know, air headphones in, walking in the drizzle through red square in the University of Washington. And you said this movie, you know, this feels very Theatrical. It makes you feel kind of theatrical. And you know, it look. It's. It looks like an indie movie. It feels like you're being in an indie movie while you listen to this and. And walk through a rainy day in the northwest Quest.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I love it. Dude, please come back on. This was so much fun, man. We'll have you got. We got. We got at least 151more records, so be on standby.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Oh, thank you. I. I would love to. Yeah. And this one. This. I wouldn't. This. This isn't like my absolute. I know we're trying to wrap here, like, wheelhouse as far as music knowledge goes, but it was kind of like that second wave of music that I got into as a young adult. So. Yeah, stay in touch. I was excited when this kind of popped up and to. To be able to talk about it. So.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Shared. Oh, just sorry, but because we only have Arcade Fire for one is they also did the.

[Dustin Nickerson]

The score or the soundtrack for her.

[Josh Adam Myers]

All right, that's fine, dude. We don't need to know that. We were about to stick the landing and you're like, yeah. So when you do it, Ready to start was directed by Charles Lightning Empire in London.

[Dustin Nickerson]

When you do Elton John, you have to throw in the Lion King soundtrack too, apparently.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Promote away, buddy. Anything you want to promote.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Tons of upcoming dates. I'm always on the road. Dustinickerson.com for tour dates. I got a podcast if you like hearing about funny family stuff. Don't make me come back there. A couple specials on YouTube. I'm out there.

[Josh Adam Myers]

I love it. Everybody go see Dustin. Thank you so much for coming on, brother.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Thanks for having me. This was great.

[Josh Adam Myers]

What did I tell you? What did I tell you? The one and only Dustin Nickerson on Instagram, Dustin Nickerson Nickerson on Facebook and Tick Tock Dustin Nickerson comedy. And go to dustin nickerson.com for all tickets. And like I said, check out his podcast, don't make me come back there and his book, how to be married to Melissa. Now we just listened to RK Fire's debut record, Funeral for Distro Kid, our proud sponsor. They have given us for new music Waiting for a Boy by say Lulu. And you can find links to the music on our website, the 500podcast.com and if you were in a band or directly influenced by one of these albums or artists and you want your music featured on the 500, send your song to 500podcastmail.com make sure you put the album and artists that influenced you in the subject line. Next week it's number 150 with Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the edge of town. I should have done it with a Jersey accent. It's a hard accent to do if you haven't listened to this record. This is one you got to dig into because we got a banger of a guest banger.

[C]

You're gazing in star I look through the door dreaming is easy when you're 24 dusty like the house you live in sweep the floor all day when I'm feeling down I can't be here waiting for a boy to let the rocks I throw at your window crash into the room while you sleep in sound Been awake all night waiting for a boy to love me a little more I made you dinner it's going cold I'm bored by your music that echoes down the hall all you're playing a part I'm washing your clothes.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Got.

[C]

To beg you to touch me you're just ready for dusty like the house you live in sweep the floor all day when I'm feeling down I can't be be here waiting for a boy to let the rocks out throw out your window crash into the room where you sleep in sound Been awake all night waiting for a boy to love me a little more together but not.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Together.

[C]

Together but not together waiting for together but not together together been love together to love me a little more like the house you live and sweep the floor all day when I'm feeling down I can't be here waiting for a boy to let the routes I throw at your window Crash into the room while you sleep inside time Been awake all night waiting for a boy to love me a little more.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Together.

[C]

In the wake on the night together but not together waiting for together but not together to love me I waited for you.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Sam the 500 keeping it.

[Dustin Nickerson]

Fleecy.

[Josh Adam Myers]

For the fleece nation on the 500 the 500.

[C]

Mama papa.

[Josh Adam Myers]

Next chapter Podcast.