Michelle 0:11

Welcome to Nirvana the Band The Show The Podcast. The podcast where we talk about everything, Nirvana the Band, the show. We're going through every single episode and we are talking about it and we are developing theories and we are making a plan, of course. A plan to make this podcast in the hopes that Nirvana the Band themselves, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll, will come on the show and talk to us. Welcome. I'm Michelle.

Steve 0:38

I'm Steve.

Michelle 0:39

And I'm Kit. And we are Nirvana the Band, the show The Podcast. Lights Fireworks. Big show. This is the first time we're recording since the first episode of our show has gone out into the world, which is super exciting. I'm happy to report that we are currently, I think, or at least we were a week ago, the number one film and TV podcast in Uruguay. Thank you so much. Yeah. So congratulations, Kit and Steve and me on achieving this beautiful goal. And congratulations to, I think, the one person in Uruguay who has helped us achieve this uh beautiful status.

Kit 1:19

Yeah, can you come on the pod, please? Move the podcast.

Michelle 1:22

At least send us a voicemail.

Kit 1:23

Yeah.

Michelle 1:24

Yeah. We have gone uh miles ahead in podcast professionalism, and we do now have a way to leave us a voicemail, which is speakpipe.com backslash nirvana the pod. Um so if you want to say hi, if you want to tell us about something you love about Nirvana the Band, the show, you can go there to speakpipe.com slash Nirvana the pod and leave us a message. We would love to hear from you, um, especially one person in Uruguay, but also anyone else.

Kit 1:54

Should we also talk about the preferential treatment that Canadians will receive if they leave us a voicemail?

Michelle 2:00

Uh yeah. Do you want to tell the Canadians what they have to win?

Kit 2:04

Yeah. So um beloved Canadians, our our beautiful neighbors up north, um, in an effort to atone for our sins of being from the United States, um we would love for you to leave a voicemail to our speakpipe voicemail machine. Um you don't have to leave any messages related to Nirvana the band. You can leave any type of message, to be honest, and we'll play it. Uh so it can be your your coffee order, uh, a cool bird that you saw today. The weather. Your favorite flavor of Timbit?

Michelle 2:43

Ooh, yes. Which I understand is a thing that Canadians love.

Kit 2:47

Yeah, favorite Timbit. Anything you want, just leave it. We would love to hear from you. So yeah.

Michelle 2:54

How's the weather in Vancouver today?

Steve 2:57

Colin talked to me about Chandler LeVax I Love Mo I Like Movies. A great movie from Canada. I think that's all the Canadian movies I know. Shania Twain, come on the pod. That don't impress me much.

Kit 3:08

Tom Hanks, come on the pod.

Steve 3:10

Stop saying he's Canadian.

Michelle 3:12

He is. I think if you say it enough times, it'll become true. It's like Beetlejuice.

Steve 3:19

Same joke, different creature.

Michelle 3:23

So before we jump into the episodes that we're discussing today, which are episodes nine and ten of the web series, the last two official web series episodes, I thought it was a good time to check in on the status of at least a few of our ongoing plans. I know that we've made quite a lot of them in the last four episodes, um, but at least the ones on the top of our list. So first and foremost, number one, have we heard anything from Matt and Jay yet? No.

Kit 3:50

It's not from lack of trying. I threw a brick at someone I thought was Matt. It was not. Um, and now I'm evading the police. Um, Matt Johnson, if you are listening, if you could help a bitch out, that would be really sick. I didn't mean it. And also I didn't hit you with a brick, so like it's fine. Yeah, I think he should help you. Yeah.

Steve 4:11

All you did was break. You did not enter.

Michelle 4:13

True. Yeah. I haven't heard anything from them either, but we did get some podcast downloads in Toronto. So fingers crossed, I feel hopeful that that that that could be one of our boys. Number two, have we heard anything from Jay's dad? I certainly have not.

Steve 4:28

I searched for him on OKCupid and he was not listed. Bummer.

Michelle 4:32

And then a big question for Kit, I know this is really important to you. Have we gotten a C synthesis to frame and hang on the wall of your apartment yet?

Kit 4:40

Uh sadly, no. I am shocked at this point. It has been so many episodes with only one actually being live as of time of recording. Two, actually, now that I think about it. Um, I have not received anything in my mailbox nor our fictional P.O. box. And we haven't received any voicemails from them. So, Matt and Jay, if you're listening, we would really love to hear from you, even if it is a cease and desist. So you can either email it to us at nirvana the pod at gmail.com or send us a voicemail. Uh, read it out loud to us. I think that would be really charming.

Michelle 5:14

Yeah, can you do an audio cease and desist? Is that I've never heard of that, but anything's possible.

Kit 5:19

Yeah.

Michelle 5:20

So definitely leave us a voicemail of the cease and desist. That'd be sick. We'll play it on the show. Yeah.

Steve 5:24

And then I'll see you in court.

Michelle 5:26

Great. Okay. Any other plans that I'm missing that we should update. I watched Robocop. I've been thinking about Robocop a lot.

Steve 5:34

Aren't we all, sister?

Michelle 5:36

Yeah. I haven't watched Cloverfield again yet. It's been a long time, but you really should on my list. It's so good.

Steve 5:41

I'm waiting until we cover it on the podcast.

Kit 5:43

We'll get there someday. JJ, come on the pod. He did it, directed.

unknown 5:48

He did everything.

Steve 5:50

Poor Matt Reeves and Drew Goddard, those hardworking fellows.

Kit 5:54

When I realized that, I know this isn't a Cloverfield podcast, but here we are. Um when I realized that Matt Reeves was responsible for that movie and he also did the Batman, I was just like, that's incredible. I did not see these two things connecting. And honestly makes Cloverfield even more of an achievement with that knowledge that it's part of his filmography. Did you like the Batman? I like Matt Reeves Batman. I enjoyed it. I like Robert Pattinson.

Michelle 6:20

Yeah. I loved Emo Batman. Same. But I you all know that I have a very soft spot in my heart for Robert Pattinson.

Steve 6:28

I love that movie so much. And especially the part that everybody hated when they're like, oh, Batman's helping people. I'm like, yeah, that's what he does. He's fucking Batman. I read a lot of comic books. Fuck you.

Kit 6:38

My favorite part was uh when Robert Pattinson fell, I think, off a roof or a bus or something and landed in a trash can.

Steve 6:45

My wife and I refer to that as the scene where Batman eats shit.

Kit 6:49

So good.

Steve 6:50

I like the scene where Michelle and the Riddler uh went on a trip to Washington, DC.

Michelle 6:57

Just really putting it right up top. Should we? I feel like the last episode you promised that we were retiring, but Michelle was at January 6th jokes.

Kit 7:06

Guys, should we hold like a funeral for these two jokes, the Jan 6 jokes and the Cloverfield jokes?

Steve 7:14

Okay, I am promising now on a Canadian flag that I will not accuse Michelle of attending January 6th on air ever again.

Kit 7:28

That's I yeah, that's great. I also promise that. Um, and I promise not to bring up Cloverfield anymore.

Steve 7:36

That's a lie. Shut the fuck up.

unknown 7:38

What the fuck?

Steve 7:40

Don't lie, kit. This is a podcast based on trust and friendship.

Kit 7:44

Fine, fine. I will bring it up, but I'll try to do less.

Steve 7:47

Fair. Great. That's the Nirvana of the band, the show, the podcast promise. Only a little bit of Cloverfield.

Michelle 7:55

Not none. It's there for seasoning.

Steve 7:57

Much like Robocop.

Michelle 7:59

Uh much like Robocop. Okay. Should we talk about episode nine?

Steve 8:04

Please. This is my favorite one.

Michelle 8:07

Okay. Uh episode nine. The band. Matt and Jay received the troubling news that there is already a band with whom they share part of their name. Jay gets a call from The Rivoli. The opening credits for this one are the Wonder Years. What did we think, gang?

Steve 8:25

Another banger theme song in there.

Michelle 8:28

It's really good. I realized I it took me a second. I think when this started playing, I realized that I have conflated the Wonder Years and Happy Days into my head as like one big weird show that I only consumed via Nick at Night. And it took me a second to sort of like separate them. So which of the little children did you think was the Fawns? Yeah. No comment.

Steve 8:51

Daniel Stern is like.

Michelle 8:52

I think it was mostly that I was thinking of the Wonder Years, but in my head it was called Happy Days, and that was like the main thing. And I was like, where's Ron Howard?

Steve 9:00

Ron Howard? Ron Howard? Is not on the Wonder Years or Happy Days. Oh, he's on Happy Days. He's originally days. I apologize. Ron Howard is famously on the on Happy Days. This is this is irrelevant.

Michelle 9:13

No, it's just something that I realized.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

What would you do?

Michelle 9:18

I think mostly what I realized is I know very little about the show The Wonder Years. I know I've seen it. I remember almost nothing. Um so I'm gonna assume that everything that happens in this episode is uh beautifully accurate homage to exactly how The Wonder Years was.

Steve 9:35

I mean, it actually is I was a big Wonder Years fan, and it is actually a really, really good version of The Wonder Years.

Michelle 9:42

That's great. I love to hear it. Were you not Nick at Night kids? I was, but apparently I was just watching Happy Days. Yeah. And I love Lucy.

Steve 9:50

You've got some splaining to do. Too soon?

Michelle 9:54

What do you mean too soon? Anyway, episode nine. Uh I really loved this one. I think it was really fun. It has a couple of my favorite jokes from any episode that I've seen so far, which is 10 episodes, so I'm sure there are more to come. Um, but I really loved it, and I love that it starts off with this the bricking that feels like its own like separate incident distinct from the other things that happen in this particular episode.

Kit 10:24

Yeah, it feels very separate from what happens later. Because like this is a direct continuation from the burn where they finally got Vince Valence saying something fucked up on tape. They're gonna blackmail him to get the show at the Rivoli. We're gonna do that by bricking, which I have never heard of. I don't know if this is a real thing or something they've invented. Uh, to just throw a brick and then throw the blackmail material.

Michelle 10:49

I had the same question.

Kit 10:52

Okay.

Michelle 10:52

I know the concept of like throwing a brick through a window. Yeah. You've never but I've never heard of it called the bricking.

Kit 10:58

No, never heard of that.

Steve 10:59

Okay, story time.

Kit 11:00

Have you bricked?

Steve 11:02

Brick adjacent. Um So there was this deli in my neighborhood growing up that would hire local teenagers for a week for training, have them unload the delivery truck, and then fire them because they weren't doing good enough to get free labor out of people. And he's dead now, so I can say this. My uncle got so pissed that he took a brick, wrote a note that said, pay your workers, and threw it through their window.

Kit 11:27

Incredible.

Steve 11:28

Wow. He did the same for a bodega that sold him too many losing lotto tickets. So maybe his judgment wasn't great. But yeah. So I was bricking a Jason.

Kit 11:38

Okay, so so this is a real thing.

Steve 11:40

Yes. Okay. I think most of the boomer and older men in my family at some point have written a note on a brick and thrown it through a window.

Michelle 11:50

What a crazy thing to say. Yeah.

Steve 11:52

Sometimes I realize that my childhood was not normal.

Michelle 11:57

I love that Matt and Jay's version of bricking, it does like very specifically does not involve breaking anything. And like I I assume that part of that is because like this is their friend's house and they don't want to actually break a window of their friend's house. But I I love that that becomes part of the plot of like we are try- there's an open window here and we are trying very hard to throw a brick through it.

Kit 12:21

It's like a level of kindness to property that they have not shown once to Vince Valence. Um, like they've broken into his house, into his basement, called it a kitty porn dungeon. They've like pretended to be him and gone into his office and stolen his evil pirate gun that's from like the fucking 1600s. But throwing a brick through his actual window, no, no, no, we're gonna do it through the open window.

Michelle 12:45

They changed the name of a file on his desktop, which is arguably more destructive. That's a cybercrime.

Steve 12:53

It is. I love the fact that they decide that they're going to throw a like a first brick without a note that's like a warning brick. And then he's like, oh, there's no note on this, and then boom, brick him again with a real brick.

Michelle 13:06

I also love that Jay roofs the brick initially, and then they have a moment where they are uh being Indiana Jones and his dad for a second. Can can we talk about Indiana Jones for a minute?

Kit 13:19

Like one, always I love that they're doing this like impression and like scene from Indiana Jones. Two, I I love that it's from the third one, which is my favorite one out of all three. Is do you ha do you prefer three over the other two?

Steve 13:38

Not on your life.

Kit 13:39

What?

Steve 13:40

Raiders all the way, baby.

Michelle 13:41

I like Raiders. I like three.

Steve 13:43

I like fine. Three is a little kiddy for me.

Kit 13:49

Okay. I guess that's fair. I don't know. I've always found three to be my favorite out of the three of them.

Steve 13:54

I mean, you're a real psychopath when you say your favorite is two.

Kit 13:57

Yeah.

Steve 13:57

That's lunatic behavior. But I think there it's a return of the Jedi Empire Strikes Back situation. Where just kind of based on your general vibe, you either are a Return of the Jedi kid or an Empire kid. Same thing with Raiders versus Last Crusade.

Kit 14:13

What would you consider the vibe to be between the two of them?

Steve 14:16

Kid friendly.

Kit 14:17

Kid friendly.

Steve 14:18

Kid friendly versus kinda dark.

Michelle 14:21

And if I told you I was a dial of destiny gal, what is that? What then?

Steve 14:25

That is the most Michelle take.

Michelle 14:28

Uh that's not actually what I see in my. That's the most recent Indiana Jones with um Phoebe Wallerbridge.

Kit 14:35

Uh what do you what do you mean? They've only made three Indiana Jones movies.

Michelle 14:39

Oh my god, the Crystal Skull got to her.

Kit 14:41

What are you saying?

Michelle 14:42

It erased her memories.

Kit 14:44

I I don't know what that is.

Steve 14:45

Here's the thing about Crystal Jones.

Kit 14:47

Shia LaBeouf, can you hear me? Who?

Steve 14:50

Shia, can you hear me? Shia, can you see me? This musical episode.

Michelle 14:56

What's going on? Okay, listen.

Steve 14:59

Fucking Crystal Skull has Karen Allen in it looking hot, and she retired from movies, so let me fucking have this.

Michelle 15:05

I don't know who that is. I genuinely don't remember anything about Crystal Skull other than that Shia Labor.

Steve 15:10

Have you not seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? She's so hot in that movie.

Kit 15:14

Yeah, she's yeah, I've seen Raiders.

Steve 15:17

Okay, this bit has to go.

Kit 15:19

What are you talking about?

Steve 15:21

The bit of Kit having early onset dementia.

Kit 15:24

I don't have dementia. I don't know what you're talking about. There's only three Indiana Jones movies.

Steve 15:29

I'm gonna start singing Beatles music so that we have to edit this out.

Michelle 15:35

Uh you can just play that, apparently.

Kit 15:37

Yeah, that's fine. It's important to the narrative.

Michelle 15:40

Yeah. I wanted to also talk before we jump into sort of what feels like the meat of this episode. There's another line from the very beginning during the bricking, uh, where Matt asks Jay, they're getting in a fight, and Matt asks Jay, Would you rather be a child playing with a stick in the mud or the stick in the mud? And which one would either of you rather be?

Steve 16:01

Uh a sti a stick, because I don't have to be alive anymore. Whoa. Yeah, sit with that for a moment.

Michelle 16:07

Oh no.

Kit 16:08

I was gonna say stick just because I like mud. I was gonna say stick because it's just fun to say.

Steve 16:13

Life's hard, friends. The Mets are not having a great season.

Kit 16:18

Well, the casino's going well.

Steve 16:19

Oh look, I'm jumping out the window. I went on a tour of City Field and they're like, and that's where the casino's gonna be, and I'm like, bad. Listen, we promised on our website that at some point I'm gonna bring up the New York Mets. People knew what they were getting into. Anyway. But the the that that joke about would you rather be a child or a child playing with a stick in the mud or a stick in the mud is such brilliant Matt Johnson wordplay. It it's my possibly my favorite joke of the whole series. I love it so much.

Michelle 16:50

It's very fun.

Steve 16:52

I my heart broke when Matt tries to give Jay a hug and he just keeps rejecting him.

Michelle 16:58

That's what that's the theme of the next of this and the next episode.

Steve 17:02

Yeah, Matt Matt on the commentary pointed out that like there's this ongoing thing of Matt wanting a hug and Jay only wanting high fives.

Kit 17:08

Yeah, there are multiple times during this episode of the band where Jay gets like very uncomfortable with the idea of Matt being so close to him. Like when they're out in the street with the bricking, like there is a point where like Matt is trying to read the letter out loud, um, and Jay is just like, You stop leaning on me, you're not my girlfriend. And then later, when they're at Ronnie Hawkins' house, uh trying to get the rights to the band, um, they're sitting on the couch and Matt is getting very close to him, and Jay gets like super upset by the idea that that Matt is so close to him.

Steve 17:43

It made me really feel bad for Matt.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

Yeah. He just wants to be loved. Let him be loved. Give him a hug. No, high fives only.

Steve 17:54

You would hug Matt Johnson if given the opportunity. Who the fuck are you talking to?

Kit 17:59

Hey, I'm not Jay McCarroll in 2008. High fives only.

Steve 18:03

Fine. Uh, can we talk about the montage that comes next that's genuinely psychotic?

Michelle 18:08

Sure. Yeah.

Steve 18:09

Where they have like it's footage of all stuff from when they were kids up until now, and they show like fucking Columbine and the Oklahoma City bombing.

Michelle 18:18

Uh OJ makes an appearance, which I made a note of. He seems to be haunting this podcast a little bit.

Steve 18:24

I would say OJ Simpson come on the show, but thankfully he is dead.

Michelle 18:28

I I like that it's a bunch of like news events and like terrible news events, but also like a clip from Matt's favorite episode of Batman the Animated series is in there.

Steve 18:37

That's a really good one, that Clayface episode.

Michelle 18:40

I didn't recognize a lot of the other stuff that's in there.

Steve 18:42

You didn't mean uh the Oklahoma City bombing? You didn't see that?

Michelle 18:46

My favorite cartoon. Um, that I did recognize, and I saw that Princess Diana was in there.

Steve 18:54

Loved your beanie baby. So this episode has a lot of flashbacks with uh two kids playing Baby Matt and Baby Jay, and it is so cute, and these kids are so fucking funny.

Kit 19:07

Yeah. The I think one of the earliest scenes of uh Matt narrating over like nine-year-old Matt stealing the bikes and like throwing them off the bridge and being like, I'm just fucking tossing bikes over the river, bro. It's so funny.

Michelle 19:20

I did realize that I'm pretty sure I had seen that specific clip before I knew anything else about Nirvana the band. Like even before the movie. I don't know how like that one made it elsewhere into the internet, but I had seen a clip of kid throwing bike off of a bridge and saying, I'm just throwing fucking bikes into the river.

Steve 19:41

That's so strange.

Michelle 19:44

I wish I remembered the context, but I don't.

Steve 19:47

I also love that that bridge is really not all that high.

Michelle 19:50

I love that Matt's commentary over that when it's happening is like, yeah, I was always doing this, and I got away with it because I was rich and nobody suspected of me.

Steve 20:00

In that um opening like narration, I I love that he is doing it as if it's a bad DVD commentary and is like, oh yeah, that's what this was. Like, as if he's watching footage from his childhood and commenting on it. It is such a good bit that goes on the whole time.

Michelle 20:15

Yeah. And he's like, Oh, and I forgot this is the bridge where I meet Jay. That kid really does look like Jay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 20:21

Yeah.

Michelle 20:22

And while the the kid playing young Matt doesn't really look like him, and Matt acknowledges that, he has really captured the Matt Johnson essence, I think. Yeah, he's very charming.

Steve 20:31

Matt Johnson, the character, has the energy of a 12-year-old. I like how creative this episode is. Like visually, it's really interesting. Um, they're doing, you know, the flashback thing, which is just straight up having actors in a way that they normally don't. Like they took a lot of chances making this one in pushing, you know, their creative skills forward. And I think this one and and even more the next one are really good signs of what's gonna come with the Vice Land series and the movie. I don't know what you two thought.

Kit 21:02

Yeah, no, I I completely agree with that. I think this moves into a really interesting direction for them. Um, it feels a little bit more like controlled chaos in a way. Um, and I also thought it was interesting during the commentary. I think Matt mentioned that this episode in particular, they only shot with one camera.

Steve 21:22

And he regretted it because it was a nightmare to edit. I wonder why they made that choice. He does not explain why.

Kit 21:28

Yeah.

Steve 21:29

But it was really interesting. And you know, we've talked a lot about the continuity of plot. The other interesting uh commentary that Matt made was that when they were done with props of note, they just hung them on their apartment wall and left them there. And that's why all of the stuff is still there, because they were like, I guess this is where this goes. And as you're watching this episode, you're seeing the beats of where the story went. And I think that's really, really like smart.

Michelle 21:54

Yeah. That feels like another one of those things that like they definitely didn't mean to create like Easter eggs throughout the series. They were just like doing what many guys in their 20s I knew did, which was just like, I don't know, I'll just I'm done with this, I'll put it over there. And that's how you have like a weird collection of liquor bottles or things you found just sort of taped to your walls.

Steve 22:15

That was such a red flag for friendships for me. I don't know about the two of you.

Kit 22:19

What the cool liquor bottle area? Yeah. Just like that bottle of Jack Daniels is not that interesting, I promise you.

Steve 22:25

It's like we are not gonna work out. But okay, cool. I'm glad that wasn't just me. I'm not just a judgy motherfucker.

Kit 22:30

No, not at all. We're all judgy motherfuckers. Yeah.

Steve 22:34

Matt Johnson's a hater because he made fun of uh people who have Scarface posters. And and on the commentary, and then Jay was like, uh, take that college students. Can I uh uh pick a bone with the boys?

Michelle 22:49

Sure, of course.

Steve 22:50

There is a scene where they go into a 7-Eleven and they keep talking about getting a slushie. In Canada, do they call Slurpees slushies? Because 7-Eleven famously calls their frozen beverages a slurpee.

Michelle 23:03

It was bothering me so much. I don't know if that was a like avoiding copyright thing. There's no way. But like that seems out of character for them to to avoid a copyright thing. Maybe 7-Eleven in Canada does call them something else, but that's that's definitely a slurpee.

Steve 23:18

It really, really bothered me for some reason.

Michelle 23:20

And it took me Me too. You're not alone.

Steve 23:22

Okay, good. And it took me out of which was a really good bit, which was Jay explaining that Matt had this thing where he would put a bunch of candy at the bottom of a slurpee and then fill it up, and then only have to pay for the Slurpee, and then Matt goes, No, you just fill it with candy and then a Slurpee and you run away.

Michelle 23:38

I think Matt interrupting Jay's uh like voiceover over the flashback is one of my favorite jokes in the series so far. It's so funny. I love him like interjecting to be like, Why are you doing that weird voice? What is that?

Steve 23:53

It's so confident in the jokes here. And it I found that more than any other episode, this one played on the audience having goodwill and knowing these characters and having the humor, not based in the jokes, but based in the interactions and their dynamic.

SPEAKER_08 24:13

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Michelle 24:14

And the kids really did capture the the dynamic of the two, like more than I would expect any two random child actors to be able to do.

Steve 24:23

Yeah, I didn't look up their IMDB. They may also be doctors.

Michelle 24:26

Anything's possible. They both have photos of Gloria Stinum. Don't we all. I think the other in in addition to the flashbacks, the big part of this episode is that they have received a cease and desist, not from Nirvana, but from the band.

Kit 24:44

That reveal. Once I realized that it was not gonna be Nirvana, it was gonna be the band. And when Jay finally said it, I was on the floor.

Steve 24:52

Same. The first time I saw that, I was like, this is the funniest thing I've ever seen. It's so good. I find it really interesting that they go on to make a bunch of like jokes about the band and trusting that their audience will get them.

SPEAKER_08 25:06

Mm-hmm.

Michelle 25:07

I love that they go to the library to do research. There was a joke coming out of the library that I wasn't sure I understood, and I tried to Google and I couldn't find it. I don't know if either of you know what this is, but they hold up a copy of The Last Waltz, which is I unless it's a different Last Waltz, that's like a the band live show.

Steve 25:26

It's Martin Scorsese's documentary about the last concert that the band ever played.

Michelle 25:31

Yeah. And they say something that, like, oh, Sandy Cohen from the OC is on this. And I was like, is Peter Gallagher in a movie called The Last Dance? That they're like confusing here. And I looked it up. There is an episode of the OC from season three, episode four, called The Last Waltz, but it doesn't seem to be a particularly Sandy heavy episode. Is Peter Gallagher in that documentary? No. I think for some reason, why Sandy from the OC?

Steve 25:55

I think they were just referencing the fact that that was the name of an OC episode because they were like, they were like, oh, it's a dance movie, which is really funny.

Michelle 26:04

Yeah. Fascinating. Maybe maybe the OC was like higher up in cultural consciousness when they filmed this.

Steve 26:10

I mean, that first season of the OC, that was the biggest thing in the world.

Michelle 26:16

But that was like 2005. So I guess we're not that far off of it.

Steve 26:20

I mean, they're willing to make a bunch of jokes about the band. The show from three years earlier is probably one of their newer references. That's fair. Yeah. Good point. But the thing is, like, when whenever Matt makes a joke like that, you two know me. Like, that's how my brain works when I'm making stupid jokes, is it's just pull a thing and then everyone stares at me for five minutes because they don't know what I'm talking about.

Michelle 26:43

Yeah. I think I wouldn't have pinned Matt to be uh a big fan of the OC, but you know, he is constantly surprising. Full of multitudes. Yeah. Rich tapestry.

Steve 26:54

It was kind of hard to escape the OC. That's fair. I didn't watch it, but everyone else I knew watched it.

Kit 27:00

Yeah, I remember my friends talking about it in art class all the time.

Steve 27:04

Well, that was one of those fascinating shows where they came out hot, then they used every single plot that they had planned for the entire series because they were running on a high, and then they were like, oh fuck, we're out, and then the show died. I don't know. Let's move on from the OC.

Michelle 27:21

Yeah. Okay. Um, they get a cease and desist from the band, and I think my favorite reaction to this is that, like, of course, we're gonna make a plan and we're gonna trick them into giving us permission, signing over the copyright to the band. And of course, we're just gonna call up Ronnie Hawkins, who is not a member of the band. I understand that he is instrumental in its creation, but he wasn't actually in the band.

Steve 27:49

They were his backing band. Yeah. I don't know if maybe in Canada that's more famous for some reason. It could be, but that's some deep musical lore, at least in the United States, that you'd have to know that the band was Ronnie Hawkins' backging band.

Michelle 28:04

Yeah. I think we need a Canadian to call in and and tell us how widely known Ronnie Hawkins and his connection to the band is.

Steve 28:11

I only know it because I'm secretly a hundred years old. But and then they reveal in the commentary that Jay just knows Ronnie Hawkins.

Kit 28:20

So casually, too. Yeah. Just like, yeah, that's that's Jay's buddy Ronnie. They've hung out a couple times. We can just call him up.

Michelle 28:28

You know me. Because they started doing this, and I was like, what are the are they is this gonna be someone who's off screen the whole time? Is this gonna be another Vince Valence situation? Like, do did they like go to a show and like have some footage that they're gonna like chop up and make it seem like they were talking to him? And then they just walk up to his house and he calls them young geniuses.

Steve 28:48

Well, because Jay calls and it's like, I'm your old friend, and I'm sending you two young geniuses. They're gonna ask you the most genius questions you've ever heard.

Michelle 28:57

I love that. Well, because they say in the commentary that like all of they filmed all of the like calling ahead stuff after they spent a few hours with Ronnie Hawkins, and so they like built it around. So, like, my assumption from that was that they were he just called them young geniuses, and that's how Ronnie Hawkins would greet people. And so they used that in the voicemail because it's so funny to have to have that interaction.

Steve 29:27

So Ronnie Hawkins makes a joke that is so vile, but I have to admit, made me laugh so hard.

Kit 29:36

I hope it's what I think it is.

Steve 29:38

When he is discussing John Lennon performing Cunilingus, and he he says he could hold his breath longer than Jacques Cousteau, and then when the joke doesn't land great, he says it again.

Michelle 29:52

Yeah, it's incredible. If anyone else said it, I would be like gross, but because of like who he is, and like I don't he it's it's disgusting and it's incredible at the same time. I love it.

Kit 30:07

The layers of that interaction of like it's it's Ronnie Hawkins talking to these two random dudes, basically. Like I know Jay's friends with Ronnie, but and he's talking about John Lennon going down on Yoko Ono, and it's just like, yeah, just like Jack Cousteau. What the fuck?

Steve 30:25

Mind-blowing. That's the most interesting thing I've ever heard about John Lennon. Shots.

Michelle 30:29

Not that there are different lyrics to Imagine on a tape somewhere in Ronnie Hawkins's lakeside house.

Steve 30:36

That's the most interested I've ever been in Imagine, is when Matt on the commentary revealed that.

Kit 30:40

You mean not when all those celebrities did that video for us during the pandemic to make us feel good?

Steve 30:46

Imagine all the people. That's my go-go.

Michelle 30:49

It really helped me in in that trying period of my life. Yeah.

Steve 30:53

I gotta admit, every so often I throw that on.

Kit 30:57

As a pick-me-up?

unknown 30:59

What?

Michelle 31:00

In what context do you throw on the March 2020 celebrities performing Imagine Badly video?

Steve 31:09

There is something very comforting me about famous people doing things that are beyond cringe that just I find That is a really good example of that. The Ariana DeBose performance of the BAFTAs.

Michelle 31:25

Oh, I love that. I don't know what you're talking about.

Steve 31:27

Angelo Bassett did the thing.

Michelle 31:29

Viola Davis, my woman king. What? Um noted star of Stage and Screen, uh Ariana DeBoes, was hosting the BAFTAs in I don't know what year, a few years ago, and she did a rap. It might have been like International Women's Day or something.

Steve 31:51

No, she was naming all the best actress nominees.

Michelle 31:54

Oh, just okay, great. I thought there was maybe a greater reason, but Dolly D. She performs a rap to honor all of the women nominated for acting awards, and it's incredible.

Kit 32:09

Okay, so you're saying I should watch this.

Steve 32:12

Can you do me a favor? Can you just watch it now?

Kit 32:14

Right now?

Steve 32:14

Yeah.

Kit 32:15

Okay.

Steve 32:16

We can cut out you looking up and watching it, but I do want to have your reaction on voice.

Michelle 32:21

You got and it's gotta be the full video because the one of the best parts of it is seeing they're like cutting to people in the audience at this award show who are like some of them are excited, some of them are appalled, some of them are just confused. Uh-huh.

Kit 32:37

Okay. There there is one that is called Ariana DeBoe's extended cut. That's the one. Okay, let me let me walk.

SPEAKER_03 32:52

It's the best one.

Michelle 32:57

Is this when Kate Blanchett was nominated for tar? Is this Lydia Tar? This is incredible.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

Angela Lassette did the thing.

Steve 33:11

My favorite is there's a behind-the-scenes video of her practicing, and the weird way that she said it is how she meant to do it.

Michelle 33:17

No. Yes. I've always assumed that was just because she's like very out of breath because she's running around. She's performing feats of athleticism. And and I assumed that was just like a I'm out of breath, and a word came out weird. No, there's she meant to say and I love that.

SPEAKER_03 33:38

I'm so glad that was a choice. I'm so glad that we got to talk about Ariela Dapo's at the past year on this episode of Nirvana the Bad The Show, the podcast.

Kit 33:50

I need to watch this again later and like go through it like frame by frame. There's so much happening.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Jamie Lee, you are all of us.

Michelle 33:56

What is the chamber? Jamie Lee Curtis is loving, is loving the performance. I think she's the only one who seems to be like actively enjoying it.

Steve 34:06

Yeah, because gimming Jamie Lee Curtis an Oscar was the worst call we've ever made.

Michelle 34:13

Carrie and Carrie with a C, I think is my favorite line. Because it's Carrie Washington and Carrie Mulligan. Yep. I it's such good, really difficult rhymes. Blanchette Kate.

Steve 34:29

Tar Lydia, you're a genius. I mean that part's true. Yeah. Yeah. Lydia Tar did nothing wrong.

Kit 34:36

Unproblematic fave. Friend of the pod, Lydia Tar.

Steve 34:40

Come on the show, Lydia Tar.

Michelle 34:42

Let's talk about Monster Hunter. She's she's busy with her video game concert performances.

Steve 34:49

So um enough about Ariana DeBoas.

SPEAKER_03 34:53

If we must.

Steve 34:54

Matthew Johnson did the thing.

SPEAKER_03 34:57

Jay McCarroll, my woman king.

Michelle 35:03

You can't see me, but I'm giggling and kicking my feet. Um something something else that I loved about the flashbacks here. Um sorry.

Kit 35:17

I just love that we have the episode title.

SPEAKER_08 35:22

My woman king.

SPEAKER_03 35:29

Okay. Anyway, I'm back.

Michelle 35:32

Okay. Um one of the things that I love from the the later in the episode flashbacks is that we get this backstory that I didn't know existed to Matt calling Jay Bird. And it's not because a Jay is a type of bird. It's because when they met, he was wearing a shirt that said go bird go. Did you notice what a delight.

Steve 35:54

Did you notice that each word on that shirt had a trademark on it?

Michelle 35:58

Yeah, I was wondering about that and couldn't figure out anything.

SPEAKER_03 36:02

I think it was just a bit. I tried to Google it. You could not find I couldn't find anything.

Michelle 36:06

Do you think they made that shirt? Because it wasn't like go birds go, like for a sports team.

Steve 36:11

Hopefully, somebody in the Discord will have that info.

Michelle 36:14

And it wasn't mentioned in the commentary that I heard.

Kit 36:17

But didn't Jay McCarroll have a like a sound cloud that was called Go Bird Go?

Michelle 36:22

I don't know. Maybe. I forget if it was in the commentary for episode 9 or 10, but one of them they're like, Wow, the show is just filled with so many like dumb inside jokes. And that has to be one of them. It could be. And I'm so curious.

Steve 36:34

Delightful though.

Michelle 36:35

Yeah. And then they have this interaction where Matt's like, Why are you wearing those stupid headphones? And he's like, My mom said I have sensitive hearing. And it was just it was so sweet. It really was. To me. And then of course Matt rips them off his head and throws them into the river with the bike. Bro.

Steve 36:55

Those things are like $30, Matt Johnson.

Michelle 37:00

I love that through that we get to see like the first of that type of interaction between the two of them, which is like, or maybe the second, because I guess the first was the slushy, but that like Matt is doing something that makes Jay nervous and that causes chaos, but then Jay loves it, and he's like, this is the source of like whimsy in my life that I need.

Steve 37:22

Mm-hmm.

Michelle 37:23

And it's really nice.

Steve 37:24

I loved it. I I think this episode is both very funny and very sweet at the same time. Agreed.

Michelle 37:30

Yeah.

Steve 37:31

Have you two seen um the clip? And I'm gonna we'll probably maybe get into this in the odds and ends. The video of Matt Johnson while Ronnie Hawkins is talking stealing like a key to the city off of his living room wall.

Michelle 37:45

Yeah. I have not seen that.

Steve 37:47

So funny. Okay, there is a joke that I did not understand but still made me laugh. Which was which is when it's after they get, you know, get the show at the Rivoli, and Matt just says, look at all this money though, and it's just holding a wad of bills.

Michelle 38:01

Mm-hmm.

Steve 38:02

Is it just supposed to be random?

Michelle 38:04

I think so. Yeah. It wasn't it didn't feel like a reference to anything. Okay.

Steve 38:08

It made me laugh really, really hard, but yeah.

Michelle 38:11

I love the implication that the Rivoli like paid them in advance or something. That's what I was wondering. Got it to them within seconds of them getting this phone call. Maybe they bricked them. Ooh. Maybe they attached all the money to the brick and threw it through their open window. That's fun. I'd look at a brick for the money. Um, I love that Jay's ringtone was the like music stinger for the show.

Steve 38:33

Mm-hmm.

Michelle 38:34

That really tickled.

Steve 38:35

It's really sweet. But um, like at the near the end of the episode, they're back and Jay is playing some Star Wars music, bold, and Matt gets so in in the mood that he just rips up the contract.

SPEAKER_08 38:48

Mm-hmm.

Steve 38:49

W about, you know, Ronnie Hawkins. Oh, we forgot to say, Ronnie Hawkins gives them the rights to the band. And Matt rips it up, and they also have this photo of them with him having signed it, which is really funny. And now, the first couple of times I've seen this, when Jay gets like really, really upset, I was like, Yeah, Jay has every right to be upset. But this time watching it, I felt really bad for Matt because it clearly was an accident.

Kit 39:13

He got carried away. Yeah, he wanted to let everyone know that you don't fuck with Nirvana the band.

Steve 39:19

You gotta be a little patient, Jay. This was a while ago. We got sidetracked by Ariana DeBose. They're explaining everything to Ronnie Hawkins, and they're like, Oh yeah, we tried to pit the Alma Combo against the Rivoli, and they both pause and have the realization that this famous club had agreed to book them. And then you watch them both stuff it down, being like, Nope, nope, nope, can't think about that, gotta keep moving. Rivoli. Yeah. And I thought that was really good acting and a really interesting reaction to the two of them. That like they couldn't they just couldn't grapple with how bad they fucked up with that one.

Kit 39:54

Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, the end goal is the Rivoli. Like, of course, in the moment they were like, no, no, no, fuck this. Yeah. But like looking back, like, of course, there's the realization, like, oh wait, maybe if we had done that, maybe we could have gotten the Rivoli.

SPEAKER_08 40:06

Mm-hmm.

Michelle 40:06

I did think that was uh interesting to watch them like slowly realize that they could have played it in a different, maybe more impressive venue.

Steve 40:16

I don't know anything about El McCumbo. It was a big deal. The Rolling Stones played there. Elvis Costello has a fucking live album recorded there. That seems like maybe a bigger deal than the Rivoli.

Kit 40:26

No, it's not the Rivoli.

Steve 40:27

That's what makes it so funny, is that it is a bigger deal than the Rivoli.

Michelle 40:31

This is great, like Canada lore, that if we had a Canadian here, they could weigh in on speakpipe.com backslash Navana the pod. Canada Corner. We just want updates from Canada.

Steve 40:47

Anytime you two start talking about our voicemail or the Canada Corner, I'm just gonna have to gently hum oh Canada.

Michelle 40:54

I'm really enjoying it. I don't know if I don't think I've said that when you've done it, but I've I've been quietly appreciating it from over here.

Steve 41:02

Uh the end of this episode where Jay is like, I'm fucking done with you, I'm sick of your shit, you know, you're a constant fuck up, whatever. It's such it's so interesting that his reaction there is very similar to Jay in the movie.

SPEAKER_08 41:16

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Steve 41:17

It's just wild that like so much further down the line, like this one little bit was like the germ of what would come then, you know?

Michelle 41:26

Yeah. There's a lot of Jay calling Matt a child in this episode, like throughout it. It's not just that bit at the beginning and it's not just this piece at the end. It's like really embedded in this particular one.

Kit 41:40

This is the the episode where where Jay is really going after Matt for having this like childish worldview. Like it's I've we've brought it up a few other times in some of the earlier episodes where where I think it was during the the buzz, maybe um, where Matt is playing the DS and Jay takes it from him and it's just like grow up, you're a child, you're a child. Um this is very much that episode where it it feels like Jay thinks that he's he's growing up, he's outgrowing Matt's immaturity. Life isn't all about fun. Um, and Matt is just like that's a sick attitude. And it turns out that is a sick attitude because all of the horrible, reprehensible things they've done in the web series, like all of the stuff they did to get that tape of Vince Valence saying something anti-Semitic, them throwing the brick, it got them the show at the Rivoli. It all worked.

SPEAKER_08 42:29

Yeah.

Michelle 42:30

I think something that I thought was really funny about the very end of this episode is like Jay gets this call, he says, We did it, we got a show at the Rivoli on Saturday. And then he sits down and there's just this like horrifying, dawning realization on his face. And it's it's the same, like, he's he's the dog that caught the car, and he doesn't know what to do with himself now that they've gotten the thing that they want. And it's I mean, it's it's funny, but it's also so real.

SPEAKER_08 43:04

Yeah.

Michelle 43:04

And to see him just look absolutely haunted by getting the thing that they've been trying to get this whole time is great to me.

Steve 43:13

There was a really interesting insight on the commentary where Jay calls out that when Matt gets going in character, he gets really frantic and everyone worries about what he's going to do.

Michelle 43:25

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like he might actually break a window. Yeah.

Steve 43:28

And that's what makes me really enjoy the energy because the fear in Jay's eyes is real.

Kit 43:35

Yeah. Yeah. And then in the commentary at the beginning, they think when they were throwing the brick through the window, I think they were talking about how at the start of that Jay was actually really mad at Matt. Um and I think there are multiple times during the show where those lines kind of the bleed through of like who is this a real fight happening between real Matt and Jay, or is this a fictional? Fight.

Steve 44:01

We'll ask them when they're on the show, but I also wonder as they got fans and as the show took off, were the tensions higher because then there were stakes?

Michelle 44:11

Yeah, that's a really good question. Something I'm curious, if we ever do actually get a chance to talk to them, something that I would love to hear them talk about, and I don't think I've seen in any interviews so far, is like, is there any point where they've regretted making their characters have the same names as them? Because I feel like I've seen them talk a little bit about like, oh, the character Matt, the character Jay, and like sort of talk about distinctions between themselves versus the show version of them. But I feel like if I were in their shoes and I were doing this, I would not love having like my real name, real full name, attached to this like very outlandish thing. Because I think, I don't know, maybe I'm thinking too much about parasocial relationships, but you know, people latching onto like this this crazy character is who Matt Johnson the person is. And maybe they just didn't care at the time, you know? And maybe they still don't care. I don't know. Come on the pod.

Steve 45:11

Well, you have your question ready to go. This is gonna be a great interview. Matt and Jay, come on. We're not gonna ask you how'd you do the CN Tower stunt? We're gonna ask you these hard-hitting questions like do you have regrets? What's the weather like? Can I have a little kiss? What's your favorite Timpet flavor? Have you seen Ariana DeBoes at the Baskets?

Michelle 45:33

I think we just bring them on and make them react to celebrity cringe with us, like a like a teens react YouTube video. Nirvana the band reacts to imagine. To memes from between two and seven years ago. Uh one of the other things that I loved is is like towards the very end of this episode, after they've gotten the show, Matt just goes, you know what we should have been doing this whole time is rehearsing. And it's so it just it killed me. I don't know why. It's not a particularly like convoluted joke, but just that they've been doing these outlandish plans and committing crimes and and to to only realize afterwards, like, huh, we should have been rehearsing something to do a show with is just delightful.

Steve 46:22

But that's like the most punk shit imaginable, right? Like, let's start a band. We have no skills and no music, but we're a band now, let's go.

Michelle 46:29

Yeah.

Steve 46:30

So they they're gonna pull it off. I believe in them.

Michelle 46:32

I do too. Any closing thoughts about episode nine?

Steve 46:36

It's just really fucking funny. It's really sweet, is really well made. I I love it.

Kit 46:42

No, I think it's great. And we only have two we only have one more episode left, but I did want to briefly touch on Jay's brown blazer because we're running out of times to talk about Jay's wardrobe. Um, one, I hope he still has that. Two, is that the first time he's worn that brown blazer in the web series? Because that the brown blazer pink shirt is sort of like his uniform going forward.

Steve 47:08

I'm not sure, to be honest. He hasn't mentioned losing an article of clothing in a while.

Michelle 47:13

I think he wore a blazer with that awful lime green button down. I don't know if it was this blazer. Have to go back and check.

Steve 47:21

We can ask them when they come on the show. So, do we want to go into our interlude middle section here? We have some correspondence before we go into the finale.

Michelle 47:33

We do. I think the nice part about these episodes being out in the world is that people are reacting to them and asking us questions, which is so cool. Love it. Um, and we have a voicemail from Mert. Angela Bassett.

unknown 47:48

Sorry.

Michelle 47:50

And Mert called us to sing the entire Ariana DePoze rap from the BAFTAs. So weird.

Steve 47:57

Uh shall we play Mert's Message?

SPEAKER_01 48:00

We should play Mert's Message. Hey all, this is Mare from the Nirvana, the Bantas show of the Discord. Enjoying the podcast so far. I got a question for y'all. I've really just enjoyed the show as a means of the comedy and the references and the shenanigans that are happening. However, I also appreciate the show for allowing me to learn so many different kinds of songs. So many melodrums that I appreciate. So I was wondering, what is what's uh what's a song that y'all like that really was like, wow, I never heard this before and I digged it and I'm gonna loop it for a while. Let me know.

Steve 48:38

Alright, yeah, that's a great question.

Michelle 48:40

Thanks, Mert. Yeah, thank you, Mert. Our first fan caller. I had a lot of fun thinking about needle drops.

Steve 48:48

Me too. And we were talking about how, you know, we'll answer the the initial question, but it's also be a little fun to talk about just like other needle drops. Totally. So who who wants to start with their favorite Nirvana the band Needle Drop?

Michelle 49:01

I think truly my favorite is one that we're about to discuss in episode 10. Um, and it's Helter Skelter. It's not I it's a song that I knew before, but I think just the setup of like arguing about we can't use a Beatles song, we can't use a Beatle song, the copyright. Like they're really serious about that, and then going immediately into Helter Skelter, and then like coming back and doing that joke again just like is was so funny to me, and I loved it. And I think like the overall execution is is my favorite needle drop of the web series.

Steve 49:38

My one needle drop and I was thinking about like kind of introduced to, you know, like in the message was um going all the way to the movie, the uh cover, not the cover, the the vo version of the waters of March that plays at the end of the movie. Like I have only ever heard, you know, um, much older versions, like the Portuguese versions and the Art Garfunkal version, but I never heard that one, and I I find it really charming. That's kind of been on loop for me for a while. It's a good one.

Kit 50:02

Yeah, that is a really good one. Um for me, I think this also plays in the movie, but I remember it from the Vice show. It's old days by Chicago. Um, I was not super familiar with it until the the show and the movie, and then it just became in heavy rotation on my playlist. I love the horns in that. It's so good.

Steve 50:23

It's a banger. Chicago's got some bangers.

Michelle 50:26

Yeah. I think it also it would be crazy to not mention Never Come Down.

SPEAKER_08 50:33

Yeah.

Michelle 50:33

Which I did not know when I watched the movie was like a song that was like a real song that existed in the world outside of it. I thought it was something that they had written for the movie. And to learn afterwards that that was a song that Jay and his sister's band Braves? Yep. Braves. Um there's like Out in the World and a minorly famous hit in 20 what year? I should have checked this before I. I think it was like 2015, 2016. Um, it was like such a delightful surprise to to learn that um and have that like context added after hearing the song for the first time in the movie. And that's also been on heavy rotation for me.

Steve 51:18

Boom, boom, boom, boop, boop, boop. I play it in the car all the time.

Michelle 51:21

Mm-hmm. Do you have favorite needle drops from other media that came to mind?

Steve 51:26

I was thinking about this, and I was thinking of what's like a really notable one that has stayed with me, and also kind of what is the most recent one that has stayed with me. And I'm gonna go take you back to the mid-90s. I was a big Weezer head, and I had never heard the song Suzanne until I saw Kevin Smith's Mall Rats, because of course I went through a Kevin Smith phase.

SPEAKER_08 51:48

Mm-hmm.

Steve 51:48

And that is a banger of a song. I still listen to it. It's one of my like favorite Weezer tracks from when Weezer was good. And uh that was my earliest memory of like a needle drop that got stuck on rotation for me.

Michelle 52:01

That's really good.

Steve 52:03

And my most recent was um a couple years ago, um, Alice Malmacay's Tea Blockers, which if you haven't seen it, is a fucking banger of a horror movie. Um Delia Bond, if I'm saying it right, over the credits as a song uh Dead Men Don't Rape, that I have just fucking blasted. It's so good. And that's like my most recent one that I was just like, oh fuck, what is this? And it's just been in my playlist for like a couple years now. So that's my earliest I can remember and most recent one I can remember. Those are great.

Kit 52:35

Kit, do you have a favorite? When I was thinking about needle drops, there I think there I also have two. One, which I think every millennial has, which is in Fight Club, Where is My Mind by the Pixies at the very end. Um so yeah, that specifically, and then um not a movie, but more of a vibe. Um, this is uh uh the song Invisible by Duran Duran, um, which has been attributed to Metal Gear Solid for so long, um, to the point where it is the Metal Gear Solid song, because a bunch of people have been making fan edits of the video game to the song, but it never actually plays at any point during Metal Gear Solid. Um that song in particular has also been on heavy rotation for a very long time. That's great.

Steve 53:27

Love it. Metal Gear? Michelle, what like what about you?

Michelle 53:33

Um, I have a very long list of options that came up. Um, but I think the ones that stand out as my favorites. Um Golden Years by David Bowie. Its appearance in a night's tale is is perfect. It's before the like weird choreographed dance that happens in that movie. There's like a a little like lute and horn, vaguely medieval version of it that plays before the actual song kicks on. And like to be totally honest, the entire Night's Tale soundtrack is my favorite needle drops in movies. Um, I think that's a perfect film with perfect music and perfect Heath Ledger. Uh, but Golden Years really is is an incredible sequence in that movie. It's a good one. Um and then the other one that I think is one of my real favorites is in Ex Machina, um, the dance scene where Donnell Gleason is confronting Oscar Isaac and saying, like, you tore up this picture of this robot that he's falling in love with, and Oscar Isaac says, I'm gonna tear up the fucking dance floor, watch this, and they dance to Get Down Saturday Night by Oliver Cheatham, and it's it's so good.

Steve 54:53

And if we're talking about best needle drops, I think we would be remiss if we did not mention Don't Stop Me Now and Shauna the Dead, which is like a needle drop where fights are synchronized to it in a really like that sequence is incredible.

Michelle 55:06

It's really good. One of the things that's on my list that I think I've had to sort of set aside is I loved Baby Driver. I know you don't love Baby Driver, Steve, but it's okay. I was a big baby driver head until half the people in that movie turned out to be real creeps. You love Kevin Spacey. It's okay. Let me be frank. I don't love Kevin Spacey.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

I can't believe we made it this far, and none of us have made a Kevin Spacey joke. I'm really impressed. We've been too busy talking about Cloverfield.

Steve 55:39

So I want to throw us the three of us a little parade.

SPEAKER_08 55:42

Okay.

Steve 55:43

Because we are three millennials who made it this far into a conversation about needle drops, and no one mentioned the Garden State soundtrack.

Michelle 55:53

I like a lot of those songs. I don't have a whole lot of love for Garden State. Like it it's fine.

Kit 55:59

Yeah, me neither. And I'm also not a big like Shins guy, so it's fine.

Steve 56:04

I'm just saying, it this cultural stereotype is that all of us should be just talking about the Garden State soundtrack.

Kit 56:10

Yeah, we're really bucking trends. True. I mean, we also did still bring up 9-11 in the first episode, so we didn't buck that many trends. Did we bring up 9-11 in the first episode? Uh well, I mean, technically we were talking about Mariah Carey not being able to hit those notes, but make my wish go!

Steve 56:31

See, when we talk about celebrity cringe videos, that's also on my list.

Michelle 56:36

How do you feel about the Fergie singing the national anthem badly? Love it.

Steve 56:40

Not as good as Roseanne singing the national anthem, but it's up there.

Kit 56:44

Can we retroactively call that our favorite needle draw?

Steve 56:47

Yeah.

Kit 56:48

Roseanne singing the national anthem. Yeah, for sure.

Steve 56:53

Did you guys see the video of Ronald McDonald's singing national anthem this week?

unknown 56:57

No!

Michelle 56:58

What are you saying? You didn't send us that video, so we never would have encountered it on our own.

Kit 57:05

Why is Ronald McDonald singing the national anthem?

SPEAKER_03 57:08

Okay, hold on, boss.

Kit 57:10

No, we're we're still going. What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_03 57:13

No, I just think you need to see it.

Michelle 57:16

I I don't want Ronald McDonald to sing. I don't expect that from him. Hold on. Sorry. I don't know what I do expect him to do, other than like be a statue on a bench that you could sit with. Insane. You're not gonna give us any context for this. Ronald McDonald, the famous McDonald's mascot, brought the crowd to its feet.

Steve 57:37

I love the idea that no one was standing for the national anthem, and it was Ronald's performance.

Michelle 57:42

Until Ronald McDonald had a beautiful voice. Wow.

Steve 57:48

Mert thank you so much for calling in with your great.

Kit 57:51

Thank you, Mert.

Steve 57:52

I'm sorry.

Kit 57:54

Mert we're we're sorry we ended up talking about Ronald McDonald. But what is your favorite needle drop? Yeah, Nirvana the Band and Otherwise.

Michelle 58:00

Yeah, I would love to hear people's favorite needle drops, Nirvana the Band or otherwise. Um, we have one more voicemail. Do we want to also listen to that one?

Steve 58:10

Yes, of course.

Michelle 58:11

Um, this is from the friend of the pod and friend of Michelle in real life, Lizzie. And I will play it right now.

SPEAKER_02 58:20

Hey, Michelle, Stephen Kitt. This is Lizzie, longtime listener, first time caller, huge fan of the pod. Uh, first, I just want to say thank you so much for what you guys are doing. Um, there was a real kind of gap in the in the market. We needed to add kind of one more uh medium to the end of uh Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie. So I'm I'm glad that you guys are doing it. Um and I one thing about me is I've never seen the web series or the Vice Land show or the movie. So it's just been really fun and kind of like mysterious to learn about it through hearing you guys talk about it. Um, so I did have a question. Well, I have lots of questions, but one in particular that I'd like you to address, which is is it funny or is it serious? That's my question. And I'd like to just close with uh a brief message to Matt and Jay, which is I will not be watching the web series or any of the content until they come on your show. And that's that. Okay, thanks. Love you guys, bye.

Steve 59:36

I need to just I need I I gotta jump in here, please. Brilliant voicemail, Lizzie. I need you to call in every week. Uh just please. One, but two, I love that she kind of reads us for the filth that we are. And in her question, is it serious or is it funny? Really calls out that we talk about this laugh a minute goof show as if it is fine art to be examined for its deep, serious emotional core. And I love that for us.

Kit 1:00:11

What do you what do you mean? It is so serious. It's the most serious television show I've ever watched in my life.

Michelle 1:00:17

Yeah, to answer your question, Lizzie, it's serious. It's very serious. No jokes. The ones that are in there are jokes in the way that like a New Yorker cartoon is a joke, but it's also an observation about the world and culture and art. And that's what this show is.

Kit 1:00:34

Yeah, it's like Seinfeld if it was serious.

Michelle 1:00:37

Yeah.

Steve 1:00:38

It dates teenagers.

Kit 1:00:39

Yeah.

Michelle 1:00:41

It does. I think I think the the read is is the real Lizzie special. Um, Lizzie is my friend in real life, and uh she is wonderful. I love her. I love that she's listening to the show despite having absolutely no context for Nirvana the band. Um, and will not until we get Matt and Jay on the podcast. And that's that's real dedication to to not watching, but still listening to us. Um, so thank you so much, Lizzie.

Kit 1:01:10

Yeah, I love a threat. Um, so Matt and Jay, if you're listening, that's one person who will not watch the movie, the web series, or the Vice TV show unless you come on the pod. That's views that you're not gonna get. It's true.

Steve 1:01:24

Also, if you're out there, remember to tell your friends who don't watch Nirvana the Band the show to listen. We're only on track about half the time. And clearly people like Liz here are having a grand time. Can't wait to hear what she thinks about Ariana DeBoes.

Kit 1:01:39

Yeah, please call in and tell us about that.

Steve 1:01:41

How do you feel about Robocop, Cloverfield, Seth McFarland, and don't you doing Frank Sinatra? We want to hear about all of it.

Kit 1:01:47

You know what? Don't even tell if you are a Nirvana the Band fan and you are listening to this podcast, don't even tell your friends about this podcast or Nirvana the Band. Just give them our voicemail and have them leave any voicemail that they want.

Steve 1:02:01

I want some deranged shit.

Michelle 1:02:03

Yeah. I just I want the normal stuff. I want to hear what you had for lunch today.

Steve 1:02:08

I want 2011 Twitter. You know? Just I had a sandwich. Hit tweet.

Michelle 1:02:16

I do think that was I I don't think we appreciated the internet for what it was at that point in time. It's true.

Steve 1:02:22

We had it so good. Garden State was in theaters.

Michelle 1:02:26

In 2011?

Steve 1:02:27

No.

Michelle 1:02:28

Maybe one for like a special screening.

Steve 1:02:31

Zach Braff was hosting screenings of Garden State.

Michelle 1:02:35

I was taking a picture of a latte with a nice design in the foam.

Steve 1:02:40

I was doing something. What were you up to in 2011?

Kit 1:02:45

Tossing bikes in the fucking river, bro.

Steve 1:02:47

Hell yeah, brother. So should we do it?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:53

This is it. Should we should we talk about it? We should talk about it. Cloverfield?

Michelle 1:02:57

This You promise.

Kit 1:02:59

I'm sorry, I made it so long. I'll stop. I'll stop.

Michelle 1:03:03

Cloverfield is after episode 10 of the web series. That's true. Which is the episode that we've reached. This is the last official episode of the web series. I know that there's uh technically another one, but I've been told by you guys and other places on the internet that it doesn't really count. This is it. This is episode 10. The Rivoli. On the day of their show at the Rivoli, Matt wakes up Jay for a last-minute rehearsal. The opening credits for this one are Nirvana to ban the show. I love to see them running again, is the first thing that I would like to talk about.

Kit 1:03:36

Circle. I love that the running opening credits is back, and I love that we have shots of them doing the bit all across the entire web series.

Michelle 1:03:44

With the kids from the flashback, it's so nice. I thought it was really interesting in the commentary track that they said that they were not filming this the whole time as they were going. They like went back and did it right before episode 10, which is so much commitment. I guess like initially, part I'm so like invested in it that I was like, they broke into Vince Valence's house again to get into his basement. But like, no, they didn't. That's that's their friend's basement. It's fine. Um, but they like matched all the costumes and went to all the places, and uh what a treat. I loved it so much.

Steve 1:04:21

It does a really good job of being like buckle up, it's time for one last ride.

Michelle 1:04:25

Mm-hmm.

Steve 1:04:25

Mm-hmm.

Michelle 1:04:26

Little did they have to see Reed, my favorite guy.

Steve 1:04:29

It was nice to see him.

Kit 1:04:31

Yeah, and this is the the first episode that does not start with a B. All the others have been like the beginning, the buzz, the basement, battle of bands. This is the Rivley.

Steve 1:04:40

It's the fucking Rivley, man. It's the Rivley. We did it, Joe.

Michelle 1:04:48

So this is this is an interesting one because, you know, like they end they end the last episode by saying, you know, we should have been rehearsing this whole time, and we weren't. They have a couple days from when they get this phone call to their actual show, and apparently have spent like two of those days doing absolutely nothing. Because they Matt comes in and wakes Jay up on the day of their show at like four o'clock in the morning to go to the roof and light off fireworks and then start rehearsing.

Steve 1:05:18

So, uh, the fireworks thing, right? Where Matt runs in with a garbage bag full of fireworks. Mm-hmm. There are two unbelievably dark jokes at once going on. The first being they're like, do the Michael Jackson pose in front of the fireworks. Uh and we all know what happened when Michael Jackson was in front of the fireworks.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:38

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Steve 1:05:39

And secondly, this is like five years after Great White set off pyrotechnics inside of a small concert venue and several people burned to death.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:48

What? Oh. Do you not know about those? No.

Steve 1:05:51

In 2003, the band Great White did a pyrotechnics display inside of a small venue in Rhode Island. Uh the The flammable acoustic foam in the wall set on fire. Uh it is the d deadliest fireworks accident in US history.

Michelle 1:06:08

I did not know that. Mm-hmm. I didn't either. So, yeah. That is a dark joke, if that's a reference.

Steve 1:06:16

A hundred people were killed.

Michelle 1:06:18

That's crazy.

Steve 1:06:20

So I was like, there's no way they're not referencing that.

Kit 1:06:23

I mean, maybe. I just assumed that they liked fireworks.

Steve 1:06:26

I don't know. I was just like, they were like, we're gonna set it off inside the venue. And I was like, are you referencing the the station nightclub fire? Because my god. And then also the Michael Jackson fireworks thing, which that's pretty funny. Fuck that guy.

Michelle 1:06:39

This is the second time they've had a shot where they're on their roof celebrating something that I was like in genuine fear for their safety. Yeah. Jay runs away as they set off a firework, and I I don't know how big that roof is, but to me, the viewer is like, you're about to run off the side of the roof. Oh my god. Mm-hmm.

Kit 1:07:00

Yeah, and then to find out that Jay was actually running for his life because they set off, I don't know, may maybe one that was like too big or something, but Jay was terrified of those fireworks.

Steve 1:07:10

That was an obscene amount of fireworks to be directly next to.

Michelle 1:07:13

Yeah. I I'm not a fireworks enjoyer, same very much. Uh my dog's afraid of them, and that's really tough. Hard to enjoy. Friend of the pod. My poor little Gandalf is so scared.

Steve 1:07:25

Friend of the show, Gandalf. Come on the pod.

Michelle 1:07:27

Come on the pod, Gandalf. She'll come on here and bark at some point, I'm sure.

Steve 1:07:32

Woof woof. So I love them. Um can we just go in the next scene when Matt is acting out a bit as the DreamWorks logo, which is really, really funny. I'm sitting on the moon, I'm catching a fish.

Michelle 1:07:46

It was really funny. I love playing a bunch of different production company like music bits.

Steve 1:07:53

And then it ends with Matt yelling, get excited. It's Rex Manning Day, which also delighted me. Didn't you did you neither of you get that joke?

Michelle 1:08:00

I know that's the thing from Empire Records. I d uh I think I I don't know. I don't know if I like missed the moment for that movie, or it's like too young or something when I saw it, but it doesn't hold the place in my heart that I know it does for a lot of people.

Steve 1:08:13

It did for me, and I was like, you know, it was one of those movies I was obsessed with, and then I saw it when I was like 30, and I was like, oh, it's not that good.

Michelle 1:08:19

Not hold up. It's like Hook. I didn't see Hook as a child, and I watched it for the first time as an adult, and I was like, this is fine. Hook sucks.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:28

Just gonna say.

Steve 1:08:29

Anyway, I thought the Rex Manning day joke was funny because it just came out of nowhere. But how you know what we didn't say, how did we all feel about this episode in general?

Kit 1:08:39

I think I've become more fond of it over time. I think the first time that I saw this, I was a little perplexed by the sort of like groundhog day of Jay like sleeping and waking up and like having a nightmare and all of that. Um that I found it like a little disappointing the first time I saw it. Okay. But I think now I appreciate a little bit more because of course there's no other way they would end this, right? It's not like they're gonna have like an amazing show at Irvine and show us that it's gonna be like a series of bits and them fucking up and failing to do the thing, even though they're the dog that caught the car.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:11

Mm-hmm.

Michelle 1:09:12

Yeah. Uh that was a question that I had written down actually about the the looping. Is this a groundhog day, or is this an inception, or is it a different thing?

Steve 1:09:23

I think it's just a series of nightmares.

Michelle 1:09:25

Yeah.

Steve 1:09:26

I feel you.

Michelle 1:09:27

That feels like in an inception.

Steve 1:09:28

Yeah, I feel you, Jay. I also have nightmares about things I'm anxious about for days on end. I this episode's a real high highs and low lows for me. What are your highs and what are your lows? I think there are some jokes that are incredibly funny. I think the last moment of this episode, and we'll get to it, makes me laugh so fucking hard. Because it's an incredible button on the whole adventure.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:50

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Steve 1:09:51

But they pepper in like a bunch of racist jokes for no real reason.

Kit 1:09:56

Yeah.

Steve 1:09:57

Some of which are not even jokes. One of them is just Jay saying the N-word.

Kit 1:10:02

Yeah. That one is big yikes.

Steve 1:10:05

And they and I actually thought it was pretty cowardly. They do bits making fun of how anti-Semitic the burn was. Mm-hmm. They were like, no, no, no, no. Uh uh the guy called you Jewish, and it's offensive that he he said you were Jewish, but it's it's also anti-Semitic that you think it's offensive to be called Jewish. And I'm like, no, guys, you don't you don't get to do that.

Kit 1:10:25

Yeah. And then on the commentary, Matt says that that was sort of like a an inside joke in a way, because Jay had been so concerned about that episode like not coming off well, and that this was supposed to like lamp shade it or lampoon that fear. And I was just like, no, I'm sorry.

Steve 1:10:40

No, you don't get the pass.

Kit 1:10:42

No.

Steve 1:10:43

And the hostage bit, right? Like so, for those who haven't watched, they're planning out their show. Matt comes down in a freaky ass mask, and he's like doing this telling the story of them getting the show at the Rivoli through him holding an entire office hostage with a pair of scissors, but first it's a show and it's also the office. Like it goes back and forth who exactly he's holding hostage.

Michelle 1:11:06

Yeah.

Steve 1:11:07

And Matt on the commentary is like, yeah, it would be really fucked up if like he saw a pretty woman and like cut her clothes off and stuff. And I'm like, Yes, that would be fucked up, Matt.

Kit 1:11:16

Well, I think he meant it in the context of a movie.

Steve 1:11:19

Yeah, no, he did, but then like they do it for as a joke. Do you know what I mean? Like and it's it's just not funny.

Kit 1:11:27

Yeah. I didn't particularly like that bit. I thought that one went on too long. Um I did like that we were still seeing Jay kind of like push back, like the sort of like, I don't know about this, like trying to get out of it and move to the next part of the story. And Matt just being very much like, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna cut this woman's clothes off and I'll make this guy dance on the table. Like, okay.

Michelle 1:11:49

Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't my favorite. It goes on for a really long time. It's I don't know, it's not great.

Steve 1:11:54

It's the edgelord part coming in. And the part on the commentary where they said that their friend and his girlfriend thought it would be funny if one of them said the N-word.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:04

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Steve 1:12:05

And then they thought it would be funny for Jay to say it, and I'm like, no, none of that's funny.

Michelle 1:12:09

Yeah, yeah, agreed.

Steve 1:12:11

When they're doing the bits about how you can't use Beatle music and then run with to Helter Skelter, that scene, first of all, looks great. And second of all, is the coolest the Beatles have ever sounded. I don't really like the Beatles. Just throwing that out there for context.

Michelle 1:12:27

I am a big Beatles liker and I really loved it. I'm neutral.

Steve 1:12:31

Ooh.

Michelle 1:12:32

Aww.

Steve 1:12:32

The full spectrum of But, how do you feel about the Beach Boys?

Kit 1:12:36

The Beach Boys?

Steve 1:12:37

Yeah.

Kit 1:12:38

Also neutral. I understand that pet sounds is very important. I've not listened to it. It's a nice one. I would get on that.

Steve 1:12:47

It's a really good album. That's Kit, we finally have homework for you. Go listen to the Beach Boys Pet Sounds.

Michelle 1:12:53

Alright, let me write this down.

Steve 1:12:54

You're in for a good time. Make sure you have good headphones on. Finally.

Michelle 1:12:58

Yeah. Kit hasn't had any homework yet.

Steve 1:13:00

Wouldn't it be nice if Kit listened to Pet Sounds? Get it?

Kit 1:13:04

I know that one.

Steve 1:13:05

Get it? Beach Boys. Anyway, like that sequence I think is really cool of them running through a parade the wrong way. And it's that gorilla shooting that just looks really neat.

Michelle 1:13:15

Yeah. There's a small joke towards the beginning of their rehearsal that really tickles me, which is Jay burps. And then Matt says, No, we're not gonna do that old bit. And it's clear that that's just like an accident. And it's another one of those moments where like Matt's reaction to somebody doing something normal, human, like bumping into something, burping, just makes like deciding that that is part of the scene now. And the implication that that's a bit that they have rehearsed before is just Jay burping a little bit is so funny to me.

Steve 1:13:56

Me too. I think every scene in the Rivoli is really, really funny.

Michelle 1:14:01

Yeah. Yeah, agreed.

Steve 1:14:03

Like Jay hallucinating, Vince Valence coming in as a mannequin and then Matt turning into a mannequin's really, really funny.

Michelle 1:14:12

I the I wrote down in my notes for this that Valence coming in and it being Jay. That sequence is such a perfect like nightmare. And like that's the first one where you realize that it's a dream. And it's a it's like a little nod to the fact that Jay's been doing the Valence voice the whole time. But also, what a perfect surreal dream realization. And then like Matt looks down his pants, and they mention this in the commentary that like everyone reacts to this thinking that Matt's penis is gone, which is what I thought was being implied there. And he's like, No, it's that my dick is diseased, and I'm always thinking about that, which is uh just such a crazy thing to say.

Steve 1:14:58

Yeah. The beauty that is Matt Johnson's brain.

Michelle 1:15:01

Yeah. Um, but like all of that feels like what a perfect dream sequence. It's so hard to write things or come up with things that feel the way that things feel in a dream. And they did it. They really nailed it. They do a really the the first one in the mannequin one.

Kit 1:15:19

Yeah, those first two dreams are I think the highlights for me out of all of the different dream sequences that they have. Um, I love Jay's sort of evil laugh when it's revealed, air quotes, that Vince Valence is Jay. Like, I just think that whole part that whole scene is very, very funny.

Steve 1:15:37

And also that it's Jay's nightmare about Matt having a nightmare.

Kit 1:15:42

Yeah.

Steve 1:15:42

It's so strange. I and in his dream, Matt still won't high five him. Yeah, I was gonna mention that. Like, Matt wants a hug, and he's like, Can't you just ever just like like I put my hand up and you give me a high five, and Matt says, your other friends that do that are zombies, and that's how the Nazi party started.

Michelle 1:16:02

I also I wrote that down because I have a note down here that says Jay has other friends. Question mark, question mark, question mark. And I think that feels like one of the first times that there's been any acknowledgement that either of them have a friend that's not each other.

Steve 1:16:18

We're gonna get to the adventures soon. They do prove that Jay has other friends.

Michelle 1:16:22

I'm excited.

Steve 1:16:23

Spoilers. But it just give Matt a goddamn hug, man.

Kit 1:16:29

Also in that very first dream, like at the start of it, Matt is like yelling at Jay, like basically begging for forgiveness. No, not begging, but like demanding Jay forgive him for like all of the horrible things that they've had to do to get this show. And Jay's like, no, no, no, no, I do, I do. And then Matt's like, but you don't forget it, right? Like, it's such an interesting thing to think about. Like, this is Jay's dream that this is not only Jay's dream about Matt having a nightmare, but also in this nightmare, Matt is the one like screaming at him to be forgiven for all of this awful stuff that they've done.

Steve 1:17:02

It was really interesting.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:03

Mm-hmm.

Michelle 1:17:04

And then, of course, there's this not quite last dream where they get to the Rivoli and they do a great show and it goes really well, and everybody loves it. And and then that's also not real. Did you guys have any thoughts about this this sequence at the Rivoli?

Steve 1:17:25

Well, we're gonna be watching that whole video soon, which is exciting. But Matt being genuinely so nervous he thought he was going to puke was so charming. That for all of his bluster, because he says in the commentary that that was real, that was his real reaction. Like, for all of his bluster, the second Matt has to be seen by other people in a way where he's vulnerable, he is like riddled with fear. Guys, can't can we pause?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:55

Yeah.

Steve 1:17:55

We just got a new voicemail.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:57

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.

Steve 1:18:01

We have just received a dispatch from Canada.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:03

Right now.

Steve 1:18:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:05

Stop the presses. Holy shit.

Steve 1:18:07

Let's play it.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:08

Hello, this is Mary calling from Calgary, Canada. It was a beautiful day today. The snow is all melted and the sun was shining. And I wanted to let you know I just watched the first two episodes of the Nirvana web series for the first time. So I can watch along with this podcast. Have a great day. Bye. That's so nice.

Steve 1:18:28

Mary, thank you so much. I'm so glad the weather's great today.

Kit 1:18:31

Sunny? Snow is melting? That's beautiful.

Steve 1:18:34

Love it.

Kit 1:18:35

Wow. Things sound great in Canada. Maybe Canada is a wonderland.

Steve 1:18:41

I see what you said there.

Kit 1:18:42

What did I do there?

Steve 1:18:43

Oh, I thought you were referencing the theme park Canada's Wonderland.

Kit 1:18:46

Oh. Uh yes, I was. Actually, this was all intentional.

Steve 1:18:50

Well, I'm so glad we got a Canadian dispatch. If you want to send in a Canadian dispatch, please do. We will halt the show in its tracks to play it.

Michelle 1:18:58

Just like right now.

Steve 1:18:59

Yep.

Michelle 1:19:00

This is evidence of our deep, deep commitment to prioritizing and platforming the people of Canada.

Steve 1:19:07

They don't get enough credit.

Kit 1:19:09

They don't.

Michelle 1:19:10

No.

Steve 1:19:10

They've invented so many things that I have not Googled.

Michelle 1:19:13

Like the entirety of the X-Files was filmed in Canada. Lots of good TV shows coming out of Vancouver. I think they built an arm for the International Space Station that's done a lot of cool science. Can the arm call in?

Kit 1:19:28

Wanna get the arm on the pod.

Steve 1:19:31

Thanks for stopping by, ARM from the ISS. So anyway, the end of the end of everything. How do you two feel about the final moments of the final episode of Nirvana, the band, the show, the web series?

Michelle 1:19:47

I have questions about the implications of murdering Vince Valence in cold blood. And I have not yet watched any of the Vice Land stuff. I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure Vince is not a character even mentioned in the movie, right? He's not brought up in the movie though.

Steve 1:20:05

The web series is its own thing.

Michelle 1:20:07

Okay. That's sort of what I assumed. But in my notes, say it, does the Vice Land show reset the timeline? Does Valence stop being a part of this? And I I just have a lot of questions. Like, are they going to jail? Will they ever be held accountable for this and their many other crimes? They're two beautiful singing boys.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:28

Yeah.

Michelle 1:20:28

They're a beautiful band. I thought this was a really funny way to end the show. To see, like, they do they never actually like both the joy of like seeing them put on a great show at the Rivoli and everyone's happy and they love it, but also no, they didn't. And they killed the nemesis that they've been fighting the entire series.

Kit 1:20:48

The nemesis who has done nothing wrong to them. To be very absolutely nothing.

Michelle 1:20:54

Who they have exclusively been terrorizing and breaking into his home and framing him and throwing bricks through his windows.

Kit 1:21:03

I mean, he did say some pretty anti-Semitic stuff on that tape, but I think he should be held accountable for that.

Michelle 1:21:10

But I don't know if murder is the level of accountability.

Steve 1:21:15

But that's not why Matt shoots him. Jay says to Matt that he keeps having nightmares about Vince Valence. Matt brings the gun to protect Jay. And that's psychotic, but really sweet, because he knows his best friend is worried about Vince Valence.

Kit 1:21:33

Yeah, and then the way it ha it ends with Matt just going, as if I'm not capable of that. After he's just shot this guy in cold blood in the club that they have been trying to book this entire time.

Steve 1:21:46

And then Jay's like, great shot. And they say in the commentary, they wanted it to show that they were both fucking awful.

Kit 1:21:52

Mm-hmm.

Steve 1:21:53

Yeah. It's the perfect way to end this series.

Kit 1:21:56

Yeah. I've really warmed up to it.

Steve 1:21:59

There is no joke that will make me laugh harder than a random murder that comes out of nowhere. Always, always a blast. Yeah.

Michelle 1:22:07

Mm-hmm. And I love from the commentary that they that that's like they put a lit cigarette in the end of the gun. Yeah. And then the person who was being valence like had a bunch of cornstarch or something in his jacket. They like poofed out. A squibbing. It's really really nice uh practical effect. Does that count as a squib if it's not fake blood, if it's just cornstarch?

Steve 1:22:31

No, it doesn't, but I just wanted a squib. I understand.

Kit 1:22:35

When we get the live show at the Rivoli, you can probably squib there.

Steve 1:22:39

Hell yeah. Matt and Jay hit me with a squib.

Kit 1:22:42

Matt and Jay, if you come on the pod, we'll let you shoot us.

Steve 1:22:46

With kisses. Lol kisses.

Michelle 1:22:49

And a gun.

Steve 1:22:52

I God, what an ending.

Michelle 1:22:54

There was some stuff from the commentary for this episode that I would love to talk about, which is first and foremost, I have an answer to the question that I asked in episode one, I think. Maybe episode two. But like w when is that commentary being recorded? And we have a more specific answer than I could have ever hoped for, which is December 9th, 2009. Right before they sold DVDs for the first time. I was a little confused about the context of like what this was being recorded for. Um, but seems like the first ever DVD sales that was closer in time to the whole series being produced than I expected. I thought there was like at least another year in there.

Kit 1:23:38

Yeah. What my understanding of the commentary is that it was produced for the DVDs that they sold out of their apartment that are now like a hot collector's item. They look like a fake criterion release. Incredible. And there's like a ton of like deleted scenes, like hidden blooper reels, like that that scene at the end, they mentioned the commentary of them like fighting in Afghanistan is like a whole ass movie you can find on the DVD, all of that.

Steve 1:24:03

Oh yeah, I forgot. That does is the next season under Vana Band show. They showed them in Afghanistan. Wild. I also I think it's really interesting on the commentary where they're talking about it, like, yeah, we're done. We're never going back to this, basically.

Kit 1:24:16

Jokes on you. You come back two more times, ten years apart.

Steve 1:24:22

Yep. And then there's us.

Michelle 1:24:24

Well, I think something that I thought why I wanted to bring this up was there was a lot in there, sort of like reflecting in the episode 10 commentary that felt like parts of the ways that we are talking about it, like coming together. I don't know. Maybe this is a stretch, but there was a bunch of like, I'm surprised that anyone, like, if anyone's even listening to this, and if anyone is still watching, and it's so interesting to hear people like so close to a cult classic thing reflecting on it and knowing that it's popular, but not knowing yet how popular it will become. Um, and like they're still at the point where they're mostly thinking about this as a fun project with their friends that some people happen to like. And I think that's so neat and interesting. And and, you know, by all accounts, that's still how they think about this project, but um, obviously it's a different scale at this point, almost 20 years later than it was in 2009.

Kit 1:25:25

Plus, to hear Matt talk about just how difficult it was to do, um, and and saying that it was probably very difficult to do this again, which I thought was very interesting, especially since he talks about like how hard this would be if it was on television if they had to answer to anybody. And like obviously I think the vice show is different where I don't think they got had to answer to anyone, basically. They just handed over the episode and they aired it. But still.

Steve 1:25:49

There's one line Matt says that I think is really interesting. They're like, where'd we get all that money from? And he goes, Oh yeah, it's from the pilot.

Kit 1:25:55

Oh yeah.

Steve 1:25:56

And for those who don't know, there was a dreadful pir pilot that they made. They Jared has publicly asked people not to talk about it or post it. It's fucking wretched. And I wonder if some of this reflection of we could never do this again is coming off of them having shot that pilot and it being so disastrous.

Michelle 1:26:17

Yeah, that's interesting. Because Vice Land doesn't come out until 2017. It's like 2016, 2016. 2016, yeah. Okay. So they're still quite a ways off from that. And all of the odds and ends that we're about to talk about will happen in the in-between years. Mm-hmm. I'm really excited to talk about those.

Steve 1:26:36

I just want to call out like, it's kind of a fucking miracle that this thing exists. If it had ended here, right, it it would still be a pretty astounding achievement for two friends and then a couple of their other buddies just goofing around to make something that found such a cult audience.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:56

Mm-hmm.

Steve 1:26:56

In a really devoted one, and not necessarily like a weirdo way, but um it's not disposable like a lot of early aughts internet content. It was made with craft, it was made with care, and it's just despite its flaws, a pretty astounding achievement for just two guys. Totally.

Kit 1:27:15

Yeah, I've been pretty floored thinking about the fact that they shot this back in what they said they did a lot of this two years before. So this a lot of this was shot between like what 2006 through 2008. It's really interesting to see how this series in general is really buttoned up in a way, despite it being just like four guys fucking around in their apartment.

Steve 1:27:37

Yeah. I would also throw it out there with like Home Star Runner of the Arrow, because that was that was big for me, and that was just two guys who fucked around enough that they've created a a legacy. Mm-hmm.

Michelle 1:27:49

Yeah. Well, I think this does if if I sat down and thought about it for a little while, I think you would be able to find some interesting common DNA between the And Homestar Runner.net.

Steve 1:28:02

It's dot dot com.

Michelle 1:28:04

You know, obviously we've talked about there are pieces of this that do not hold up and feel very edgy 2008. But there are so many pieces that do hold up and are enjoyable to watch, even if the quality is lower, or you know, it seems like they play around with a lot of the same ideas and do them with bigger budgets in the movie. And I'm sure that's part of the Vice Land show too. But um it's like kind of astounding to see to watch something like this for the first time almost 20 years later and enjoy most of it.

Steve 1:28:37

And just how effortlessly funny they were from jump. Mm-hmm. Yeah, like every single episode has at least one big laugh.

Kit 1:28:45

Yeah. Yeah.

Steve 1:28:47

Which is not how most comedies have aged since 2008. So good for you guys. Yeah. I'm kind of sad we've gotten to the end of the web series.

Michelle 1:28:57

Yeah. Yeah, but we have so much left. Our cozy saw trap.

Steve 1:29:01

Should we lay out what comes next on the podcast for those who might be wondering?

Michelle 1:29:06

That is a great idea.

Steve 1:29:08

Okay. So uh I'm gonna give you guys a schedule coming up next. So next week is Buena Vista Social Club and Nirvana the Band Live at the Rivoli. Then we are going to have odds and ends, which is stuff from the adventures, the piano sessions, deleted scenes, and we're gonna be picking our favorites, each of us, to talk about. And then after that, we are going to have a fan odds and ends, which is stuff that you've sent into us. So, you know, it's too late now. We're recording this before this episode comes out. But for those of you who submitted already, we're really, really excited to hear from you. So that's what's gonna be happening. It's again, it's gonna be Buena Vista Social Club and Nirvana the Band Live at the Rivoli, then odds and ends host edition, odds and ends fan edition, and then we're off to Vice Land. I'm excited. We're hoping that along the way we'll pick up some uh special friends and visitors. Uh so we'll see. It's gonna be quite a ride. Remember, I can't wait. If you know Matt and Jay and Jared and the rest of the crew, tell them come on the show. We're always happy to have them.

Michelle 1:30:15

And if you are from Canada or just happen to be in Canada, call. Tell us how it is.

Steve 1:30:22

We guarantee that unless it's horrifically offensive, we will play any Canadian voicemail.

Kit 1:30:27

We will play an offensive Canadian voicemail. I'll just bleep all of it.

Steve 1:30:31

Hi, Nirvana the Band.

Kit 1:30:33

Yeah. 100%.

Steve 1:30:35

If you're the Cloverfield monster, call in again. We miss you.

Kit 1:30:38

I'm in Cloverfield jail.

Michelle 1:30:39

I'm not allowed to say anything. We are on to the next one. Uh thank you everyone for listening. This has been so much fun. Can't wait for the next steps. And I just want to say, nothing like a good feeling. Nothing like a good feeling.

Steve 1:30:54

Nothing like a good feeling. What the Viola Davis moment.

Michelle 1:31:03

Nothing like a good feeling. Uh delightful. Bye. Bye. Aye.

Steve 1:31:24

Thank you for listening to Nirvana the band The Show the Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. You can email us or send a voice memo to NirvanaThePod at gmail.com. And we're also on Blue Sky and Instagram at NirvanaThePod. Our website is NirvanaThePod.com. Our show is edited by Kit with additional help by John. Special thanks to Anne Meadows for our logo. Oh, and Matt and Jay, if you're listening, we'd love to have you on the show.