Punk Lotto Pod: A Punk, Hardcore, and Emo Podcast

This week Justin was given the year 1998 and selected Join Us, the sophomore album by Bluetip. Dischord Records band made up of Jason Farrell and Dave Stern of Swiz fame.

Dylan was assigned the year 2004, and selected the third and final album by Żegota. Originally from Greensboro, NC the band recorded Reclaim! in Sweden, where the bands guitarist was living at the time. Żegota played a mix of punk, hardcore, and experimental music, and may be one of the most obscure bands we've covered on the show.

Welcome to the debut of the newly relaunched Punk Lotto Radio. Heavily inspired by our buddy Zach's appearance on KEXP, Justin decided to try his hand out with his own radio show.

This week we are tackling a classic of UK punk. Justin was given the year 1981 and selected The Exploited's debut album, Punk's Not Dead. Spike up you mohawk, and put on your studded jackets, for a look back into the second major wave of UK punk.

This week Dylan was given the year 2014 and selected the debut album by Dark Blue. Featuring past guests of the show John Sharkey III and Andy Nelson, Dark Blue was a mix of the noisiness of Sharkey's Clockcleaner with the melodicism of his solo project Puerto Rico Flowers.

This week Justin was looking for a palette cleanser, and decided to go with the 1999 Revelation Records debut by Gameface. Every Last Time was the bands third album, and features their biggest single "My Star".

We wrap up our SKAUGUST by tackling the debut album from Bomb the Music Industry! Dylan was given the year 2005 and much like the last episode, this is the dark days for ska.

This week joining Justin is longtime friend of the show, John Russell of the band Drug Country. He is here to talk about 5 of his favorite obscure / lesser known albums. Also Dylan is here too!

It's SKAUGUST! We kick off our yearly tradition with Justin's pick from the year 1988. This was a very bad year for ska, hence why we are talking about Ranking Roger's debut solo album, Radical Departure (a record that can barely be called ska.)

Welcome to the Guestlist, where Justin has on guests...to make lists. This week Justin is joined by Sergie Loobkoff of the bands Ways Away, Samiam, and Knapsack. Sergie chose the prompt of "favorite albums" so we are talking about a few different styles of music from hardcore, thrash, folk, indie, and shoegaze.

This week Dylan was assigned the year 1979, and decided to pull out a deep cut. He selected the early LA punk band The Plugz and their debut album, Electrify Me.

This week we are checking a big one off of our list. Justin was given the year 1991, and selected The Pillars of Humanity. This was the final album for Fresno, CA based crossover thrash band, The Crucified. This record is often sited as one of the most important Christian hardcore / metal bands of all time, but how does it stand up to our taste today.

This week Dylan is going back to the Baltimore hardcore well for the year 2007. We are talking about the debut full length, Prepare to Be Let Down by Ruiner.

Justin is back with The Guestlist, the show where he has on guests...to make lists. Joining Justin this week is Catherine, Kai, and Cxh of the Portland post-hardcore / screamo / emo / post everything band It's You! It's Me! And There's Dancing! Their prompt was favorite albums and this one is jammed pack with interesting and fun choices.

This week Justin was assigned the year 1984 and decided to get weird with it. We are talking about Wisconsin hardcore band, Die Kreuzen and their debut full length album.

Get out your torches and pitchforks because the Hensley Boyz are talking about Turnstile! Dylan was given the year 2015 to come back from hiatus with, and he selected the debut full length, Nonstop Feeling, from the biggest hardcore band on the planet.

The Guestlist is Justin's solo side project where he invites guests on...to make lists! Joining Justin this week is returning guest Gibran Colbert. Gibran plays solo under the moniker, The Give & Take, and played drums in the band Expert Timing. For this episode we are talking about Gibran's favorite obscure / lesser known artists.

Justin is back with Dan Gorman, writer of the newsletter The Discover Tab. Dan was given the obscure / lesser known prompt and chose 5 records for us to talk about. Lots of skate punk / pop punk, as well as some surprises.

It's time for another Birthday Spanking! Dylan's birthday is coming up, so Justin chose the record in which to punish him. We've got a doozy today. We are discussing the NJ rap / hardcore band E-Town Concrete and their debut album, Time 2 Shine. This is a controversial album, and may be a controversial episode for some.

This week Justin was given the year 2008 and selected the breakthrough sophomore album, Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God by Philly hardcore band, Blacklisted.

We are back with everyone's favorite message board game; Best Worst Over Under! For this game you select an artist's best album, worst album, most overrated, and most underrated record. We are tackling the Ramones entire discography, and leads to some very surprising picks.

Justin is back with his solo side project The Guestlist, where he has on guests....to make lists. Joining Justin this week is Christopher of the Massachusetts indie/punk band Hedge. Hedge released their excellent new EP, Freeze Frame High Five earlier this year, and is here to discuss his favorite obscure / lesser known albums.

This week we are back for some summertime scaries. Dylan was assigned the year 1982, and selected the sophomore album by The Gun Club. One of the innovators of punk blues, with a dash of rockabilly and goth rock, The Gun Club constantly changed membership, besides the main singer and songwriter Jeffrey Lee Pierce.

This week we are diving back into the first wave of UK punk. Justin was given the year 1977 and selected the second Ultravox! album of the year, Ha! Ha! Ha!

Dylan was assigned the year 1990 to draw from, and selected the lone full length album from New York post hardcore band Supertouch. Known for being innovative for the scene they were part of, Supertouch were so different from their contemporaries this record became legendary.

It was Justin's turn to decide what we talked about, and was given the year 2009. It was a year chock full of "not that album though" picks, but we landed on the Richmond post hardcore band Brainworms and their only true full length album.

What's up posers? It was Dylan's turn this week to be assigned a year, and he was given the year 1986. He decided to finally rip the band aid off and we are tackling The Fall. We are discussing their 9th studio album Bend Sinister, a record that was considered their most commercial at the time. Be warned, there will be lots of Mark E. Smith impressions.

This week Justin selected the lone full length album by Atlanta straightedge hardcore band, Foundation. Released in 2011, Foundation were an extremely hyped band at the time. Was it deserved and what ever happened to them?

We are back with another episode of Justin's solo spin off series. This week friend of the show Dave Brown (Oklahoma Lefty, One Band 5 Songs) joins us to discuss his favorite albums released in the 2000's.

After a week off we are back with an episode on a deeper cut from the year 1994. Dylan was given the year and he selected the riot grrrl adjacent band Slant 6, and their debut album Soda Pop * Rip Off. From Washington, DC, Slant 6 were part of the thriving Dischord scene in a punk rock Forrest Gump sort of way.

No regular episode this week as Justin is moving and Dylan is about to leave town. Here is a free copy of our Extra Play series for you to sample.

This weeks episode is sponsored by Jason W, writer of the newsletter Songs About Chocolate and Girls. He selected for us to discuss the 2003 and final From Ashes Rise album, Nightmares. It's all butt flaps and back patches this week as we dive into crust.

Top o' the mornin'! We are back with our yearly celebration of Celtic punk. Since we have already covered the Dropkick Murphy's, Flogging Molly, and The Pogues, we are already out of the Celtic punk bands you've actually heard of. We are talking about the Australian Celtic punk band, The Go Set, and their sophomore album from 2006, The Hungry Mile.

Welcome to the second episode of The Guestlist, Justin's new solo series where he invites guests on to...make lists. We are joined by Tim PopKid, co-owner of PopKid Records, writer of the blog I Buy Way Too Many Records, and co-host of the podcast Perfectly Excellent. Tim was tasked with selecting his top favorite obscure / lesser known artists. Lots of international bands discussed here, so get your pen and paper ready because you're gonna want to write these down.

We are back to tackle a golden calf. We are discussing the debut album from New York hardcore legends, Sick of It All. Blood, Sweat, and No Tears was released in 1989, and served as the template for NYHC in the 90's.

This week we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of proto-punk / proto-new wave band Blondie, and their first album.

Welcome to the first episode of the Punk Lotto Pod spin-off series. On this show, Justin Hensley will invite on guests to make a list based on a prompt. To kick things off we are joined by Noise Real Records founders Justin Martin and Kevin Clark to discuss their new 7" series, Noise Pollution, which kicks off the first volume with the legendary Cursive. They were tasked with each choosing their top 3 all time favorite albums, and we had a fun conversation.

This week is a Patreon sponsored episode, brought to you by our good buddy Justin. He told us to choose any J Church album, and we selected their 1996 Honest Don's debut, The Drama of Alienation.

It's My Bloody Valentine's Day! The time of year where we take a look at the shoegaze genre. Dylan was given the year 1993 and he selected the second Slowdive album, Souvlaki. This record is considered a classic today, but how was it received when it came out?

Dylan was given the year 2002 and he was feeling nostalgic, so we are talking about the major label debut by Swedish post-hardcore / hard rock band Blindside.

We are discussing the 1985 near disaster of a record by the Meat Puppets. This was the bands third studio album and they wanted to make a psychedelic epic. That didn't wind up happening, and we discuss whether that was a good thing or not.

We are back with our first regular episode of 2026, and we are hopping on the trend of looking back at the year 2016. We are discussing the debut album from Philly Ramones tribute, Dark Thoughts. How do they compare to the other Ramones-core bands out there? We find out.

This month we are talking about the debut full length from the post Gorilla Biscuits band, CIV. Set Your Goals was released in 1995 on Atlantic Records, and resulted in the minor hit "Can't Wait One Minute More". We are taking a look at the opening title track, as well as the stripped down closer "Don't Got to Prove It". All episodes of Bookenders are available for free at patreon.com/punklottopod and oklahomalefty.substack.com

We are back from our holiday hiatus to discuss the top 20 albums of 2025 that we loved. Lots of stuff here and the episode is over 3 hours long, so there should be plenty here that we hope you'll like.

We are back for our annual Christmas episode. This year Justin was assigned the year 2000, and combed over the slim pickings to find this UK Christmas compilation called It's a Cool Cool Christmas. Featuring the likes of Belle and Sebastian, Teenage Fanclub, Calexico, Low and more.

This week Dylan was assigned the year 1995 to choose from, and he knocked it out of the park. We are discussing Lifetime's second full length, and the album that changed everything, Hello Bastards.

It's an episode that ends in 0, so that means it's time to try out a gimmick episode. We are bringing back our movie review series, Masterpunk Theatre, and we are talking about the 1983 film Valley Girl, starring a very young Nicholas Cage.

This week we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the seminal proto punk album, Horses by Patti Smith.

Here is a teaser for the series that Justin and Dave Brown host together on our respective Patreon and Substack's. It is a series where they choose and album and discuss it through the lens of it's first and last song. For November, they are talking about the final album by eclectic rock band Havalina. Dave and Justin have totally opposite takes on this album, so it makes for an interesting discussion. All episodes of Bookenders are available for free at patreon.com/punklottopod and oklahomalefty.substack.com

This week's episode is brought to us via Patreon sponsorship. Dave Brown (Oklahoma Lefty, One Band 5 Songs) sent us a list of options and we selected Avail's fourth studio album, Over the James. A definitive work for the band, and a massively influential album released in 1998. Dave sends over a piece of audio to explain his feelings for the record as well.

Dylan was assigned the year 1992, and he selected Face to Face's debut album, Don't Turn Away. Face to Face were a skate punk band from Victorville, CA. Originally released on Dr. Strange Records, the band would later go on to sign with the majors, and become a legend of early 90's punk. Check it out to see what we thought about it.

This week Justin was assigned the year 2013, and selected the post-Bear vs. Shark band, Bars of Gold and their second album Wheels.

This week we wrap up our Halloween Spooktacular by going outside of the box. Dylan was assigned the year 2003 to pull a spooky album from, and he landed on the debut album/ep from Zombie Apocalypse. A side project from members of Shai Hulud, focused entirely on lyrics about zombies.

Our Halloween Spooktacular continues with Justin's pick. He was assigned the year 1987, and selected Don't Touch the Bang Bang Fruit, by the UK psychobilly originators, The Meteors.

We begin our Halloween Spooktacular season with a Patreon sponsored episode! We are talking about the Groovie Ghoulies 1999 album, Fun in the Dark. Are the Ghoulies a horror punk band? We take a stab at answering that question.

It's time for another Birthday Spanking! This week Dylan selected our album from the year 1978 to punish Justin. We are discussing the punk poet John Cooper Clarke's major label debut, Disguise in Love. How badly did Justin hate this? Find out.

This week Justin was assigned the year 2001 and selected one of the most influential albums of the decade, Full Collapse by Thursday. Does this album work for two guys who never listened to it when it came out?

This week we celebrate our 350th episode by playing a round of Bracketology. This time we are pitting bands from Asian Man Records in a head to head single elimination tournament.

This week Justin was assigned the year 1980, and he selected the Dead Kennedys debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. This is the record that started it all. We have both gone long periods of time since listening to this album, so how does it hold up?

Dylan was assigned the year 2012, and he selected San Jose punk band, Hard Girls, and their debut full length.

This week Justin was assigned the year 1991, and selected Fugazi's sophomore album, Steady Diet of Nothing. This was the first record where the version of Fugazi that they would become was beginning to take form.

This week Dylan was assigned the year 2004 and he selected the third album by Hot Snakes, Audit in Progress. Hot Snakes were the band formed by John Reis and Rick Froberg following the break up of Drive Like Jehu. We also listen to a voicemail from Brian in Wisconsin.

This week, Justin was assigned the year 1981 and selected the debut album from Men at Work, Business as Usual. We talk about the bands early days, the effort that went into getting this album released worldwide, and the lawsuit that struck their biggest hit, Down Under.

SKAUGUST concludes this year's edition with a major album. We are dipping our toes into 2 Tone and talking about the record that kicked it all off, The Specials self titled album from 1979.

It's SKAUGUST! Which means it's time for us to talk about ska records. This week, Justin chose Mustard Plug's third album, Evildoers Beware! This was the one that put the band on the map, but does this record stand out or does it deserve to be left behind in the 1990's?

This week, Dylan was assigned the year 1998 and he selected Harvey Danger's debut full length, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?

This week we are talking about the 2005 Latterman album, No Matter Where We Go..!

We finally tackle one of our all time favorite bands, Superchunk. Dylan was assigned the year 2010, and he selected their come back album, Majesty Shredding. This is a big one for us. Hopefully we don't sound to redundant.

This week, Dave Brown (Oklahoma Lefty) fills in for Dylan. We step a little outside of the boundaries of punk and discuss Vivid, the debut album by funk metal band, Living Colour from 1988.

No new episode this week, instead here is the entire series I did on the band Pinback over on the Patreon in one single piece of audio. 3 hours of a deep dive on the entire Pinback discography.

This week Justin was assigned the year 1996 and selected Friction, the debut album by Stavesacre. Stavesacre were a Christian post-hardcore / hard rock band made up of members of The Crucified, Focused, and The Blamed.

This week Dylan was assigned the year 2007 and he selected the post Saetia screamo/post hardcore band, Hot Cross and their second LP, Risk Revival.

It's time for another Birthday Spanking! This month is Dylan's birthday, so Justin picked Ian Dury's debut album, New Boots and Panties!! from 1977 as punishment.

This week's episode is sponsored by our Patron Dave Brown (Oklahoma Left, One Band 5 Songs). He gave us a list of options and we selected The Alarm's debut full length, Declaration from 1984.

This week, Justin was assigned the year 1990 and he selected No Depression, the debut album by Uncle Tupelo.

Dylan was assigned the year 1982 and he selected Modern English's sophomore album, After the Snow. This album features the band's biggest hit, I Melt With You.

Wife Patrol returns to discuss their brand new album NOPLACE, as well as Be Your Own Pet's 2008 album, Get Awkward

This week, Justin was assigned the year 2014 and selected the lone LP from Chumped, Teenage Retirement. Chumped were an extremely hyped pop punk / emo band from Brooklyn, that broke up just as soon as they heated up.

This week, Dr. Good Friend Cory joins us to discuss the Dropdead debut full length 落とす死 aka Dropdead aka Dropdead 1993.

This week, Dylan was assigned the year 2009 and selected the only Dear Landlord full length album, Dream Homes. Send your questions for an upcoming mailbag episode to punklottopod@gmail.com or our voicemail line 202-688-PUNK

This week, Justin was assigned the year 1986 and selected Conflict's third full length album, The Ungovernable Force.

This week Dylan was assigned the year 1979 and he selected the Belfast punk band, Stiff Little Fingers, and their debut album, Inflammable Material.

This week's episode is a Patreon Sponsored one. Dave Brown sent us his $10 to talk about Sinkhole's Groping for Trout from 1994.

This week we are joined by Jay and Clifton of the podcast Your Music Saved Us. We assigned them the year 2006 and they selected The Thermals third full length album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine. CW: there are accusations towards one member of the band that we do address a few times through the episode.

We return with our yearly look at the genre of Celtic punk. We are tackling the progenitors of the style, The Pogues. We are discussing their sophomore album, released in 1985.

This week we are joined by Brian Medlin of the band Desperate Living. We assigned him the year 2002 and he selected the split LP by pageninetynine and Majority Rule.

This week Justin was assigned the year 2015, and selected the Worriers debut album, Imaginary Life.

This week Dylan was assigned the year 1989, and he selected Moving Targets' sophomore album, Brave Noise.

For this year's My Bloody Valentine's Day shoegaze celebration, we are talking about Starflyer 59's 1995 album, Gold.

This week Dylan was assigned the year 1978, and he selected XTC's debut album, White Music

This week we are joined by Chris MacDonald, author of the book Days and Days - A Story About Sunderland's Leatherface and the Ties that Bind. We are discussing Leatherface's album, Horsebox, from the year 2000.

This week we are discussing the final studio album by San Pedro's Minutemen, released in 1985

This week's episode is a Patreon sponsored one brought to us by our friend Zach. He chose The Gits debut full length, Frenching the Bully from 1992.

We wrap up our 2024 music coverage by our yearly tradition of The Guestlist! We are joined by friends of the show and frequent guests; Dr. Good Friend Cory, Dave Brown (One Band 5 Songs, Oklahoma Lefty), and Jason W (Songs About Chocolate and Girls) to talk about their favorite albums of 2024.

We are back for our biggest best of list yet. We are talking about our top 25 albums of 2024. We worked to collaborate on a list this year instead of each of us selecting 10 albums and taking turn discussing them

This year for Christmas we are discussing third wave ska band, MU330's Christmas album, Winter Wonderland

This week we are talking about the 2013 debut album from Toronto punk band, PUP.

This week's episode is sponsored by our Patron, Steve Long (Rebel Rock Radio). He was assigned the year 2000 and he chose Green Day's "acoustic" record, Warning

Justin was assigned the year 1977 and selected The Dead Boys debut album, Young, Loud and Snotty.