Polishing Turds: A Bad Music Podcast

In the conclusion of our series, we bring the Babymetal story up to date. Like it our not, these kawaii heroines are here to stay, having upset the Metal Establishment and fostered a fanatically loyal fanbase that follows them through every puzzling career move. But are they in fact "the future of metal"? And if so is that a good or bad thing for the genre as a whole? Other topics of discussion include some bizarre Babymetal collabs, kawaii metal imitators and the mysterious departu...

Fox Gods, crucifixions, and magic corsets oh my! We continue the story of Babymetal by exploring the wild and confusing "lore" surrounding this group. We also examine the lyrical content of their early songs, cover the initial reactions they received from the Western music scene, and tackle the sticky question of whether or not Babymetal truly is "metal". [Sorry, again, about the unusual amount of random noises in this one. At least there are no babies or dogs this time!] FOLLOW US: I...

Ah, how fitting that this episode number is 2/3 of the Number of the Beast! Today we continue to excavate the origins of Babymetal by diving into the history of Heavy Metal in Japan. This episode features some of the coolest bands we've ever covered, so for once we're actually excited to talk about our subject matter! FOLLOW US: Instagram: polishing.podcast Twitter/X: @polishing_turds email: [email protected]

What comes to mind when you think of Heavy Metal? Is it three cute little girls wearing Lolita dresses and doing synchronized dance moves? Well if you answered "no" you're out of touch, my bruh! Welcome to the preposterous world of Babymetal, a Japanese girl group that combines the saccharine imagery of J-pop with the bone-crushing heaviness of metal. Sounds incongruous? It is, and yet this group is one of the best-selling hard rock acts of our age, earning millions of fans across the globe w...

Don't you hate it when an artist wastes everyone's time by dedicating verses or even entire songs to shouting out dozens of random cities? No? It's just us? Well too bad, we're talking about it anyway! Why do so many artists feel compelled to list off dozens of cities they may or may not have been to? Where did this phenomenon begin, and which songs are the absolute worst offenders of all? Join us for a quirky little study of one of the most annoying if unremarked-upon phenomena in music!&n...