Undeniable Music.

hosted by Jake Rabeck


The Undeniable Music podcast and blog are an effort to recognize and define the elements that make up truly impactful music. By using my own ideas about life and art as a filter, and my own experience of the music as a case study, I believe a much more interesting perspective can be explored and articulated than that of lists seeking to rank music in a definite order. In choosing what I cover, Undeniable becomes a bit of a self-portrait and through that self portrait, a greater understanding of how music connects us all just might be reached. Latest episodes are at the top.
Introduction - 5/29/2017

I Love That Song!

ILTS! is a companion playlist to Undeniable made up of songs that I personally love but I don't feel meet the criteria of undeniability. By putting a song on this list, I am basically saying that to appreciate it, you have to already be into the genre or have some other way of personally relating to the song. They don't offer exceptional enough insight to break through and communicate to someone not already on board. If someone was to say "Oh, this kind of music sucks," or "this song sucks," in response to one of the songs on this list, I wouldn't really have an argument otherwise, other than the fact that I personally love it. Since I have love for all of these songs, I'm not really all that interested in pointing out their "flaws," but in the interest of conetextualizing, communicating, and developing my concept of undeniability, I'm going to explain what I see as the "Gaps" that made me decide to include them in ILTS! and not Undeniable.
Release: 9/24/2002


A painful break up raises questions about what we owe eachother and ourselves.

Release: 7/20/2004

I'm always charmed by the way The Red Elvises take Classic Rock & Roll, Jazz, Reggae, and Ska, blend them together, and filter it all through thick Russian accents and the Russian folk music idiom. This song pays homage to California's laid back and sometimes superficial culture by describing the scene of the Golden State's own beautiful Venice Beach. Being a California native, I'm always proud to hear about my home state in a song and I love the melody and rythm. I don't know if they're saying "Ocean looks like silver screen" or as lyric sites mostly say, "Oh, she looks like silver screen." I'm gonna keep singing "ocean," that's a great line.
Release: 9/20/2001

Don't look so surprised, lighten up ;P

Release: 9/18/1971

Jim Morrison took his music very seriously, but after his untimely death, the band went in another direction. The album, Other Voices, is much more laid back and easy listening than the rest of the Doors discography, and this song is particularly goofy. The piano is bouncy and rambling and the lead guitar riffs are sing-songy and have a haphazard magic to them. The atmosphere the music and melody creates allows the theme of loneliness to be dealt with in a way that isn't too sad or debilitating, even though the songwriter is very much debilitated. I've definitely been in the space they're singing about and this song fulfills it's purpose of relatability but it does so without becoming bogged down or wallowing in self pity. It's refreshing to see humor found in something that's usually very hard to deal with.
Release: 11/?/1955


A special and overlooked moment in the relationship between Rock and Roll and Country.

Release: ?/?/73


An undeniably funky break and set of themes made this the most important sample of all time.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

Did MKTO spy on me and write a song just to pander to me? Probably not, which I find comforting since it means I'm not the only one who grew up fixated on past decades. It's not that I resist modern things, it's just that I love all kinds of music from the past couple hundred years, the past year or 5 or 10 is just such a small part of that. But am I bitter about the seemingly perennial superficiality and crudeness of modern pop culture? Consider this quote:

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

Is that how you feel sometimes? Is that what your parents tell you? Well when would you guess that quote was spoken? The answer is the 5th century B.C. by Socrates. The song sings about "gentleman," is that referring to the era when segregation was legal and beating your wife was expected?

But yeah, I suppose I am what people like to call, "an old soul." I'm always impressed by people who can pay homage to those who came before them and I commonly fall into the trap of "Golden Age Thinking," the idea that things used to be better. But this song is new, it's fun, it's earnest, and it's able to turn humility into swagger.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

A true literary accomplishment dealing with the frustration that arises from alienation.

Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
This is one of my all time favorite feel good songs. My biggest memory of this song is playing it on rotation from the boom box sat on the edge of the GaGa pit at summer camp. It's a cover of the soulful acoustic song by Bradley Nowell of Sublime, of whom Reel Big Fish were big fans (they even opened for Sublime!). The rhymes are memorable and it achieves an exciting but still chilled out Ska vibe that's often hard to make sound interesting or unique. The reggae upstroke is in all it's glory, the lazy trumpets add a fullness to the presentation that mimics the carefree tone of the lyrics. The song may be about Saturday night, but the contentment and ease of it always made it feel like a Sunday afternoon song to me. This song is definitely nice enough to play twice.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

A terrifying sign of the times and a warning most people would not need to hear twice.

Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

We should all be so fortunate as to have these days.

Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99
A sensitive and angsty, though determined, instrumental traversing through adolescence.
Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

One of my all time favorite make out songs.

Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

A unique, if slightly manic, interpretation of death and how we should or shouldn't let it affect life.

Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

Not one of my favorites, but nonetheless, an explosive anthem of hedonism and sexuality.

Release: 9/9/99
Podcast: 9/9/99

One of the most iconic songs of the 90's, capturing disillusionment, alienation, and the beauty of solitude.
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