Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but Americana and rockabilly?
Home: South Texas
Poster Position: 5 (23) Weekend Two Only. Saturday.
Thoughts: No Wikipedia, so I'm depending on offbeat little articles about them. One claims that they come from the "great desolate southern plains of Texas." I really want to know where that is supposed to be. The same article later says they were formed in Lubbock in 2013 (which I hope they are not considering to be south Texas) by singer Lou Lewis who was farming cotton at the time. He apparently recorded eight demos in his childhood bedroom by himself, and then a few friends heard the tapes and decided to jump on board. Also, says they later moved together to Austin. (please let this person writing this article think that Austin is the "great desolate southern plains of Texas.") Amazingly, that article never mentions any other town, so the writer at www.holler.country believes that either Lubbock or Austin is the "great desolate southern plains of Texas." Big fan.
Other fun tidbits from that article - lead singer's first CD ever was My Way by Usher, all of the members are either full or half Mexican, and they shout out Nirvana, Slipknot, and Eminem. The music itself is nothing like those things, it is more of an Americana, rockabilly, surf rock, shambling pastiche of chilled country sounds. I like it.
Three albums - 2014's Snake Rattle and Roll (no song breaks 25k streams), 2020's Rattlesnake Milk (one is over 450k!), and 2022's Chicken Fried Snake. Almost all of their top tracks are from the new album, with three from the second album hanging around in the list. Top track is "Cowboy Killers" from the second disc. 446k streams.
I dig the shambling beginning, sounds old and loose and groovy. Apparently there is a full on band named Cowboy Killer, as well as other artists like That Mexican OT (1.5 million views of his video! And a deeeeeeply awful track!) and Kenny Feidler with songs named the same thing. Second-most streamed tune is from the new disc. ".38 Special" with 246k streams.
Another where the groove just sucks me in before the song has even really gotten off the ground. Makes me want to bob my head and chill out as soon as the first notes roll on out. It is spare stuff, and a little weird in these modern times, but I would freaking love a set from these guys at some intimate little Cactus Club type joint. If they're playing the right set time, I'd check it out.
One Liner: Unhinged, frenetic punk rock with new wave angles
Wikipedia Genre: Punk Rock
Home: Nashville
Poster Position: 5 (23) Weekend Two Only. Saturday.
Thoughts: The actual band name is Snõõper, which is an entertaining thing before you even get to the frenetic tunes. Those little tildes make it look like eyes with curious eyebrows over them. Strangely, and I don't think I have seen this before, their debut album has a Wikipedia page, but the actual band does not have a Wikipedia page. They are signed to Third Man (Jack White's label) and recorded in Nashville, so they are definitely a different animal than most.
By the way, Super Snooper, known as "Schnoop by Blabber," Snoop or Snooper, is an anthropomorphic cat, a detective, and one of the main characters of the Yogi Bear franchise. Didn't recall that factoid, did you!?! The band though is made up of Connor Cummins and Clair Tramel. This makes me pissed that Amyl and the Night Sniffers are not at the festival, because they rule. Apparently, this is something called "egg punk," which I had to look up. "influenced by Devo and a hatred for the us vs them mentality of the emerging "chain punk" bands. Egg punk is satirical, danceable, energetic, and deeply cynical of the edgy "hardcore and serious" approach to music." Well, that all sounds right.
The music is fun, wild stuff. "Running" sounds like a cheerleader fronting a cover band that can't remember if it is supposed to be playing early B-52s or early REM. Their most streamed song too, I think it jams.
Punk for sure, but also with a sheen of new wave on there. I wanna dance in a crowd to it when the guitar solo kicks in. Fascinatingly, that is one of their very early songs, from the 2020 EP Music for Spies.
Only one real album - 2023's Super Snooper. "Inventory" is a little much for an old man - too much dissonance and noise. "Microbe" is somehow like a drum and bass song? Lotta weird samples in here too - like some meathead bodybuilder talking about his routine. They do an off-kilter cover of "Come Together" in their early stuff. But not a lot of streams on most of this, which is too bad. I think its ridiculous fun. The top track from the new album is "Pod" with 135k.
That video is awful and it rules. Just this girl yelling over an unhinged tune and a bunch of jacked up imagery. I made a terrible stop motion movie in, like, middle school (please God don't tell me it was high school because it looked awful) where I remember being very clever for using Metallica's "One" along with a tiny slice of something from the Vaughan Brothers album. I've been an insufferable music nerd forever. Anyway, if it wasn't going to be at noon on Saturday, I'd go wig out to this.
One Liner: Local female rapper without many streams but some good flow.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but rap/hip-hop
Home: Austin
Poster Position: 5 (23) Weekend Two Only. Saturday.
Thoughts: Huh. Most of her tracks feature male rappers, and so this whole time I thought she was a dude rapper, until I starting reading about her. Real name is Te'aunna Moore, and she was actually born and raised in Austin. She started writing rhymes in 7th grade. She grew up on East 10th, so maybe she went to Zavala Elementary and Martin Junior High like I did. That would be sort of cool, even though it would be just about the only thing I have in common with a black, queer, woman artist.
The Chronicle explains part of her backstory like this: "A crucial part of Blakchyl's story began in October 2007 when she joined the Cipher ATX, a nonprofit organization co-founded by her first mentor, Chris "Gator" Ockletree, and social worker Shannon Sandrea. The Cipher aimed to bring in high schoolers from underprivileged Austin areas under a unifying umbrella of hip-hop. Moore met Gator – an Eastside rapper from the local group Public Offenders – in a beatmaking class he instructed during her freshman year. Then determined to become a DJ/producer, Moore says he convinced her to take rap more seriously." AT the time, she was nicknamed T-Fly.
A couple albums, a couple EPs, although the most recent album is with G.E.N.I.U.S., Nez tha Villian, and some other folks. So hard to know what is what when things are going down (although after listening a few more times, I think it is pretty obvious when the female voice is happening). Pretty sure she samples Andre 3000 in "Street Lightz." Part of the beat to "Give Myself" sounds like part of a beat to an Outkast song. "Rhythm N Blues" interpolates some Lauryn Hill.
Streaming numbers are non-existent. Only one song in her Spotify has listed playcounts - "DDD" with 3,444.
Also features people maybe named tasi and cerbere. Pretty chill track - I like the laid back background. mmmmm Sam's Barbeque. Yummy. I like that she raps with a mouthful of beans. The weird French guy popping up in the end is a strange move. Although, as I listen again, French sounds pretty dope in rap. I think that Guru Jazzmatazz album influenced me on that opinion.
Like I said, no other stream counts to grab for best thing, so let's just go with her most recent track - "SomethingThatYouNeeded." Zero streams. Released July 7, 2023. This is with a dude named TheRott.
Another good, chilled out beat. Terrible video though. And TheRott has a boring flow - not that I have a flow at all or anything - but I am enjoying the sound that Blakchyl is laying down. I doubt I'd go watch this one, but it is cool to have an Austin rapper making good tunes.
One Liner: Probably the most perfect arena-rock singalong band of all time. Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock, grunge, pop rock Home: Seattle Poster Position: Headliner! Both Weekends.
Saturday.
Thoughts: I'm sorry, but 2015?!?!? For real? In my mind, that last headlining slot for the Foos at ACL was like 3 years ago. Time is wild man. Flat circle and all of that.
That 2015 show was really fun. Before the show, a huge curtain came down in front of the stage as the roadies got the drum kit and Grohl's huge Game-of-Thrones-with-Guitar-Necks wheelchair set up. (Grohl broke his leg a while back and couldn't walk without crutches).
The throne from our spot
From behind the curtain, Grohl started screaming (literally screaming) and getting everyone hyped up with a few power-rocker flourishes like "AUSTIN ARE YOU F'ING READY?!?!?!" Here is the deal. Dave Grohl is a freaking caricature. I think he is great, but his schtick is laid on really heavy. As the crowd hit a fevered pitch of screaming right back to Grohl, that huge curtain got sucked away in a spinning black hole and the band blasted into "Everlong" and "Monkeywrench." And it was seriously awesome. If you just let yourself go and jam out, this was insanely fun.
So many of their songs are perfect stadium rockers with huge, repetitive elements that made for a really fun sing-a-long jam. "Something from Nothing," sounded fantastic, as did classics like "My Hero" and "This is a Call." And I think Grohl is genuinely funny when doing his "Are you ready to raawwwwwwkkkk!!!" thing. So, looking forward to doing it again.
If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I enjoy myself some Foo Fighters. I generally defended their honor against Joseph the Foo Troll, and I've mentioned them several times as examples of the remaining rock and roll bands out there. Luckily, having them come back to ACL again gives me (1) another opportunity to go enjoy their live show; and (2) a good chance to run through their entire catalog again.
I read a pretty good Steven Hyden deep dive into the best Foo Fighters songs the other day, and he pretty much just shut down their entire discography several discs ago. Which may be a good call, but I also think it a little harsh, and it doesn't take into account the newest album that just came out a few months ago. If you are ranking the entire discs, then that makes sense, but if you are cherry-picking songs, then some of the more recent albums have some good bits on them, even if the record as a whole isn't all gold. Here is a playlist of the top 30 songs that he ranked.
So, like I recently did with the Chili Peppers for last year's ACL, here is my take on their catalog, ordered by my preference:
The Colour and the Shape. 1997. This whole album is excellent. Over 2 million copies sold, nominated for a Grammy. The hits, like "Monkey Wrench," "My Hero," and "Everlong" are still being played on radio today, but even the ones that haven't been on radio, like "My Poor Brain," "Hey, Johnny Park!" or "Up in Arms" are kick ass rock and roll jams. When "Up in Arms" kicks in is great. I never bought into the band when their first album came out - I don't even really recall paying much attention to it, although I had loved Nirvana. I remember seeing the Mentos commercial video for "Big Me," but I honestly don't remember ever even hearing the rest of the album until years later. But this disc, I bought right about the time that I moved into my first house in college. I spent a lot of time in my room and in my car with this album, and grew to love the whole thing. One track that has stood out to me for years is "February Stars," seen here off of their live album DVD:
I remember a road trip, driving out to deep west Texas with this album playing in my big black pickup, while my wife (maybe girlfriend at the time) slept beside me. I was in the literal middle of no where, with absolutely zero ambient light anywhere except for my headlights, and this song came on as I was admiring the gigantic sky full of stars. Literally amazing. So the song has had a good memory for me ever since, especially when the studio version kicks in (this live version is not quite as powerful). And "Everlong" is an on-edge, driving love song like few others I can think of. Anyway, this album rates as a classic for me.
As an aside, the Spotify version of this album includes a track that was not on the album, strangely enough, named after the album, that is a heavily Nirvana-influenced screamer. I like the jam, not so much the screams. Weird that they would just tack on a new song!
Another aside (I get to do as many of those as I want! Yay me!) - I just listened to "Monkey Wrench" again, and that part near the end where he just starts yell/chanting is so freaking awesome. Gave me literal goosebumps just now and makes me ready to run through a brick wall. So good.
Foo Fighters. 1995. Like I mentioned above, I never listened to this album other than the big hits ("This is a Call," "I'll Stick Around," and "Big Me") until long after it came out. Probably around 2000 or so. But once I found it, it has become a standard touchstone album of tunes I love to hear over and over again. When I was in law school, I used it to get psyched up for exams, which is HUGELY nerdy, I know, like my walk-up music in baseball. In high school, to get psyched up for lacrosse games, I would blare Smashing Pumpkins' "Geek USA" or Pantera's "Walk," so "Alone+Easy Target" and "Good Grief" just took over from where those two left off. Here is "Good Grief"
Not the best audio quality, but you get the idea - straight-forward riffage, steady punk drumming, tuneful singing until he needs to growl "Hate It!" for the chorus. I know that a lot of the reason that people bought this album was because "Hey, that's by the dude from Nirvana!" but I also think that this record stands out on its own. I certainly think that the continued fame of this band, 25+ years after Nirvana disappeared, means that there is more here than just nostalgia for Cobain. That being said, I will fully admit that Cobain's skills as a song writer are markedly finer than Grohl. But, all of that history lesson aside, this album is kick ass.
There is Nothing Left to Lose. 1999. This album strongly reminds me of my initial post-college life. I had moved to Dallas, traded in my sweet old 4 Runner for a big, black, manly truck that took advantage of the sub-dollar-per-gallon gas prices, and I was driving back and forth from central Dallas to Lewisville (far northwest suburb) each day for work as a programmer for an AOL company. I spent a lot of time driving back and forth, and a large chunk of that time was spent with this album. I also spent a ton of time behind a desk with Winamp loaded onto my computer to jam tunes while I coded stuff, and can clearly remember "Learn to Fly" as one of the constant songs in my playlists. "Stacked Actors" makes me want to kick a hole through the floor.
This album sounds more polished, less raw than the first two they put out. I think my favorite track on the album is the last one, "M.I.A."
Even though it wasn't the big hit like "Learn to Fly" (or "Breakout," to some extent), its a good example of them showing both their soft side as well as bulking up on melodic rock. Another good album, although it doesn't enter the Classics conversation for me. Although it did win the Rock Album Grammy for 2001.
An aside: Does anyone else remember Winamp? Their motto was "It Really Whips The Llamas Ass" and AOL bought the company at one point, so it was the choice mp3 player at the time. Funny memory.
Wasting Light. 2011. I liked this one quite a bit even though I never felt like it got much recognition when it came out. Well, but then, by reading what the Internet has to say, I see that this album won five Grammy awards and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Maybe I was the only one to feel like it was slighted. The opening track, "Bridge Burning" cranks up with that opening riffage and Grohl screaming "These are my famous last waaaaaaaaards" before a damn fine harmonic rock song breaks out. The hit from this album was "Rope," which has some funk elements to it from that off-beat style, but is a fine rocker, especially when it kicks in around the 3 minute mark.
I remember feeling like a kid when this would come on the radio - even thought I owned the album, I'd get excited when I got to hear someone playing it. Remember that feeling? There is no song in the world that better recalls that feeling for me than Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" from 1990. Man, I wanted the radio to play that song so badly. Back to Wasting Light, this is another good album.
One by One. 2002. Another one with some big wattage hits still played on the radio ("All My Life" or "Times Like These"), but I can't say this one clicked as well with me. Songs like "Low" and "Burn Away" rock hard, but "Tired of You" is boringly plain. They also play more with real harmony, like on "Halo" or "Lonely as You," which is cool. I dig "Lonely as You." From reading history on this album, the band recorded an entire album of music that wasn't working for them, so they almost broke up, but then scrapped that other album to make this one instead. The album won the Grammy for Best Rock Album of 2004.
But we will definitely get some tunes from this one as part of their live show - when they played their first post-pandemic show people online freaked out about how amazing "Times Like These" felt, for all of the people who had been locked inside for so long.
I've written so many words here, and still haven't even addressed the elephant in the room. Taylor Hawkins dying was insanely sad. For those of you reading this without background knowledge, Taylos was their kick ass drummer. Gallons of ink have been spilled about how tough it was for Hawkins to step in to a band with Grohl, the drummer for the biggest grunge band of all time (and who had played the drums himself on the first two albums), but Taylor was amazing. His drumming really does a ton of hard work in these songs, and he'll be missed. In fact, I was a little surprised to see the Foos keep going after losing Hawkins. Felt like they might just fold up shop and go home to count their millions. But they're back, baby!
But Here We Are. 2023. Speaking of losing Hawkins, the first post-Hawkins disc was released in June 2023 and picks up the general Foos' sound right where they left off. I'm ranking it here, although I'm not sure if I really believe that just yet. Hard to tell with a discography lasting 20+ years and then a new entry. But the album itself deals with a lot of the heavier elements of life, in that Grohl is obviously dealing with two devastating deaths in rapid succession, as his mother died a few months after Hawkins. If you know Grohl's history, he was very close to his mother, and so these deaths were likely crushing, and you can hear it in these lyrics. Just the opening salvo of "Rescued," the album opener and lead single, gets you the mood: "It came in a flash/It came out of nowhere/It happened so fast/And then it was over." Or "The Glass," where he more expressly sings about having to live without his friend. The thing that you get here overall though is a return to the classics. This sounds like the old Foos, without the weird detours into silliness or caricature. They just fully engage the power-chord machine and pounding drums and tear into the real deal rock and roll here.
Nothing maudlin or subtle about that tune - they aren't pausing their normally scheduled program - they just kick in and blast phasers at 11. Catchy and full of generic platitudes. I dig it. And most of the album tracks that feel, up until the last two songs. "The Teacher" and "Rest" aren't acoustic sad songs or anything, but they just more explicitly dig into his sadness even as they chug along with rock aggression. "You showed me how to breathe, never showed me how to say goodbye." Those two songs show alot about what this album is actually about, despite all the bombast and arena-ready choruses. Sonic Highways. 2014. I already spent some time talking about this one. Fine album, but still feel like they missed a chance to really embrace each region's music. "Something for Nothing" kicks ass.
In Your Honor. 2005. An odd album, in that they decided to put out two discs, one that is all hard rock and one that is all acoustic. Actually lost Best Rock Album, which seemed impossible after they locked down that category for a few years. I wonder if Grohl was wanting to do an MTV Unplugged episode like he did with Nirvana but just did it on his own instead. A couple big hits from this one, although I think "Best of You" is just annoying. Too repetitive. You know how people have been griping about how music production has just gotten louder and louder over the years? I feel like the rock side of this album is just cranked up to 11 so that they can differentiate the two sides of the album. Other than "Best of You," I think the other radio song from this one was "DOA."
I don't recall any of the acoustic songs making it to the radio, and don't see that any of them are listed as official singles. They are fine songs, but I feel like the band could have cut half of the songs on these discs and just made one really strong album. "Friend of a Friend" or "Over and Out" could have been dropped and no one would have noticed at all. That being said, it is cool to hear them do this more acoustic thing to show that they are more than just the blaring crunch. The guitar noodling on "On the Mend" is really nice, and the Norah Jones-assisted "Virginia Moon," while a weird thing for the Foos to do, is kind of cool too. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. 2007. One of their biggest hits, "The Pretender," spent months on top of the charts, and this one also won Best Rock Album Grammy award. "Long Road to Ruin" was also a single with radio play off of this album. The disc is kind of a weird one, in that it still has the hard rock pummeling or Grohl scream-o of the other albums (check "Let it Die") but then also goes acoustic for more of the In Your Honor-style tunes. They also fire up a bluegrass breakdown for the "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," which is odd but actually pretty good. But overall, this album just doesn't stick with me all that well. When I listen again, I like some of the songs (the build-up and spiraling jam on "But, Honestly" is great) all over again, but I wouldn't be able to recall most of these songs without listening to the album again.
Foo Fighters - Concrete and Gold. 2017. The thing is that I understand some of the criticism against the Foos, they frequently lapse into the realm of cheesy lyrics and tired tropes. Their sound has been done before. Dave Grohl seems cheesy. Yo comprende. But when I listen to the first song on this album, which is a cock-tease of epic proportions at only 1:22 long, I can't help but feel a primal need to raise my arms in the air to flex and crack the sky with my primal scream as the song goes from a short acoustic plucked ballad and then erupts into a Pink Floyd meets Queens of the Stone Age wall of sound riff factory turned up to 11 that still gives me goosebumps after listening to it about 40 times.
The portion from 1:00 to 1:14 is the absolute shit. I need that to be the backing track for a 30 minute long song that I listen to until I die of a stroke from clenching my fists and forcing all of the blood in my body to my junk. Death by rock boner. But sadly, right when you think this is about to be an epic classic rock throw down, that ten seconds of bliss is over and the song is done. I got my daughters to listen to this with me the other day, hoping they would feel the innate ROCK POWER slither into their veins. Nope. This is way too high level for their puny brains. The hit from the album is the less amazing "Run," which has 108 million streams on Spotify.
Grampa fight! And a Thriller-esque grampa dance scene at the end! OK song, I'd like it better without the screaming bits, but the underlying track is good. I can say the same about most of the other tracks on here, like "La Dee Da" or "Arrows," although I think I can do without "The Sky is a Neighborhood." Overall, the album is fine, sounds pretty much like their other recent stuff - a classic rock-style record.
Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight. 2021. I wanted to rank this one higher - I don't purely hate their new stuff, but I just couldn't figure out a way to move it up. I sort of love it though, that they just keep doing this same thing, despite becoming a punchline for a lot of the cool kids in music who think it's lame to enjoy the straight-forward rock earnestness that these guys still push on us every few years. I still dig it. I know it isn't revelatory - they are derivative of loads of things that came out before them - and many of these songs are indistinguishable from their last few albums. I'll readily admit that his lyrics leave something to be desired - he spends a lot of time trading in generic deep thoughts and tropes - but he's always been like that. "There's got to be more, to this, than that!" lines up well, as a yell-along chorus, with oldies like "It's times like these time and time again!" And so instead I just take pleasure in the joys of guitar and drums and the occasional howl of pain to signify an important moment. And so in that vein, you get the opening salvo of "Making a Fire," chock full of backing choir "nah nah nah nah nahs," groovy drums, and chunky riffs to go along with a chorus that soars like a good Foo jam should break out with. Digging that one. "Shame Shame" was the initial single, but "Waiting On A War" is the one I keep hearing on the radio. That one is at 39.5 million streams.
Just sooooooo sincere. The treacly strings over the acoustic intro. But then, in pure Foo fashion, you get halfway through and they ramp up for the ... oh no, wait, they keep the strings, and now add in some soaring woaaaahs to really schmaltz it up. The rockin' outro doesn't kick in until 3:10 on this one, but it delivers. At the same time, the visuals in the video for that rockin' outro part are like what my 10 year old thinks of when she thinks of kids rebelling. Oh, they were running fast! And someone broke a piece of glass! And someone peed! He shot the finger! SO HARD!
But also, this album has some bits that sound totally out of place - the start of "Medicine at Midnight" sounds very slick and drum-track-y. Each time it starts I think a new album has started. But then a few minutes in, it sounds like Gary Clark Jr. stops in for a guitar solo (that isn't credited on Spotify, just sounds like him). "Cloudspotter" uses what sounds like a toy cowbell for some jenky little swing during the verses. Also, some of the guitars on "Love Dies Young" sounds like these guys felt like giving The Cure a shot at jamming with them. But, while I generally enjoy the album, I don't hear anything in this that is going to be added to the list of Foo's best songs. They'll just add some into the concert rotation for the next thirty years and only true fan weirdos will remember which album they came from.
Foo Fighters - St. Cecilia. 2015 EP, recorded during their Austin time for the Sonic Highways cross-country circle-jerk (which bummed me out for its lack of variance, although it was touted as highlighting genres from each zone of America). Again, this EP holds nothing in it that would make you tie to Austin, except the title (a boutique hotel off of South Congress).
There you've got a radio-ready prime Foos song ("St. Cecilia"). The rest of the EP has my favorite ("Sean"), a propulsive pogo-ing rocker that sounds exactly like 92% of all other Foo music of the past decade, a rough punk rocker ("Savior Breath"), an acoustic alt-country-tinged-rocker probably about some decoration in the yard of the hotel ("Iron Rooster"), and another radio-ready rawk song ("The Neverending Sigh"). You could put any of these on the radio today, and everyone would know who is playing and they'd probably generally like the song. Which is not a terrible thing, and this is a good taste of what else they had going when they cut "God is my Witness" for the Austin track.
Foo Fighters - Songs from the Laundry Room EP. This EP was released in 2015, and has two demos of songs from the Foo Fighters days ("Big Me," "Alone + Easy Target"), one cover of an 80's empowerment anthem ("Kids in America"), and a previously unreleased track ("Empty Handed"). This was an exclusive record day store release on vinyl that the band decided to make widely available (presumably after a bunch of suckers plunked down $30 for the vinyl). No thanks on the "Kids in America" cover, yes please to the demos, and I'm OK with the new tune, a 1:47 minute blast of fuzzy early Foos renaissance. Kind of a cool little EP, but nothing terribly special.
Unranked - Foo Fighters - 0999925. Never knew this, but the Foos have been putting out a bunch of these numbered EPs over the past few years - that mostly have a few unreleased studio tracks and then a handful of live tracks. I'm not reviewing them all by any means, but they're pretty fun. The first track on this one is a studio banger called "Iron and Stone" that just pummels the shit out of you with the drums and some heavy, rifftastic guitar. Tasty anger. Second, you get a cover of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar," which is pretty OK (but the old Primus cover of this one is better) and that is definitely not Dave singing. The tracks I want to highlight more on here are three of the live ones. First, "Learn to Fly" is really a better song than I remember at any given time. I downloaded that track off some weird, scary website back in like 1999, before mp3s were really a big deal, and so it was part of a well-worn collection of a few songs I could find online. I still love it. Tuneful and singable and great. Also, "Stacked Actors," while I can't say I understand what it is about, is a great one to yell along to. "stacked dead actors, stacked to the rafters, line up all the bastards all I want is the truth." Mmmkay. And then the version on here of "Breakout" is also fun, in that I like the idea of myself getting to sing along at the top of my lungs, in that crowd. "Monkeywrench" (live) is the winner, although this may or may not be the right version:
Fun project.
Definitely ranked last, very much on purpose. Dee Gees - Hail Satin / Foo Fighters - Live. This is some deeply goofy shit, with the Foo Fighters playing five classic Bee Gees songs together in relatively pitch-perfect recreations of the originals. It's funky and funny for a little bit, and then the falsetto fest starts to grate a little bit. "You Should Be Dancing" and "Night Fever" are pretty solid, but "More Than a Woman" is where the bit goes too far. Unsurprisingly, the top track is the first one, which people checked out and got enough from. Feels like the joke could have been accomplished with just one tune, thrown out into the world as a lark, rather than creating a full on EP of it.
They are soooo serious in that video, which definitely makes it more funny. Funny for a sec and now they can move on. Then you get five "live" versions of tracks from Medicine at Midnight. I say "live" because it sounds like they aren't live in front of an audience, but more just raw cuts the guys put together in the studio before they got polished up by the producer. Although "No Son of Mine" pretty much just sounds like I remember the studio version sounding? "Making a Fire" has been in super heavy rotation on the radio here in Austin recently, which is odd, but also a good thing. I guess it's just the new single and I haven't been paying attention. More rock and roll for me!
I'll absolutely go see their show. Top priority one for me. Sorry Shania Twain!
One Liner: The biggest post-grunge hitmaker still out there teaching people about irony
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, post-grunge, electronica, hard rock, indie pop, pop rock
Home: Ottawa Poster Position: Headliner! Both Weekends.
Saturday at 6.
Thoughts: I am pumped that she is on this lineup. I am also pumped that she is playing the same stage as the Foos so that I can just park over there and live my best life. If you don't already know Alanis, then I'm fascinated by you.
Her biggest hit has spawned memes and mansplaining for years, as people have debated the meaning of the word ironic. "More than two decades later, her hit song “Ironic” from the 1995 album Jagged Little Pill is still the punch line of scores of irony-related jokes." The problem with the song, as recounted by many people over the years, is that the examples she names in the song are not actually irony, but are just examples of unfortunate circumstances. Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife - that is not irony. Irony is "the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning." Like, when it is 106 degrees outside for the 47th day in a row, saying "I think a cold front came through!" But here is what Alanis herself said about it: "For me the sweetest moment came in New York when a woman came up to me in a record store and said, ‘So all those things in ‘Ironic’ aren’t ironic.’ And then she said, ‘And that’s the irony.’ I said, ‘Yup.’” So, either she's covering for it now with this new theory of Meta-Irony, or she meant that the whole time. Anyway, 383.2 million streams.
All of my snarky over analysis aside - banger song. Classic 90's pop grunge stuff that nailed the current time on the head. But still, like "rain on your wedding day" would only be ironic if you followed it up with more facts, like, the wedding was in Death Valley or the bride was the weatherwoman who had predicted that it would never rain again. Also, this is one of the very (very) few albums that my wife owned when we met, and so it makes me happier than it should to jam this song and think of 19 year old Wife singing along at the top of her lungs in her Mercury Topaz, before she met me and I probably ruined the song by trying to explain irony to her.
Alanis Nadine Morissette is from Ottawa (I would have spelled that as Ottowa every day of the week, weird) Canada, and blew up with her debut album in 1995. Jagged Little Pill sold more than 33 million copies, won the Grammy for Album of the Year, made Rolling Stone's 2003 and 2020 editions of the best albums of all time, and ended up with a handful of top charting singles. In addition to "Ironic," "Hand in My Pocket," "You Oughta Know," "Head Over Feet," and "You Learn" topped the charts and became songs that still pop up in my head. Let's just bang them out for any weirdo who doesn't know this stuff.
"I'm brave but I'm chickenshit" is the line in that one. 164 million streams.
"would she go down on you in a theater" has always been the wild line in that one for me. 201 million.
81 million streams, and yet that one might be my favorite of the whole group.
59 million streams, but still a massive hit back in the day. She's such a rebel! Speaking of back in the day, what is the weirdest act you can think of for her to be the opening act for? Did you guess Vanilla Ice in 1991? How the hell did that happen?
She was born in 1974, so she's two years older than me, to a teacher and a high school principal. She is a twin as well - Wade Morisette is apparently also a musician. She started playing piano at 6, ended up on You Can't Do That on Television in middle school, and then made her first demo in 1989. Hold up. Do y'all remember YCDTOT? The slime? So good. But this is soooo bad.
That video footage is so bad, that I thought she was a dude the whole time until they used her name. Her debut album was actually before the hit - called Alanis and released in 1991. She was called the Debbie Gibson of Canada, and this, obviously, is how she ended up opening for Vanilla Ice.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. What the actual fuck is that? She has the same vocal mannerisms, and yet she's cranking an awful song and dancing like she's Paula Abdul. Good Lord. After that album (released only in Canada), she released Now Is the Time in 1992, but it was also not a major commercial success. After graduating from high school, she moved to Toronto and started working with Glen Ballard (co-wrote "Man in the Mirror" and worked with a ton of successful artists from Michael Jackson to Aerosmith to No Doubt to Dave Matthews Band to Van Halen to Katy Perry to Stevie Nicks). That partnership created Jagged Little Pill and launched her career.
BTW, "You Oughta Know" apparently has Flea on it. That's cool. That album ended up the second biggest selling album by a female artist, right behind fellow ACL poster dweller and Canadian Shania Twain. Another ACL connection, Taylor Hawkins, the recently deceased Foo Fighters drummer, was her drummer on her Jagged Little Pill tour.
Her next hit was a single for the movie City of Angels (massive soundtrack because of that damn Goo Goo Dolls song), that won her two more Grammys. "Uninvited." 46 million streams.
I guess I recall that one. Sort of makes me think of Evanescence, and those bombastic Dave Matthews songs where they take an ill-fated trip to India. Her next album, 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, came hot out of the gate, but apparently disappointed a lot of fans for being too wordy and personal. The big hit from that one was "Thank U." 100 million streams.
Alanis booty! Alanis titties! Why is she thanking India? I've never really thought about the lyrics to that song until seeing them written out. Ah, she apparently travelled to India with her mom before writing the song, and was grateful for the enlightenment she received there.
Next album was 2001's Under Rug Swept, and it spawned the hit "Hands Clean" while debuting at #1 on the charts. 39.8 million streams.
By the way, these streaming numbers are great for songs that came out before streaming existed. Pretty sure I illegally downloaded that song when it came out. Again, reading the lyrics as I listen opens my mind to what its really about. Yikes. You know some record exec heard that and was like, "oh shit." "My intention in writing this song was to get to a place where I could be as truthful and as honest as I possibly could be about certain relationships in my past. It's definitely not with the intention of seeking any sort of revenge for the person who is at the heart of the song that I'm singing about, but it was in my silencing myself to protect somebody else that I was ultimately completely abandoning myself. And any time I speak untruths in my life, and often-times I feel by not speaking the truth, by being silent, there's an element of an untruth in that. Withholding the truth sometimes can feel just as horrible as a lie to me. So as I get older, I think I want more and more to introduce the bliss of speaking transparently and truthfully and as honestly as I possibly can, knowing that the truth in this case is my truth only."
She's still been releasing stuff - 2003's Feast On Scraps, 2004's So-Called Chaos, 2008's Flavors of Entanglement, 2012's Havoc and Bright Lights, 2020's Such Pretty Forks in the Road, and then a freaking weird ambient electronica album in 2022 called the storm before the calm. But none of those have popped anywhere near the old stuff. Jagged is still for sure her hit. Just out of curiosity about whether she's still got it - here is a July 29, 2023 show at Fuji Rock.
Still sounds good, but maybe not as strong as back in the day? Or maybe the mix is just bad, because it is hard to hear her voice. She probably needs a cordless mic if she's going to walk around so much... Also, that pre-show montage was a little much?
Yeah, man. I'll go see it just for the nostalgia of the main hits.
Wikipedia Genre: His Wikipedia says he is also known as Tambourine Guy.
Home: America! Poster Position: Not on the poster Weekend One Only.
Saturday and Sunday.
Thoughts: Wikipedia says he is an American actor and musician, and lists some bangin' roles in movies, like Chinese Food Delivery Boy in Why George?, Young Paul in What Happens Next, and Fratboy in Grand Street. For his television career, he's popped up in soap operas, Law and Order SVU, and The Sunny Side Up Show, which is likely where he got the singing career from, because his songs are generally all kiddie action. He was the host of that show.
Biggest tune is "Breakfast Club," with 118k streams.
He's got a nice tenor voice that is super purely cute and non-threatening. He's gonna be great for those of you with little kids.
Home: I'm super not researching that Poster Position: Not on the poster Weekend One Only.
Saturday and Sunday.
Thoughts: Weird. Smith & Yarn is actually the name of an album by Aaron Nigel Smith and Red Yarn. Not a band? Or maybe it is? Why does it matter. This is more kiddie stuff and its vaguely pleasant and if you are stuck with little kids then you should totally skip out on hearing something rad like Mt. Joy or Kingfish so that your kids can dance terribly to this song. 59k streams.
One Liner: Spanish songs that may be love songs maybe?
Wikipedia Genre: regional Mexican, urban sierreno, alternative corrido
Home: Riverside, CA Poster Position: 3 (7) Both Weekends.
Sunday at 5:15.
Thoughts: Every once in a while, I understand a word. One of these songs says "pendejo" a few times, and that is a word I definitely learned while at Martin Junior High in the 80's. My Spanish-speaking classmates definitely helped me understand all of the insults that could possibly be lobbed at a glass-wearing, freckle-covered red head. He just said "corazon!" I know that one too!
This dude is from Riverside, California, but all of this that I have heard thus far is Spanish. A lot of it is sort of low key indie music, like some plaintiff Olivia Rodrigo song about love. I couldn't tell you what it is actually about, but that is the feeling. Some of the tunes are more traditional Mexican styles. I assume those are these styles, which I have never heard of before - regional Mexican, urban sierreno, alternative corrido. Weeeeeeeee!
The Wikipedia makes it clear how unpopular this is: "Cornejo's debut album Alma Vacía peaked at number two on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart and number seven on the Top Latin Albums chart. The album sold 7,000 album-equivalent units and peaked at number 156 on the Billboard 200 chart, and remained in the top ten of the Regional Mexican Albums chart for 35 weeks." So this album is CRUSHING the charts, but sold 7,000 copies? Really?
Apparently, this song went viral on TikTok and is now his top streamer. "Esta Danada." 209.4 million streams.
He doesn't look old enough to be driving that truck. Oh! He said "por favor!" I know that one! But yeah, I'm just not going to listen to that music if I have no clue what is being said. if the underlying music was super awesome, then maybe. But with generic guitar strumming and all-Spanish words? Not necessary for me.
One Liner: Throw-back country and Americana done really well.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but Americana, country, roots
Home: Seattle Poster Position: Not on the poster Weekend One Only.
Saturday.
Thoughts: On Spotify, his stuff is titled "Gus Clark & the Least of His Problems" which is both a mouthful and pretty damn fun sounding. According to Wikipedia, Gus Clark is dead. He was a Belgian jazz pianist who died in Antwerp in 1979. But this is apparently not a hologram jazz concert, because this dude's online bio says he is a Seattle-born crooner who left home at eighteen armed with a backpack and a mandolin. Supposedly, he travelled by freight train and "the kindness of those still bold enough to pick up a hitchiker." Sounds like ended up back in Seattle after his travels, and now plays his Americana and country music all over town. The throwback style here is making me think of Charlie Crockett.
Two albums - 2018's A Bit of Country Music and 2022's Some of My Songs. Those are whack album titles, man. The debut album doesn't have much in the way of streaming numbers, and the newer album just has one that is getting numbers. "Sing a Song" has 452k on Spotify.
A little barroom jazzy feel and a voice that is bordering between Joe Ely and Randy Newman. I'll also give you the biggest tune from that first album - "I'll Go Down Swinging," with 79k streams and a more explicitly country sound.
C3 should have saved this dude for their country music festival next April. He would have hit the nail on the head for that thing. I actually like it - I've just been letting it reel off for a while, and the harmonies and old-school stylings are just fun the way that some of those other classicists can be in the country world. If he wasn't scheduled for noon on a Saturday, I'd say sign me up.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but alt-pop, bedroom pop
Home: Toronto Poster Position: Not on the poster Weekend One Only.
Saturday.
Thoughts: Abby Sage Richardson was at the center of a notorious 1870 murder trial after her former husband shot and killed her second husband. That first husband, by the way, claimed to be a lawyer when they married but she later found out he had no law practice and made what little money he had through land speculation and blackmail. Sounds like a great dude.
This Abby Sage is a Canadian who immediately reminds me of the style of Billie Eilish. Pop beats and semi-whiny/whispery vocals. A bio I read said that she grew up with music because her dad was in a bunch of bands in Toronto when she was growing up. Doesn't say what bands, so I'll just have to assume he was in Rush and the Tragically Hip. Or maybe Nickelback. She has gotten to open for Suki Waterhouse, so maybe that is how she popped on to the poster at this late date?
No real albums, just two EPs - 2021's Fears of Yours & Mine and 2022's The Florist. Her top track is from that more recent EP, "Backwards Directions." 6.3 million streams.
I'm a sucker for backwards shit. That Pharcyde video is always the gold standard to me, but this is fun to watch. The song is fine - nothing all that exciting to me. Her only other tune with more than a million streams is "The Florist," also from that newer EP, with 2.5 million.
Another quiet one that never really seems to take off. Like I said, her general vibe to me is Eilish sounding, which as you may know is not a popular vibe in my head. I'll let her pass and hope that everyone else enjoys her.
One Liner: Semi-countrified black dude with a confusing name
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but country, Americana, singer-songwriter
Home: Dallas Poster Position: 4 (21) Both Weekends.
Saturday at 1:45.
Thoughts: Three songs on Spotify, so not much to be seen here, but somewhat surprisingly we are talking about a dude. A singer/songwriter from Dallas who leans country in those three songs. "IF YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE" is his top song, with 230k streams. It starts out like a pensive love song ready made for some lovelorn scene in Grey's Anatomy. The harmonies in the chorus are lovely. "VILLAIN" is his second-most streamed at 39k. This one is the most countrified, because it has a steel guitar in there, but it also uses a cuss word, which is very much not the way Hank would have done it. "LONG WAY UP" is actually kind of a blues rock song, like something Gary Clark Jr. or the Arc Angels would have put together. Only 12k streams for that one. "VILLAIN" is the song that has an official video.
Oh. Not only is this a dude named Angel, but also it is a black dude. My preconceived notions are just dropping by the wayside. According to one article I read, he actually has an album, I guess it is just that Spotify isn't carrying it? Ghost of the West is the name of the album that either exists or is still upcoming. White is actually from Cleburne, and he got his start by busking in Deep Ellum. He later went on tour with a friend named Mod Sun and cut his teeth on a 25 city tour. Now he apparently works on a local bee farm and raises horses? Weird juxtaposition here...
If he weren't up against Declan McKenna, I'd definitely go give it a shot. But you wouldn't be wrong to try him out...
One Liner: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
Wikipedia Genre: Rock Home: Austin Poster Position: Not on the Poster Both Weekends - Friday AND Sunday.
Thoughts: Just using most of last year's entry, because its pretty much the same. But here is a new one I hadn't heard yet - pretty solid!
I don't know if that is a difficult song or anything, but they nail it! For last year, I did find a recent video to add to the post. A concert video uploaded two weeks ago (which is now a year ago).
The vocals are entirely drowned out, so I have no clue how she sounds. But the bassist is pretty dope.
The classic rock staple "Freebird."
Pretty solid though, right? The lead singer could use a little more volume when she's down at the bottom of her register, but the instrumentation is solid. How about some stuff from last time: Led Zeppelin's Heartbreaker.
The band does a pretty solid job of cranking out the classic rock jam right there, including a pretty passable (if a little muddy) guitar solo in the middle. The singer (and the crap echo-effects thing she is using) could dial it back by a bit. Also love the kid psyching himself up, down to the right of the stage, getting ready for his big star turn next on stage. Elton John's Bennie & the Jets.
So freaking cool, man. I wish I could have had something like School of Rock when I was an awkward 13 year old. Screw playing french horn in the school band, I COULD HAVE BEEN AMERICAN BONO, MOM!!! WHY DID YOU HOLD ME BACK!!! WITH ONLY A FEW YEARS OF INSTRUCTION IN AN AUSTIN STRIP MALL I EASILY COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN ERIC CLAPTON!!! Although the sound sucks on these videos, you get the idea, these kids are doing some pretty solid cover tunes.
One more, "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse.
Hold on a damn minute, that is freaking good. The sound is good enough on the video to tell, but the singer is great and the rest of the band is actually really solid too. I'm actually impressed. Well done, kids.
One Liner: Actress turned rapper/R&B singer with some pretty solid results
Wikipedia Genre: Pop, rap, R&B
Home:Encinitas, California
Poster Position: New Addition to the Poster Weekend One Only. Saturday.
Thoughts: This is an actress, best known for her role as singer Tiana Brown on the Fox network show Empire. I have never watched that show before, the only reason I think it rings a bell is because of that Jussie Smollett guy getting in trouble a few years ago.
Her full name is Serayah Ranee McNeill, and she's from Encinitas, California. It sounds like her first big moment was appearing in Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" video back in 2015, and not long after that she was cast in a recurring role on Empire. A handful of singles on her playlist, and then one 2023 album called Flutter. Most of the songs on that album have zero plays on Spotify, so it hasn't quite caught on. Her top track is a 2017 single called "Driving Me," with 2.7 million streams.
I like her rap action a lot more than I like her generic R&B stuff. You can also see why she's been in a handful of other artists' videos, and on TV, as she's quite pretty. Her next biggest track is a 2019 single called "Love It," with 925k streams.
Nothing groundbreaking here, but a generally good beat and she can flow over the top of it easily. If you told me this was a Rihanna track, I'd probably believe you. I doubt I'll be at the noon shows on Saturday, but this is pretty good.
One Liner: Spanish (mostly) action for the Kiddies
Wikipedia Genre: None, singer-songwriter-ey kiddie tunes Home: Monterey, Mex. Poster Position: Not on the poster Weekend One Only. Friday and Saturday.
Thoughts: Her Spotify bio mentions that she has played Austin City Limits, but I don't find an old review for her. Not sure if that means I was just a jerk and didn't review her, or if her bio is looking forward. Either way, this is some bilingual kiddie tunes with simple beats and fun lyrics (or at least the ones I can understand).
Her top streamers are all from 2018's Alegria - this is "Mi Papa Me Va a Comprar." 299k streams.
According to Google, that title translates to "my dad is going to buy me." Which is an odd song title. Is this song about adoption? Is that like the way the youths use "Daddy" to mean their lover? I think I heard them sing something about an orange and an accordion, so maybe this song is just them singing that their dad is going to buy them a lot of crap. It's a capitalism anthem in Spanish.
One Liner: Possibly not the worst Kiddie Limits band, if you believe Joseph
Wikipedia Genre: None, bad kiddie raps Home: Chicago Poster Position: Not on the poster Both Weekends. Friday.
Thoughts: Every freaking year. Although, after having bagged on them year after year (examples in my prior reviewsof this dreck), my buddy Joseph went to see them with his twin boys a few years back and they really enjoyed it. Dammit. Because I love nothing more deeply than finding something horrible and then making sure that everyone agrees with my stance on that horrible thing. And so, when Joseph sent me a video or audio file (something, I can't recall now) of his boys getting to help come up with topics that the Q Brothers then used to freestyle a rap on the spot, and I was impressed both with their rap ability and their improvisational skills, it crushed my black little heart into a sad place.
Shakespeare promo. Run away!
So, all that to be said, know that I would not recommend going and listening to their music online, but I would probably say that their live show is worth doing with your kids. BLECHH, I need a drink!
On top of that, they have actually released an album! 2021's Long Way Home! And the only song with any accumulated streams on Spotify is called "Chicago Fire"! And sounds like a crappy Hamilton rip off about the city of Chicago!
One Liner: Lady rapper biting everyone else's thing.
Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop, pop
Home: Monclair, New Jersey
Poster Position: 2 (4) Both Weekends. Saturday.
Thoughts: That is unfortunate. When the lineup first came out, I had lamented the lack of rap acts and someone told me that Leray would be a great get for the rap crowd. I must disagree. I mean, yeah, some of this is rap, but this is not something that would interest me at all.
Anyway, being super negative nelly here. I was just hoping this was going to be badass and not so derivative. Her top hit yanks a sample from Grandmaster Flash's "The Message," which that has been used many times - Puff Daddy, 2Pac, Ice Cube, etc. But the people are apparently liking it, as its got 350.1 million streams. "Players."
Meh. Grabbing a classic beat like that and then just spouting boring brags. "Make My Day" steals the beat and a handful of the lyrics from "Pump Up The Jam." "Bops" rips off the Neptunes sound. "No Angels" sounds so much like Cardi B I looked it up to make sure she wasn't working under a pseudonym. "Bitch Girl" yanks a chunk of the Hall & Oates classic "Rich Girl." "My Body" re-purposes "It's My Party." This is like the 38th Marvel sequel of lady rap - super familiar and unoriginal and the joy is plastic and worn after one use.
Her real name is actually Coi Leray Collins, and she got her start on Soundcloud in 2018. By 2020, she had Lil Durk remix one of her singles, and that track ended up going platinum. Let's take a gander at that one for context. "No More Parties." Strangely, only 44.7 million streams though. That doesn't feel platinum.
I definitely like how she has created a new word of "MHM," which apparently has multiple meanings. Lil Durk is apparently a terrible rapper. Did he come to ACL last year? His name sounds familiar. I just re-read my review of him (he didn't end up coming, so not only does he suck but he is a quitter) and it was not complimentary. But he was the guy who got hit in the eye by pyrotechnics at Lollapalooza last year, and so he had to leave his tour and get better.
She is the daughter of "rapper and media mogul" Benzino. I have never heard of Benzino, but he apparently co-owned The Source, and was in a rap feud with Eminem in the early 2000's. I'm guessing Em won since I've only heard of one of those dudes. Wikipedia says that Coi first released a track in 2011 when she was 14, but quit rap, dropped out of high school, and got a job. But after a few more years, she decided to try again in 2018 and worked with a bunch of low-level rappers I've semi-heard of. Ski Mask the Slump God, Trippie Redd, Fetty Wap. Crap like that.
Four albums - 2018's Everythingcoz, 2019's EC2, 2022's Trendsetter, and 2023's COI. "Players" is for sure the hit off all of those, no other song comes close on streams. The first albums has no track with more than a million streams, the second gets a little better, and the third album has four with over 30 million (three of which feature someone more famous). The new disc has the hit and then almost all of the rest of the tracks are under a million streams. I just think this stuff is very uninteresting.
