Predicting ACL 2026: Other Big Festivals

I thought I would be very clever and try again to use AI this year to help with a prediction set.  Everything I keep reading tells me that THE GAME IS CHANGING and AI IMPROVES BY A MILLION TIMES EVERY SECOND!!!!  Maybe.  I don't know.  I have honestly been pretty freaked out that it is going to crush my job.  And then I got this response when I tried a query:

Key Findings by Year

2025 (Upcoming)

The 2025 ACL lineup includes headliners Sabrina Carpenter, Hozier, Luke Combs, The Strokes, John Summit, Doechii, and The Killers (replacing Doja Cat).  As this festival hasn't occurred yet, no cross-reference data is available for additional Austin concerts in 2025.

Really?  Do computers not know the date?!?  I had asked it to analyze which artists in the past five years had played ACL but also had a concert in Austin that same year - I wanted to see if we might be able to use that to know the distance required between Moody Center shows and ACL headlining.  You know, for some of the rad things coming to the Moody soon like Nine Inch Nails and Bruce Springsteen.  Well, as you can tell from the above, this shit is dumb.  So, sadly, gotta do the caveman work as usual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UpoZpMBM9Y

I figured my first view would be to look at a couple of other major festivals and see if I could get a little flavor on who is on the circuit.  Obviously, Lollapalooza is the best indicator, and it's lineup isn't out yet, but maybe I'll do a whole post about that one.  Anyway, let's look at some Fests headliners.

Coachella - Sabrina Carpenter, The XX, Nine Inch Noize, Justin Beiber, The Strokes, Giveon, Karol G, Young Thug, Kaskade

Bonnaroo - (also booked by C3) - The Strokes, Griz, Turnstile, Rufus Du Sol, Teddy Swims, The Neighbourhood, Noah Kahan, Role Model, Kesha

Bottlerock - Lorde, Teddy Swims, Lil Wayne, Foo Fighters, LCD Soundsystem, Zedd, Backstreet Boys, Sombr, Ludacris

Governor's Ball - (also booked by C3) - Lorde, Baby Keem, Stray Kids, Kali Uchis, Asap Rocky, Jennie

Innings Festival (also booked by C3) - Mumford & Sons, Goo Goo Dolls, Myles Smith, Twenty One Pilots, Cage the Elephant, Lord Huron, Blink 182, Sublime, Public Enemy

Shaky Knees (also booked by C3) - not out yet

Jazz Fest - always funky because of how many nights - Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Kings of Leon, Lainey Wilson, Teddy Swims, Lorde, Jon Batiste, Tyler Childers, David Byrne, The Black Keys

Bourbon & Beyond - GOD DAMN, HAVE A LINEUP!  Foo Fighters, Mumford & Sons, Chris Stapleton, Dave Matthews Band, Queens of the Stone Age, Kacey Musgraves, The Red Clay Strays, Hootie & The Blowfish (and then also Counting Crows, Goose, Jason Isbell, Gary Clark Jr., The War on Drugs, Portugal the man, Father John Misty - I mean, down in small type you have Vertical Horizon, Our Lady Peace, Jet, Better than Ezra, Tonic, Cracker, and the Verve Pipe.  Holy hell!

Shaky Knees (C3 festival too).  The Strokes, Turnstile, Fontaines DC, Twenty One Pilots, Pierce the Veil, The Prodigy, Gorillaz, LCD Soundsystem, Wu Tang Clan.

Not too many overlapping artists, honestly.  Interesting.  But let's dig into a few:

• The Strokes.  Here in 2025, so nope.
• Foo Fighters.  I mean, I love the Foos, but I also feel like they have been the rock headliner too many times.  My hope would be no, and after reviewing their tour dates, it is a no for sure.  They'll be in Australia melting faces.
• Lorde.  That could be interesting.  She played the Moody last year - my youngest went and said it was the best concert she's ever been to.  She is also playing the three south American Lollas, Lolla Berlin, and a ton of other small festivals that I have never heard of.  Her tour ends on September 1 in Luxembourg, so she has the space and time.  She was last here in 2014, so yeah, this feels like a good call.  Yes.
• Teddy Swims.  I would be a little bummed if he was a headliner - that one song is great, but then I'm left pretty underwhelmed.  Playing a ton of festivals and his tour ends on July 25.  He was last here in 2024, so I don't see why he would need to come back so soon unless his popularity is somehow popping.  Going with my gut to say no.

Others I feel like inspecting:

• Nine Inch Noize might be kind of fun - that is Trent Reznor with some German EDM guy called Boys Noize.  Could be good times!  Would they be off the list because of being here in Austin in the next month or so?  Not sure.  Thanks AI.  Feels like a no to me.
• The XX.  NOPE.  They will be in a very long residency at Madison Square Garden from late August to late October.  Not happening. 
• Griz.  I have mentioned Griz more than once, and how freaking fun his show in the Tito's tent was a while back.  Semi-generic EDM, but he plays the saxophone and goes nuts with it every once in a while as the beat is beating.  I had a good time.  Anyway, he could make it for weekend one, but he is playing the Seven Stars Festival in Arrington, VA during second weekend.  Feels like a no to me.
• Turnstile.  Hell yes, please do.  They came though Austin last year and I missed the show, which made me sad, but they are signed up for three Lollas, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and more, with a last tour date of 8/28.  They've never been despite my repeated request in the ACL end of year poll.  Feels good.  I vote yes. But I also vote that they are not in the headliner font.
• Noah Kahan.  Last date on the calendar is 8/31, and the only Texas date is Arlington at the end of July.  He was last here in 2023.  Feels pretty good to me.  I'm leaning yes.
• LCD Soundsystem.  Remember when he retired?  I member.  His current tour dates on the website show only March and May dates.  Doesn't really seem like that is much of a tour.  Going to go with no.
• Baby Keem.  I don't even know what a Baby Keem is.  Just felt like I should look at him or her or it.  He is playing Dallas and Houston in April, and then his last show on this tour is September 18.  That feels pretty well set up for him to come back over the pond after that last show in London and rap our faces off or something in October.  Sure.
• Asap Rocky.  I don't think I like the new album, but I need to give it more time.  I'm just not sure that he is actually a good rapper.  Oh, nevermind.  He plays Austin on June 19.  Bye!
• Mumford & Sons.  For crying out loud won't you die?  The beatdown here is that their live show is freaking fun as hell.  But please just give me something new and fun as hell!  9/24-27 at Bourbon and Beyond is the last thing on the calendar right now, so, unfortunately, they've got the time to get here.  I'm voting with my heart and saying no.
• Twenty One Pilots.  Not really on tour, just hopping around to some festivals.  I feel like that would be really weird, just going to Europe and doing successive nights in the Netherlands, then Germany, then another German town, taking a week off, and then Switzerland and Italy before a week off, and then Belgium and France.  Seems like a lot of weird downtime and then a flurry of action.  Especially when your music is dumb.  Anyway, the last thing on here is the Sommo Festival on 9/11 in something called New Glasgow, PE.  I want to unpack so much from that.  Peru is shortened to PE?  They have a town called New Glasgow down there?  I don't know what to do with this data.  Anyway, my vote is no.
• Eagles.  Their tour just says SPHERE for months and then tacks on Jazz Fest.  Nope
• Stevie Nicks.  Nope, she plays Austin in April.
• The Black Keys.  They play New Braunfels in July.  Feels too close, even if not in Austin.  They are out for second weekend for sure, as they will be in Maine and Canada.  I'll go with no.
• Dave Matthews Band.  Playing the Moody on May 11, so nah.
• Queens of the Stone Age.  That last show of theirs I saw was weird.  Neat, and interesting, but weird.  Their shows on tour are listed as either with System of a Down or Foo Fighters.  That is a big show.  After Kentucky on 9/24, they play Vegas on 9/26, which would leave them the time to be here.  I feel like they'd need to release new music for people to be interested, and it has been years.  I freaking love them, but saying no for now.
• The Red Clay Strays.  It seems like bands have been able to play Two Step Inn and then still show up at ACL, so I could see this one.  Their tour has a gap from 9/26 to 10/22, so that feels like a pretty good indicator that they'll show back up for ACL.  Yes.
• Backstreet Boys.  I mean, I hope not!  There was entirely too much of them involved in the Super Bowl commercials.  Nope, they will be in Germany!
• Sombr.  Dunno what a Sombr is, but figured it sounded like a hip thing the kids would want to tiktok with.  His last show is 9/12, oh wait, PE is a part of Canada!  Not Peru!  I'm not changing what I said above though.  I don't see it.  Going with no.

So, that could be Red Clay Strays, Lorde, Turnstile, Noah Kahan, and Baby Keem.  And probably freaking Mumford & Sons.  Not an especially exciting start!

Bourbon and Beyond 2026 - Line 11 (Avery Anna, Matt Hansen, The Church, Gabriella Rose, Lisa Loeb, Uncle Lucius, Yachtley Crew)

Avery Anna

One Liner: Confessional country pop with a good voice
Wikipedia Genre: country pop
Home: Flagstaff, Arizona
Day: Saturday

Thoughts:  Always seems bad to me when the top songs an artist has on their Spotify are not their songs.  In this instance, Anna was featured on two Sam Barber songs, oh, and her 4th and 5th top songs are also someone else's - someone called Max McNown and someone named Adrien Nunez.

Have you ever been to Flagstaff?  It is a surprisingly great little town.  Doesn't feel like the arid desert of southern Arizona at all, with mountains and trees and a cool small college town vibe.  We liked it alot.  Anyway, young Avery grew up singing in church and started writing songs by the time she was in the fifth grade.  She got her big break during the pandemic, going viral with a cover of a Christina Aguilera song sung in her bathtub for the good acoustics.  She got a manager, went on Kelly Clarkson's show, graduated high school, and moved to Nashville to sign with Warner.

The music hits me somewhere between the pop country of Maren Morris and the confessional lyrics of Olivia Rodrigo.  Her voice is pretty good, I just don't really care for country pop all that much.  Her top song that is just her (and not on some guy's track) is "Narcissist" with 55.5 million streams.

I just feel like these sorts of songs also bug me because I get tired of the younger generation trying to diagnose everyone with clinical labels.  I'm sure there is a huge group of people listening to that song and being like "yeah, that guy needs to get some help because he was into himself!"  Can it.  He was probably 17 and just an asshole.  Anyway, she's solid.  Don't know if I would seek her show out, but if the schedule breaks right, maybe.

Matt Hansen

One Liner: I can't put my finger on who he yells like, but he needs to chill on the chorus
Wikipedia Genre: folky soft rock pop
Home: "northern" California
Day: Saturday 

Thoughts:  (please be one of the Hansen brothers, please be one of the Hansen brothers, please be one of the Hansen brothers) DAMMIT!  Wikipedia thinks Matt Hansen is a politician from Nebraska, but instead he sounds like a very intense singer.  It is kind of a blend of soft rock and folky pop, but I feel like he is BELTING every line directly into my earholes.  Chill the fuck out, Matt!  He also does too much vibrato for my tastes, the way that Post Malone sounds like a moron when he sings.  He also sort of sounds Irish, but is not. Top track is "something to remember" with 220.3 million streams.

Okay, I guess he doesn't scream at me during the verses, but every song sounds like this where its a nice little pop folky thing and then he launches into yelling about his emotions.  Again, chill out, Matt!  I think he sounds great when he's not screaming!  Probably a pass though for me.

The Church

One Liner: Pretty solid 80's pop rock after the "Under the Milky Way" hit
Wikipedia Genre: alternative rock, new wave, neo-psychedelia, post-punk, dream pop (quite a list)
Home: Sydney
Day: Friday 

Thoughts:  (please be that band with the under the milky way song, please be that band with the under the milky way song, please be that band with the under the milky way song)  YESSSS!  Great song.  "Reptile" also sounds familiar, but I really don't recall any knowledge of The Church other than the one big hit.

Never knew they were Aussies.  Always assumed that accent was a Brit thing.  Formed in 1980 in Sydney, and despite never really having another hit, they have released TWENTY-SEVEN freaking albums.  That is a massive amount of output for a band that most people forgot almost 40 years ago.  But I'm listening to that album, 1988's Starfish, and I like it.  Jangly, shimmery guitars like some of those Madchester type bands that straddled shoegaze and Beatles fandom.  The lyrics to "Texas Moon" are like a Larry McMurtry fever dream imagined by bad AI.  Anyway, here's the big hit.

Got that REM jangle that I love, but it also has those cool synth sounds that would not have shown up with REM.  I actually would have guessed that this song was older that '88.  I've dug into the two newest albums, and they remind me of that guy Destroyer.  Who I don't love, a little mopey like The National, but not terrible.  Funny to me that these guys are out here churning out unheard albums while that guy is a Pitchfork darling.  Either way, I could see checking this band out.  I've enjoyed connecting with it.

Gabriella Rose

One Liner: Tough to listen to country slop
Wikipedia Genre: vintage pop, folk, country
Home: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Day: Friday

Thoughts:  She got a Zach Bryan song.  That's the kiss of fame for any lady country singer who needs a bump with the youth vote.  Her voice sounds great on that tune though, like an Emmylou Harris thing going on.  But then her biggest song by herself sounds like a caricature of country music, sung in a bathroom with a banjo player.  "Doublewide" has 28.4 million streams somehow.  Feels like AI wrote this to include every country trope available.

That song sucks.  It is definitely country to the bone, but I hope I never hear it again.  On the cover of Necklace, she sort of looks like a brunette Margo Robbie.  Woof, that song sucks butt too.  If you want country with a drum machine, look no further.  "Revival," just her and a guitar, is better as are the next few.  Okay, she isn't all terrible.

She released her first EP when she was sixteen, right before the pandemic.  But it wasn't until 2025, when the Zach Bryan track came out, that she really found some level of fame.  That song debuted at #62 on the Billboard Top 100 and entered the Top 10 on several Billboard charts.  I'm good without this - she's either completely stripped down or absolutely terrible.

Lisa Loeb

One Liner: Gen X folky pop gold
Wikipedia Genre: pop, rock, folk, children's music
Home: Dallas
Day: Sunday 

Thoughts:  YES!  I am excited to learn more about Lisa.  You obviously know the big hit - the defining hit from the Reality Bites soundtrack, the video that launched a million ill-conceived glasses purchases, and slacker 90's love song aesthetic.  171.3 million streams.

Great song.  I for sure included that on mix tapes back in the day.  I know that there are a million loft apartments in New York, but when I see that video it immediately makes me think of Tom Hanks jumping on a trampoline.  This was the first number one song ever on the Billboard Top 100 for an artist without a recording contract.  "I Do" was also a pretty good tune.

She was born in Maryland, but raised in Dallas.  She attended Hockaday School, which is annoying, because those damn Daisy bitches keep beating my daughters in sports and they use cowbells and therefore are evil and should die.  She ended up at Brown University with a degree in comparative literature.  Tell me you are the child of a rich doctor without telling me you are the child of a rich doctor.

At the time when "Stay (I Missed You)" hit big, she had been on a coffeehouse circuit in New York and playing small clubs across the country, handing out her Purple Tape to people to get noticed.  Well, in a handy twist of fate, she lived across the street from Ethan Hawke, and had made some music for his plays in the NYC theater community.  Hawke passed along the song to Ben Stiller for Reality Bites, and he made it the end credits song (and, of course, on the soundtrack).  The song went Gold and was nominated for a Grammy (lost to fuckin' "I Swear" by All-4-One, which is a travesty and a mockery).

Funny thing, the reason that my kids know of her is because our friend April gave us a burned CD about 15 years ago that was a copy of Loeb's 2007 album Catch the Moon.  If you haven't heard it, she went a completely new direction, with great success, and started making children's music.  Her version of "Big Rock Candy Mountain" was a mainstay in our car for a period of time.  It is a really nice album - her voice works beautifully to sing classics and new little ditties.  Since that, she has released many more kids' albums with titles like "Lisa Loeb's Silly Sing-Along" and Lullaby Girl.  They are nice.

She has also been on TV quite a bit (which I had not known).  In 2004, she and boyfriend Dweezil Zappa had a show on the Food Network about musicians touring the country and eating stuff.  In 2005, she had a reality show called #1 Single on the E! network that was about her love life.  Her voice has been used in shows like Jake and the Never Land Pirates, The Rugrats Movie, Special Agent Oso, and an animated Spiderman show.  She has appeared on Gossip Girl, Fuller House, Community, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, and in some terrible-sounding movies like Serial Killing 4 Dummys.

I have no clue what the set would be like at this show, other than it will include "Stay (I Missed You)" and "I Do."  I tried the new album, A Simple Trick to Happiness, and it is nice.  Unremarkable but nice.

Uncle Lucius

One Liner: Great balance between Texas country and southern jam rock
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but like Texas country, Americana, southern rock, jam
Home: Austin, TX!
Day: Sunday 

Thoughts:  I got all excited when I saw that they have the Gruene Hall logo as their Spotify banner, but this doesn't much sound like Gruene music.  Have you ever heard The Record Company?  L.A. band doing bluesy rock and roll that one of the local Austin radio stations loves to play.  Saw them at the Scoot Inn one time with a friend who was waaaaay to into them, and was also very stoned, and it was hilarious.  Anyway, this is more like Black Crowes-lite, or "Hey There Sunshine" sounds like an Allman Brothers jam.  Honestly, their 2025 album Live in 25, recorded at Gruene Hall, is damn fun.  Very Allman Brothers jamming loose sort of vibe.

To be honest, these guys are a surprise.  When I saw their name, I thought this was the group Lucius, who was at ACL last year (and who I found surprisingly boring after really liking their studio music).  So, I was glad to find something enjoyable instead.

I found an article about them that explained why I may not have heard of this band from my own backyard.  They apparently called it quits about 6 years ago, after struggling to sell tickets despite critical acclaim.  Then, the almighty Yellowstone used "Keep the Wolves Away" in an episode, and the great unwashed masses turned their rheumy gaze upon these fellas.  Therefore, while most of their songs have less than 4 million streams, that one is massive with 321.2 million streams.

Released twelve years ago, and yet it took a soap opera about dirt to launch it into stardom.  I honestly really like this live album.  I think these guys are great.  The Internet says they are playing Gruene Hall tomorrow night.  Maybe I need to get my shit together and go.

Yachtley Crew

One Liner: Cheesy yacht rock porn
Wikipedia Genre: yacht rock
Home: L.A.
Day: Sunday

Thoughts:  Man, I was really hoping this was going to just be a straight-forward Yacht Rock-sings-Motley Crue thing and that it was going to jam.  Instead, a lot of this is crazy treacly schmaltz.  Like, the "How Deep is Your Love" cover would be embarrassing to hear live, I think.  I would feel sadness for the universe.  Feels like the singers from Glee found a karaoke machine.  But then "Lowdownyachtl" came on, by my mofo man Boz Scaggs, and the white man overbite was impossible to stop.  Uhhhhhh huh, baby.  

Someone on Twitter the other day talked about how great of a song Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams Come True" is, except for the part when Hall or Oates yelps "now, listen to this!" and then some super unremarkable shit happens.  Not even like a wicked guitar solo.  Which is super funny - like when your kid is like "Dad!  Dad!  Dad! Look at this!" and then just like jumps into the pool.  Anyway, these dudes cover that song and it made me laugh all over again.

Most of these are classic covers you would recognize from the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack or your mom's eight track collection.  Top track is an Applebee's drink menu called "Sex on the Beach" with 84k streams.

Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote: "It would be tempting to describe Yächtley Crëw simply as a cover band. But it is more. It is a trend-setter, a movement, an ocean spray to the face during the torrid summer months."  They are actually signed to a Jimmy Buffett-owned label.  I get the idea that these guys probably make their living on the road playing these jenky songs for aging hipsters.  I think I will pass.

Bourbon & Beyond 2026 - Line 5 (Charley Crockett, 4 Non Blondes, Portugal. The Man, Gary Clark, Jr., Joan Jett and the Blackhearts)

Charley Crockett

One Liner: The ten dollar cowboy with a ton of soul and a heavy schtick 
Wikipedia Genre: country, blues, southern soul, Americana
Home: San Benito, Texas
Day: Saturday

Thoughts: I have written about Crockett a few times, although I think I have only seen him the one time at Two Step.  He's been at ACL twice before that Two Step appearance, so I could have seen him previously, I just don't recall.  Here was my 2023 writeup.  If you like country music, and you like the classic style of country music, then you are going to like this guy.  If I recall correctly, Brandi Gitcho believes that he is full of shit.  ;)

4 Non Blondes

One Liner: That damn "I said HEY! what's GOING ONNNNN!" song
Wikipedia Genre: alternative rock
Home: San Francisco
Day: Thursday

Thoughts:  I saw these weirdos at La Zona Rosa in Austin about a million years ago, with Blues Traveler (although I can't recall who opened).  At the time, I am sure that I thought their single hit was a great song, but I can't really take it by now.  A shocking number of streams - 1.3 BILLION streams for "What's Up?"

I had entirely forgotten about that hair.  Good gravy.  In a strange development, at least to me, that was their only album.  I figured that I would open up their Spotify and see a bunch of crappy albums that have been farting out over the years without any reaction.  But nope.  Just the 1992 album with that song.  Which is kind of nice, because I just listened to it once and it hurt my head.  She's just way too intense of a singer.  So intense.

The lead singer, Linda Perry, left the band in 1994, leading to it disbanding.  But since then, she's become an A-list songwriter and producer, doing work for Christina Aguilera, Pink!, Gwen Stefani, Adele, Alicia Keys, and Courtney Love.  Her song for Pink! was "Get The Party Started," so she knew what she was doing.  She later had a VH1 show about up and coming musicians, was introduced into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, and has several music labels of her own.  But I guess the rest of the band got hungry and so they are back together to smear us with more of this stuff.

Portugal. The Man.

One Liner: Really great studio rock band with some major hits, who has disappointed me live before 
Wikipedia Genre: alternative rock, psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop, experimental rock, indie rock
Home: Portland, OR
Day: Sunday 

Thoughts:  Portugal. The Man was last at ACL in 2023 (Headliner level, too!), and my review for them included notes from the prior time I had seen them.  My review of the actual show was thus: "I was really excited for this set.  I really enjoy their studio tunes.  The last two times I have seen them the sound was awful and I was disappointed.  Guess what?  That must just be the way they sound live.  I don't understand it at all, but the sound is muddy and unbalanced and it sort of crushed me.  Really too bad.  But now having seen them three times, at different stages, and if they always sound that way then it must be on purpose.  Bummer."

So, of course, they have released a new 2025 album that I am really enjoying.  SHISH, as with their prior stuff, has some freaking weird-as hell bits, but overall is a very fun rock and roll disc.  The first song comes in with some really sweet riffage over the top of a drum machine beat and it just makes me want to boogie.  But then the next song is a scream-fest that I don't love.  "Knik" sounds like a Weezer song, in all the right ways, with a pound of riffs and goofy ass soloing.

"Feel It Still" is definitely still their top song with 1.6 BILLION streams.  That is a wild stream count.  You can go find that video on my old post, so I will give you something new.  This is the top streamer so far from the new album.  "Tanana" with 2.4 million streams.

Looking like some Spies Like Us footage, if only the nice Russian lady (ladies?) could have come along to comfort these fellows.  Nice little tune.  I think some of the other ones on this new disc are better because they go harder.

As for whether I would go watch the show?  Man, I don't know.  Fool me three times, you would think I would learn and say hell no.  But then I think about seeing these songs played live and my heart tugs.  Like, "Mush" from this new disc, is very danceable and ridiculous rock and roll that seems like it would be a blast to wiggle around to.

Gary Clark Jr.

One Liner: Current guitar God, Austin High Maroon, and savior of Austin music 
Wikipedia Genre: Blue rock, hard rock, soul, R&B
Home: Austin, Texas
Day: Thursday 

Thoughts: Hell yeah.  A guitar god just chilling out on the 5th line of this poster.  Like some of the others here, I have already written a good bit about my fellow Austin High Maroon.  If you have never seen him live, it is really great - his guitarwork is out of this world.  I've seen him twice at ACL and then once at a show that was very falsely advertised as being a Dixie Chicks concert where they helped him on two songs but otherwise it was just GC melting faces.

The guy has four Grammys.  He had a Day named after him in Austin when he was only 17.  he's married to an Australian model.  "This Land" was apparently a legit thing where some dickhole neighbor to his ranch was threatening him about trespassing.  He puts his money back into Austin with ownership of Antone's and a music studio.  All around good dude and a great musician to boot.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

One Liner: The Godmother of Punk 
Wikipedia Genre: rock, hard rock, punk rock
Home: Philly (and then Rockville, Maryland, and then Los Angeles)
Day: Thursday 

Thoughts:  My worry with people like this is that she 67 years old.  Is she really still going to be able to bring the thunder?  I'll have to check some recent concert footage.  

Real name is Joan Marie Larkin, called the Godmother of Punk, Rolling Stone has twice named her in their top 100 Guitarists of All Time list, she was part of The Runaways in the mid 70's, and after they broke up she went solo.  Her original solo album was apparently rejected 23 times, and now she can brag that she is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Loads of hits you would recognize - "I Love Rock and Roll," "Bad Reputation," "I Hate Myself for Loving You," her cover of "Crimson & Clover," etc.  I have to say, I never was very into her.  I am listening to her first album now, which had the mega hit "I Love Rock and Roll," and while I can recognize that song's station in the pantheon of rock and roll, this album isn't doing much for me.  It is fine, but I think generations of other bands have made this sort of thing sound much better since 1981.

Here is a version of the biggest hit, live, from August 2025.  Voice still works, but I don't guess it was ever the selling point.  Some other dude is doing the solo work, she's just pumping up the crowd and playing the basic riffs.  

But yeah, she can still do the thing.  I sort of doubt that this show would be a priority for me, but we will see how the schedule shakes out.

Bourbon & Beyond 2026 - Line 8 (Violent Femmes, Maddox Batson, Maoli, Lindsey Stirling, Noah Cyrus, St. Paul & the Broken Bones)

Violent Femmes

One Liner: Seminal, sneering folky punk with more than just Blister in the Sun 
Wikipedia Genre: Folk punk, alternative rock
Home: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Day: Friday

Thoughts:  C'mon man.  You know this one.

I can remember butchering these lyrics as "twister" in the sun as a child, and my favorite part of it was when it went really quiet and we all got low to the ground at camp dances, so that when they rip back in with the LEMMEGOWWWAAAAHHHN! we could all jump up and yell along and freak out.  Great times.  Funny thing though, I know a handful of these other songs, but I definitely never bought one of their albums or really got into any of it.  But "Blister in the Sun" (324.6 million streams) is a stone cold classic, "Add It Up," "Kiss Off" and "American Music" make me think of high school theater and building sets while jamming those and feeling very cool while counting off the items in "Kiss Off" before yelling "everything everything" with the rest of the nerds.  Pretty great.

Ten studio albums!  That feels like a lot!  But I guess 1983 was a really freaking long time ago by now, even if it feels to me like it should just be a few years ago.  That first album features "Blister in the Sun," "Gone Daddy Gone," "Add It Up," and "Kiss Off" and it went platinum. The whole album still sounds awesome. They kind of remind me of Devo with their weirdness that is still tuneful and fun.  I've listened to some of the recent stuff, and its fine, not as good to me as their OG stuff, but they apparently can still do the thing.

This is cool: "They were discovered by James Honeyman-Scott (of the Pretenders) on August 23, 1981, when the band was busking on a street corner in front of the Oriental Theatre, the Milwaukee venue that The Pretenders would be playing later that night. Chrissie Hynde invited them to play a brief acoustic set after the opening act."  I'd absolutely go see this - sign me up to sing their five top tracks right now!

Maddox Batson

One Liner:  If Justin Beiber was country adjacent and sucked even worse
Wikipedia Genre: Country, pop, rock (huh?!)
Home: Birmingham, Alabama
Day: Saturday

Thoughts:  Oh no.  No no no.  Like a Justin Beiber for country fans?  I'm 0:36 into "Girl in Green," which is his currently most popular song on Spotify, and this makes me want to die.

He was the kind of kid who was posting little covers to TikTok to try to get some clout, and a cover of a Sam Barber song blew up for him.  After that, his debut single also went viral and so Warner Brothers snapped him up.  They sent him out on a sold-out headlining tour across the US in 2024 and got to perform at CMA Fest.  

I have to stop this from entering my ears anymore.  Here is the most streamed tune, called "X's" and it likewise makes me sad to exist.  10.6 million streams from people who hate themselves.

Oh, the video made it even worse.  Much worse.  Oh God.  I hope I never hear that song again for the rest of my life.

Maoli

One Liner:  Country-adjacent reggae from a Hawaiian
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but reggae
Home: Maui
Day: Friday

Thoughts:  My brain thought about Mitski when I first saw that name, and then was like no, that is "male aioli," which is really freaking gross and maybe I need to wean my brain from the Internet.  I don't even know what to do with the first song, like, if Bob Marley wanted to make a bad country song?  What are we doing here?

I don't know who asked for that, but take it back.

Oh, well now I learned something.  Maoli is one of the indigenous names for native Hawaiians.  This guy is apparently a native of "upcountry Maui" - his web bio says the following: nine independent albums, 15-year recording career, a "fixture across the Pacific islands and beyond."  I do not believe you.  I kept it rolling for a while, and its just bad reggae.  Every song has that organ bubble sound of the off-beat strike, which gets really freaking old after a few songs.  I REMEMBER STIR IT UP TOO, MAOLI!  I was hopeful for "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body," but its all the same.  No thank you.

Lindsey Stirling

One Liner:  Someone eventually would try to mix classical with EDM and here we are
Wikipedia Genre: Electronic, classical, dubstep (wtf)
Home: Santa Ana, CA
Day: Friday

Thoughts:  Really hopeful for this one after two bad ones in a row.  Well, her most popular song is a Christmas classic mainly on violin, so maybe she can play the fiddle...  Oh God.  Line 8 is freaking cursed, y'all.  The next most popular song is Dubstep EDM plus fiddle?  Come on.  I had to hear this, now you have to as well.

If Evanescence joined with Skrillex and Boyd Tinsley.  I had to skip the rest of that one.  I can only do so much in the service of the music, y'all.  Unfortunately, this appears to be her thing - techno and classical violin.  It gets better, marginally.  When there are no overwrought lyrics, and it is just like a classical violin tune mixed with dubstep, I can kind of see the idea.  But when she covers "Radioactive" with the Pentatonix people, then you can call the FBI to have her arrested for war crimes.

Her YouTube videos are apparently very popular - over 3 billion total views - and she made the quarterfinals of America's Got Talent in 2010.  While still in high school, she wrote a solo violin rock song that helped her to win the state title of Arizona's Junior Miss.  Also, her Wikipedia entry is like 80 pages long, and includes a section detailing all of her violins, which are each named shit like Ace, Starlight, Excalibur, and Pickles.

My daughter walked into the home office as this was playing, wrinkled her nose, and was like "what are you listening to?"  It does not have the 17 year old girl vote, apparently.

You know what, my initial reaction was negative, but this is definitely something different and I think she is a pretty damn good violin player.  It is exhausting to listen to while trying to work, but I might go see what it looks like in person.

Noah Cyrus

One Liner:  Miley's little sister
Wikipedia Genre: None (which is odd), but this is folk and pop
Home: Nashville
Day: Saturday

Thoughts:  Yes, this is Miley's sister and Billy Ray's daughter.  I previously wrote a deep dive about her for the 2022 ACL that you can read here.  "July" is still a lovely song, and the version with Leon Bridges whips ass.  The original has flipping 1.3 BILLION streams, and the Bridges version another 305.3 million.  I definitely like the folky side of her more than the poppy side.

St. Paul & the Broken Bones

One Liner:  Soul re-dux powerhouse
Wikipedia Genre: Southern soul, soul
Home: Birmingham, Alabama
Day: Friday

Thoughts:  My deep dive on these cats was back in 2016, when they last came to ACL.  You can read it here, but I want to listen to their newer stuff as well.  It is, however, entirely unremarkable in comparison to what I said before.  These guys make great retro soul rock and nothing has changed with their new tunes.  It is fun.  They are a fun live show.

Bourbon & Beyond 2026 - Line 15 (Noah Rinker, The Stews, Couch, Hey, Nothing, Bryan Martin, Penelope Road, SG Goodman)

Noah Rinker

One Liner: Low key singer songwriter country
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is Americana, country, singer-songwriter
Home: Shaver Lake, CA
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  Wow.  Never heard this name in my life, and yet he's got three songs with more than 23 million streams.  He's got the sound of the new wave of Zach Bryan acolytes - Wyatt Flores, Dylan Gossett, Sam Barber, etc.  It honestly sounds really good.  he claims that his musical influences are John Mayer, Tyler Childers, and Kings of Leon.  I'd say that his lyrics are really good.  Clever without being too clever, like some crappy country people can get.  He grew up right outside of Yosemite NP, which would be a really cool place to be raised.  He started playing guitar at age 11 and has honed his songwriting ever since.  3 EPs, no albums yet.  His top song has 38.3 million streams, which I think is impressive.

Come on.  A big old yellow lab and a campfire?  This dude knows what he is aiming for.  Really pretty song though.  I like this guy - I'm going to send this stuff to the wife to enjoy.

The Stews

One Liner: Fraternity bros ripping out some rock and roll
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is rock and roll, southern rock, jam-adjacent
Home: Auburn, AL
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  I was really hoping that this band was going to be a group of stewardesses in their little 1970's stewardess outfits.  I got ripped off, its just some bros.  But they are some bros on the rise.  Literal bros - two of them met through their fraternity.  They got their start out of Auburn, playing small clubs in the southeast, but since 2022 they've played a bunch of big halls and Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and more.  My first read on them by listening to their most popular Spotify tunes is that they sound a little raw, like they really are just a bar band from a college town.  But their 2024 full-length album (Chicken Fight) is pretty good - has a Kings of Leon rock and roll sound (which is sort of funny after the last guy said KOL was an influence).  If you have heard Dexter and the Moonrocks or Backseat Lovers, this sort of has that vibe.  Some sources online are calling them a jam band, but I don't hear that at all.  They maybe have some solos and whatnot, but this is not a noodle fest.

Their top song is from an early 2021 EP called The Stews, and the song is named "Make It Out."  You'll hear that college band rawness here, except they have now released a new 2025 version called "Radio Edit" - I guess they are hopeful about the radio!  

But if you run through that 2024 album, you get a much more polished and rock-forward sound.  I like the new stuff better.  I'd go check this out.  

Couch

One Liner: Softly jazzy pop for people who live in lofts
Wikipedia Genre: soul pop, funk pop, jazz pop, retro pop (all the pops!)
Home: Boston
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  What a great band name.  I can't believe it wasn't already taken by some mid-90's stoners who just named the band after the thing they were sitting in.  We got a Car Seat Headrest before a Couch?  So wrong.  But, if you are in the mood for some soft rock and jazzy little tunes, I have the spot for you to settle in.  Kind of reminding me of one of the ACL bands last year who I was very excited about, and then when I saw the show I was terribly bored.  Lucius. Maybe kind of Lake Street Dive too?  Her voice is lovely, the groove is funky, it ought to all be there for the enjoying.  But I don't listen to Norah Jones much anymore for a reason...  Top track, by quite a bit, is a 2019 single (their third overall song) called "Easy to Love."  12.7 million streams.

A nice sentiment and a good little groove.  Feels like the kind of band it would be fun to "see" while you sit in the shade and drink beer with your friends and sort of semi-notice that music happens to be happening.  Although , the first song on their 2025 album kind of brings the heat - "On The Wire" can get me doing some white man overbite dance moves here at my desk.  They have some covers that are kind of entertaining - "Toxic" or "Vienna" being the two obvious selections.  I think I will probably let these guys do their thing without me.

Hey, Nothing

One Liner: Truly great emo-indie by two younguns who harmonize with feeling
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but indie
Home: Atlanta
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  Luckily for me, I already wrote a post about these cats - they were at ACL last year.  You can read that more complete post here: All Play and No Work: hey, nothing  Go check that out and enjoy.

Bryan Martin

One Liner: Generic rockin' country with trucks and guns and drankin'
Wikipedia Genre: Country
Home: Logansport, Louisiana
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  Holy hell.  Absolutely never heard of this guy, and he has a song with 413.7 million streams?  What the hell?  Ahh, its because this is some new Nashville ass country.  "Hard to make a livin' why the gas so high?" and something about 9 to 5 and Friday night and drivin' down by the creek to the water and gettin' stoooooned.  Whoooweeee!  I got a pistol by my side!  The devil's my friend!  I bet this song was featured on Yellowstone.

"We Ride" with 413.7 million streams.  That is wild for him to be down here on the 15th line of this poster with that one and then three others with more than a hundred million.  Is it because his name is hella generic?  You'd think he would rate higher on the poster than friggin' Plain White T's.

His Wikipedia bio is a hell of a ride on its own.  As a teenager, he worked on an oil rig as he played football and rode bulls.  He broke his collar bone riding bulls and developed an addiction to painkillers.  He then enlisted in the Army, attempted suicide, and started making music.  WTF man.  Save some trauma for later, buddy.  

And I figured out the popularity - "We Ride" became a TikTok thing and then he got to open for Morgan Wallen.  That will do it.  The current song I am listening to is a plodding stomper about how he will kill you if you try to come near his doublewide.  I will let someone else go watch this guy list American things over the top of generic rockin' country.

Penelope Road

One Liner: Soft pop indie made for cuddlin'
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but indie pop, synth pop, jazzy yacht groove
Home: Atlanta
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  Quite a juxtaposition to go from Mr. Tough-Guy-Bad-Ass-Singerman up there straight into some synth pop indie made for cuddling.  Also, my grandpa-ass system for figuring out music genre may have to join the present century, as this is yet another band with no Wikipedia entry.  Come on, fellow youths!  Gimme my Wiki entries!  Although they apparently have called their music "stanky funky junk," and Wikipedia would not have given me that beautiful word salad, so maybe we are in the right place after all.

The band name comes from the road in Atlanta where several of them lived.  It sounds like they all left Atlanta for college but then came back sophomore year to try to make the band thing work out.  A funny and odd anecdote in the one interview I read with them, the lead singer says that they don't love their EP.  Which is a really weird thing to say!  "The music we released sucks, please come hear our band."  He also said they all grew up on yacht rock, which makes a lot of sense.

Not sure I'm feeling it.  Now that I hear the yacht rock influence, I can dig where that is coming from, but it actually sounds a lot like those Couch people up above with kind of a jazzy rock goof sound.  Their top songs are from that first EP that they hate, so I will give you one from the newest release.  This is "Chance Encounter" with just over a million streams.

I feel like my girls have probably done some affected TikTok to this showing their tender side or something.  I don't love it.  In "Mercy" the lead singer's voice sounds like Ben Platt.  I actually popped over to Spotify to see if they had added him as a guest.  This will sound rude, but this feels like a band that will break up soon.

SG Goodman

One Liner: Americana leaning into lite rock and roll with great lyrics
Wikipedia Genre: Americana, folk, country, rock
Home: Hickman, KY
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  When I saw this on the poster, I figured it was S.L. Houser, who was at ACL last year and offers music lessons for Austinites.  Nope, another lady using initials to confuse and entertain.  (also, not L.P. Giobbi or M.J. Lenderman, who were both at ACL last year.  Initial Artists for all!).

She is pretty good!  She was raised in Hickman, Kentucky, which is a tiny town on the Mississippi River, in that little key-tip of Kentucky.  I have never been to Kentucky.  I am realizing, looking at the map, that it is just north of Tennessee (where I have been), and just south of Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri (where I have never been).  Maybe I need to rent a car and go see all of those exciting other states.

She was raised in the Southern Baptist church and says she went three times a week.  That seems like too much church, but I think I did the same with Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.  Good times.  She has also been driving since she was seven, which is apparently legal in Kentucky.

The tunes are kind of a mix of Sierra Ferrell's quasi-country Americana and Lucinda Williams' soulful, rockin' Americana.  I have been enjoying it quite a bit.  She got started in 2017 with an album with something called The Savage Radley, and then 2020 was her solo debut.  Produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, I think it has a cool combined sound.  That one includes her most popular song, "Space and Time," with 10.1 million streams.

Tyler Childers covered this later, likely being the reason it launched into popularity.  Here and there, that little vibrato she does for a second in the second line can get to be too much in some of these songs, but overall, I think she is a really good songwriter with some good chill vibes.  Like "Snapping Turtle," where you believe she is about to join some kids in torturing a turtle before she turns the stick on those little shits and makes them cry - I can see it all in my mind's eye and I really like it.  I'd go watch her.

Bourbon & Beyond - 2026 - Line 10 (Buffalo Traffic Jam, The Return of Jackie & Judy, Our Lady Peace, Sons of Legion)

I am going to run through the Bourbon and Beyond lineup slightly differently than my normal ACL lineup reviews, mainly to save space and time.  Instead of individual reviews for every band (lots of which I have already reviewed before and are ancient so a whole new review is likely not needed) I will go by rows on the poster.  I am way too psyched about this poster.  90's me mixed with today me all in one happy wrapper.

Buffalo Traffic Jam

One Liner: Stomping folky bluegrass 
Wikipedia Genre: Folk
Home: Bozeman, Montana
Day: ... 

Thoughts:  Their first song sounds like this is CAAMP.  Which is a good thing in my book.  Frankie Cassidy and Nathan Ross met as students at Montana State University and started making some roots Americana tunes together.  The lead singer's voice also sort of reminds me of the guy in Briscoe, in that he seems to have a strain lodged in his voice that never leaves, no matter what note he is singing.  But I could see this being a very fun little band to hoot and holler along with.

Top Song, by a lot, is "Fool's Gold" with 35.3 million streams.

I know there is no way my fingers would ever cooperate, but the idea of being able to jam a mandolin - truly would be amazing.  These two dudes spent college learning how to jam and make money.  I spent mine catching unidentifiable skin conditions from the rotting couch in front of a fraternity house.  They win.  

First available music is a 2024 eponymous EP.  None of those songs appear to have gained much traction, but their next couple singles started doing 6 million, 8 million, 19 million in streams, so they are on the radar now.  No actual album yet, just a 2025 EP that includes that "Fool's Gold" tune.

I'd check this out.

The Return of Jackie & Judy

One Liner: Fred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney playing Ramones covers.

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but The Ramones
Home: We'll just say Portland.
Day: ... 

Thoughts: I saw The Ramones in the mid-90s because they opened for Pearl Jam at Southpark Meadows in Austin.  My main memory of that trip was my friend Strick hanging out the window of my car while we were hauling ass up I-35 so that he could bum a cigarette from the outstretched hand of a cute girl in a car next to us.  My only real memory of The Ramones was how funny we thought it was that they still counted off before every single song.  So, this isn't The Ramones, but it is named after a 1980 Ramones song, which seems like a terrible band name if you want recognition.  But luckily for these folks, they don't need recognition because they are already very famous.  This is Fred Armisen on drums and Sleater-Kinney on guitar/vocals.  Haha - it's like a Portlandia skit come to life.  That is awesome.  Fred Armisen's hair looks terrifying.  Is that a wig?  He's probably supposed to look like someone who was in the Ramones and I just don't know that schtick.

They have no songs on Spotify.  They have no real YouTube videos.  All you get are these crappy clips from some tiny show.  Probably in Portland.

Raw and sort of goofy, but what the hell.  I bet that would be a fun show.  Shocking revelation down here on the poster...

Our Lady Peace

One Liner: MTV buzz bin kings for a hot minute

Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, post grunge
Home: Toronto (I would not have pegged them as Canadian)
Day: ... 

Thoughts: Before you read anything, are you able to remember their biggest hit?  This is another one of the 90's redux bands on this poster, and I have to sheepishly admit that I got a little jolt of excitement when I saw them on the poster.  Around the time college was coming to a close, their album Clumsy came out with the very large hit "Superman's Dead."  Boasts 53.2 million streams on Spotify, despite not feeling (to me at least) like the kind of song I still hear on the classic rock/alternative rock stations.  Come on, sing along!

Oh that video is some good ass 90's buzz bin look-at-how-deep-we-are stuff.  Wait, is Silverchair on this poster?  Silverchair should be on this poster.  Fun to go back through this album.  "Clumsy" was another hit you may recall, "4am" popped right back into my head with every lyric like it had been in my disc changer yesterday.  The whole disc trips a memory switch for me that I am enjoying.  Looks like they kept making music, including a 1999 album with the very unfortunate title of Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch.  And even though re-listening to Clumsy has been fun, I don't think I was missing much by allowing them to disappear into the musical brain backburner for the last 30 years.  

But you know what?  I don't have a single MuchMusic Video Award to my name, and they have TEN!  That is the "most MMVAs ever awarded to a band (tied with Billy Talent)" according to Wikipedia.  I really like that entry - here is a definitive statement, with a paren that entirely debunks that definitive statement.  Good work.  Also, congrats to whatever Billy Talent is.  Ten studio albums!  Also, their Wikipedia entry is massive - like a really deep dive into their history.  More than a lot of actually great bands would have.  Looks like the band is pretty much now just the initial lead singer, and then a bunch of new dudes who have joined since then.

I tried out the live album from 2003 - I guess the height of their powers.  I think the cock-rock heavy Creed/Live-style instrumentation is still pretty solid (although who knows what they have 20 years later), but it is the lead singer's voice that throws a wrench into it all.  If the schedule allows me to drop by the stage for the last song, then I'm in.  Otherwise, I think this little trip down memory lane was probably enough.

Sons of Legion

One Liner: Nashville duo trying hard and sounding like it

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but bluesy rock with a little soul tinge
Home: Nashville
Day: ... 

Thoughts: I'd like to go on record that "In The Air Tonight" is a terrible pump up song.  I don't understand at all why that became a thing for sports players to get pumped up to.  It's use in The Hangover was genius, and that drum fill is one of one, but the song overall is plodding and about the guy who was boning Phil Collins' wife on the side.  Anyway, this band's top streamer is a mediocre cover of that song.  I apologize in advance for sharing the names of the two guys in this band, but they are Adam McInnis and Daddy Jack.  I'm sorry you had to read that.  One truly fascinating note about the band is that Adam is tone deaf.  I have no clue how you would be able to make music or sing with that condition, but that is wild.  I have to say, I was sort of digging this for a few songs, and then it started to wear me out a little.  Too overwrought, like I am listening to someone trying to write a song that will get picked up by the NFL to play as a game goes to commercial.  That is probably rude, but I just don't want to keep this playing anymore.  

No album, just a handful of singles stretching back to 2020.  The top single, after the Phil Collins thing, is called "Fire Starter" and has 13.8 million streams.

Sort of an Imagine Dragons thing going in there as they plod their way into the chorus.  I think my favorite tune is "Carolina," but I don't think I will go out of my way to catch this show.

Quick Hits, Vol. 379 (Ghostface Killah, Friendship, Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs)

I have been really bad at writing reviews recently, or tracking potential ACL acts, because work has actually gotten busy again.  If this keeps up, my usual ACL reviewing is going to be severely truncated!  But today I felt like finishing up this one and moving Cass McCombs to my saved albums (I also really want to get the Earl Sweatshirt album out of my new music list), so I'm back!  Hopefully will have more for you to enjoy soon.

Also, sadly, the YouTube linking problem is back.  Dammit.

Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele 2.  The first music I ever played on Spotify was Ghostface.  When I found out that I could just heard anything I wanted to, and I had been enjoying his Fishscale album (on CD!), I went and fired up the original Supreme Clientele from 2000.  I felt like a million bucks, to be able to just pull up whatever I wanted at any time.  Now, I think it feels overwhelming to have this much choice, but it is also awesome at the same time.  Anyway, here is another classic-sounding rap album full of soul samples, old school collaborators (Redman, Raekwon, Method Man, Dave Chapelle), and Ghost firing up dexterous raps over the top of it all.  They also use the sample from "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" that immediately had me walking around singing "YOU LOOK LIKE AC GREEN, BITCH DON'T CALL HERE ANYMORE!"  Which is both an amazingly rude thing to say about former NBA Champion Green, as well as a terrible thing to say to a woman.  Of interest to me, but likely a conspiracy theory too far, is that this song ("Love Me Anymore") never actually includes the AC Green line, it just samples that same song, but AC Green's nickname in the league was Iron Man, which is also the nickname and persona that Ghostface has used for years.  Was that intentional?  Probably not.  I very obviously have too much dumb information in my head.  Top track is "Rap Kingpin" with a sad 1.091 million streams.

I freaking love videos with crowds of people, especially kids, just grooving to a rap track.  I need someone to invite me to stand in the background and be the weird redhead bobbing his head.  "Soul Thang" has a line that cracks me up every time - "Bitch how the fuck is you bougie you drive a Nissan."  My son and I have a theory that 97% of all Nissans in the world have damaged bumpers.  Now that I have told you this, everywhere you go you will notice Sentras with their front bumper barely hanging on and Altimas with dented plastic around their license plate.  Some of the skits here are kind of funny, but most of them aren't moving the needle.  Final thought is "Candyland," one of those classic schtick tracks where he shouts out loads of candy things as he raps about slanging drugs.  Makes me think of the old Ice Cube track about Mother Goose stories.  Pretty good album, nothing in here just pops like a major hit is waiting, but if you love sample-based rap and lyrics you can understand (Grandpa alert!) then this is for you.

Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up.  I think I know who suggested this to me, because it definitely has a Marshall feel to it.  Sort of The National meets Lou Reed vibe.  I haven't looked up the band yet, but it feels like a group of dudes who met in art school in Brooklyn and formed the band in a cramped loft where they live, rehearse, and throw pottery.  Nope - Philly!  I think "Love Vape" is a good indicator of the album - rambling, DIY-sounding little guitar meandering with a driving backbeat and lyrics that go through some items like this: "Kind of freaky at the BP down off Locust, I heard they got the cheapest cigarettes on Earth, They still give you plastic bags, Rolling shutters covеred in tags, Somebody's name writtеn on the overpass, Did they have to hang upside down?"  Low streams, but honestly not as low as I sort of expected.  "Free Association" has 682k streams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB_fN-Ghb2w

Maybe a Strand of Oaks feel here as well. But definitely the mopey ass sound of The National is cruising along with these guys.  They claim this to be country rock, which I am not hearing, but their Spotify bio also says that this album is for "loitering outside a roadhouse on the haunted tundra."  Which, sure.  Yeah.  I don't know, I guess it would be fine to keep around and let these songs loiter in my Keepers playlist to pop up every other month, but I think I'll just let them go.

Chance the Rapper - STAR LINE.  I can't do it.  Every time the first song starts my brain cringes in on itself and I just have to stop.  That is not entirely true, I've made it through here a few times while just working and not paying attention, but if I pay attention, this honestly grates my nerves.  Part is his little yelp that he does repeatedly, but part of it also is that this feels too loud or too maximal in my ears.  Not sure how to explain it.  It is also AN HOUR AND SEVEN MINUTES.  Get over yourself.  Most songs have about 1.5 million streams, but one with Joey Bada$$ crushes those - "The Highs & The Lows" has 28.1 million streams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCEv2NMr46E

My God it felt good to delete that album out of my queue.  Meanwhile, listening again to that particular track, and it has a good ass beat and some nice flow.  Some of those lyrics are corny but it sounds really nice.  Whatever.  Go away, Chance.

Cass McCombs - Interior Live Oak.  This album is wild.  I like it, but I feel like it takes hours and takes me on a journey between so many other artists.  Like, you know those moments when you are listening to a disc and think "oh, I guess that was the end of the CD and now I am listening to a new Gary Clark Jr. song."  That happens over and over during the hour and fourteen minute runtime of this disc.  Gary Clark, Ryan Adams, Fleet Foxes, Robert Ellis, Beck, like Norah Jones or something, it just keeps morphing around with sounds.  Top track is the second one, called "Peace" with 510k streams.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyB8EqCEYZM

Like much of this, nothing in that tune is going to just blow you away with mastery, but it is a really nice little rock and roll tune.  Great harmonies, good guitar picking, just a lovely nugget of tuneful rock.  I really like this fella.

Quick Hits, Vol. 378 (Florence + The Machine, JID, Goose, Margo Price)

Florence + The Machine - Everybody Scream.  I wish that there was a single on this.  Because her voice is freaking magic - definitely one of my favorite female singers - and I think some of that comes from the time I saw her live and it felt like I had the top of my head blown off.  She can wail or croon or whisper or bray and all of them swaddle me like silk.  The opening/title track is a little odd to me, in that it feels like she is making fun of how the crowd reacts to her show.  I guess it isn't making fun so much as finding comfort in it, but it also seems to cheapen the pleasure of freaking out at a show.  But the second tune, "One of the Greats" has stuck with me some, just because it builds in a really great way until it all falls out for the orchestral outro.  The opening clicking and tense vocals of "Witch Dance" is also cool.  But I don't feel like there is one that just jams - lots of thickly layered songs with heavy lyrics and style shifts throughout.  Maybe I'm vacuous, but gimme a "Dog Days Are Over."  The top track is the title track with 23.2 million streams.

As someone with a tiny tattoo on my lower gut, the idea of a tattoo on the Achilles region seems really painful to me.  But watching them all freak out in the little pressed-tin ceilinged room gave me the goose bumps anyway.  Feels like this song will be great when they play live, just to get the whole crowd doing as they are told.  Some clever boffin is going to figure to scream FLORENCE when she tells the crowd to scream her name and will be very proud of him or herself.  I like the album - this is good music - I just wanted something more catchy if I could get it.

JID - God Does Like Ugly.  I have talked about J.I.D. before, and I find him to be one of the best-sounding rappers around right now.  He's got a deep tone like Pusha T, and wildly inventive lyricism like Kendrick.  High praise, I know.  My personal issue with this album is that it is not very fun.  I want my rap to be a good time, and this is some time-consuming, deep-dive-listening type stuff where you really need to sit down and listen carefully for it to mean anything.  So much work!  Jeez!  But like, "Glory" is somewhat accessible with all of the beat switches and the gospel singers getting after it in the background.  "WRK" is the top streamer, and feels the most like a traditional catchy rap track aiming for popularity.  16.4 million streams and a good groove.

Get yo ass up!  The next song features Clipse and is cool, to hear all three of these guys on one track, just trying to outdo each other.  For me, personally, I could do without the pop angle it seems to go in about halfway through the disc.  "No Boo" with all of the Spanish language bits can go, "Sk8" with Ciara and Earthgang isn't doing it for me, but the Don Toliver track "What We On" can stay even if it is kind of slow.  Thankfully, "On McAfee" pops back with a brawny beat and some dexterous vocals to get me back into the mood.  Mereba sounds like Janet Jackson ("comin' out the car lookin' more like Freddie Jackson!") but once she is done, "Of Blue" gets better.  Uneven album for me.  I wish it had more real bangers.

Goose - Chain Yer Dragon.  I am becoming a bit obsessive with Goose.  This week, my youngest walked into the living room/kitchen area as I was cooking dinner and jamming to a very weird Christmas-time Goose show on YouTube, raised an eyebrow at me, and asked who my favorite band of all time is.  I said, as I have always said since about 1988, R.E.M., and then went into a longer explanation that she promptly tuned out.  Good times.  But I will definitely say that I have been listening to this band like crazy over the past few months.  And this disc is a big reason why.  This album rules.  You may hate jam band music, and that is totally fine, but the opening track just makes me happy with its goofy ass lyrics and funky strut.  "please don't groove in the middle of my love connection" is just a wonderful lyric.  I like how the disc gives you multiple facets - funky groove nuggets and chill balladry and all of the points in between.  Just makes me want to reach for it again each time it is time to play music (which annoys the crap out of my lovely wife).  Criminally low stream count, so maybe I'm just out here on an island jamming by myself... "Madalena" is the top track with 1.4 million streams.

That's your piano ballad side, but it is really nice.  Makes me think of some smooth 70's AM gold - if James Taylor used more instruments and liked his bassist to funk it up.  "Royal" kinda rules too.  I think they just do a great job of allowing a little bit of jammy wandering, but still keep the overall songs themselves cohesive and tight enough.  

Margo Price - Hard Headed Woman.  Pretty straight-forward, classic country thing.  I don't hear any obvious hits or lyrics that really turn my head, but bumping along with "Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down," which sounds like it could have been an old Waylon tune from back in the day being covered now, is entirely pleasant.  Sadly for her, the top song, by 3x, is the one that features Tyler Childers.  "Love Me Like You Used to Do."  1.5 million streams.

Again, that could be a classic tune from 1975 - and nothing is wrong with that at all!  If you want to hear a really well-sung country ballad, then you are in the right spot!  I generally like it, but I am also generally ready to quit hearing it.  When I want some country music, this will be a sweet spot.  But most days, I would prefer other things.

Quick Hits, Vol. 377 (The Beths, Deftones, Madi Diaz, Snocaps)

Saw a few new show announcements that I wanted to follow up on - Courtney Barnett coming back to town, Primus playing again (no clue if they can still do their thing or if it is off the rails), and an announcement that Metallica is going to play The Sphere in Vegas.  I have no clue if that show would be worth the time and expense to go see in the immersive dome, but I can see it being pretty rad.

The Beths - Straight Line Was a Lie.  If you read me much, then you know that I deeply and genuinely love this band.  The Aussie accents that sneak into the vocals, the great harmonies, the catchy tunefulness, the snippets of hard rock that sneak in sometimes.  It's all very pleasing to me.  I've seen them three times that I can recall right now, and am ready for more immediately.  I really like the goofy chumminess that they show on stage, although I have to say that my reaction to that sort of thing that kicks off this album, with someone apologizing and saying they were "thinking about something else" is kind of annoying.  Just make a good clean song for the album?  This disc also pulls back from the more straight-forward rock on a few tracks, like the stripped-down and lovely "Mother Pray For Me" but also for parts of second song "Mosquitoes" and "Til My Heart Stops", but much of this still goes for the poppy and pleasant rock and roll that hooked me originally - the title track, "No Joy," or "Metal."  It is a quick listen at 43 minutes, but I really like the varied tones.  Because the world only loves pop rap and AI music now, the stream count is criminally low.  The top track is "Metal" with 1.7 million.

See?  How pretty is that?  Strummy like an old The Sundays classic.  The lead guitarist gives off Dwight Schrute as a serial killer vibes.  I was wondering if the "short word" she is singing about is iron, but maybe I am missing the point of this song.  Nice catapult though!  This is not their best album (Future Me Hates Me, FWIW), but it is still very enjoyable!

Deftones - private music.  There is something about the Deftones that has never clicked for me.  Something about it is too harsh (and I like some really harsh stuff!).  I have tried to come up with other descriptors, but they don't make sense as much as harsh.  Something about their songs is metallic and difficult for my ears.  Although, I will readily say that "milk of the madonna" on here freaking jams.  That one sounds more like Royal Blood or one of those sorts of bashing alt-rock bands.  The top track is the first one, but I'll give the second-most streamed because the first one maybe gets extra streams without being deserving.  This is the fourth track on the album, "infinite source, with just over 20 million streams.

The end of that one jams.  Has some of those same guitar tones as the only song that has really stuck with me from the band, that unsettling "Change (in the House of Flies)" tune.  The opening riffs of this album, coming right as the Beths have finished their last lovely note, has been jarring for sure.  I think I will let it go away and not hear any more.

Madi Diaz - Fatal Optimist.  Did you ever watch that show Shrinking?  Quick digression here, that I promise will come back around to this album.  There is a scene in that show that is fantastic, because of the cleverly pieced juxtaposition of humor and grief into one little bit.  I couldn't find a YouTube clip of it, so this is just memory...  The main character of the show (Jason Siegel) is grieving the death of his wife and listening to the Phoebe Bridgers song "I Know The End" while riding a bike and having a good cry.  As he weeps, he yells out "FUCK YOU PHEOBE BRIDGERS!" twice, and then smacks into an opening car door.  It has stuck with me in my head, because both that song and that show were excellent for me.  So, fast forward to about two weeks ago, when I get the news that one of my son's college roommates and best buds was killed in a late night car accident.  So freaking awful.  Delightfully quirky and polite 20 year old kid just snuffed out.  The next day, I have to go pick up some firewood from my Dad and as I am driving home, the song from this album called "Ambivalence" pops up in my mix and I just start leaking.  It was the line of "you're always right here, no matter who I'm with," and even though that wasn't what she meant (for it to affect me after a death), by God I had a hard time getting it back together. Woof.  I think, also, her voice is so damned beautiful that it really got to me in an unexpected way.

Anyway, I got hooked on Diaz because of her song from the 2024 album called "Everything Almost," which I feel like may be a perfect song.  A lot of these have killer lyrics, sung in a wonderful voice, over completely basic acoustic accompaniment.  The lowest-streamed tune on here is a great message too - or at least it speaks to me and my wife's thoughts about flirting (and hey, that's the name of the song!).  The top track is one called "Heavy Metal," with just 247k streams.

Well, watching that video and listening to that song again just nailed me all over again.  Dammit.  FUCK YOU MADI DIAZ!  The closing tune, which is also the title track, finally kicks in guitars and drums and whatnot, and it almost reminds me of those Beths songs I was championing up above!  Really a pretty album and worthy of keeping.

Snocaps - Snocaps.  When this was first announced, I was freaking PUMPED because it is Waxahatchee (Katie Crutchfield), MJ Lendermann (who as you likely know I love way too much), and Katie's sister Allison Crutchfield.  Hell yeah.  Just "Right Back To It" over and over like that amazing song was one album.  Sadly, that isn't what I received, but it is a good disc of indie rock tunes anyway.  Lendermann is only used for his guitarwork, which I find to be a mistake, but they didn't ask me.  Jerks.  This disc is a masterclass in diminishing streams - with two exceptions, every song on here has less streams than the song before it.  So, the top streamer is the first track, a buzzy jam called "Coast."  1 million streams.

That tune is sort of giving me Breeders vibes - nothing that is just blowing me away with the new and exciting style of it, but I still end up bobbing my head and sort of grooving along.  That feels like the smell of the entire disc.  Nothing that is revelatory, but a good groove anyway.  If Lenderman was given some microphone time to add harmonies, I think it could have been sweet.