Suki Waterhouse (2026)

One Liner:  Model and actress who went from forgettable bedroom pop to kinda funky indie pop

Wikipedia Genre:  Her Wikipedia doesn't list a genre, it just says model - actress - singer, but I'll say indie pop, bedroom pop

Home: London

Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 4
Both Weekends.
Saturday at 4:15

T-Mobile Stage

Thoughts:  She was last here in 2023, and my review was pretty rude.  The funny thing is that now, after listening to this for most of one work day, I was feeling like this is pretty solid (especially compared to much of this poster).  Funny how time and context changes things.

I can't hear the name Suki (or Sookie) without immediately thinking of Gilmore Girls and the first time I recall seeing Melissa McCarthy.  My wife loved that show a million years ago, and more recently, middle kid has watched through the entire thing at least nien times.  Very clever show.

This is not Melissa McCarthy though.  Alice Suki Waterhouse is an English gal (partner of Batman/Sexy Vampire/Cedric Diggory Robert Pattinson, and maybe they made a baby together since 2023) who got her start in modeling (like, a legit modeling career with multiple covers of Vogue and major brand runway walking), then an acting career that included one of the Divergent movies and more recently the miniseries Daisy Jones and the Six.  We gave up on that miniseries, but the wife and I both really enjoyed the book!  her father is a plastic surgeon, and she has two younger sisters who are models.  Hmmmmm.

But in the midst of all of those things keeping her busy, along comes a few loosie singles that popped.  The first big one was "Good Looking," released in 2017, which apparently became a viral hit in 2022.  It was, of course, because of TikTok.  She said that she was working on getting her real record out, when this six year old song popped back up.  Apparently, her management had asked if they could delete all the old crap from before the album so that the album was the music available, and she thankfully disagreed.  933.3 million streams! (up from 199.6 back in 2023, so the popularity has continued).

She admitted that the recording was "dodgy" and done in her apartment.  You can definitely tell.  Lotta kissing in that video, and then WTF is up with the blood?  Damn.  That was disturbing.  A comment claims that it was real - she accidentally stuck her hand in the fan as she was dancing around on the bed.  Usually, a video makes me like a song more, but that video did the exact opposite.  Nope.

Three albums - 2022's I Can't Let Go, 2024's Memoir of a Sparklemuffin (great title), and 2026's Loveland - and then some singles and an EP.  I think the difference with the more recent tunes is the production and instrumentation.  It's not just her farting around in her bedroom anymore, she's got indie rock musicians in the background making the songs sound more full and complete.

None of her other songs come anywhere close to the success of that track, but "Moves," from the first album, tries the hardest with 120.4 million streams.

It is an odd thing - after powering through her catalog, my overall feel was that I liked the tunes.  But now, really paying attention to these two tracks, I find them annoying.  They feel overwrought and heavy-handed, trying to shove an emotional response at me or something.  

But, the new album was released on July 10 and I think it has a different style.  Like, "Happy With It" has some funk and fun, made me think of Mitski.  "Notting Hill" has a little Neko Case in there.  "Weirdo" makes me think of Lana Del Rey.  The top track is the first one, "Back in Love."  10.1 million streams.

Yeah, I like this new album quite a bit more than the first one.  I could see trying her out.

Josh Conway (no longer playing the Fest)

Josh Conway tour Cancelled : r/aclfestival

One Liner: Forgettable bedroom pop from the Maria's drummer

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is dream pop, indie pop, bedroom pop
Home: L.A.

Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 12
Day: NO Longer Playing
Weekend One Only.

Thoughts:  Odd.  When you search Wikipedia for him, this name comes up as the drummer/producer for the band The Marias.  I guess it is the same dude.  One thing I read said that he is now an in-demand producer.  He also co-wrote a song for Bad Bunny.

Reading about some of the artists these days feels surreal.  I think it is probably because the agents and promoters just use AI to create blurbs about their guy, but they make this dude sound like the second coming of Michael Jackson mixed with Stevie Wonder.  "Melodically, ‘forget him’ glides rather than pushes, unfolding with a calm assurance that never slips into boredom. The transitions between verse and chorus feel natural and unforced, like a conversation that knows exactly where it is going without rushing to get there. Hooks linger without overstaying their welcome, which is a harder trick than it sounds in a genre that often confuses repetition for impact."  Suuuuuure.  Here is that tune, with 476k streams.

Oh wow, that calm assurance was sick.  I feel like I wasn't pushed at all during that song.  Thank goodness I didn't have to confuse repetition for impact in there.  Just an unmemorable slice of quiet pop that, when someone asks what I think about Josh Conway in two months, I will not recall in the slightest.

Just one album, 2026's plum.  That one is the top streamer by a good amount, several of the songs are under 35k streams.  We'll go with "crumble" for another single, because I'm sure it is all about those cookies that, thankfully, my kids seems to have finally forgotten about.  182k streams.

That little room full of instruments is fun!  I wish he would use more of them!  He just turned on the Casio2000 beat and let it roll while he sang.  The polar bear is putting in some good work, but I could use a little something extra from him there.  I'm good!

Sydney Rose

One Liner: If Phoebe Bridgers only did whispered confessionals
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but indie bedroom pop
Home: Nashville (via Georgia)

Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 18
Day: Saturday
Both Weekends.

American Express Stage at 1:00

Thoughts:  Her first single, 2020's "Home" is a cover of an Edward Sharpe song.  Pretty sure one of my best friends was coerced into doing an awkward dance at his wedding reception to the original song.  But I find it really odd that her first single would be a cover.  You'd think that you only put your own stuff out as your first exciting single.  But what do I know - she's the one with 13 million streams for her first single while I sit here with my thumb up my butt.  I was recently reminded of the sick burn from Ferris Bueller when Jennifer Grey tells Charlie Sheen to put his thumb up his butt.  Amazing stuff.

Anyhoo, this is a singer/songwriter from Georgia who found herself with time and ability to make music during the pandemic.  She had been around music her whole life with a church band and choir while growing up, but then during the lockdown she started performing covers to upload onto TikTok.  She says that Phoebe Bridgers is her favorite artist, and made a song called "Phoebe Told Me" about how everything is going to be just fine.  Now that I have that comparison in mind, I hear it repeatedly.  She got to play Lolla a few years ago when she was only 17.  An article I found about her opens with the faux deep thought of "Sydney Rose is learning that 'if nothing changes, it'll never change.'"  Wooooooaaaahhh.  I never thought about that!?!?

Two 2022 EPs, a 2023 album called One Sided, a 2024 EP and a 2025 EP.  Of note, and maybe only to me because I look at playcounts all the time now, it is her singles that popped out in between those EPs and albums that have all of the streaming numbers. Most of her songs have low stream counts. Top track is 2025's "We Hug Now" with 126.1 million streams.

You can hear it there, but many of these songs are so softly sung that I can't tell whether she's even saying words or just vocalizing gibberish.  By reading the lyrics, I can tell that is a very well-written tune about lost love and the longing for someone.  When the drums kick in near the end and it becomes a bigger song, I like that part a ton more.  Almost like two separate songs.  She does a cover of Jason Isbell's "If We Were Vampires" that annoys the crap out of me.  An amazing song, but her vocals are so whispery and thin than you can barely tell what she is saying.  Bugs me for sure.

She said that when she finished high school, she stayed home for a year, while everyone else headed off to college.  She was feeling lonely and anxious, and just writing songs in her bedroom about how she felt.  You can hear that personality and nostalgia in these lyrics for sure.  Since then, she has moved to Nashville and is significantly happier.

Her other big tune is 2020's single "Turning Page."

I'm literally leaning towards the speakers on my desk to try to hear.  SPEAK UP, CHILD!  Most of these tunes also favor a very stripped-down instrumentation - just her with a piano or guitar.  On that one above, it was sometimes hard to tell if the song was still playing.  She said that she was a quiet, self-conscious kid, and I can hear it in this music!

Probably not my thing.  Feels like it would be a lovely house concert or something, but not so much in a huge field with sweat dripping down my crack.

Role Model

One Liner: Mac Miller-ish rapper turned pop rock rocker
Wikipedia Genre: Pop, bedroom pop
Home: L.A. (via Pittsburg)

Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 4
Day: Friday
Both Weekends.

T-Mobile Stage at 6:00.

Thoughts:  Trying to know what you are about to hear, based upon appearances, is a fool's game here.  Good looking young guy in a cowboy hat - ah, this will be country.  First song - oh, no, its bright pop.  Dig into the old music - a rapper?!

So, interesting backstory, in that he started off as a rapper, and has since transitioned into a poppy rock.  Impressive to be so talented as to do either/or.  He enrolled at Point Park University in Pittsburg to major in film, but after two broken wrists kept him stuck in his dorm room, he started messing around with friends' music equipment and made a few rap mixtapes while teaching himself to use Logic Pro.  He soon dropped out of college and started rapping under the name Tucker.  Which makes sense because his name is Tucker Harrington Pillsbury.  Which sounds like the name of a prep school kid who plays lacrosse in Massachusetts.  He later changed his name to Dillis and kept rapping.  

But in 2017, he switched the whole thing up - changed his moniker to Role Model and started singing more, while still rapping a smidge.  His debut EP, available on Spotify, has him sort of straddling the line between rap and singing.  Makes me think of a worse Mac Miller.  Haha!  I just read that he has called Mac Miller an inspiration!  I swear I wrote the thought above before reading his citation of Mac.  I have to say that his initial EP (2017's ARIZONA IN THE SUMMER) is no where near as good as his later tunes that are more popular on Spotify.  He definitely figured out a better sound.  The top track from this era is "i don't rly like u" with 7.2 million streams.

After that, a lot of singles until another EP, 2019's oh, how perfect, which shows him changing styles and getting a lot more streams.  "hello!" has 48.5 million.

Still a sort of rapping cadence to his singing, but I like that style much better than the initial EP's sound.  His next EP brought up his top streamer overall - 2020's our little angel EP and "blind." 133.9 million streams.

Sort of a Dayglow vibe, but again with Mac Miller style singing involved.  That lady is not very nice to him when he looks like a real sweet fella.  His first album is called Rx, and I've run through it without ever really feeling great about anything in there.  Definitely still dabbling in rap, like "neverletyougo."

But it is the new album, 2024's Kansas Anymore, where he hits a great stride and becomes the best version of himself.  All ten of his most popular songs on Spotify right now are from that new disc.  And, I think, for good reason.  I get a Ben Kweller whiff in there, as well as more of that Dayglow fella.  By the way, Wikipedia claims that he chose his moniker after the Paul Rudd movie.  It actually says: "Pillsbury allegedly took his name from Paul Rudd's character in the 2008 film Role Models," but Paul Rudd's character in the movie couldn't have been called Role Model, right?  That would be deeply weird.  Anyway, his top streamer overall is "Sally, When The Wine Runs Out," with 55.3 million streams, and on the new album.

Maybe a John Mayer vibe running through there this time?  Or Harry Styles.  Mac Miller is long gone in that tune (well, until the rapper bit in the middle).  Either way, I find it fun and engaging.  The whole new album is leagues better than the old stuff - hopefully that is the show that he is here to play.  If that is the case, I think it will be pretty fun.

spill tab (2025)

One Liner: Bedroom pop gal who can do lite rock, but seems to be heading back to the bedroom

Wikipedia Genre: alt pop, bedroom pop
Home: L.A.

Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 14
Day: Friday 
Both Weekends.

Miller Lite Stage at 1:30.

Thoughts:  Last here in 2022.    Real name is Claire Chicha - I feel like Chicha is a pretty fun band name.  She left college to become an assistant tour manager for someone called Gus Dapperton, but then left that to start doing her own thing.  One article I read makes it sound like she works a dispensary in L.A. during the day and then goes home to work up new tracks.  It kind of has an Olivia Rodrigo vibe to some of the top tracks.  I'll give you one single right now to prove that point, and this one includes our buddy Gus on it as well.  "Velcro" with 6.5 million streams.

Hear that light, confessional singing thing, with the gently rockin' guitar bit building up on the side?  Is she trying to sing along to her song?  If so, then she needs some lip synch practice.  Oh, now she has it down!  She practiced it!  The chorus is fun - I like the brawnier bit there.  Dig it.

Zero albums.  Two EPs and a handful of singles.  Velcro up there is from the EP named Bonnie, released in 2021.  Her most recent EP's top single, "Splinter," also has that lite rock Rodrigo vibe.  I like it too.  But her top track is a 2020 single called "Cotton Candy," with 24.9 million streams.

Nah, much less into the toy ukulele singing in the bedroom vibe.  Give me the tracks with the electric guitar and a stronger voice.  Which is maybe a problem.  Her most recent three songs have a more bedroom pop/Billie Eilish singing torchy ballads type thing ("Hold Me" for sure, but also "Angie" and "Assis"), which I don't want.  Go back to the rockin' stuff, brah!  Probably won't do this one, but not just eliminating it outright like I would many of the bedroom pop type things...

Vlad Holiday

One Liner:  Bedroom pop over hip hop-ish beats and some slower chillwave

Wikipedia Genre: [deep breath] lo-fi, bedroom pop, dream pop, psychedelic rock, indie, alternative, new wave revival, synth pop, chillwave, neo soul, jazz.  [Sure you don't want to tack on forty-five more?]

Home: Nashville (via Romania and New York City)

Poster Position: Recent Addition
Both Weekends.
Sunday at 3:25.

BMI Stage.

Thoughts: I'm always reading into the artist names with hope, and I'm usually disappointed.  To me, a name like "Vlad" means I'm about to her the guttural roar of Vlad the Impaler as he rips the throat from his enemies and stabs his sword through the soul of the Earth.  Instead, the first song is a Kacey Musgraves duet that sounds like a Foster the People b-side.

Dude was born in Romania but moved to America a decade later.  He spent a while in NYC, fronting a band called Born Cages at one point.  I am not familiar with them.  He later relocated to Nashville after starting some solo offerings.  But do not expect anything like Nashville's sound here.  No real albums, just a steady stream of singles with two short EPs sprinkled in there.  His Wikipedia is very concentrated on what playlists he got songs added to over the years - "This third single was also featured on Spotify's New Indie Mix, and True Indie playlists (where Holiday held the cover)."  Woah.  Held the freaking COVER?  OF TRUE INDIE?!?!  Holy Hell this guy is MASSIVE!

He has co-writes on several Cage the Elephant songs, as well as a Brummies song (who were at ACL last year).  Some of his super lo fi stuff can sound like Tom Waits grumbling his way through the lyrics.  Biggest track was a 2019 single - "So Damn Into You," with 14 million streams.

That cover image makes me think of Pete Yorn.  I love that Musicforthemorningafter album.  This is just fine.  Lackadaisical little rock groove like the Strokes taking one easy.  But a good groove buried in there.  What are the odds that this was big on TikTok?  Second biggest streamer is a 2018 single called "Like in the Movies," with 6.3 million streams.

Definitely feels like the same downbeat vibe as that prior song.  The video matches it to a T though - woozy underlying tune and blurry/trippy subway ride.  Hip hop beats and chill song.  Dig it.

Overall, this is fine - nothing that just lights me up but may be a fun low key show in the evening on Sunday.

Medium Build

One Liner:  New album is nice Americana, old stuff is less interesting bedroom pop indie

Wikipedia Genre: Singer/songwriter (I'd also say bedroom pop indie)

Home: Anchorage (via Atlanta and Nashville)

Poster Position: 9
Both Weekends.
Sunday at 3:25.

Miller Lite Stage.

Thoughts: His voice is reminding me of someone, maybe Robert Ellis, maybe Ruston Kelly?  I really like the band name, although it definitely had me in the mood for some rock and roll and not this style of bedroom, DIY indie.

Nicholas Carpenter was raised in Georgia and played music in his church before moving to Nashville to study songwriting at Middle Tennessee State.  While there, he had a band called Little Moses and wrote their songs.  After college, he moved to Anchorage, of all places, and began performing as Medium Build.  He has toured with a number of good other artists - Tyler Childers, Lewis Capaldi, and others.  Five albums - 2016's Falling Apart, 2018's softboy, 2018's roughboy, 2019's Wild, and 2024's Country.  His top streamer comes from the Wild album - "Be Your Boy," with 6.4 million streams.

I need to figure out how to film my dog lunging up to lick my camera.  Maybe a cheese stick would do it.  Dogs look so loveable when they do that.  Song is fine - nothing especially sticky there that will keep this one in my mind or future rotation.  His older stuff sticks more to that style - synths and machines doing a lot of the work under his vocals.  But on the new disc, "Crying Over U" with 3 million streams, has a better sound for me - more of an indie singer/songwriter laying down something real.

I like the lushness of that sound and the lyrics are solid as well.  I love the image of him winning a stereo with a raffle that his dad co-opts to blast while they clean the house on weekends.  Definitely like the new album more than the older stuff, although it goes into some drum machine stuff as well that I don't like as much.  As of now, this would likely be my choice during this hour, but I've never heard of the other artists in this spot.  We'll see.

Malcolm Todd

One Liner:  Super lo-fi bedroom pop/rock guy that I already can't remember

Wikipedia Genre:  No Wikipedia, this is bedroom pop/rock

Home: L.A.

Poster Position: 11 (MUCH higher than I expected)
Both Weekends.
Sunday at 2.

T-Mobile Stage.

Thoughts:  Malcolm Todd was an English archeologist who passed away in 2013.  He conducted notable excavations at sites of Roman Britain.  So there you have it.  That guy's corpse will be here to play jenky synth music.  There is also a South African archer with this name, and an English actor named Malcolm Tod (star of 1926's The Woman Tempted.  Sounds lascivious!)

But actually, this is a dude who dropped out of the University of Oregon one week after he started, so that he could move back to L.A. and live the dream of making lo-fi synth R&B stuff.  He became a TikTok sensation by labeling his music as "Steve Lacy's new music," which seems kinda shitty?  My main motivation right now is to finish writing about this so that I can stop listening to these songs.  I have been busy today and so this has played much longer than I would have liked for it to.

2022 EP Demos Before Prom, 2023 EP Shower Shoes, and then the 2024 album Sweet Boy.  "Roommates," a breakup tune with an oddly tuned guitar, is the big hit, from the new album.  36.8 million streams.

Meh.  His voice isn't especially strong and the video is bugging me, but it just seems weird to me that this is such a hit.  Stupid TikTok messing with the stream counts of the world.  It isn't awful or anything, just nothing special in here for me.  Almost all of the top tracks are from that new disc, but I'm going to do one of the older ones just for analysis purposes.  "Out of Bounds" has 11 million streams and another jenky ass video with too much talking.

Straight bedroom vibes - you can just imagine this teenager playing this in his bedroom, gently strumming those nonexistent notes on his guitar with his drum machine motoring along on his bedside stand.  Again, not terrible, just lacking any umph or hook that would make me light up about hearing it.

Eyedress

One Liner:  Kinda jenky bedroom pop heavy on the new wave synths and basslines

Wikipedia Genre:  bedroom pop, post-punk, shoegaze, witch house (?!?), hip hop

Home: L.A.

Poster Position: 12
Both Weekends.
Saturday at 2:20.

AmEx Stage.

Thoughts:  Man, out of the frying pan and into the fire.  I just wrote how I wanted to move along from Valencia Grace to some other artist, but this is definitely worse.  His Spotify bio says he is a 5x platinum artist, but I don't see how that is possible.

Idris Ennolandy Vicuna is originally from the Philippines, but he moved to Phoenix when he was young.  Later, living in Orange County, CA, he joined a punk band Liberal Underground as their bassist.  He moved back to the Philippines when he was 15, and started releasing beats online by the time he was 20.  These tunes sound like someone raised on 80's new wave is making demos in their basement.  Wikipedia includes "witch house" as one of the genres for him - never heard of that.  It is apparently also called drag, and is described so: "a microgenre of electronic music that is musically characterized by high-pitched keyboard effects, heavily layered basslines and trap-style drum loops, while it aesthetically employs occult and gothic-inspired themes."  Mmmmkay.  This sounds to me more like old Cure and New Order if those guys never found a good producer.

Apparently, some of his tunes went viral on TikTok, during the pandemic.  His Spotify is very confusing, in that the first album included there is by something called Lofty305, but Wikipedia never mentions him using that moniker.  Instead, it is a 2013 EP called Supernatural that seems to be the first real release with this name.  2017's Manila Ice is the first real album, although none of those songs get much play.  2018's Sensitive G got a little more, but still most songs are under a million streams.  A 2019 single called "Jealous" was the big break, and is still his top streamer with 828.1 million spins on Spotify.

Yeah, okay, it isn't terrible by any means.  I can get with the vibe as I listen again, kind of a spoken word freakout with super lo-fi tunes.    That track was also included on the 2020 album Let's Skip to the Wedding, which included the other big TikTok hit, "Romantic Lover."  2021's Mulholland Drive has a nother big one, "Something About You" with 467.7 million streams.  Let's check that one out.

Smiths.  That one reminds me of the Smiths.  Just uninteresting to me.  Funny to me that the TikTok kiddie would blow up a track like this.  His next album was with something called YUNGMORPHEUS, 2021's Affable with Pointed Teeth, and it is very unpopular rap without any appreciable streaming action.  His 2022 album is with something called Natia, and it likewise went no where.  2022's Siblings with something named The Simps and zzzahara is same.  2022's THE HILLS HAVE EYES is yet another collaboration, this time with something called YL.  2022's FULL TIME LOVER has loads of different collabs.  Again, low streams though.  Finally, he released 2024's Vampire in Beverly Hills, a 34 song, hour and 19 minute pile of shoegazey new wave and shitty autotuned rap.  This one is called "Birkin."  I'm sorry.

I still don't know how he claims to be 5x platinum.  Maybe once you get a certain number of streams you get to act like you have a platinum record.  Either way, this ain't my thing.  Hope you enjoy!

Deyaz (2024)

One Liner:  Bummer tunes done in a lovely way

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - bedroom pop, bedroom R&B, depressingcore

Home: London

Poster Position: 26
Weekend One Only.
Sunday at 1:40.

BMI Stage.

Thoughts: This fool was here last year!  WTF man.

Deyaz is a tattoo fan who claims to be a "non-confined musician."  Whatever that is supposed to mean.  I mean, I know that it is likely supposed to show how badass he is because he can't be held into a single style - but then you listen and he's absolutely got a style.  So it just ends up being a dumb thing to say.  He was raised in London, a Jamaican/Syrian kid who shares too much over bedroom pop beats.  Before this solo thing, he apparently played the drums in punk bands in east London, and produced rap tracks.  I wish he was still doing one or the other of those things.

He taught himself guitar as a kid, learning Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains by ear.  These tunes do not sound like someone who claims that as their original background.  More like someone raised on Post Malone.  But he won a scholarship to study at London's Guildhall School of Music (which more than one source called "prestigious"), and turned that into this current melancholy sound.

His first album - 2022's WHY NOT has "Don't Leave, Don't Go" as the top single from that one, with 8.9 million streams (up from 6.9 million streams last year).

So simple and yet very powerful.  If you just stop and feel the emotion of what he has going on, it is really lovely.  At the same time, not sure how much I want some sad sack song like that at the Festival - I wanna jam out, brah.  His second-most streamed is "I'll Scream (All the Words)" which was a single with 4.7 million streams last year but since then made it on to his new 2023 album called TRANSPARENCY.  Well, there is a normal version now with 8.5 million, and then a remix featuring someone named Jessie Reyez that has 3.7 million.  This is that duet.

Sure.  That is pretty, and sad, and depressing.  And I don't really want to hear it anymore!  Some of his other songs are more upbeat in tone, like "Helpless," even when the lyrics are a bummer again.  I wouldn't go out of my way for this one.

Remi Wolf (2024)

One Liner: Former American Idol contestant who loves vocal effects despite a strong voice.

Wikipedia Genre: Soul, pop, funk, bedroom pop
Home:  Palo Alto, CA

Poster Position: 6
Weekend Two Only.

Saturday at 5:10.

Miller Lite Stage.

Thoughts:  Last here in 2022.  And, le sigh.  I was really hoping that, when I picked this band off of the poster, that I was picking some sweet guitar rock stuff. WOLF RAWK!  I was very wrong.  This is kinda R&B/hip-hop, mostly plain pop, with loads and loads of voice effects that make it seem childish.

Two albums.  2021's We Love Dogs! is a bunch of remixes of her singles.  So, like, instead of a cohesive album of original songs, it will be two different remixes of a bunch of her tracks.  One of them involves Beck, although he never sings, and its pretty alright.  She never turns her voice into a funhouse mirror nightmare in that one.  In "Woo!" with Panda Bear she screams like Bjork having a baby.  2021's Juno was next, and then it looks like a new album is on the way because she is slowly releasing more tracks here in 2024.

Her top single is "Photo ID," with 76 million streams.  From a 2020 EP called I'm Allergic to Dogs!

Minecraft ass video.  With the song, the tune is kinda catchy when the chorus pops in, but her computerized vocal tones make my mouth turn down like a grandmother who just saw a nose piercing.  Sometimes I fear that I'm hitting the age when nothing new is every going to be appealing again.  I'll just have to die alone with my copy of Automatic for the People clutched in my sad old hands.  I like the funky part in the chorus, but I don't much care for the vocals or the verse music.

When she was a senior in Palo Alto, she appeared on the 2014 season of American Idol.  Let's see if her voice was intentionally grating back then?  Here's an interview.  No singing.

Loogit all that hair!  Here's a live video of singing from the year after that American Idol year.

Good voice - but she's still using effects.  Her Wikipedia says that she was in the audition rounds of American Idol, and got her golden ticket, but then "without any formal dismissal, mysteriously didn't re-appear later on in the show."  MYSTERY!?!?!

One of her remixed songs was used in an iPhone commercial:

I actually remember that commercial!  Neato!

"Woo!" (the original version) is actually kinda funky and good.  "Hello Hello Hello" (again, the original version) has a little calypso feel to it.  "Disco Man" is kind of a groovy R&B jam.  But my overall feeling with each of these songs is that they are just SO MUCH.  Just bring me a plain ass song for once.  Actually, a track from that 2021 album is a little closer - almost an early Amy Winehouse vibe.  "Liz" from 2021.  43.6 million streams.

Well, I thought it was a little more normal, but that is just the first section.  After that, she's still pushing it a bit too far for me.  Who is this Liz lady who is making you get so damn excited?  And skee-boppin' all over the place...

Let's pop in one of the new singles, just for reference, here is "Cinderella" with 14.8 million streams.

Oh.  Well, yeah, I kinda dig that one.  Funky, with horns, and a solid groove.  It sounds like she is just singing too - not trying to break glass or use weird effects.  Who knows, she might actually have something going on here with the new disc.  Another single from there - "Motorcycle" - definitely has a Winehouse vibe going on.  Oh, but "Alone in Miami" is not good at all.  Hmmm.  Uneven.  I wish they were all as funky as Cinderella.

I probably wouldn't go watch this one, but Saturday may be a day where I must both be a beggar and chooser.  

Still Woozy (2024)

One Liner:  Mediocre electronic indie that reminds me of that awful "Gooey" song.

Wikipedia Genre: Indie pop, bedroom pop
Home: Oakland, CA

Poster Position: 5
Weekend One Only.

Saturday at 5:10.

Miller Lite Stage.

Thoughts:  Last here in 2019.  With that name, was really hoping for some drugged out rapper, not this dude making pretty basic indie electronic stuff.  I think I could make a great rap with that title - you can rhyme boozy, snoozy, floozy, cruisin', loosie, Lucy, truthy, ALL SORTS OF GOOD WORDS!  LISTEN UP LIL WAYNE, OTHER WORDS RHYME WITH BITCH, OTHER THAN BITCH!!!

Real name is Sven Eric Gamsky.  I gotta say that I really like the name Sven.  Messed up to have an S next to a V, but it sounds cool to me.  Strangely, his Wikipedia really gets into the fact that he was an Eagle Scout, going so far as to describe his Eagle project.  That is friggin' weird.  Back in high school, he won a battle of the bands thing with a group called Shoot for Roots, and later he was in another band called Feed Me Jack while at UC Santa Cruz (go Banana Slugs!).  He claims this band name came because of his spaced out nature.

He released his first single, "Cooks," in 2017, and Spotify stuck it on their Fresh Finds playlist, which catapulted him to semi-popularity.  Back in 2019, he still made tunes in his own garage, recording all of the instruments and patching them all together.  He also claims to release his songs within a day of being finished with them, not belaboring the track or mix.  His Spotify bio literally just says "Hii [sic] my name is Sven. Still Woozy is my solo project, and I record all parts in my garage/studio[.]"  Mmmkay.  And it has been that same thing since 2019 when I first looked at him.  Not working too hard at the game.

One real album, 2021's If This Isn't Nice, I Don't Know What Is, and then just a bunch of singles and a 5 song EP (released in 2019) called Lately.  His top track by a good bit is "Goodie Bag," a 2017 single release with 450.3 million streams (up from 32.6 million streams in 2019).

Kind of a lo-fi rap vibe - feels like it could be a joke song, but I can't actually find anything that appears to show that he is pranking with this, seems more like he's just goofy.  Sound - maybe his voice - is reminding me of that evil band that sings the "Gooey" song - Glass Animals.  Hate that freaking song.  Crap - now that I've attached this guy to those guys, I can't stand it.  Doh.

"Habit" is on the EP, and maintains its spot as his second-most streamed with 189.9 million.  In 2019, it had 12.0 million streams.

A little Alt-J, a little Glass Animals, and a lot of falsetto.  I actually like that one better.  The new album has some streams, but only one track breaks a hundred million.  "Window" fires up 136.5 million streams.

Meh.  I'm sure that was a pandemic tune and video, but I'm not loving the tune.  Nothing in there sticking with me.  I don't think I need to see this guy hit buttons on his laptop and then gently croon to me.

Midnight Navy

One Liner:  Unknown, difficult to google, guy who is playing synth tunes in his bedroom

Wikipedia Genre:  no Wikipedia, uhhh, bedroom synth pop?

Home: Austin!

Poster Position: 25
Weekend One Only.
Friday at 1:15.

Tito's Tent.

Thoughts:  I sometimes do this for curiosity's sake with lower tier artists.  here is what the search bar brings up on Spotify as you enter the name:

• Midnight - the Taylor Swift album
• Midnight (space) - "Midnight Rider" by the Allman Brothers.  Great tune.
• Midnight n - Midnight North, a Bay Area band with a Lesh in the band.
• Midnight na - Midnight Marauders, the Tribe Called Quest album.
• Midnight nav - finally, this band.  Weird.

Ah, and it is probably because only five of his songs even have stream counts on them.  No one is searching for this.  Even a google doesn't grab him - apparently there are Nike Jordan shoes called the midnight navy.  Hahaha.  Even when I search for midnight navy band, I get a bunch of people talking about a watch band for the Apple Watch that comes in midnight navy color.  Jeez.  I guess we just have to go with the Spotify bio for background.

This is singer/songwriter, producer, and saxophonist Francisco Rosales, based in Austin.  he apparently plays things called chicano indie soul, alternative r&b, and psychedelic bedroom pop.  I get nothing else about his background.  Even on his bandcamp page, it has his name and Austin, and then has no songs for you to listen to.  What is up with this guy?  His top song is all synths all the time, and throws up 6,868 streams on Spotify.

I saw an article the other day about how ACL paid $28.1 million to the artists in a given year (I forget which year).  That seems really low to me - if those big artists are getting millions each then are jenky little people like this just doing it for free to get their name out there?  I can't imagine this show being worth much to ACL, because no one is buying a ticket to see this, more just filler for the poster so that they don't have gaps.  Because this is not anything especially necessary.  I mean, he's on the poster and I'm just a schlub with an internet connection and a keyboard, but there is no need to get there for the noon show on Friday if this is what is on tap.

Suki Waterhouse

One Liner:  Model and actress making forgettable bedroom pop

Wikipedia Genre:  Her Wikipedia doesn't list a genre, it just says model - actress - singer, but I'll say indie pop, bedroom pop

Home: London

Poster Position: 3 (9) 
Both Weekends.
Sunday at 3:15

Thoughts:  I can't hear the name Suki (or Sookie) without immediately thinking of Gilmore Girls and the first time I recall seeing Melissa McCarthy.  My wife loved that show a million years ago, and more recently, middle kid has watched through the entire thing at least once.  Very clever show.

This is not Melissa McCarthy though.  This is an English gal (partner of Batman/Sexy Vampire/Cedric Diggory Robert Pattinson) who got her start in modeling (like, a legit modeling career with multiple covers of Vogue and major brand runway walking), then an acting career that included one of the Divergent movies and more recently the miniseries Daisy Jones and the Six.  We gave up on that miniseries, but the wife and I both really enjoyed the book!

But in the midst of all of those things keeping her busy, along comes a few loosie singles that popped.  The first big one was "Good Looking," released in 2017, which apparently became a viral hit in 2022.  It was, of course, because of TikTok.  She said that she was working on getting her real record out, when this six year old song popped back up.  Apparently, her management had asked if they could delete all the old crap from before the album so that the album was the music available, and she thankfully disagreed.

Surprisingly small catalog - I was bopping along and then realized that the song was actually Blondshell - I apparently cruised through four songs by other artists without noticing that I was no longer listening to Suki, which bodes poorly for her distinctiveness.  Just one album - 2022's I Can't Let Go - and then some singles and an EP.  Here is that viral track - "Good Looking," with 199.6 million streams.

She admitted that the recording was "dodgy" and done in her apartment.  You can definitely tell.  Lotta kissing in that video, and then WTF is up with the blood?  Damn.  That was disturbing.  A comment claims that it was real - she accidentally stuck her hand in the fan as she was dancing around on the bed.  Usually, a video makes me like a song more, but that video did the exact opposite.  Nope.

None of her other songs come anywhere close to the success of that track, but "Moves," from the new album, tries the hardest with 21.4 million streams.

It is an odd thing - after powering through her catalog, my overall feel was that I liked the tunes.  But now, really paying attention to these two tracks, I find them annoying.  They feel overwrought and heavy-handed, trying to shove an emotional response at me or something.  I wasn't going to chose her anyway, The Walkmen and Sunrose are fun rock and roll, Morgan Wade is awesome and feels like a star on the rise, but I wouldn't go watch this one.

Rina Sawayama

One Liner:  Super catchy pop that gave me Gaga vibes

Wikipedia Genre:  No Wikipedia, this is bedroom pop and pop rock

Home: L.A.

Poster Position: 5 (27)
Weekend One Only.
Saturday.

Thoughts: She's on the same tiny label that originally signed The 1975, I wonder if that is a theme on some of these bands.  Another fun factoid is that she made her acting debut in John Wick: Chapter 4.

Born in Niigata, Japan, her family moved to London when she was five.  Originally, she did not speak English and eventually connected with folks through pop music.  At sixteen, she started posting pop covers on MySpace and formed a hip hop group called Lazy Lion.  She names her inspirations as Madonna, Christina, Gaga, Katy, Avril, Beyonce, Britney, and more.  To my ear, which is not really that steeped in pop music stuff, this makes me think of Lady Gaga first.  Kind of belting, a little weird, and purely poppy.  I have definitely never heard a single one of these tunes before.

The top song on her Spotify is actually a Charlie XCX song that she just appears on.  Her personal top streamer makes me think of some old school Britney song of strumming guitars (or is that making me think of a Justin Timberlake song?) and a beat, except that there are random power chords that pop up every once in a while like Dave Hetfield keeps popping his head into the studio and shredding as a joke to ruin the tune.  "XS" has 58.6 million streams.

Legit catchy pop tune.  If I was in to that sort of thing, this would be a banger.  That tune is from her 2020 album SAMAYAMA, which appears to be her big album, being that it has more tunes in her top ten than any other.  Her debut album - 2017's RINA - doesn't have any huge songs on it.  Her only other album is 2022's Hold the Girl, and its big track is "This Hell," with 29.4 million streams.

There's that Lady Gaga vibe with the more belt-y vocals.  There was a moment there just now where this was making me think of country pop.  And another super catchy track - if that doesn't make you want to boogie a little bit then something is wrong on your end.  Ha!  She was on the Metallica Black Album tribute thing a few years ago.  That is funny.

Patrick Martin

One Liner:  Perfectly pleasant pop rock that feels like 1975 b-sides

Wikipedia Genre:  No Wikipedia, this is bedroom pop and pop rock

Home: L.A.

Poster Position: 5 (27)
Weekend One Only.
Saturday.

Thoughts:  His top track really sounded like something I had heard before, but I apparently have not written about this dude previously.  No Wikipedia on him, and the articles I found are very cursory.  I can tell you that he was born in Wisconsin and had anxiety as a kid.  His songs were used for him to handle that anxiety, and so they are generally very personal, and have a bedroom pop sound to them.  He went to and graduated from Marquette University, apparently becoming known for singing at house parties, and then moved to L.A. to try out the music industry.  He was inspired by classic rock, and apparently decided he wanted to be a performer because of Garth Brooks energetic live shows.

No actual albums, just a handful of singles on his Spotify.  Biggest one is "Cinema Love," a 2019 single, with 3.5 million streams.

My dude is good looking, and his voice is good, but part of me really thinks he needs to link up with a band and expand the sound.  Otherwise, he is a generically good-looking white dude with a generic name.  But if he was the lead singer of CH33SE CURDZ, the top rock and roll band in Wisconsin, he's be killing it.  That song is fine - it's a little overly precious.  The only other song he's got that breaks a million streams is "Stranger Nights," another 2019 single.  1.5 million on Spotify.

After having just listened to the 1975 for this blog, I'm hearing similar things here and it's making me like it less.  Overall, this guy seems to have a nice sound and may be poised for a big breakthrough.  But it also feels like generically poppy stuff that others have done before.

Abby Sage

One Liner: Low key Billie Eilish-esque alt-pop

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.

Ethel Cain

One Liner:  Spacey bedroom indie Del Rey by an odd bird

Wikipedia Genre: Ethereal wave, lo-fi, ambient, dream pop, gospel, alternative rock, rock, folk (that is quite a list!)

Home: Alabama

Poster Position: Level 3 (10) 
Weekend Two Only.
Friday.

Thoughts:  Dammit.  I just wrote about how I was annoyed with the artists I have been trying out recently, and then this one brings me "Ptolemaea," which sounds like if Florence and the Machine was in a bad Nine Inch Nails tribute band before they got famous.  Hold on though.  Usually on these profiles, I pretty much provide you with my stream of consciousness about the artist and do not go back and do a major cleanup after I have listened to the whole catalog.  On this one though, I am revising my opinions.

Her earlier work is much less pleasant than the one full album that she released.  So, when I was originally writing about her, it was not especially complimentary.  But now that I have re-listened to the album several times, I am enjoying the vibe.

I keep coming back to the Florence comparison - her voice and tone bring that to mind repeatedly, but the music itself is no where near the power of The Machine.  Like a bedroom Florence project she did on the side.

Fascinating backstory too.  She was born in a tiny town near Tallahassee, FL.  She was home schooled in a very strict Southern Baptist home - she was Baptized three different times, and after coming out as gay to her mom was sent to conversion therapy.  But her input as a child was split between two opposite worlds - Christian music and Gregorian chant from her mom, and horror/violent movies from her grandparents.  After high school graduation, she tried all the drugs, tried six months as a man, and started making dark electronic music under other pseudonyms.  However, even with all of that, her wifi password is still "godlovesyou."

Her legal name now is Hayden Silas Anhedonia - she changed it at age 20, "anhedonia" is the inability to feel pleasure.  She has a ton of tattoos, most of which are homemade and self-drawn.  The very obvious ones are PLEASE across her throat and the Hebrew lettering at her hairline.  In another stranger-than-fiction angle, she actually got signed by the record label owned by Dr. Luke, but after a few sessions it became obvious that she was not trying to make a Ke$ha album.  So, she now lives in rural Alabama, with her sister, in a plain house.  And makes this music.

Her sole album - Preacher's Daughter - made top album lists for 2022 from a bunch of critics who I have never followed - Crack Magazine, Sputnikmusic, Gigwise, Clash Magazine, Dazed, Flood Magazine.  But also Paste, which I know.  So, a lot of cool kids are in to this stuff.  For me, the album is head and shoulders above her earlier music (including a garbage tune with a bad rapper named Lil Aaron - blaming that on Dr. Luke).  The top streamer from that lone album is "American Teenager," with 25.2 million streams.

Yeah, I like that tune.  Her earlier EPs use a ton of effects on her voice that annoy me, and so I think I was in the depths of those songs when I started writing and was overly negative.  But that one is pretty and powerful.  Feels like we are in the neighborhood of Lana Del Rey and Florence.  But that one hits.  Makes me feel huge.  Her other top track is "Crush," from her 2021 EP Inbred.  22.5 million streams.

Meh.  There is that Lana Del Rey sound that has never clicked with me.  Too whispery, too affected, too shoe-gazey and meandering.  Not my thing.

According to a NYT article about her from 2022, here are some fun lines from the profile: 

• "Ethel Cain, might soon be a pop star — or at least the modern version of one increasingly common these days that might more accurately be called a cult star."
• "Before rural Alabama, she rented an abandoned church in a random Indiana town of fewer than 2,000 people."
• “For this first record, I’ll play Miss Alt-Pop Star and I’ll parade myself around and do photo shoots and whatnot, and then I’ll end up like Enya or Joanna Newsom, where I come out of my little hidey-hole every five years to drop an album,” she said. “But I know I have to earn that legacy. I’m gritting my teeth.”

I don't actually expect to go watch this show, but it feels like something that would be amazing to see in a small venue.  We'll see, I'm a little bit intrigued by what she is doing.

Deyaz

One Liner:  Bummer tunes done in a lovely way

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - bedroom pop, bedroom R&B, depressingcore

Home: London

Poster Position: 5 (27) 
Weekend One Only.
Friday.

Thoughts: Deyaz is a tattoo fan who claims to be a "non-confined musician."  Whatever that is supposed to mean.  I mean, I know that it is likely supposed to show how badass he is because he can't be held into a single style - but then you listen and he's absolutely got a style.  So it just ends up being a dumb thing to say.  He was raised in London, a Jamaican/Syrian kid who shares too much over bedroom pop beats.  Before this solo thing, he apparently played the drums in punk bands in east London, and produced rap tracks.  I wish he was still doing one or the other of those things.

He taught himself guitar as a kid, learning Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains by ear.  These tunes do not sound like someone who claims that as their original background.  More like someone raised on Post Malone.  But he won a scholarship to study at London's Guildhall School of Music (which more than one source called "prestigious"), and turned that into this current melancholy sound.

One album - 2022's WHY NOT.  "Don't Leave, Don't Go" is the top single from that one, with 6.9 million streams.

So simple and yet very powerful.  If you just stop and feel the emotion of what he has going on, it is really lovely.  At the same time, not sure how much I want some sad sack song like that at the Festival - I wanna jam out, brah.  His second-most streamed is "I'll Scream (All the Words)" which has 4.7 millon streams.  Well, there is a normal version with 4.7 million, and then a remix featuring someone named Jessie Reyez that has another million.  This is that duet.

Sure.  That is pretty, and sad, and depressing.  And I don't really want to hear it anymore!  Some of his other songs are more upbeat in tone, like "Helpless," even when the lyrics are a bummer again.  I wouldn't go out of my way for this one.

Jane Leo

One Liner: Forgettable bedroom pop made by two local artists joining forces

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - bedroom pop

Home: Austin

Poster Position: Level 5 (24) 
Weekend One Only.
Sunday.

Thoughts:  Huh.  Half of this band was the front-man for a band that I really liked off of one of the old ACL lineups (review here), who I then got to see again at Sound on Sound Fest right before a torrential downpour washed that entire Festival away forever.  Leopold & His Fiction is a solid rock band fronted by Daniel Leopold.  He apparently met Jane Ellen Bryant - also an ex-ACL lineup artist (review here) at a Black Fret event and were encouraged to work together.  According to an article I read about them, they also ended up in an actual relationship.

The bummer, at least for me, is that this is super-not the Leopold sound.  This is synthesizers and drum machines, like a couple making bedroom pop as a throwaway, which leads to pretty forgettable tunes.  One album - 2023's Jane Leo - and the top track from that was their first single from 2021.  "Tell Me (I'm on your Mind)," with 168k streams.

That song is fine, it just doesn't stick.  Until the horns come in, it literally sounds like two people just noodling around on a song idea in there home studio during the pandemic.  That is the first song on the album, and the second song on the album gets the second-most streams.  You can actually watch people lose interest with this band on the stream count - 168k, 131k, 77k, 65k, 25k, 23k, 10k, 9k.  That second tune is called "The More You Know."

I don't want to be rude about them - I liked them both individually back in their prior iterations, but this little Casio 2000 ass backing track just doesn't get me anywhere.  The video is like a low rent Wes Anderson thing though.  I kind of like it.  I wouldn't go out of my way to hear this one.