La Dona

One Liner: Spanish language reggaeton lady with a great voice.

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, she is apparently reggaeton.
Home: San Francisco

Poster Position: 17
Both Weekends.

Saturday at 3 in the Tito's Stage.

Thoughts:  I was really hoping that this was going to be a band whose band name was a tribute to the power of Taco Deli's Dona sauce.  However, no such luck.  Instead, this is Spanish language music fronted by a great singer.

Here bio says: "Blending Caribbean beats, reggaeton, and hip hop styles, San Francisco-born Cecilia Cassandra Peña-Govea composes songs that explore her radical brown femininity, inspired by love, sex, pain, and climate catastrophes. The Chicana singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist grew up performing professionally as a trumpeter in her parent’s conjunto, eventually mastering instruments such as the guitarrón, vihuela, guitar, and Latin percussion. “To be a part of my family is also to be a musician,” she says."  

Climate catastrophes?  That was a jarring addition to that list.  I mean, it's cool with me that her music has been inspired by the climate, but that one just doesn't match with the rest.  "I am inspired by family, culture, and the Crimean War!"  Just to make sure I understood what is meant by the climate catastrophes, I turned to the google.  This shitty-looking website tells me that there are three obvious, greatest climate catastrophes: agricultural collapse, arctic multiple, and ocean collapse.  The website also says that scientists avoid using the term "climate catastrophe."  Great, so now I've done all this damn research with nothing to show for it.

Okay.  She's got profile pieces in NPR, New York Times, and Billboard.  She's hot stuff.  Her real name is Cecilia Cassandra Pena-Govea, and she has coined a new term to describe her musical style - "femmeton" - a mix of feminist and reggaeton.  I personally wouldn't know reggaeton if it ran me over with a '68 charger being driven by Michelle Rodriguez with Vin Diesel riding shotgun, but I'll go with it that this is a good example of reggaeton.

One album, 2020's Algo Nuevo.  Most of the most popular songs on her Spotify are from that album, although nothing on her list cracks a million streams.  Top is "Quien Me La Paga" with 729k streams.

Great voice.  No clue what she is talking about.  But it sounds lovely.  The title apparently means "who's going to pay me?"  Fun vibe to the song though, I want to go dance in her kitchen and taste those beans.  Her second-most streamed tune is "Dembow Y Sexo," which, according to Google Translate, translates to "dembow and sex."  I LOVE DEMBOW AND SEX!  Ah, further research says that Dembow is a musical rhythm that originated in Jamaica and then became a popular part of reggaeton.  So there you go, this song is about a single musical rhythm and doing the dirty.  Like Frank Sinatra's old classic, "Trumpet Trills and Smoochin'."  663k streams.

Love the painting of the car in fast-motion.  Also, there are some English words sneaking into that track, unlike the last one.

Yeah, I could dance to these tunes.  They sound pretty good.  I doubt I'd go watch this, just not that appealing for me to watch something I can't understand at all, but it's catchy rhythm for sure.

Claud

One Liner: Non-binary bedroom pop singer who reminds me of Maeby Funke.

Wikipedia Genre: Bedroom Pop
Home: Chicago

Poster Position: 17
Both Weekends.

Friday at 1:45 on VRBO Stage

Thoughts:  When I started this one, I was ready to be unimpressed, but after a few times through her catalog, I have enjoyed her.  Part of my pre-judgment was her second-most streamed track, which I thought was going to be a Billie Eilish cover, but ended up being a really pretty little indie piano tune about legitimately wishing that a best friend was gay.  "Wish You Were Gay" has 7.6 million streams.

"call me your babe instead of your homie" makes me smile.  Lovely little song, and that video is genius.  Like, literally, seeing reality vs. expectations in that situation changes the perspective entirely.  Also, Claud looks kinda like Maeby Funke from Arrested Development.  Normally, I'd run the other way from anything called "bedroom pop" but I find this one refreshingly appealing and pretty.  "Gold" is also good.

Wikipedia says they are non-binary, and began by releasing music under the name Toast.  I like Toast better than Claud, personally.  In 2019, they dropped out of Syracuse to go after music full-time, and later became the first artist to sign with Phoebe Bridgers' record label.  They released Super Monster in 2021.  That is their only album.  "Soft Spot" is the top track from that new album, which now sounds like Bridgers because I'm thinking about it.  3.6 million streams.

Nice.  Kinda dreamy and soft-focused.  They also kind of look like an eight year old boy.  Their top streamer is "If I Were you," with 8.5 million streams, and is a little more rockin' and bouncy.  

For someone who has never seen the L Word show before, that video was deeply weird.  Well, likely even if you had seen that show before, that video would still be deeply weird.  But a good song.  I like the bass line and the lyrics.

Sure.  I'd go check this out.  Doubt it will be a major timeslot, but I liked it more than I expected.

Serena Isioma

One Liner: Non-binary bedroom pop, rap, and R&B

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but I'd call this bedroom pop, rap, and R&B
Home: Chicago

Poster Position: 17
Weekend Two Only.

Sunday at 1pm on the Honda Stage.

Thoughts:  One massive song, that has a very cool, super weirdo vibe - like a Thundercat tune with a female singer - they raps and sings and generally tells off the world in this track.  "Sensitive" has 44.1 million streams, apparently because it has been included in a bunch of Spotify playlists.

Fun song - I like the sound and it gets me moving.  Although I'm not sure it belongs on a "good vibes" playlist with all of the frustration in the lyrics.  But that's a fun and good tune.

From reading about them, they is (I have no clue how to type this sort of thing) a "non-binary rockstar."  They say they are heavily influenced by Tyler, the Creator.  Apparently, "Sensitive" was a big TikTok hit as well, taking "over the platform at the end of 2020."  They were inspired to make music originally by their older brother, who introduced them to Chicago artists at a young age.  So they started making music with GarageBand when they were 16, and it all kind of blew up from there.

Just one album - a short one at 7 songs and under 20 minutes - 2020's The Leo Sun Sets.  A bunch of her singles have more streams and are more popular.  Her most recent single, "Huh?" sounds like its got some "More Bounce to the Ounce" or P-Funk love all up in there.  166k streams.

Feel that funk?  I dig it.  Time to boogie when that one kicks in.  Her most streamed track from the album is "Stop Calling The Police On Me," a title that seems funny and then super doesn't seem funny anymore.  1.1 million streams.

And its such a pretty little tune, like she's just spreading some love to his friends and yet singing about the cops.

Definitely better than most of the "bedroom" style music I've heard on this lineup so far, but I doubt I'd go see it.

The Backseat Lovers

One Liner: Utah boys making loose rock jangles

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but I'd call this rock and alternative rock.
Home: Utah

Poster Position: 16
Weekend One Only.

Friday at 1:45 on the T-Mobile Stage.

Thoughts:  Digging it.  Finally, a little rock and roll in the poster.

Their bio on their management website gives this background story: "The band started when Josh [Harmon], having heard of local drummer Juice Welch, introduced himself and asked if he wanted to start a band. They immediately started working on arrangements for some of Josh's songs. Later Josh met lead guitarist and vocalist Jonas Swanson while waiting in line for an open mic at the Velour in Provo city. Neither of them got on the list to play that night, so they sat on a park bench outside the venue and played their songs to each other until they ran out of stuff to play. Josh invited Jonas to come down and play with him and Juice. It was that night that Out of Tune, a song Josh had been holding onto since he was 16, came to life when they arranged it as a group."  That tune has a couple different versions on Spotify, but sounds like a good early example of who they were.

The dudes look like they are 16 years old.  Their sound is kind of a Kings of Leon/Strokes sort of thing.  And there is someone else that their lead singer reminds me of, but its not coming to me right now.  Someone I like, who has that same rough-edged voice at times.  He's almost got a Brit sound to him - kind of like the singer from Travis.  A little bit of that dude who was supposed to come to ACL last time but then bailed and I was very sad, uh, the "Hypersonic Missles" guy, uh, Sam Fender!  Thanks Google!  NO!  It just hit my brain like a lightning bolt - this guy reminds me of Benjamin Booker!  Another dude I discovered through ACL Fest.  Super good.

One album - 2019's When We Were Friends.  Pretty solid - I think their guitarist is legit.  One song off of that album has exploded - no other tune has more than 10 million streams, but then "Kilby Girl" is out there with 45.6 million streams.  Looks like it is on a playlist called Alt NOW (along with other ACL bands like Black Pumas, Machine Gun Kelly, nothing,nowhere, Modest Mouse, Billie Eilish, Bleachers, and KennyHoopla - maybe I need to just look at this playlist next year when I am looking for predictions of who is coming to the Fest in 2022?).

Yeah buddy.  Jangle those jangly guitars right up into my jangle spot.  "Intuition" is a good track too, with a cool tempo change.  "Heavy" is a good one too.  I'll give you one more, their second-most streamed at 9.3 million.  "Maple Syrup" (although this is an acoustic version, on a sailboat, with a pretty sunset going on in the background.

It's hard to see his mouth, but it feels like the music doesn't match the video, which would seem impossible to do.  Either way, a nice version of the tune.

I'd absolutely go see this show.  Hell, if they played an aftershow one night, I'd be up for going to see them in a smaller venue.

Joy Oladakun

One Liner: Low key folky R&B with a great voice.

Wikipedia Genre: folk, R&B, pop, roots rock
Home: Casa Grande, Arizona (now Nashville)

Poster Position: 16
Weekend One Only.

Friday at 2:30 on the Lady Bird Stage.

Thoughts:  Her top single features Maren Morris, so I figured this was going to be a country thing, but it is not a country thing.  Her self-penned Spotify bio says that she is a songwriter, a sensitive stoner, and that she lives in Nashville with her girlfriend and dog.

Her discography is a little confusing.  Wikipedia says she released Carry Me in 2016 after a kickstarter campaign.  Then it says on July 17, 2020, she released 2020's In Defense of My Own Happiness.  Then it says on June 4, 2021, she released her third studio album In Defense of My Own Happiness.  And when you look on Spotify, she indeed has two albums with the same title and mostly different songs on them.  Not sure why she recycled the album name.

She's got a great voice.  Many of her songs are very low key, not much in the way of accompaniment, so the voice is what is showcased.  "sunday" is the top streamer, which is from the first of her two albums with the same name, her second album.  14.4 million streams.

"I keep God locked in a picture frame, so I feel a little better 'bout my numbered days" is a great line.  She said " 'Sunday' is the song that 12-year-old Joy, seated in the back of church youth group, needed to hear. She needed to hear that you can be queer and happy. Queer and healthy. Queer and holy. She needed to see married women kissing and playing with their kids."

She does a very spare cover of "My Girl" that is lovely.  The Maren Morris-assisted tune - "Bigger Man" is also good, lyrically interesting.  "taking the heat" keeps making me think of the Billy Joel song "Vienna."  I think it's just the tune, because lyrically they are nothing alike.  Overall, most of these songs are very chill - there isn't a lot of instrumentation to clutter up the singer-songwriter vibe.  Her second-most streamed is a single from 2019, called "Blink Twice," with 6.2 million streams.

Organ/synth instead of guitar, but see what I mean?  Just the most basic of a tune in the background of the vocals.  I kind of wish for a little more action from a band, but I also get the idea of making the lyrics the centerpiece of the track.  And some tracks, like the opener from her newest album, include a drummer and some strings, but I still have a yearning for a real band to jam in the background.  Like, "i see america," that one drives a little bit and sounds more interesting to me.

I don't think I'd go out of my way to see this, but its nice.  If I ended up at this stage I'd probably enjoy it.

Holly Humberstone

One Liner: Great English indie singer who makes me think of Maggie Rogers.

Wikipedia Genre: Alterative Rock, pop rock, indie rock
Home: Grantham, Lincolnshire, England

Poster Position: 16.  
Weekend Two Only.

Saturday at 12:50 on the Lady Bird Stage

Thoughts:  Makes me think of Maggie Rogers, which is a big ass compliment as far as I am concerned.  Unfortunately, very limited number of songs available, with just ten on Spotify as of right now.  The opening track is her most recent, which is getting Spotify streams pretty quickly.  "The Walls Are Way Too Thin" currently has just over 3 million streams.

I searched for organic or reef-safe sunscreen at one point recently, and now 90% of my pre-YouTube commercials are for some damn weirdo sunscreen brand that is apparently wonderful for the environment.  Stupid Internet algorhytms.  All that crawling in her video makes me think of Die Hard, which is a good thing.  Pretty track with a catchy tune and chorus.

From her name, my initial guess is that she is from London.  I can definitely say that name in an English accent and it sounds genuine and ready to go.  aaahloo, ahm Aully Amberstuuwn!  Not London, but it ends up she is British, and from a place called Grantham, Lincolnshire, England.  Wikipedia says that she rose to fame because of Lewis Capaldi, a guy who has been at ACL before, because she used to perform during his intermissions at concerts.  Kind of cool.  

I was curious to see if she actually plays instruments, or if she has a full band, or if this is just a girl and a laptop.  Here is a live track she did for a BBC thing.  The song is "Vanilla," and from this example, it looks like she uses looping pedals to make some harmonies, but then plays the guitar for herself.  This is lovely.

So pretty.  But, most of her songs have more than just a basic strumming on them, so what happens behind her on those tracks?  So, from this video, it looks like she'll have some synths and other machines up there, along with her guitar, to make things happen.

I'm very into that song now.  Although, when she looks directly at the camera, I become terrified that she can see me.

Then her top track is a single from last year - "Falling Asleep at the Wheel," with a big streaming number at 29.4 million.

She really likes the camera views where she is lying on the ground.  But, another catchy tune that makes me want to boogie a little bit.  Sort of dance-y, but also kind of somber at the same time.  Odd mix.  She also does a cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" that is both true to the original and really pretty in its own right.  She's good.  I'd go watch this.

Megan Thee Stallion (2021)

One Liner: Cocky, Nasty, Freaky Lady Rapper from Houston

Wikipedia Genre: Hip Hop
Home: Houston, Texas

Poster Position: 2
Both Weekends.

Friday at 6pm on the Honda Stage.

Thoughts:  So, do you recall when she was supposed to come to the last Fest?  Yeah, she was on the lineup, in a smooth grab by the C3 people, because at the time she had yet to really blow up.  Weekend Two only.  But a big crowd collected in front of her stage, ready to hear her raunchy rap get blasted out over the park, only to have her straight up stand us up.  She claimed online that she didn't make it to town in time after a show in another state the night before, later saying that she "didn't make it exactly on time" and so ACL cancelled her set.  BUT, sleuth internet weirdos noticed that this story was complete bullhonkey, because Megan had posted a video to Instagram, from Austin, an hour before her set, of her working on makeup.  Afterwards, ACL put out a statement that Megan hadn't even left her hotel by the time of her set time, and didn't arrive in time to perform.  I'm sure it is no big deal to be late to a regular show, but when you only get an hour and the festival needs to keep the stages running on time, they can't just let an inconsiderate artist blow through the set times.  Which sucks, but also makes sense.

Luckily for me, that means that most of my review is already written, because I just did this for last time.  Although, she's blown up even bigger since then, so we'll tack on some new stuff at the end.  Here is what I had to say in 2019:

"Damn, man.  Weekend Two only?  That is the first one that bums me out.  This lady is absolutely bad ass.  Without researching anything, some of her beats call back to Too $hort beats, and it makes me think of her as a female Too $hort, dropping raunchy rhymes and funny put downs for everyone else.  Hell, her second most streamed track is named "Freak Nasty," and Too Short has songs like "I Need a Freak," "You Nasty," "Freaky Tales," and "Nasty Rhymes."  If she's not trying for homage, then she's crazy.  Here's that second-most streamed tune - "Freak Nasty," with 4.1 million streams. [now at 37.9 million in 2021]

"I look better than that ho that's why she made you block me." "I walk and I talk like a pimp 'cause I am." "You know I ain't come boy, if you has to ask me." This is some shit talking, bold and bragging good times.  

A festival with this one, Cardi B, and Lizzo?  If they put all three of those at the same stage for an afternoon the paramedics would need to just wait right there at the base of the stage to treat all of the twerk-exhaustion and dehydration for six straight hours.

You can tell from her lyrics that she's from Houston, she reps it several times.  Real name is Megan Pete - and I'm kind of entertained that she kept that relatively generic 70's name as part of her stage name.  "Thee Stallion" part comes from people referring to her as a stallion during childhood because she was tall (5'10").  Interesting tidbit from Wikipedia - her mother rapped under the name Holly-Wood and would bring young Megan to the studio as a kid to watch her recording sessions.  Her mom called Megan's eventual lyrics "too suggestive and ratchet," which is a pretty clear "no shit, Sherlock" for old mom there.  Megan went to Prairie View A&M and went viral after battling some male opponents in a video rap battle, although Wikipedia says she is still a student right now, at Texas Southern. [update: she claims to be graduating in the Fall, despite her career exploding].

Two albums - 2017's relatively generic Make It Hot, and then 2018's ridiculously entertaining Tina Snow.  Tina Snow is her alter ego who is confident and sexually dominant.  She also apparently has another alter ego who is a college party girl, named Hot Girl Meg.  That shit is confusing and weird, but whatever.  Ghostface can call himself Tony Stark all the time, she can go with her weird aliases too.

No song from her first album shows up in her top ten most popular tracks, and I agree.  Her top song overall is "Big Ole Freak," with just over 7 million streams. [up to 73.9 million in 2021]

A few observations - (1) that beat uses a slice of the same beat LL Cool J used on "Loungin'" and I am very down with it (that apparently came from an Al B. Sure song, which I didn't know before); (2) I feel like someone important is just about to walk into my office as I watch these videos and I'm super gonna get fired on the spot for watching all these girls grind as Megan talks about liking to fuck in the mirror; and (3) I think if I actually tried to twerk for any appreciable amount of time, my thighs would cry for mercy and I would die, and as such, I actually respect the difficulty of the dancing here.

Other tracks on this album are also good - "Hot Girl," in which I'm pretty sure she calls her boobs "leches," and I love it.  That one also uses a Too $hort patented sound like a steel drum being hit.  Also, "Cocky AF," where the beat is slow and low, the boasts fly like lazy paper airplanes swirling through a boxing ring, and she talks about sucking something like a Capri Sun.  [which, whhaaaaat!?!]  But I'm not especially into R&B stuff like "Cognac Queen."  I won't be there second weekend, so I know I won't see her, but what the hell, this would be a fun time.

[EDIT 5/22/19] - she threw out a new album last week, Fever, and its more of the same fun stuff.  I still think "Freak Nasty" is the gem of this catalog, but "W.A.B." and "Hood Rat Shit" work.  My only beef here is that several of the beats start to bleed together and seem too similar, but the beats are still pretty solidly little trap bangers.  Also a good Juicy J cameo on one of these tracks. "

Since that post, she's released two more albums - 2020's Suga and 2020's Good News - which included a Beyonce collaboration, and then was half of the biggest rap track of the year with the supremely nasty-ass "WAP."  Let's do both of those.

First, "Savage" was a single off of the Suga album, but then later in 2020, a remix with Queen Bey popped up on the Good News album.  320.6 million streams.

I had heard that song a large number of times before even realizing who was on it, because my middle kid was big into it on TikTok for a while.  Love the line "if you don't jump to put jeans on, you don't feel my pain."  That "Suga" album also has "B.I.T.C.H.," which interpolates and flips around the 2Pac song "Ratha Be Ya N****" in a fun way.  She put out a Houston-aimed remix album of Suga called ChopnotSlop which is mediocre.  Then, 2020's Good News throws out 17 songs - none of which are the biggest hit on her resume.  

That track came with Cardi B, and created a whole storm of controversial takes and pearl clutching in the news.  if you don't already know about it, I'll go in to it a little bit, but honestly if you don't know about it then you aren't paying attention and probably don't care anyway.  "W.A.P.," with a whopping 834.2 million streams.

The pearl clutching comes because these two women are rapping about their sexuality in a way that some people might find uncomfortable.  Which is so deeply dumb, in my opinion.  Politicians tried to score points on Twitter by calling it vile and disgusting.  Hell, that video version wouldn't even use the real words to the song - kept saying West And Gushy (which is honestly nastier sounding than Wet Ass Pussy to me).  And the reason that became so controversial is that men have been allowed to rap about purely nasty sex stuff for decades.  From 2 Live Crew to Too Short to Sir Mix-a-Lot to Lil Wayne to even non-rappers like Prince, dudes have been able to explicitly talk about getting action forever, but when these two ladies try to follow along, people freak out.  Which certainly helped propel this single into the streaming stratosphere, so they probably knew what they were up to.

The one thing that starts to grate after a while of listening is that she always makes that AHHHHG sound in every single song.  I know other rappers have little trademark sounds they make in each song to denote their presence - Rick Ross' little hhhrruuuhhh!, DJ Khaled's "another one!", Pusha T's yuuuccchhh!, etc.  But after listening to her music for a few hours, it gets very tiring to keep hearing the same "I am poking my tongue out as far as possible and then making a gagging sound" sound.

Will I go watch the show?  I guess it depends on the lineup.  It might be fun to go see the crowd and watch the mess, but if I had to miss this one it wouldn't bother me.

Dayglow (2021)

One Liner:  Great bubblegum rock from an ex-UT student

Wikipedia Genre: Indie pop
Home:  Austin (originally Ft. Worth)

Poster Position: 7
Both Weekends.
Saturday at 7:20 on the VRBO Stage.

Thoughts: He was here at the last festival, and I dug it.  See here:

"Always cool to find something fun and good down in the tiny print portion of the poster, especially a late addition like this.  Dude sounds kind of like he's the lead singer for Two Door Cinema Club ("False Direction") or maybe Franz Ferdinand, stepping out on his own to make bubble-gum rock party jams.  I also get a sniff of the fun Beck here, the party guy Beck making intentionally sunny tunes for fun.

Searching for this on Wikipedia takes you to a concert tour event thing thrown by an EDM event company, where the event is apparently a bunch of EDM music and people spraying paint all over you in the audience.  Now called the Life in Color Festival, and it sounds like fucking hell to me.  I mean, attending a music festival is already a tough gig in the first place, what with the exhaustion and dehydration and annoying people around you, but if you then add in a lineup of solely EDM, plus some jackass jetting paint all up in your face while you are trying to dance to the sweet electro drops, nothing about that sounds fun to me.

Anyway, this is not that festival.  This is a dude named Sloan Struble, who apparently just dropped out of UT to pursue his tunes full-time.  An article I just read says that he spent his childhood messing around with GarageBand making tunes, went through a Christian pop phase, and then got into Dubstep, before finding this pop rock niche he lives in now.

Just one album, 2018's Fuzzybrain, but with a shockingly large number of streams for an unknown (at least to me) dude making generally likeable pop rock.  His big hit is one called "Can I Call You Tonight," with just over 11 million streams.

Amazingly dorky video, but just a purely great, happy, bouncy piece of pop rock candy.  Love the drummer who looks like he was headed for marching band practice when Sloan grabbed him and asked if he would come play for a sweet video he was making in the access TV studio on campus.  Very Napoleon Dynamite vibe here.

"Dear Friend," (yes, the comma is included in the song name) sounds like when Jet tried to sound like Oasis when Oasis was trying to sound like the Beatles.

Second place track is "Hot Rod."  3.3 million streams.  Nothing else in the millions.

OK, not only are the tunes sunny and fun and good, but these videos are beautifully cheesy and ridiculous and endearing and amazing.  Gimme more."

Since then, the dude has played an ACL taping and released a new album.  I wouldn't quite say that he has blown up, but he certainly is getting more radio play and attention than he was back then.  I heard his new single playing from a boat in the Virgin Islands last week, so this isn't just an Austin thing anymore.  I still have "Can I Call You Tonight" in a playlist that I jam, and it's still a great little tune.  The new album is nice too - his voice is reminding me of Rivers Cuomo.  The big tune on here is "Close to You," with 25.9 million streams.

Got some Hall and Oates/ Doobie Brothers ass synths all up in there.  I don't know if he's trying to look awkward, but he super looks awkward as hell in that video.  He also kinda looks like a short Chris Thile with long hair.  Deeply 80's vibe.  

If I'm being honest, and I try to be here, I don't love the new album.  I like those old songs much more than these, which seem a little more intentionally 80's focused and contrived to be a certain money-making way, instead of seeming just purely fun and un-aimed.  He removed some of the rock feel and went more for a synth-cheese feel.  Either way, I'd probably go see the guy.  Seems like it would be a fun show.

Aaron Frazer

One Liner:  The secondary singer for Durand Jones and the Indications.

Wikipedia Genre: Synth-pop, alternative rock, indie pop
Home:  Greenville, NC

Poster Position: 15
Weekend Two Only.

Saturday at 1:35 on the T-Mobile Stage.

Thoughts:  An incorrectly-spelled Wikipedia search allowed me to giggle at the fact that "Aaron Frazier" is apparently an actor who is "best known" for playing Old Weird Harold in the 2004 film Fat Albert.  hell, yeah. I wish a guy named Old Weird Harold was coming to the Fest though.

But that isn't this guy.  This is the guy I mentioned the other day in the Durand Jones & the Indications post, who sings some of their songs with a pure and light little falsetto.  He is the drummer and co-singer for the band, and helped to form the band back in the early 2010's.  Wikipedia explains that Frazer released a solo album, but as he did so he noted that a new Durand Jones & the Indications album was on the horizon.  So, they're still doing their thing together.  Seems a little jenky though, that we're just getting the co-vocalist from a group who is already coming to the Fest to take up an entire slot.  We already have both the Heart;ess Bastards and the Tender Things, and Billie Eilish plus Finneas.  C'mon.

This is very old school sounding stuff.  Produced by Dan Auerbach, so I shouldn't be surprised, but it very much sounds like I'm listening to some 50's falsetto crooner singing about my everlasting love.  Or 70's - "Bad News" sounds like some classic Marvin Gaye.  Actually, that song freaking straight up rules.  I just got caught up into dancing around at my desk because this one has a stone-cold-groove.  2.6 million streams.

I mean, those bongos, that flute, the wah wah guitar, the piano chords?  Make me wanna holler.  Or at least bite my lower lip and bob my head a little.  Dang, "Over You" is also a jam - much faster pace, but it got me moving too.  Only the one album, 2021's Introducing...

Before that, he had a single called My God Has a Telephone, and the title track from that 2017 release is his biggest streamer at 26.4 million streams.

Nice enough.  Kinda milquetoast.  I much prefer the stuff off the new album that has a little bit more swagger and southern rock sprinkles on it.  Like the little guitar solo in "Can't Leave It Alone" is classic Black Keys riffage that makes me much more interested than a tune that is just nothing but pretty falsettos and barely existent guitar strums.

This is the kind of thing that I kinda rolled my eyes at when I first started it up, but as two days have rolled by, I've just left it playing because it's pretty great.  I wouldn't choose this over something I really liked, but I'd go check it out.

Future Islands

One Liner:  Indie synth pop band who apparently loves OMD

Wikipedia Genre: Synth-pop, alternative rock, indie pop
Home:  Greenville, NC

Poster Position: 5
Both Weekends.

Saturday at 4:20 on the Honda Stage.

Thoughts:  With them right next to Marc Ribillet on the menu, I figured for sure that this was the jokey ass band with Andy Samberg in it that did the "I'm on a Boat!" song that people still play when I get on a boat and they should stop.  But that is Lonely Island, not Future Islands.  Instead, this is a synth driven pop-rock band that makes me wonder if The National (or some other heart-on-sleeve current indie band) had been heavily influenced by The Cure.  They claim that Orchestral Manoeuveres in the Dark was "one of the biggest influences on the band."  Which is wild.  Other than something from an 80's movie soundtrack, I don't think I could name a single song of OMD.

Their Wikipedia creation myth is as weird an unintelligible as they come.  Here is a choice little nugget: 

The idea to form a band came while Cashion was helping Herring study for an art history exam. They invited local record shop personality Adam Beeby to play rhythmic keyboards and fellow art student Kymia Nawabi for percussion and backing vocals.  After a tumultuous debut on Valentine's Day February 14, 2003, at Soccer Moms' House, Herring also invited Welmers to join the band. Only Cashion and Welmers already played a musical instrument—the guitar—but Cashion took the bass and Welmers the keyboards, for a Kraftwerk-inspired sound.

Sam Herring played Locke Ernst-Frost, an arrogant narcissistic artist from Germany, Ohio, dressed in a 70s-inspired white suit with slicked-back hair, and a heavy German accent. The character's name originally was meant to be Oarlock Ernest Frost but it got shortened as a reference to John Locke, the religious poet; Max Ernst, the artist; and Robert Frost, the American poet.

The band quickly gained a local reputation and started touring the underground venues in the Southeast, playing shows with North Carolina acts like Valient Thorr and Baltimore artists such as Height, Videohippos, OCDJ, Nuclear Power Pants, Santa Dads, Ecstatic Sunshine, Blood Baby, Ponytail and electronic musician Dan Deacon whom they met during a show on May 26, 2004.

It's like someone wrote this to the actual band members, for their memories, and forgot to add in any sort of detail that would make these sentences make sense.  I can't decide which one of those terrible band names is the worst, but I'm just going to go with Blood Baby for the visceral reaction it brings to mind.

Six Albums - 2008's Wave Like Home, 2010's In Evening Air, 2011's On the Water, 2014's Singles, 2017's The Far Field, and 2020's As Long As You Are.  It is a lot of music, and I'm slightly fascinated that I've never heard a single one of these songs, ever, as far as I can recall.  A few have big streams counts, at least big for an indie synth band.  None of their first three albums charted, but then Singles was their biggest album in the US, making it up to #40.  Their next two made it to #52 and #108, respectively.  The power tune from Singles was "Seasons (Waiting on You)," which hit #27 on the U.S. charts in 2014, and has 85.7 million streams on Spotify.

The opening notes of that make me think of the Stranger Things intro song.  Then the synths and driving bass line kick in and the 80's spill in to the room ready to sing.  His voice goes Elton John at times in the chorus.  Funny thing is, at first, I didn't get much from this, but in the hours since, I keep singing the chorus to myself.  Catchy tune.

As I've plowed through a lot of these tunes, I'm not sure that I notice any major differences in the albums.  I don't see any major evolution in their sound.  Just seems like they keep adding more earnest synth pop action to their catalog.  I know this is about to be the same song, but from what I have read, this moment on Letterman was the killer moment that made them into sudden stars despite albums that hadn't been noticed.

I would not have reacted that way to that video.  His dancing is making me very uncomfortable, and the "I been waiting on you" part sounds more like a mad muppet took over the singing.  And that is before he goes full black metal singer near the end.  He's a good looking dude, and the backing band keeps a good groove, but nothing about this screams future mega-stars to me.  But Letterman sure liked it!  They have a live album that was recorded back then too, at SXSW, and I can't say that I love the vocals on there.  Lots of weird sounds going on.

Their second-most streamed is from that same album, but I'll give you one from the next disc just to mix it up.  This is "Ran," from 2017's The Far Field.  Just over 30 million streams.

They sure went for the literal with that video.  Made me think of the part in Ted Lasso where Ted starts running to see his son and Nate says that the run is a lot farther than he thinks, and Coach Beard says something to the effect of "it's a metaphor."  Another good tune though...

As for the band name - "The name is meant to be vague. ... We were either gonna be called Already Islands or Future Shoes. Because, seriously, you don't know what future shoes look like, but you know you'd want a pair! (you know?). So after deciding Already Shoes was a bad name, we combined them to Future Islands. That's the boring truth, sorry!"

I like "Balance" as well, which sometimes sounds like the Revivalists singer, bopping over the top of a Cure tune.  But "Thrill," from the new album, is absolutely not a thrill at all.  Nor is the Leonard Cohen-grumble of "Glada."  "The Happiness of Being Twice" sounds like a hellsong for a clownparty.

You know, even if I don't quite comprehend why they are on the 5th line of this poster, I think I'd enjoy this show more than the majority of the things I've heard so far for this year's fest.  I think the thing I like the most is the bassist.  Yes, it sounds like The Cure half the time, but I like the Cure.  So I'd probably go and check it out to expand my mind.  I mean, who doesn't like synths?!?!

Marc Rebillet

One Liner: Comedic electronic YouTuber

Wikipedia Genre: Electronic, experimental, rhythm and blues, funk, blue-eyed soul, comedy, dance
Home:  Dallas

Poster Position: 6
Both Weekends.

Sunday at 5:30 on the T-Mobile Stage.

Thoughts:  I've literally checked twice to make sure this is really on the sixth line of the poster.  Who is this cat?  He doesn't have very many streams, compared to most folks up at this level on the poster, and as you'll note shortly, his music is flipping weird.  None of this is normal music, so I'm just going to give you a bunch of videos.  "New Morning Alarm."

Dave Grohl energy in there.  And funny too.

His currently most popular track is a funny bit of ridiculousness that is all about how he has the vaccine now. "VACCINATED ATTITUDE." Got a porno music feel to it as well that kinda rules.  The little interlude, where some nerdy voice tells him that, while both of them are vaccinated, they need to wait for the gestation period, his response is great.

The rubbing of the dick bulge, along with the special camera just aiming right at the dick bulge, are a little disturbing.  I bet he has a sponsorship deal with an underwear company.

Yeah.  I thought that the vaccine song must have been a joke type tune, but it seems that his default musical style is disco funk party anthem with joke lyrics.

I actually remember watching this one!  Made me think of my sister.  I could see her funking out to this.

But now, digging into his history, it turns out that old Marc is a comedy act who makes YouTube videos and Twitch streams of himself creating these silly songs.  His posts would go viral, and people even sometimes call into him during a taping to suggest items to add in to the lyrics in real time.  Wikipedia says the sessions can last anywhere from one to five hours.  And if you are watching this guy make a song for five hours, man, I have some cool lawyering that you can come watch me do for a small fee.  He's from Dallas, and played some shows there before trying New York to see if he could expand his career.  It seems like that worked.  Apparently, he tries to improvise each show and not repeat things from night to night, trying to keep it fresh and germane to each location.

Oh my.  Just got to an ass eating song.  Like, a very explicit song about eating ass.  Mmmkay.  "Work That Ass For Daddy." Probably shouldn't play that for your grandmother.  Well, or maybe she's all up in that ass and digs a little butt-play.  Ol' dirty Nana.  Speaking of Grandma, "I'm a Flamingo" involves him singing from the voice of a flamingo and eating your kids' eyes and then eating your grandmother's vagina.  So, this isn't going to be a show for the kiddos.  At 2.9 million, this is one of his most streamed tracks and most normal.  "One More Time."

I don't know how he can circle his head so many times while playing music.  I think I'd barf.  One more, just because whatever...

This is what I mean - why would so many people watch T-Pain just chat up this guy who is trying to play a piano part for him?  Like, take five minutes and put it together?  That is so weird.  Seven minutes of them like working on a song together while a bunch of weirdos add comments that quickly disappear?  As you know, by now, I am not a twitch user.

I have no clue what to do with this.  I like a funny performer and all, but I'm not sure I would sacrifice someone really good to see this guy be a goofball and sing about grandma vagina.

AG Club

One Liner: Rapper collective that reminds me of Brockhampton

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia but hip hop, rap
Home:  San Francisco

Poster Position: 14
Both Weekends.

Saturday at 3:20 on the Miller Lite Stage.

Thoughts:  Yes!  This may be the top five rap on the bill, even down here at line #14 on the poster.  I'm so damn glad to hear rap that actually sounds good and isn't some skinny white model whining about his feelings!  Has that Brockhampton feel because it won't just be a straight-forward rap with one guy taking the reins for the entire track - it'll have a tempo switch or a new rapper or a R&B interlude or whatever that pops up in the midst of the track.  One article I read said they sound like Odd Future, but I never really could figure out how to get into Odd Future.

The name may stand for Avant Garde Club, but it's sometimes hard to tell with groups like this who are trying to play around during their interviews.  The dudes look like a big group of freshmen in college started a skate club or something.  The main guy is named Jody Fontaine - in the videos below he is the main rapper.

Three albums - 2020's Halfway Off the Porch, 2021's Fuck Your Expectations, and 2021's Fuck Your Expectations PT. 2.  The first album has their top streamer - the one that got them noticed by a record label and then involved in a remix with A$AP Ferg.  "Memphis" has 9.5 million streams.

Love the backwards videos.  Shoutout Pharcyde.  Fun story of how a bunch of kids from the Bay Area ended up with a song called "Memphis."   The producer and the main rapper were just up too late in the studio, and the producer was looping a sample that said "north Memphis n*****s" over and over.  It wasn't working and he was about to trash the idea, when Fontaine came up with the "let these n*****s know!" loop, they recorded it real quick, and off they went.  When it came time to name the song, they were just like, screw it, call it "Memphis," no one is ever even going to hear it.  And now that it's their hit, people are all mad that they don't really have any reason to rep Memphis.  "JF: Now we got people in our YouTube comments talking about, “Y’all not even from Memphis, y’all can’t come to Memphis — blah, blah, blah.  BB: Why do they all have nose rings?”  That is funny.

And just for comparison, here is the remix with NLE Chopper and A$AP Ferg.  Their second-most streamed track at 7.1 million.

That beat is a good time - tough and bouncy and great for a good time.  So, after they caught a little hype from that track, they had a call with someone from the record label Columbia.  The resulting track was "Columbia," all about the odd experience of being offered big money for doing their art, which they used to make a weird alien video.

I've said this before, but I am always a sucker for a good horn sample in a rap song.  Love that.  The first one that always comes to mind is Trick Daddy's "Shut Up," because the horns on that one are so perfectly angry.  Jay-Z has a couple good ones, Kanye has "Touch the Sky" and likely others.  But a good horn lick instantly improves anything.

That song is their most streamed from the newer albums, but "NOHO" is currently more popular on Spotify and has a fun groove to it.  Definitely makes me want to shake the shoulders a little bit.  Overall, I like the true rap tracks better than the R&B-ish ones.  "TRUTH" is pretty solid too.  But for the most part, I don't see the PT. 2 album as good as either of the earlier two.  "QUESO" is kind of fun, but other than the "Memphis" redux, its about the best thing on here.

I'd go watch this.  Seems like they would put on a show and have fun with it.

Ant Clemons

One Liner: R&B singer who got his break with Kanye West

Wikipedia Genre: R&B, rap
Home:  L.A.

Poster Position: 15
Both Weekends.

Sunday at 3:15 on the Tito's Stage.

Thoughts:  Wikipedia says he got his start while working at Red Lobster.  Which is beautiful.  I, too, suffered through a stint slinging cheddar bay biscuits and shrimp scampi.  You never could get all of that butter sauce out of the khaki pants.  He lived in Philadelphia, and every two weeks he would take everything he had saved and fly to L.A. to try to meet with songwriters and producers and find a break.  Clemons was featured on a few smaller time tracks, but then Kanye West heard one of them and added that song onto Ye, launching his star immediately.  Which is amazing, because its a terrible freaking song.  "All Mine" on Ye has a bad beat, a lame set of lyrics, and a bad-sounding hook (which I guess is from this guy). He also ended up on several of the tracks for Kanye's bad Christian album Jesus is King.

His top song dances in between gospel and a Justin Timberlake R&B tune.  "Better Days" has 10.9 million streams.

Oh, hahah - Justin Timberlake is on the track!  He kind of sells himself short on Spotify by not listing JT as part of that track.  I bet he'd get a lot more streams with that information in the listing!  Sounds like this was Ant's own song, and for a virtual fundraiser for Stacey Abrams, they collaborated and performed it to raise money for the Georgia Senate runoff election in 2020.

One album - 2020's HAPPY 2 BE HERE, which was re-released again in 2021 (?!?!) as HAPPY 2 BE HERE (Anniversary Edition).  Weird.  The anniversary edition adds one extra track (and not "Better Days" or the one that Kanye loved).  Even with that extra song, the album is only 22 minutes long.  The album was up for a Grammy in 2021 for Best R&B album.  The most popular track on there is more R&B action.  "Excited," which features Ty Dolla $ign, has 7.5 million streams.

He's got a great voice, but you're just never going to find me wanting to go back for more R&B music.  The video is very mysterious!  Where is the waitress bridesmaid taking him?

YouTube just auto-played right into a Tiny Desk (Home) concert with Ty Dolla $ign, and Clemons is right there with him, in that red beanie.  Is Clemons part of the Steve Zizzou fan club?

I think I'm okay without seeing this one.  Red Lobster 4 LYFE!

Mob Rich

One Liner: What did I say about MISSIO?  Annoying electronic/alternative pop?

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, going with pop and alternative pop.
Home:  L.A.

Poster Position: 15
Weekend One Only.

Saturday at 1:35 on the VRBO Stage.

Thoughts:  Their label bio puts it this way: "As much as the alt-pop duo's sound owes to the specific otherworldly chemistry shared by Los Angeles transplants Maxwell Joseph and Connor Pledger, the charming melancholy, adventurous soundscapes, and big hooks they conjure are built for everyone. MOB RICH makes intimate and bold music destined to build a broader community with kindred spirits. These are new anthems for the outcast."  [gagging noise, <choking gasp>, small burp]  Sorry, I ...  oh no ...  [gulps] yeah, okay, I think I'm okay.  The bio goes on to compare them to both Tame Impala and Oasis, to which i say GTFOH.  It evokes something more like AJR or something.

Their top single bugs me for the dumbest of all reasons possible.  The chorus uses the words "passenger side," and while I'm well aware that TLC does not have a trademark on those words, it bothers me that they are maybe trying to steal some clout from a classic song while making their own mediocre attempt at a tune.  I'm so bitter about these bands.  I may need to take a break and just listen to Phoebe Bridgers for a week.  Here is their top tune - "Yoko Ono" (told you they are chasing clout), with 15.3 million streams.

The other thing this reminds me of is MISSIO, who I've already reviewed for this poster.  Trying to make big choruses that kids can sing along to and feel like they're been rebellious or cool.  Like, "I'm a loser, hallelujah, but I think I'm gonna be okay."  That lyric is from the shockingly named "Loser."  Apparently they wanted to update Beck's "Loser" with that song, which depresses me so deeply.

Just one album, 2021's Why No Why.  A handful of singles as well.  It's all electronic sounds - I don't hear any real instrumental on here.  Their second-most streamed tune is a 2019 single called "Happy Pill."  12.1 million streams.  After the two you've seen here, no other tune has more than 6 million streams, and most are under a million.

So, an odd thing is that their shirts in the first video make it look as though their name is Moby Rich, and now this video is also attributed to Grandson and Moby Rich.  If you search for Moby Rich or Mob Rich, the same photos come up of these same two doofuses, so I guess they just go by both at any given time?  Like, this article calls them Moby Rich the whole time.  Apparently, their album name is an inside joke about the name change: "The album name ‘Why No Why’ is the tongue in cheek jab at ourselves and our name change. Going from one name to another seemingly overnight, simply by changing the Y, made a lot of people ask why, so this our little joke for our day one fans."  I was hoping that they got a cease and desist letter from Moby after he heard their music and they were forced to change it to avoid getting sued.

I guess I can admit that I grinned at their cover of Weezer's "Say It Ain't So."

I would not go to this show.

The Tender Things

One Liner: Country with a heavy dose of great southern rock.

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, saying country, Americana, and southern rock
Home:  Austin!

Poster Position: 20
Weekend Two Only.

Saturday 1pm on the Tito's Stage.

Thoughts:  A fun mix between country and southern rock stuff.  Like, the guitar in "The New Mission Bell" is straight Allman Brothers, but the tune for "How You Make a Fool" sounds like something Waylon would have sung over in the 70's.  This stuff is rad.

The "bandleader" is a dude named Jesse Ebaugh, who was in fellow ACL poster band The Heartless Bastards for a decade, and it sounds like he left that band to pursue this new one.  Their bio on their label's website also says that Patty Griffin and Robert Ellis helped out on their most recent record.  Those are some great collaborators.  Unfortunately, the band name makes me think of a name a nun might have for the male anatomy.

"The Secrets We Could Tell" made me laugh out loud.  And hell, any song with Patty Griffin on it is going to be a good tune.  "Naked in the pastor's pool, summer moon across our skin, doing cocaine in the basement of a cop bar after hours with policemen..."

But calling this country doesn't quite hit the mark.  It has steel guitar and fiddle and all that, but it also has some funky bass and real guitar work and some stuff that removes it from the usual twang-fest.  Feels retro, even if I don't know who to compare it to.  And they feel like they're having fun making it too.

Two albums - 2020's How You Make a Fool and 2017's The Tender Things.  The new album is significantly better, IMO.

"Sister Elizabeth" is the only tune with more than 20k streams.  Pretty great though.

Oh, wait, you thought you had seen the worst music video of all time?  You are extremely wrong.  That bass line is the freaking jam.  Some just the good ol' boys slinking badassery right there.  Dig it.  I also dig that a buddy said, "I can make you a video for, like, a 6 pack, on my little brother's laptop in five minutes."  "Oh Rosie" is their second most streamed tune, but it doesn't have a video, and this one does, so you get "How to Make a Fool," the title track from the new album.

Is that Green Pastures?  That house is cool as hell.  Also, another good song where the bass line makes the whole damn thing for me.  I absolutely need to dance when that track comes on.  Also, I don't drink enough jug wine.  I need more jug wine in my life.  I may need to be the kind of guy who has back porch jam sessions with my attractive buddies before I can drink jug wine and not get crushing hangovers.  Let's find out!

I'd absolutely go see this.  Really enjoying it.

Trixie Mattel

 One Liner: Lovely Americana from a drag queen

Wikipedia Genre: Country folk, Americana, folk, pop
Home: Milwaukee, WI

Poster Position: 10
Weekend Two Only.
Sunday at 6:30 on the Tito's Stage.

Thoughts:  I love this.  It's absolutely the weirdest thing on the bill so far - an over-the-top drag performer in looks, but in sound, a really lovely folky/Americana sound.  Like, here is Mattel's most streamed track, "Heavy Crown," with 5.4 million streams.  If I just listened to this track, I'd think I was hearing some little Ben Platt looking dude sitting on a stool and evoking James Taylor.

It's fucking beautiful.  Like, legitimately wonderful to hear.  I came home and played it for the wife while showing her a photo of the artist, and she was floored.  It's so odd.

This next one sounds like a Lana Del Rey cover or something.  "Video Games," just over 4 million streams.

Haha.  Sounds like it because it is a cover.  Sorry, I'm an idiot.  But I'd also like to be proud of myself for recognizing that it was LDR!  "Mama Don't Make Me Put On The Dress Again" made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it, and then it made me a little sad.  Also, it sounds like something the Barenaked Ladies would have created back in their heyday.

Trixie came to fame through RuPaul's Drag Race, winning the third season of the All Stars.  New York Magazine called her the fourth most powerful drag queen in America.  Prior to becoming Trixie, this was Brian Michael Firkus.  Wikipedia says that Firkus had an abusive step-father who would call him a trixie when he acted feminine, which inspired half of his drag name.

I'm going to educate myself on this, and maybe you'll learn something too, because I have no clue how a drag performer wants to be gendered.  The Wikipedia article uses both genders, saying that "he" is a vegetarian but then also saying that "she" is releasing a make-up brand.  According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, it will depend on the performer.  Some are transgender and switch their pronouns no matter if they are in costume or in regular clothes, and others will only switch their pronouns when they are in character.  The example they give, which is good, is how an actor will not keep referring to themselves as their character's name after they step offstage.  Except Nic Cage probably does that.  Anyway, so when he isn't in the full drag costume, he is Brian, but when dressed up like mega-Barbie, she is Trixie.  Now you know.

She also has a bunch of highly fun covers - Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun," Cher's "Believe" (which is quite lovely), "Keep on the Sunny Side," and Johnny/June Cash's "Jackson" (with Orville Peck).  See, like this:

That is fun.  She also has an album of Christmas songs that push the boundaries of what you might expect to hear from a Christmas song.  Like "All I Want for Christmas is Nudes."  Or "The Night Before Contact," which mentions jerking off to Julia Louis Dryfus in Veep.  Mmmkay.

Some songs are definitely more pop - "Malibu" is the one I'm listening to right now - and those are less interesting to me.  I like the pretty, American-ish ones more.

Here is a video of Trixie getting a makeover.

And answering some questions about drag queens:

You know what?  Sure, I'd go see what this is all about.  Her voice is great, so it seems like it would both be fun but also good.