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.