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Wikipedia Genre: EDM, deep house, drum and bass, drumstep, electro house, garage, trap, glitch, hip hop, dubstep (garage? That seems incorrectly titled, but Wikipedia claims it is a UK thing)
Home: Toronto
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 3 Weekend Two Only. Saturday.
Thoughts: I'm sure I sound like a broken record to anyone who actually likes EDM, but I feel like I have already heard all of these songs. I really want to know, if you put an EDM lover to the test, could they differentiate between these artists? Maybe the right question is "do they even want to?" If all they really want to do is groove to a beat with a generic female singing generic lyrics, then I guess it doesn't really matter which one of them is making the beat and choosing the singer. I also could have sworn that I had already written about these dudes, because I like their name and dig the Pulp Fiction reference.
Toronto-raised and based duo - Dylan "DC" Mamid and Zachary "Hooks" Rapp-Rovan - their first thing available on Spotify is a remix of something by Blue Foundation called "Eyes on Fire." 65 million streams and still a top streamer even after almost 20 years.
Like I said. In that one, the female voice doesn't even get credited. They got started when one asked the other to paint a graffiti mural at his house, and they discovered their love for hip hop and production. Originally, they went by Mass Productions, so I think they scored with the significantly better name.
"sorry baby I had to crash that Honda" is going to be my band name instead. According to Wikipedia, they open most of their shows with the clip from Pulp Fiction starting with "Butch, whose motorcycle is this?" Originally, their main focus sounds like it was about live sets and not recordings, with a weekly party in a bar basement called Bassmentality. They hosted now-famous folks like Skrillex (and other people I have not heard of) at the shows. By 2010 they had started touring North America and then they became festival mainstays.
Lots of singles and EPs until their first album, 2014's Somewhere Else. The top track from that one features something called Memorecks. "Collapse" has 33.2 million streams.
Sure. The top two comments are about either dropping acid for the first time or seeing it played for the first time at Red Rocks. The its more singles and remixes until 2016's Northern Lights. This one is more fun to me because they recruit some folks other than just generic lady singers - like the weird on here with Rivers Cuomo from Weezer and Pusha T. Very strange, but kinda fun anyway? The top one here features NGHTMRE and GG Magree. "Frontlines" with 41.4 million streams.
Hey, a lady singing generic stuff over a beat that builds and drops? No way! So innovative! I'm sorry, now I am just being rude. I'm sure someone who hates rock could come up with similar issues with my favorite tunes. And also, I will admit that I just sorta wiggled in the chair when that last drop happened.
A million more remixes and singles and collaborations next, before Catching Z's in 2021. This one flopped entirely, no song really caught on for streaming. Then another set of a million more remixes and singles and collaborations before 2025's Return to the Spectrum of Intergalactic Happiness. "Sweet Memories" is the top track so far with 6.7 million streams.
Okay, I like the sample that throws back to both the original Ann Peebles track and the Missy Elliott rap. That is pretty fun. Dunno what I'd be doing during this hour, but I sort of doubt it will be this.
One Liner: Mostly instrumental grooves walking a line between Black Keys and Khruangbin Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but instrumental rock, groove, throwback rock Home: Norway Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 16 Day: Saturday Weekend One Only.
Thoughts: As an inveterate speaker of the English language, this band name both bothers and intrigues me. No possessive? Do you say that last word as "belt-ay"? Did they name it after the cat's collar in Men in Black? Did they name it after the 1977 political action film (which uses both the possessive and lacks the extra "e")? What is up here?
Well, maybe part of it is that they are Norwegian dudes, and their names each have weird stuff like the "o" with the slash through it or the "a" with the ball on top. Oh wait, Wikipedia says that in Norway, that 1997 movie was titled as Orions belte! There you go. They love a movie in which a group of seamen from Norway find a Soviet listening station and they becomes targets for both America and Russia. Which is about all we get to know about them because I am finding very little about them. The guitarist and bassist met while backing up another Norwegian artist, realized they both dug sweet instrumentals, and then recruited drummer Kim Åge Furuhaug to join with his sweet ass A-ball, and they started making grooves.
Their initial album, 2018's Mint, is at its best (in my opinion) when it sounds like they are channeling the Black Keys and locked into a stone cold groove. The top song is named after American boxer "Joe Frazier" and actually includes lyrics (unlike the other songs on this disc). 7.7 million streams.
Yeah, baby. Sign me up. Best song on the album without any doubt, but the whole thing definitely has a vibe/groove that is very pleasing to allow to spool out before you. Their second-most streamed song is in a similar vein, a little surf-rocky in the guitar tones, but otherwise a crazy chill wander around an instrumental landscape. That one is called "Bean," with 5.8 million streams.
Just flying over Jǿrkenställmǻngrådin as the groove melts your cares away. That tune is off of their second album, 2021's Villa Amorini. Their next album was apparently recorded during the pandemic, when they did live tiny video shoots all around scenic locations in Norway, which were apparently very popular at the time. I was busy with my puzzles, I wouldn't know.
Next in 2021, each member released their own albums, but which are still listed on Spotify as Orions Belte albums, but the title of each is the band member's name. Sort of interesting. And in 2022 they released a massive mashup of all three of those. I don't love that as much, a little more jazz-ish than I need. 2023 saw their next real album, entitled Women. There are, in fact, two songs on there featuring women as guest singers, but for the most part this one is still more of the instrumental meandering. It is nice. Spotify makes it look like a new album is on the way, with three singles released in a row that all have the same red cover with the single's name in text in the same font.
I'd go watch this happen. Feels like a nice way to chill out in between other stuff - find a patch of grass and a few friends and let something like "Lucid Dreaming" just wash over you.
A little bit of a Khruangbin vibe in there, but also its own thing. In the real version of the song there is a little pedal steel firing in and through it. Nice stuff.
One Liner: Significantly more pop than country for a Nashville star
Wikipedia Genre: Country, country pop, pop, R&B
Home: Nashville (via Arlington, TX)
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 3 Weekend One Only. Friday.
Thoughts: Her biggest song, by miles, is that ubiquitously overplayed EDM song from Zedd called "The Middle." That is not her normal mode in the slightest - she is normally Nashville country, not pop belting over clicks and clacks. Although, now that I am listening to her second-most popular song, it is probably more R&B-seeming than country. Maybe I am wrong about her schtick. I just remember one of her older songs being pretty great (but straight country) and so I assumed I knew the score.
Her debut album was 2017's HERO, and that was the only music that was available back in 2016 when she was last at ACL Fest. In my review back then, I noted that her most popular song was called "80s Mercedes," a poppy, auto-tuned thing that, despite myself, I found myself kind of toe-tapping along with. But the big hit from that album, with 20.4 million streams in 2016 and now 226.6 million in 2025, is a pretty darned good track tying church to listening to music in your car. I like this one, called "My Church."
Excellent song. I like the sound, the imagery, the tunefulness, and her voice a lot. However, I'll admit that the rest of the album leaves me less excited. The tunes span too wide of a sound, leaving me unsure if I'm listening to Rhianna ("Sugar" or "How It's Done"), Jessica Simpson ("80s Mercedes"), Sheryl Crow ("I Wish I Was"), Kelly Clarkson ("Second Wind") or Kacey Musgraves ("My Church") at any given time. And then there's "Rich," which reminds me of Lorde, except it ain't funny like "Royals" was. I can't say I care for the rest of the album as much as I do the hit. It makes me curious as to what her live sound is like - does she bring drum machines and synths, or does she countrify all of the tunes for the stage?
She's a Dallas girl, born and raised in Arlington. Her mom named her after an actress who was in Battlestar Gallactica. Her parents owned an Aveda hair salon, where she spent a lot of time and worked growing up. She started performing as a teen and toured throughout Texas, releasing independent albums. As a late teen, she auditioned for and was rejected by American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, and Nashville Star. That is sort of amazing and just shows how fickle those shows can be to reject someone who has now been listed in Billboard's top 100 country artists of all time. Sooner or later, with the encouragement of friend Kacey Musgraves, she moved to Nashville to chase her dreams and apparently inject her lips with significant amounts of filler. HERO was a big success, with three total songs charting for her, but then it was the 2018 collaboration with Zedd that launched her into the stratosphere. 1.6 BILLION streams.
I can make fun of EDM all I want, but that song is absolutely catchy as hell. The clock elements are cool, and her mega-belting is perfect for the feel of the tune. It was a top charting song all over the world and was nominated for multiple Grammy awards. This is actually interesting - Wikipedia says that "Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello, Anne-Marie, Carly Rae Jepsen, Tove Lo, Bishop Briggs, Bebe Rexha, Lauren Jauregui, Daya, Charli XCX, Elle King, Elley Duhé and Lennon Stella all recorded demos of the song before Morris' version was selected." That is honestly insane. The article goes on to explain that Lovato, Cabello, and Anne-Marie (whoever that is) were all scheduled to release their versions, but things got in the way, and so the producer went with Morris. Sliding doors and all of that...
Her second album was released in 2019. Girl featured her biggest non-EDM streamer overall - "The Bones" - which has 486.6 million streams.
Another tune that doesn't really feel much like a country song. Beats and snaps and light guitar riffs that roll into piano chords and hand claps. Definitely more pop than country.
I actually reviewed her 2022 album, and you can hear some of the same echoes in this review as I have just thought through above. "Maren Morris - Humble Quest. This one has been in my queue for so long that it is starting to feel like an old classic that I have always known. I will readily admit that I don't love Maren Morris - or at least my mind has always registered her name with some disappointment. Like, I get that I am supposed to like her, but then I listen to anything beyond "My Church" and it isn't there for me. But I will admit that this album has adjusted that perception some. She's got a great voice and some clever lyrics in here. Frequently not a country album, like the piano pop of "The Furthest Thing," and sometimes she straight up sounds like an R&B singer from some classic Jive album ("Tall Guys"), but overall I suppose you would call this country. "Tall Guys" is an ode to how great a tall man is, which very much seems like a country singer topic, but the delivery just feels like we are listening to something by early P!nk. "Good Friends" is a fine tune. "Detour" sounds like something she might have released with The Highwomen. But the stream king is the opener, an ode to the aimlessness of life in your small hometown as you try to write hits to get you somewhere else. "Circles Around This Town," with 32.8 million streams [now up to 43.5 in 2025].
Something about her glamming as she sings bugs the crap out of me, like she's trying to emphasize the shape of her lips more than the shape of the words. But I like the song. Overall, I enjoyed the whole album. I am surprising myself with liking traditional Nashville country ladies recently."
She had been married to singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd for a while, but they finalized their divorce in 2024. After that, Morris came out as bi-sexual. I can't decide if that makes the divorce easier or harder.
And then, I had not realized that she released a new album last month in May 2025. D R E A M S I C L E (which was very annoying to type out) doesn't appear to have caught the world on fire with streams. 5 of the songs are still under a million streams, and only one has more than 4 million. And I also do not love it. Just a pure pop album now, for my mind. Ah, I looked it up, and it was partially produced by Jack Antonoff. So, she's making the Taylor Swift album of pop sheen and 80's synths. Not for me, and I wouldn't keep any of it around.
I'll be elsewhere during the Fest for sure - waiting for Cage or Hozier, watching Dr. Dog or King Princess. So the pop country stylings of Ms. Morris can go to someone else.
One Liner: Really tasty buzz bin offerings with a hint of shoegaze
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but shoegaze, alternative, grungy psych crunch
Home: Austin!
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 25 Weekend Two Only. Friday.
Thoughts: I just broke out laughing at my desk - the top song on their Spotify is called "Greg Abbott's Maxi Pad." A surf-tinged, punky little nugget of alternative rock talking shit to the Governor. I've been jamming this all day and I am a fan. Bottom band on the day's list, and yet it is some crunchy rock that is keeping me entertained. With a hint of shoegazey meander here and there as well. I like it.
Their bio says that they combine the best of early records from Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Jane's Addiction, and Slowdive. Tool terrified me when it first came out, but otherwise that is a pretty solid Venn diagram surrounding me at 15. No albums, just 2023 EP There's a Monster and then 2025's EP Faint Illusions, as well as singles such as the aforementioned 2022 single that made me giggle. 1.3 million streams for the attack on Abbott's sorry ass.
Two things. One, that song jams a little bit. Two, that video kind of rules (I guess that is AI and not a really good Greg Abbott mask?). Two (and a half), that song is attributed to Sludge, not Farmer's Wife. I wonder if they got invited to get a new name because someone already had that one? Second biggest streamer is "Shoe Goo" with 232k streams, which appears on the 2023 EP.
Like if The Sundays were ominous and a little scary. I feel like you also need to get one of the newest songs too, just for a more complete picture of what you have here in this band. This one is "Mildew" with 68k streams.
Disappointed that they are weekend two only, as this one scratches an itch for me. Maybe I can find them around town playing the Spider House or something in the interim.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but my brain wants to call this surf cumbia?
Home: Austin!
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 24 Weekend One Only. Friday.
Thoughts: Four total songs and no Spotify bio at all, so we are definitely at the bottom of the poster by now. The stream count on all four songs, even with the usual bump from being on this poster, maybe would add up to 10k streams. I refuse to do math today.
Wikipedia says that an Animero is a person who is popularly attributed certain holiness and has something to do with the Canary Islands.
Here is their website bio: "From the “Live Music Capital of the World”—Austin, Texas—The Animeros blend various music styles that are sonically set somewhere between the lush jungles of Colombia, the palm-lined streets of coastal Mexico circa 1960, the small dusty cantinas of West Texas, and beyond. Since their inception in 2024, their sound and live performance has resonated with listeners and tastemakers alike, and in 2025 they were invited to play SXSW and ACL Fest." A thing in the Statesman says this is made up of members from Superfonicos and El Combo Oscuro. Sure.
No vocals in any of the songs, just like, vibes, man. It all sounds cool to me! I sincerely doubt I will be watching this show, but give me a sweet background groove like this to hang on the grass with, and that sounds like a nice start to the day.
One Liner: Nashville country tropes but with some enjoyable tunes nonetheless
Wikipedia Genre: Country
Home: Nashville (via North Carolina)
Poster Position: Headliner! Both Weekends. Friday.
Thoughts: I literally just typed Luke Bryan as the title for this. So weird that there are so many dudes with generic ass names in the country game right now, with Zach Bryan and Luke Bryan and Luke Combs and Zac Brown and Kane Brown. We need L.B. Combs to release a country album and come full circle.
As I've said many a time, the Nashville country sound is never where my ears are aimed. Give me the Texas country or red dirt or Americana or outlaw-style country and I'll mostly be okay. But the Kenny Chesney, Morgan Wallen, etc. machine is never going to by my style. BUT, I actually tried out this dude's album of songs about fathers and sons, and I actually enjoyed some of it. Here was my review at the time:
"Luke Combs - Fathers & Sons. Combs is not someone who is on my radar in the slightest, so I'm not sure how this album came to be in my New Stuff list, but I'm honestly glad it was. Cheesy as shit - just absolutely dripping in gooey American, plasticky cheese like a soggy nacho at the bottom of a paper bowl at a little league game - but also endearing to me in an unexpected way. These songs are all, or at least mostly all, about fathers and sons. And being that my son is now away at college for his Freshman year, hearing songs like "The Man He Sees in Me" or "Huntin' By Yourself" brings a different level of poignance that I never would have given them the time for ten years ago. For example, the chorus to "Huntin' By Yourself," with these lines: "I already knew he wouldn't see a thing / Been three more times and it's always the same / 'Cause he moves too much and he talks too loud / But I don't mind 'cause I'm finding out / That even if it's just time we're killin', it's never felt more like livin' / They'll make you cuss and wear your patience thin / But next thing you know, they're all grown up and then / You're huntin' by yourself again." All too damn true. Like I said, sappy and cheesy, but also a well-crafted encapsulation of an emotion that I am living in today. "The Man He Sees in Me" is the top track so far, with 53.3 million streams [now up to 63.8 million].
I also have to note that the backing band on that song is excellent. Sounds like the folks who back up Allison Krauss. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" also rings very true to me, except for the divorce angle to it, but the idea of a song wishing his dad would take him out to the ballgame just to hang out. A friend gave me tickets to go see a Texas basketball game with the boy before he went back to school, and it was a very fun evening. The album is pleasing to me - very basic arrangements, kind of a slow burn of pleasant country tunes about young fatherhood. I guess I don't hate all Nashville country as much as I thought."
There you go - a ringing endorsement! And I will 100% note that now that I am listening to the regular "most popular" tunes in his Spotify, this is more what I was expecting. Heavy twang on the vocals and lyrics that make him sound like an everyman, buying a six pack and getting a Hooter's waitress's number on his bill. Top song is from 2017's This One's For You, "When It Rains It Pours," with just over a Billion streams.
I'm sure dudes who treat their girlfriends like crap play this song as their theme song to justify their assholery. But if I am being honest, even though it is twangy generic-ness, I kind of like the angle on a happy breakup that ends well for the guy. "I've been on one hell of a redneck roll for three weeks now" is where you know it is not a redeeming song though. But still, kind of makes me think of one of those Alan Jackson good times tunes.
Born in Huntersville, N.C., he grew up in Asheville before heading off to Appalachian State University. After five years of school and just 21 hours left for a degree in criminal justice, he bounced on school to move to Nashville and pursue his musical career. Great choice, honestly. HIs debut single from his first full album went to number one on the country radio airplay chart, so he went in the right direction immediately. His first five singles actually all ended up at number one on the Billboard country chart.
I think when he popped onto my radar (and likely for many other folks) was in 2023 when he covered Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." He does a good job with it, leaving the lyrics alone and keeping the arrangement pretty much the same as the original. It sounds very good. 793.5 million streams.
Live version, but you get the idea. Such a good song. At the time of the release, and it's wild popularity, I recall a little bit of controversy about it. On the one hand, people were excited that a black woman was the author of a number one country song, but on the other hand it had people wringing their hands about the success of a white man using that song, in comparison to when a black, queer woman sang the same thing. I just thought it was cool to have that song pop back up into the national consciousness - it is excellent, lyrically, and still very much resonates today.
His second-biggest streamer is from the 2018 album This One's for You Too, and is one that I feel like I have written about before. Or maybe there are just multiple country songs where a guy is like "she's nuts but I love her anyway." That's the one, it was Eli Young Band's "Crazy Girl" that I was thinking of. Anyway, "Beautiful Crazy" has 1.048 BILLION streams.
A billion damn streams for that song is just wild to me. "Yeah she's crazy, but her crazy's beautiful to me" is just like, not actually nice? And there are a lot of comments on the YouTube video that are all like "my husband told me this is my song, I love him so much." Lady, your husband just called you a nutjob and says he likes you despite what a huge psycho you are.
2022's Growin' Up has the classic hallmarks of the generic Nashville stuff that is painful for me. Heavy rock guitars, generic lyrics, soulful belting with a heavy country twang. "Any Given Friday Night" is the classic one - boys chasin' girls and hangin' at the Dairy Queen, etc. But the big song is a rough-edged love song called "The Kind of Love We Make." 640.8 million streams.
Oh hell yeah, grandpa is about to tear that granny to shreds! She was trying to read the classifieds, but PopPop had other plans that involved burning down the entire house while he went to town. I get it - catchy, poppy, soulful - and why it could be a big hit. But that is the kind of song that I would definitely skip if it came on a radio station or mix.
His 2019 album What You See Is What You Get is more of the same - long necks, John Deere, blue collars, fixin' trucks, big mouth bass, whiskey, Brooks & Dunn, honky tonks, rhyming honey with money, etc. etc. etc.
Weird anecdote on his Wikipedia: "In 2023, Combs obtained a $250,000 SAD Scheme default judgment against Nicol Harness inadvertently, who was a fan who had sold $380 worth of tumblers featuring a likeness of Combs. Combs subsequently issued an apology, sent Harness $11,000, and offered to sell the tumblers through his official merchandise store to assist with Harness's medical bills." He inadvertently sued someone and took a judgment? Is that a problem that famous people have, to just accidentally sue people and take the case all the way to judgment? I wish I had that issue.
Anyway, while if this was the headliner for Two Step Inn, I may have gone over to see what he was like in person, but with him likely against Hozier, Cage, or Empire, there is just no way I'd choose him over those other folks.
One Liner: 80's synth pop like Adam Levine come again.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - synth pop and Maroon 5 cosplay
Home: Lafayette, LA
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 24 Weekend One Only Friday.
Thoughts: My initial thought is Panic at the Disco! and that may stay true. They claim inspiration from Maroon 5 (yuck), INXS (hell yeah), T. Rex (sure), and the 1975 (meh), but everytime I see the name my brains wants it to stand for Livers, not Lovers.
From Lafayette, Louisiana. Five guys in the band. Lots of drums and synths, and a little too much effects on the voice. Their songs have been featured in Netflix's Love is Blind, Netflix's The Ultimatum, and the Zac Efron film Iron Claw. Which is weird. But I guess that movie was a historical artifact, so maybe not so weird.
I have been listening for a while now, and while it is not terribly offensive or anything, it definitely is under my skin right now. I think Maroon 5 is an apt comparison. So, if that is your jam, then give this a chance. If you never need to hear those songs again, then let's get this over with.
No albums since their 2018 initial single. One 5 song 2024 EP called Midnight Fantasy that gathered up some singles from the years before that. The top song is the last on that EP, "Iconic" with 566k streams.
You hear that Panic! At The Disco 80's synth rock ripoff right there? I'm sure this would be very fun to hear in a big crowd of people jumping and dancing and partying down. Only one other tune in their catalog breaks the 100k streams level. "Dancing With a Broken Heart" fires up 168k streams.
Here's your taste of Maroon 5/Adam Levine action. Again, this is fine. Completely unoffensive. But also not interesting to me at all. If this is your jam, I hope you love the show!
One Liner: Good crunch of an alt-rock gal with only a few tunes
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - alternative/indie
Home: Lake Tahoe
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 21 Weekend One Only Friday.
Thoughts: "All my mistakes are a work of art" is an excellent first line. I've kept this playing today for way too long. I say that not because it is bad, but because she only has like ten songs and so I have heard them all so many times by now. I like it though, a low-key pure rock and roll experience.
He website bio is one of those trash things talking about how her influences allow her to think outside the box and find synergies in fresh thinking about classic styles and blah blah blah. Another article says she is from Lake Tahoe - I am going there tomorrow for the first time! synergies! She wrote her first song at age 12 as a birthday gift for her father. That is nice. She kept at it as a form of journaling in high school. She definitely has a classic rock/alternative rock bend to her tunes, and I like it.
No real albums. Her top single is "Blood Orange," from the 2023 single for "Told You So." 397k streams.
She says that guitar is a cruddy little nylon thing her mom bought at a thrift store when she was ten. I like the fast-paced sound before the chorus kicks in. Very pretty song overall. "Redline" on that same single is also good.
At first, I rolled my eyes at the cover of "Where is My Mind," which has become a sort of "Hallelujah"-measuring stick for the coolness of an artist trying to make a signal to the hip public about their Pixie-itude or love for Tyler Durden. But, she actually crushes it. Let's go with her newest single, "Psycho" with 35k streams so far.
90's alternative buzz bin-worthy sound there with the quiet intro strummed right up into the crunchy, fuzzy bits. Yeah, if I was there early on Friday, I'd check her out.
One Liner: Has a rap track named "blahdahdahdahdah."
Wikipedia Genre: drill
Home: An open-air drug market in Philly
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 21 Weekend Two Only Friday.
Thoughts: I know that this will be a boomer ass take, but can this guy please at least attempt to rap along with the beat? Just for one bar? Instead, you get a guy saying things while a glitchy beat just happens to be meandering around behind him. Sometimes when I am making these posts, I forget to stop the Spotify playback of an artist as I start the YouTube video, and so I end up with two tracks playing over each other until I can stop the Spotify. That is what this dork sounds like. This is probably what it sounds like when I am trying to tell my daughters something as they are watching TikTok videos with rap songs behind them, a rap track in the front of their brain and then some Peanuts-ass teacher saying random words that they want to ward off with their mental hands.
Speaking of TikTok, that is how this dude gained fame, here in 2025. His single "Doot Doot" grabbed the public and now we are stuck with him. 27.2 million streams.
I can imagine something great with that ominous, tough, spare beat. But it ain't whatever that stuff is about. Here is the story of the track's popularity: "A snippet of Skrilla's song "Doot Doot" was uploaded to TikTok by an anonymous account in September 2024. It was partially popularized by Taylor "TK" Kinney, a basketball player for the RWE team of the Overtime Elite league who recited the song's lyric "six, seven" in many of his interviews over several months, and through TikTok videos referencing basketball player LaMelo Ball's height. By February 2025, it had been used in more than 126 thousand videos on TikTok." Well, shoot. If a player from the RWE team is on board, then who wouldn't be?
Jemille Edwards is from Kensington, a Philadelphia neighborhood. Wikipedia claims it is "known chiefly for its open air drug trade." What the hell, man. It feels like if a square in Texas now knows about this illegal business, maybe the local law enforcement should do something about this issue? He is signed to Priority Records, which is fascinating to me because that is/was the home of badasses like NWA and Ice Cube and Eazy E and Master P and Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z and Ice T. Now this dude is smearing words around like a toddler with a dookie, but on the same label. He claims to have started selling drugs at 12, while playing AAU basketball, but also spent two years under house arrest while in high school on heroin-related charges. He has also stated that he makes all of his music under the influence of drugs. YOU DON'T SAY?!?!?
Six albums/mixtapes - 2022's Kutthroat, 2022's THRILLA, 2023's Santos, 2023's Gemini Season, 2024's Underworld, and 2024's Zombie Love Kensington Paradise. For some reason, Spotify won't let me play the older stuff. Doesn't necessarily bother me. "Doot Doot" is a bonus track on a deluxe version of that last album. The second-biggest streamer is "GOD DAMN" from Underworld. 5.2 million streams.
Another kinda cool beat - makes me think of those early A$AP Rocky beats - ruined by this dude just farting words out for a minute and then waving some more guns around. Maybe this is your jam and you can't to go try to dance along to this as it stutters and stops and jerks its way to a show. Not for me though!
One Liner: One of my favorite albums of 2024 full of indie rock/alt country beauty
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock, alt-country, country rock, slacker rock
Home: Asheville, NC
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 5 Both Weekends. Friday.
Thoughts: I was freaking PSYCHED to see this on the poster. He came to town touring behind that new Manning Fireworks album and I couldn't get there because of some dang other commitment, so the idea that I can still catch these songs live makes me immeasurably pleased.
I watched his Tiny Desk the other day and my wife had lots of thoughts about his style. Like his look, not his musical style. Mark Jacob Lenderman was previously part of the band Wednesday. He was born in Asheville, North Carolina. Have you ever been there? I know it got a lot of attention after last year's horrible flooding, but I took the wife there several years back to celebrate some benchmark birthday or other. I did a terrible job of it all. The AirBnb I rented was like 15 minutes outside of town and felt like the setting for a slasher movie, and then we went to do fun activities at the Biltmore and another fancy pants hotel, which only exacerbated the unpleasantness of our accommodations. Anyway, Lenderman grew up there, and in high school started posting music to Bandcamp. He ended up doing a little time at UNC Asheville, before he got serious about music.
His first disc, 2019's MJ Lenderman, has low stream counts but shows the where he is going with this sort of Sunvolt-esque rocking country sound. The opening minute sounds like Neil Young and Ragged Glory tearing into a garage rock anthem. But the big difference between this early stuff and the work he is doing now is that he has tightened up the songs and cleaned up the sound. "Basketball #1" feels like it gets slower and slower as it slogs along its 8:19 runtime. Only one song on this disc is under 5 minutes, and five are over 7 minutes. Clean your shit up, MJ.
2021's Ghost of Your Guitar Solo doesn't really get him into the right spot. The first song brings to mind Crazy Horse again, where it is mainly just a raw guitar shred for almost five minutes. The second song sounds like he is singing underwater about eating too much at the fair. It's muddy and vaguely unpleasant. The top song sounds like he is figuring out what he can be like. "Someone Get the Grill Out of the Rain" has 5.2 million streams.
That is slacker rock gold right there, just meandering around like a throwaway he came up with in fifteen seconds while looking out his back window. But overall, this album would not have won me over if it had been the first thing I had heard.
2022's Boat Songs finds him aiming for the breakout. I like the opening track where he is debunking the Jordan food poisoning game in Utah over a raucous indie rock track. "I love drinkin' too, I love drinkin' too" is a great line. Haha - reviewing the hotel bill like a true investigator.
But then the real breakout was 2024's Manning Fireworks. Here is the review I wrote last year: "MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks. A critic I like tweeted that this was his favorite album of the year, which surprised me enough to throw it into the queue. The only reason I knew this dude's name is because he sings the harmonies on that supremely lovely Waxahatchie song. But this disc is really odd to me because it sounds exactly like Ben Kweller to me. Like, in one of the songs, I literally pulled up Spotify to make sure that the algorithm hadn't shifted me over to Kweller's tunes. And I like Ben Kweller, so this is not a diss at all, I just find it really weird how similar they are. "On My Knees" has a Neil Young/Crazy Horse vibe to the guitars. Do we think this album title is about Arch Manning running for a 60+ yard touchdown for the Longhorns last weekend? Or is it more like when you are the one shooting off the fireworks you can be described as manning those fireworks? I could probably research but instead will just say that we can never know. "She's Leaving You" is the top track as of now, and surprisingly is just to 2.5 [6.8 now] million streams. My Twitter-verse made me think this was the hit album of the year for sure.
Freaking great song. Also, that video made me want to cry for some reason. "Wristwatch" [7.4 million streams] is a good jam too. This is a very good album that I will keep around."
It really is excellent. Straddles a great line between indie rock and alt-country that is located right inside of my wheelhouse.
I mentioned the Waxahatchee song, and I want to go back to that as well as some other projects he has worked on. He played the drums on albums for Indigo De Souza, and then joined with Wednesday for a bit. I don't know Wednesday at all, but maybe that is a band I would dig. His song with Waxahatchee though, is a wonder to me.
Damn, man. Not even joking that when the banjo got started my eyes started to well up. I fucking love that song so much. "Been yours for so long, come right back to it, I let my mind run wild, don’t know why I do it, but you just settle in, like a song with no end, if I can keep up,
we’ll get right back to it." Harmonies for days and a lovely sentiment. I know its not really his song, but just lemme have this as I dry my eyes.
Wikipedia Genre: indie rock, soft rock, synthpop, dream pop
Home: Montreal
Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 14 Weekend Two Only. Saturday.
Thoughts: Quebecois indie rock, and it appears that they were sort of hot stuff in the Canadian DIY indie scene last decade. Three members were previously part of synthpop group Silly Kissers, which disbanded in 2011. These guys strayed from the terrible band naming convention and the synth pop world to make pretty straight-forward indie rock. New Pornographers come to mind. Also, and this may sound strange, the singer reminds me of Janet Jackson repeatedly. And then I hear Kate Bush. Their Wikipedia is funny, in that it details their debut album and its follow up in 2014, and then the last line mentions that a new keyboardist joined in 2017. They have since released three more albums and a bunch of other singles, but the Internet's free encyclopedia got tired.
Their top track is from their third album, 2017's Sugar at the Gate. "Petals" has 38.6 million streams and what sounds like love song vibes, but I think it might be about the inability to find love or fame. Either way, it is a good little groove of an indie rock tune.
The lead singer sometimes looks like the actress Emma Mackey. I dig the 80's throwback costumes - that Madonna is legit. Their second-most streamed has a knotty and tangled little bassline underneath a light-touch love song from the second album from 2014, called "Way to be Loved." 37 million streams.
Catchy. I also like the guitar lines near the end, cool little riff of meanderings. Looks like the new album is coming out soon, so let's just peep one of the new tunes too. This is "Chlorine" with 412k streams so far.Feels like we are still in on the same vibe - also, do you hear by Janey and Kate voice affectations in there? Definitely feels like more synth involvement in there than those earlier tunes. Always interesting to come across a band like this, who seem to have a devoted fan base and longer history, and yet they have never registered before. I like it. Feels like a good discovery who ought to make a good rock show at the Fest.
One Liner: A little HAIM, a little recent Taylor Swift, in synth pop gals
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is pop, synth pop
Home: Nashville
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 21 Weekend One Only. Friday.
Thoughts: This totally reminds me of HAIM. Some of the songs also crib from the Taylor Swift sound on her recent albums, all breathy vocals and tired Jack Antonoff beats. "The Heat" is a perfect example of that. This is two ladies - Kaitie Forbes and Kayla Hall - with a male producer named Andrew Pacheco.
The copy in this one bio is painful: "Moody Joody does not fit in any boring box — nor would they want to. Equal parts swoony, sexy, and, well, moody, the Nashville trio is all about “owning your humanness.” "swoony, sexy, and moody" is a hard no for me, dawg. Which is unfortunate, because I am not disliking the sound of the actual tunes. That same bio also mentions that they were originally on a mission to be "a girl Bleachers," so there you go with the Antonoff thing I am hearing. They also have one of those annoying schticks where every album or single has a photo on the front with their eyes scratched out. Disclosure in 2005-ass decision.
"The Heat" was their initial single in 2020, and it is still one of their top streamers at 1.9 million streams.
You hear that Taylor sound? Very much sounds like the recent stuff that I don't love from Ms. Swift. Still no real album for them, the closest is a 2024 EP called Dream Girl. The top song on that one is the top streamer overall with 2.9 million streams. "Velvet Connection."
There's that HAIM sound with the 80's synths and harmonies over the top. Significantly too much shrugging in that video. yes, I can see that you are both very pretty. Stop shrugging so much.
Yeah, I don't hate this. But I definitely don't just love it either. They are going to get one of those terrible early Friday slots, so I likely don't have to worry about it anyway!
One Liner: Really great, low-key Americana guy in the vein of Zach Bryan
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but country and americana
Home: Prosper, Texas
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 12 Both Weekends. Friday
Thoughts: This fella was at ACL in 2023, but I missed the show. But then he came to Two Step Inn for the 2025 rendition, and we got to catch about half of the set. He's freaking awesome. High energy dude with a rock and roll-forward stance.
While on the beach for Labor Day in 2024, a friend asked me about what country artists would be at the Fest for 2024. I told him about Randall King and Morgan Wade, and said that I guess Mumford and Lumineers are in that wheelhouse. But I hadn't yet heard this cat - got a basic but powerful sound that makes me think of Zach Bryan, Charles Wesley Godwin, and personal favorite Chris Knight. That kind of country that leans into southern rock sounds and great lyrics.
Originally from Prosper, Texas, which is one of those far north suburbs of DFW that probably used to be a little slice of small-town nothing, but is now likely a mega-suburb in the making full of cheap D.R. Horton homes and a high school with an 80 million dollar football stadium. Matt Carpenter, LaTroy Hawkins, and Torii Hunter, all accomplished MLB players, were from Prosper, as are Deion Sanders and Dak Prescott. Kind of wild to have that many stars from a little squirt of a town.
He says that he used to belt out music all the time as a little kid, that his family would tell him to shut up. In high school he picked up a guitar and leaned into making music. His favorite band is Whiskey Myers, which is something I have heard of before, but I don't know that I have ever heard one of their songs. He released the Medicine Man EP in 2019, which gathered a bunch of streams, and then was featured on Yellowstone and grabbed even more listeners.
"Come Back Down" was that initial big single that got people streaming - 47.7 million streams.
Basic on the instrumentation, but a classic lost love lyrics tune. Great sound. "Take Me Home," a 2023 single is also great even though it is basic. I have wondered before how it is that Zach Bryan, the most basic of singer-songwriters, using the most basic of acoustic guitar tunes underneath, can turn into such a massively HUGE phenomenon. His show at the first Two Step blew my mind because of the crowd's fervent participation. But listening to this, I can't really see the difference. Maybe it's all about social media or something. Or maybe one is a good-looking ex-Navy guy and the other is a chunky bearded bro? Who knows. "Josephine" is lovely too. Funny thing, the Yellowstone tune doesn't even make his top ten. Only 3.8 million streams - and the opening of it makes me think of Stapleton's song about getting stoned. I'll give you the top tune from his 2023 EP called Who I Am. "Take Me Home" with 28.6 million streams.
Those fan-created slip videos are so weird. Like, setting up in a stairwell to do rock-paper-scissors and then sending that video to a country music artist for a video for a love song? So strange. But I like the song a lot.
Also in 2023, he released his next full album, Crossing Lines. It features that "Take Me Home" track, and it also has his biggest song overall - "Beautiful Lies" which sounds familiar because it was also a 2019 single. Funny thing too, there are two versions on his album, the first one features a woman named Ella Langley, but only has 3.8 million streams. But then the non-duet version at the end of the album fires up 47.6 million streams. I guess it got a lot of play as the 2019 single version and they just decided to add it to the new album a few times?
Parts of the new album go into more of a southern rock country type angle, but this one stays true to my feelings I had before about the Zach Bryan basic vibe. "Down Here at the Bottom" almost sounds like the Black Crowes.
I'd definitely go check this out again - this guy puts on an electric show.
One Liner: Massively popular Irish blues rock with "Take Me To Church" and "Too Sweet"
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock, soul, blues, folk, R&B, blues rock
Home: Ireland
Poster Position: Headliner! Both Weekends. Friday.
Thoughts: He was last here in 2023, and as far as I can tell, no new music since then. Oh, no, wait, that is not true. After his 2023 album, he released the Unheard EP that features his second-biggest streamer overall that has taken my household by storm. Very good song, but we will get to that later.
This guy confounds me a little bit. I really liked his first album, but I haven't paid attention to him much since then. And yet when he was named as a Headliner (!?!?!) for 2023's Fest, I heard multiple people straight freaking out that he would be here. My niece-in-law (is that a thing? The lady married to my nephew.) said that she is dying for a Hozier tattoo. I heard more than one person say they were more excited about Hozier than anything else on the 2023 poster. Which is, huh?
Now, don't get me wrong, I loved that 2014 self-titled album. I've professed my love for it repeatedly on this blog. In my preview for his eventually cancelled 2014 ACL show. In my top ten for the 2015 Fest. In a short review of his album. In my top albums of 2014 post. In my review before he came to ACL in 2015. This disc is full of very great music. That first disc went 6 times platinum in Ireland and 5 times here in the States. It was a major album that any artist would kill for in this age. It also came out eleven years ago though!
"Take Me to Church" is the juggernaut, the unstoppable tune that has FUCKING THREE BILLION FUCKING STREAMS despite being rock and roll. Holy shit. I CANNOT believe that this song has over 3 billion streams. That is seriously mind-boggling.
Jacked up video though... You might recall that he was scheduled to come to ACL in 2014, but called in sick or something and we missed out. Which bloooooowwwwws. Then he came back the next year and was very good. The portions that I didn't like in 2015 were his cover tunes, so hopefully now that he has a few discs out there he'll shy away from dumb Ariana Grande songs. But, if "Take Me to Church" is all you know from this guy, then by all means, keep listening. He's good. I heard a cover version of "Work Song" the other day, and it reminded me how damn pretty that one is. Also from that debut album. 786.1 million streams.
Beauty. The excellent "Someone New" has 675.9 million streams, and the similarly nice "Cherry Wine" boasts 558.3 million streams. These are big hits. But my favorite from all of them is "Jackie and Wilson." 345.1.
Hells yeah. It is honestly hard to believe this dude is from Ireland. Great tune. I still listen to that one today.
After that original disc, he released a four song EP, called "Nina Cried Power," in 2018. The first track, featuring Mavis Staples, is a power blues rocker about stepping up in the face of oppression, that gives shouts to everyone from James Brown to John Lennon for fighting the power. The second tune is a dark, slow, burning warning to those who might mess with his baby called "NFWMB." I like that one a lot. Third song is a more traditional blues rock stomper, "Moment's Silence (Common Tongue)," that sounds like Hozier's prior songs. "Shrike," the fourth and final tune, has that lilting Irish guitar sound that he uses to great effect on the first album, which adds some cool depth to an otherwise relaxed ballad. Aside - what is a "shrike?" "a songbird with a strong sharply hooked bill, often impaling its prey of small birds, lizards, and insects on thorns." Criminy. I need to go listen more closely to those lyrics, is this a song about Bird the Impaler? Yep, the chorus says that he wants to be reborn as "the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn." So, in his next life, he wants to be the killer that uses her thorn to store his murdered prey? Or he's going to stab her in the stabber? I'm more confused now that when I started.
After that, he came out with 2019's Wasteland, Baby! It does not appear that I ever reviewed it - this is what I mean, he just kind of fell off the map after his big debut album. I say that, and yet it is a really good disc. I've just run through it several times and it is lovely music. Why did I start ignoring this cat? The hit was "Almost (Sweet Music)," with 536 million streams.
oooh, super wide angle video! So cinematic! Lovely little tune - his voice is really singular. Hard to believe he's an Irish dude when he sounds like a soulful throwback singer from some 50's rock band. Speaking of which, who is this dude? I've talked a lot about his tunes but not about him.
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne was raised in County Wicklow, Ireland, which is on the eastern shore of the island and is named after the Old Norse for Vikings' Meadow. Badass. Also, sounds like a beautiful place - known as the "Garden of Ireland." Born in 1990 to a blues drummer and an artist, he was a class clown and that school was a monotonous nightmare. He taught himself guitar and sang in his school choir as a teenager and then studied music education at Trinity College Dublin. At Trinity he sang in a choral ensemble, touring internationally. But after that time, he wrote "Take Me To Church" in 2013 during a period when he was playing open mics and trying to get noticed. The tune went viral and scored many multi-platinum designations, leading to his first album by 2014. He has stated that his dad's love of blues helped inform his musical education - John Lee Hooker, Otis Redding, Nina Simone - and you can hear that in his bluesy rock.
Finally, 2023's Unreal Unearth. There are multiple versions of this album now, all because a B-Side throwaway blew up so insanely large. But on the original album itself, where that song was culled and cut, the big hit was "Eat Your Young." I guess that has been on the radio or something, totally rings a bell. 252.2 million streams.
Cool video. Song is okay - not blowing my mind. I like the duet with Brandi Carlile on here. Also, this album is too damn long. Over an hour for a Hozier album? What do you think this is, a Drake release? But, like the 2019 album it is good stuff. Dawning on me that I really like Hozier. Who knew?
Finally, finally, he fired out a little four song EP called Unheard in 2024, and struck absolute gold. These songs came from the Unreal Unearth sessions, and were apparently inspired by Dante's Inferno. But it shows you what a terrible mistake he made by removing these songs from the album, being that "Too Sweet" rose to #1 on the Billboard Top 100, making him the fourth Irish artist to top the chart. I'll be damned if this little EP doesn't showcase some of his best stuff anyway. The first song, "Too Sweet," sounds like he joined up with the Black Keys for some southern, soulful riffage. "Wildflower and Barley," with Allison Russell, has a funky shuffle but otherwise is an ethereal little burner. "Empire" builds in a really tasty way. "Fare Well" starts out really quiet and sneaky, and then erupts into a dance party. "Too Sweet" is crushing it though - 1.5 BILLION streams! Nothing else here breaks 40 mill.
I find myself just singing "I take my whiskey neaaaaaaaaaaat" at random times now. And my girls wore this one out around the house for sure. Not sure what he means by taking his bed at three, but it's a funky little tune. Good stuff.
The other massive song that he has going for him right now is a duet with Noah Kahan that definitely is getting a ton of play. My girls jam this all the time. 468.9 million streams for "Northern Attitude."
Look at those two glowering, long-haired beauties. Very enjoyable tune.
So, I guess me and my question marks as to why this fella is considered a headliner can just check myself. Two songs with more than a billion streams. Many more with hundreds of millions. Also, this freaking outrageous beauty that my middle kid played for me a little while back and is going to make me tear up all over again. "Do I Wanna Know" cover on BBC, live.
Crush that up and pour it directly into my earholes. This dude is amazing, and he is rock and roll, and he means that I will probably miss out on Luke Combs, Cage the Elephant, and Empire of the Sun.
One Liner: Cutesy country with too much tremolo affectation for my tastes
Wikipedia Genre: country
Home: NYC (via Carlton, GA)
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 10 Weekend One Only. Friday.
Thoughts: She was at Two Step Inn this year, so I've already jumped in to check her out just a few months ago. First impression was that this is pretty enjoyable little country stuff, but I have to say that the tremolo that she adds to her voice in a lot of these songs makes me really annoyed. I can't stand when Post Malone does that stuff, and it is creating the same feeling here. Just sing the damn note.
When I looked for TSI, she had no Wikipedia, but for some reason I found is a two-page word document that automatically downloaded to my computer with a very in depth biography of her. She now has Wikipedia, and it says that her real name is Willow Martin. She's from rural Georgia, and her first word was apparently Elvis. She taught herself guitar at age 12, left home at 15, and briefly lived in her car. She now lives in NYC, but when she was 14 she earned an opening gig for the Drive By Truckers in Athens, GA, which is a pretty big deal. "Willow gained overnight fame via a massively viral late-2022 video in which she gave a tour of her apartment, showing off her now-departed pet possum Bowie (whom Willow often dressed in sweaters and cowboy hats) along with such thrifted treasures as a set of medical encyclopedias from the ’40s, a Stainer violin with a rattlesnake tail stuck inside, and the antique typewriter on which she writes many of her lyrics." I couldn't find that video on YouTube, which is too bad. Wikipedia also states that she is the daughter of musician Jim White. I do not know that guy.
Two EPs, 2024's Stranger and 2024's Country Never Leaves, and one album 2025's Southern Belle Raisin' Hell. The early hit single, which ended up on Stranger, is called "Drivin'" and has 6.3 million streams.
I get no country vibes in there at all, just more like a Stevie Nicks thing. That is definitely an outlier compared to the rest of her tunes, which are more directly country for sure. The biggest streamer overall is on both the newer EP and the new album, "Tequila or Whiskey" with 10.4 million streams.
Yeah, it's fine. The vocal affectation is still really bothersome to me, but otherwise it's a cutesy little number that gets my head bobbing. I don't think I'd go see this one though.
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, indie folk, Americana, neo-psychedelia, lo-fi (earlier years)
Home: Philly
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 5 Both Weekends. Friday.
Thoughts: I could have sworn they had been here before. If so, it was before I started this insane person's mission of writing all of this stuff up. Looks like a I reviewed a few individual albums, but never did a full deep dive. They are completely worthy though, this stuff is great!
2003's Toothbrush is their first album available on Spotify, and it is a sloppy homemade mess. Some enjoyable bluesy rock, but it literally sounds like they made it in a janitor's closet with a tape recorder. I think the drum kit was in another closet nearby. A hard listen just because it truly sounds like butt. Unsurprisingly, a low stream count.
The band formed up in Philadelphia in 1999, although their true origin goes back to the two lead singers - Toby Leaman (bass), Scott McMicken (lead guitar) - making music together in eighth grade. Wikipedia claims that they never played covers and only wrote original stuff, which is kind of wild. They ended up at West Chester University, in West Chester, PA, and formed a band called Raccoon. They added a handful of other dudes and became Dr. Dog. They recorded their first album - The Psychedelic Swamp - in 2001 on an eight track. Doesn't appear that made it to Spotify. They won a dedicated local fanbase in Philly for a few years, but then got invited by My Morning Jacket to come on tour in 2004. That opened the door to a much bigger audience.
2005's Easy Beat was their next album, and while it is still pretty lo-fi, it sounds leagues better than that first disc. Still a ton of good harmonies and fuzzy guitar. Two tracks on there with more than a million streams, starting with album opener "The World May Never Know" 2.3 million streams.
That bass and piano at the start makes me think of White Album-era Beatles. Maybe that is "Rocky Raccoon" I am thinking of? Anyway, this definitely sounds more like what I think of when I think of this band. I was really hoping this song would be about licking to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. The whole disc has a really chill groove to it that I dig.
Passed Away, Vol. 1, from 2008, feels like they went backwards to the sounds of that first disc. I don't love it, and the stream counts show that others agree. I wonder if it was like a re-issue or collection of b-sides.
With 2008's Fate, they finally hit a nerve. The opening track on that album is their fourth biggest streamer still today. "The Breeze" has 48.5 million streams.
Got those Beach Boys harmonics jamming in there before the break. Good disc overall.
2010's Shame, Shame saw them on a new album, and they definitely have a cleaner, smoother sound. Almost like a Vampire Weekend vibe with more synths and electric guitar. Maybe some Spoon in here too. That album is probably their best one - when I go back to it, I really enjoy it a lot. "Shadow People" is a hit with 17.9 million streams, but their biggest track lives on this disc as well, so here is "Where'd All the Time Go," with 504.3 million streams.
Comes on like a Flaming Lips joint. Terribly sad song, underneath all of those lovely harmonies and jangly guitar, about that old bitch Time just speeding along while we hold on tight. Great tune.
2012's Be The Void looks to have been pretty well ignored on Spotify. It is fine, not as good as Shame, Shame, but better than the early stuff for sure. B-Room was next, in 2013, and it went back to a little bit of that raw sound they had back in the day. Still some good tracks, but some of definitely feels DIY again. Lots of Beach Boys feel because of the great harmonies. "Nellie" is one of their other big hits, and is on this album. 84.2 million streams.
Like a Lumineers stomp/clap jam right there. Apparently a song about a father's love as he watched his baby girl sleep in her room. Either way, it is a good tune.
Their next disc, 2015's Live at a Flamingo Hotel, was an all-live disc from the B-Room tours. While the title is odd (which one?), this album is great fun. This album catches a band sounding like they are having a great time doing their thing. Touch of the Allmans on "Worst Trip," some Avett sounding action on "Jackie Wants a Black Eye" (which I liked a lot - great tune), and some country-fied shamble on "Shame, Shame." I also dig "Shadow People," big fat harmonies and a sprawling tune that goes from a frenzy into a soft comedown. I think this is cool stuff and shows some of how fun their live show is going to be. For whatever reason, all but one of the songs on here have under a million listens, but one ("Heart it Races") has over 12 million. Must have been featured in a playlist or something...
Strangely, they re-released The Psychedelic Swamp as a 2016 album (or at least that is what Spotify shows). Oh, I read about it, and they "revisited" the album and just recreated it. That is actually pretty cool, for them to treat their own, original, old-school tunes like they are covers that they recreate.
2017's Abandoned Mansion - Nothing shocking here, this album is yet another lovable, shaggy collection from these guys. The tunes meander through an old school Neil Young meets Dead vibe, complete with harmonica flourishes and frequent organ, a jammy complement to years of chilled folky rock. This one feels like it tracks with both Fate and Shame, Shame from their back catalog, and this one treads the exact same ground in a pleasing shamble. The title track is the track with the most listens, with 17.8 million spins.
Those ghostly organs nail that sound. But, pretty nice tune. That is this whole album, a nice sleepwalk through some chilled-out rock. "you did it to yourself, but you did it to me too."
2018's Critical Equation - they just keep churning out annual albums. Lots of action here. Another good disc, this one is maybe a little cleaner, kind of a Wilco vibe for me. The one that made me look up and laugh though is called "Heart Killer," because I could have sworn he was singing "Hawk Tuah! Hawk Tuah!" for the chorus. Not so much. 2020's We All Belong is another nice disc. I really feel like, other than that initial disc, these guys just really don't do much that is wrong. This one pushes a Beatles-ey flavor for sure - the title track absolutely feels like it could have been a Sgt. Peppers b-side.
In 2021, they announced that they would no longer tour - they were not disbanding, but just done with the road. Each member of the band was looking to do some solo action, but they planned to keep recording tunes. And in fact, after two live projects, they released 2024's Dr. Dog. Those songs haven't grabbed much traction in the year since their release, but I know I have heard "Authority" on the local radio around here. I think I thought it was Wilco. "Talk is Cheap" is the top streamer as of now, with 1.6 million streams. I've heard this one before as well.
Love the background singers on the chorus. Just another good groove. and I love the massive build up before the little guitar solo starts squawking around. "Tell Your Friends" almost edges into Fleet Foxes territory.
I'm all in. I am going to keep listening to this stuff, and for sure want to see the show.
