The Official ACL Blog for like Eight People!
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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.
One Liner: Falsetto laced-synth pop behind that huge "Walking on a Dream" track Wikipedia Genre: electropop, synth-pop, dance-rock, electro-rock, new wave Home: Sydney Poster Position: Top Row - Line 2 Day: Friday Both Weekends.
Thoughts: Several people I know were excited to see these dudes on the lineup, but they are just not something I am familiar with at all. I think I may have always thought that their big hit (the only song I recognize in here that wasn't featured on a rapper's album) was by MGMT or Milky Chance or M83 or Passion Pit. Some other synthesizer band with a singer who does weird things with his voice. But yes, I recognize the big hit for sure.
"Walking on a Dream" has 1.1 billion streams on Spotify. The singer with the white line across his face looks like Bowen Yang (one of the current SNL actors) mixed with Jordan Peele. Tell me I'm wrong! It is a fine song, I just don't necessarily go out of my way for synth pop tracks. But yeah, sure, that is catchy.
Do you remember the movie Empire of the Sun? That was the first movie I can remember watching that felt like it was four full days long. It was Speilberg, so it felt like required watching, but my memory of it was that it was the longest film ever made. Wikipedia says 2:34, so I guess that was me being 11 years old that was talking...
This band is not that movie. Or the book the movie was based upon. This is an Australian duo - Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore - formed in Sydney in 2007. Their first album was 2008's Walking on a Dream, and blew the doors off of their fame. Double platinum in Australia and gold in the U.S. Wikipedia says they had originally conceived of this music as being studio-only, once the title track exploded, they decided to go for freaky visual overload with giant graphics and many dancers and Steele on a pedestal wearing "a gigantic metallic headpiece and his usual 'Ming The Merciless' robe." Right. The usual. Littlemore opted out of performing the songs live, and it sounds like that stance held true for the entirety of that first tour.
After that initial huge album (with their second-biggest streamer, "We Are The People" also on there with 707.7 millin streams), they never caught that much fame again. The majority of the songs on that initial disc have less than ten million streams, and most on the back half have less than 5 million. Interestingly, the track "Half Mast" from this album ended up becoming the beat for a Mac Miller track on his 2010 album K.I.D.S., which is how I knew the sound of that song in the first place. Mac called it "The Spins," and it is SO MUCH BETTER than the original version with him bopping over the top. Almost a billion streams for Mac's song (and 97.7 million for the original). Ten times more popular. Maybe they should collaborate with rappers more often?
Their next disc was 2013's Ice on the Dune, which also generally flopped. At the time, Steele gained media attention by comparing Ice on the Dune with Daft Punk's 2013 album release Random Access Memories, stating: "They had a great marketing campaign, but we’ve got better songs." Riiiiight. Well, one track from that album blew up and was used for a bunch of random things: the intro video for Google's 2013 I/O, part of the intro video for a new Yahoo! logo, in the movie Dumb and Dumber To, in FIFA 14, and in the end credits of the 2013 film Paranoia. 313.3 million streams.
Yeah, I don't get it. Generic synths and generic lyrics. I cannot imagine how that song was integrated into the second Dumb and Dumber movie. Well, there you go. Matches it so well!
Interestingly, the band wrote at least two other songs for that movie. Also interesting, it looks like "Walking on a Dream" only finally blew up in the U.S. after a Honda Civic commercial was released in 2016, which shot the song up to #3 on the Billboard alternative chart. Kind of crazy that it was not the actual release of the song that made it big here, but a Honda commercial.
By the way, they claim their name has nothing to do with the book or movie. Which I find to be unbelievable. Littlemore claims: "the name comes more from the idea of ... the fact that we're traveling around the world going to all the places of empires of the civilization where the sun has been a theme of worship. It's not based on the Ballard novel nor the Spielberg film of the same name." Riiiiiiiiight. "No, man, my new band named Star Wars has nothing to do with those movies, man. It's just like the way that stars have always seemed at war with the cosmos, man!"
2016's Two Vines was next, and again the majority of the album has few streams. One big track though with "High and Low" with 144.8 million streams.
That one sounds kind of familiar, it must have gotten some radio play around these parts. I probably still thought it was MGMT this whole time though. The non-Jordan Peele dude cut all his lovely locks off! That song was featured in FIFA 17 - smart! After that, the band admitted that they struggled to write anything new during the pandemic over Zoom and whatnot. BUt they still had a hit song pop out in 2020, when Wiz Khalifa released a single called "The Thrill" that pretty much just yused the entire "Walking on a Dream" track just with Wiz throwing in some lame raps over the top of the original song. Still got 519 million streams and is good for the fourth-most streamed song for this band.
But then the lads came back together to release 2024's Ask That God. No real hits that touch anywhere near the heights of their prior hits. Two of the songs on here don't even crack a million streams. The top track is "Music on the Radio," with 23.4 million streams.
Catchy stuff again. Actually, makes me think of that Daft Punk album that this guy slagged.
I am actually terribly disappointed in my reaction to this music. My friend Jason had texted me that he was really excited about them being on the poster, calling them "bad ass." When I read that, I figured that this had to be a rock band - I was imagining Highly Suspect or Nothing But Thieves. Instead, just a pile of flasetto synth pop. Not sure if I will get to see them either way, I feel like Cage the Elephant or Hozier would be the trump to this band, but who knows.
One Liner: A pop & country mix that leans a little into Leon Bridges-style soul pop Wikipedia Genre: pop, country Home: Nashville (via Bentonville, Arkansas) Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 20 Day: Friday Weekend Two Only.
Thoughts: Jake Hagood was raised in Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Walmart and a bunch of great mountain biking trails. After high school, he moved to Nashville to attend something called Trevecca Nazarene University. "Fancy" was a nickname given to him by his co-workers at Forever 21 during this time. He was performing around town during his college time, until he was discovered by Scooter Braun, the guy that all Swifties hate. He dropped out of college to hit the music thing full-time.
He was originally known as Who is Fancy, in a sort of campaign to make himself be viral or something. The campaign to make him a thing involved his first single being released anonymously. They released a series of psuedo music videos featuring actors lip synching to the song, and the single reached #29 on the Billboard Mainstream chart. WHO IS FANCY?!?!?
How weird, to be the singer of that song, and then see your video featuring some little Bieberite lip-synching your voice. That dude's vibe annoys me for sure. I like it better knowing it is a chunky Arkansasian than that scrawny little model.
A few months later, Hagood "finally" released his identity on a Jimmy Fallon appearance. Funny to me that it was a mystery for all of four months. His second single, performed on Dancing With the Stars along with Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande in 2016, failed to chart, and so the evil Scooter Braun dumped his ass. After some time, he relaunched himself as Fancy Hagood in 2020 with an initial single and some new genres including country, "confessional pop," and glam rock. I'd say that the sound on the two albums aims more directly to the country sound in my estimation.
His first album available on Spotify is 2021's Southern Curiosity. They've just erased the prior stuff from the initial attempt to launch. This album feels less like a country thing though. Maybe country adjacent, but it's more like a subdued Sam Smith - he's not quite belting pop ballads, but it feels like he is right below that level here. The top track is called "Forest," with 8.3 million streams. Only one other song gets above a million, just as a measure on numbers for this album.
That one comes on sort of like a Lord Huron track with the vocal delivery, before the chorus at least. We used to have a trunk like that in my house growing up. Always had the dress up clothes in it, which was entertaining. I wonder what Fancy has in his forest trunk? Very pretty song though. The title song is very good too - a little more rollicking and powerful with the full choir involved.
After that album, a few singles, and then a fun covers EP from 2024 called Smothered, Covered & Fried (a Waffle House reference that works just perfectly). Mostly country, except for "Landslide," but not the kind of country classics that I would expect here. i.e. not Waylon and Willie and Dolly, instead you get The Pistol Annies, Shania Twain, Little Big Town, and Eli Young Band covers. It is an enjoyable detour. His tune with Kacey Musgraves, "Blue Dream Baby" is too disco pop for my tastes.
2025's American Spirit is a fun combination of country and soulful pop. It almost sounds like the new Leon Bridges album at multiple points. Not much in the way of streams for that new disc, I guess people aren't getting his schtick anymore. The track featuring Michelle Branch is the top streamer, which feels like it can't be the one I offer up here. So, this is "Through," the top track otherwise. 90k streams.
Feels kind of like the kind of guy who won American Idol and is putting our his tentative foray into Country because his coach was the country guy. His voice feels ready to belt out something at any given moment.
This is fine. Really good voice, kind of unremarkable songs though. I like the newer album more, but that is sort of faint praise. I've gone through it all a few times and while my general vibe is that I like it, I don't know that I would choose him if he was up against something more interesting.
One Liner: Treacly sweet pop hits punctuated by the BILLION streamed "Sunroof" Wikipedia Genre: pop Home: L.A. Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 20 Day: Friday Weekend One Only.
Thoughts: WHAT IS HAPPENING? I was thinking this was going to be some little pop girl throwaway from that name, and instead this young man (who I have never heard of) has a song with over a billion streams. A BILLION! For some little poppy nugget released in 2023. What the crap is this?
Also amazing, this is terrible. It doesn't help that the big hit is represented as five of his most popular tunes (there are at least five remixes with other "stars" on it), but it's also just brutal, banal pop garbage. His newest single has him singing "you and I makes WEEEEEEEIIIIIIIEEEEEE" over and over again and it makes me want to die. Let's get this sucker done.
Nicholas Scott Ure grew up in Aliso Viejo, California and played water polo at his high school. People who can play water polo are terrifying. I am winded after about 5 minutes of treading water, and those fools not only tread water for seven hours but also have to murder a bunch of other dudes while they are trying to not drown themselves. Terrifying. He went on to continue playing for Golden West College and then a full degree from UC San Diego.
His first single was 2020, but it was his second single (actually released in 2021, not 2023 like I said earlier) that blew the doors off of it all. "Sunroof" reached the Top 30 in Australia and #5 on Billboard's Hot 100. 1.171 billion streams.
Sure. Total earworm with sweet, saccharine, weightless lovestruck cuteness. I hear it. But it also just sounds like the sort of thing that is already out of the consciousness of every teen who thought it was fun several years ago. Like, can you name one of the two 2021 Bieber songs with over a billion streams? I cannot. This too feels like it will melt away like cotton candy.
A jillion streams behind that track, you get "Eyes On You" in the rearview mirror. 71.6 million streams.
Gotta use "Sunroof" at the start of the video to remind everyone why we are here. Also, I truly hate the line "sweet tea like Arizona" Yuck. Another sickly sweet pop nugget that is earwormy and catchy but nothing to it other than lines that make me cringe.
I hope all of the TikTok kids have fun at this one!
One Liner: A White Stripes inspired rock duo of sisters jamming out Wikipedia Genre: no Wikipedia, but hard rock, blues rock Home: Nashville (via Kentucky) Poster Position: Last Quarter - Line 23 Day: Friday Weekend Two Only.
Thoughts: Kind of a less aggressive-feeling Wet Leg. Not very many songs, so it is not that easy to get a full read on them, but pretty much whenever a band has fuzzed out guitars and covers classic Radiohead, I am probably on board.
Two sisters, Kenzie and Laila, are classically trained musicians who switched from cello and piano to guitar and drums and found a way for Brad Schultz of Cage the Elephant to fall in love with their action and agree to produce their tunes. Nashville is not where I expected them to be from, but another article claims Bowling Green, Kentucky. Maybe that is why Cage is on board with them, repping the same sweet-ass Kentucky hollers. Kenzie was apparently a sophomore at Bowling Green when she grabbed a guitar and recruited her little sister to join the jam. Kenzie described it as a punkish blues rock that was inspired by the White Stripes and the Riot Grrrl movement of the '90s. Sounds about right. Strangely, their last name is Crowe, and they were in a family band with their mom, just like the Crowe Boys who are also on this poster. What is up with Crowes on this year's poster who are not Black or Counting?
No album. Four singles starting in 2024 and then a 2025 EP called Blame that just has those four singles on it with one new tune. So, you really only get five songs and one is Radiohead. "I Know You Know" is the top track. 156k streams.
Really pretty, and then with a little guitar crunch at the end. I'll give you one that trends more to the anger end of the spectrum next. This is "Again," with 145k streams.
Well, that video is unsettling. Dig the building groove and fuzz of the tune though. I'd absolutely go check this out, even though it feels like the kind of band who will get the 1pm on Friday treatment with a crowd of 45.
One Liner: Earnest pop rock that I liked more than expected Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, this is alternative pop, pop rock Home: L.A. Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 19 Day: Friday Weekend Two Only.
Thoughts: Immediate snap judgment of the first few seconds of his top song was extremely negative, and then he's grown on me ever since with a nice mix of Coldplay earnestness, Strokes coolness, and the pop bounce that the 1975 use.
He has no Wikipedia, but after reading a few interviews and articles, I can tell you that he has ADHD, his brother works his merch table on tour, and he is a big fan of Chappell Roan. He started playing guitar in second grade, but didn't really get to singing until he was 17. He claims to have been a horrible singer, which I think is kind of funny. Not sure where he moved from, but he has said that L.A. was hard to move to and get in line with the vibe there.
One early single that is by far still his biggest streamer. "More Than Friends" was a 2020 single that then made it onto his first EP, the tragically titled More Than Friends & Friends. 94.2 million streams.
Like, that initial "uh, hello" over those strummy little guitars had me ready to hate, but then the more I let it jam, the more I decided that this was pretty nice. I guarantee it is a TikTok song where the kiddos use the "girl, lets be more than friends starting now" line. I wish I knew more background, because he truly looks 14 in that video.
His second-biggest single popped out in 2022 and then was re-released on his second EP, I'm Alright If You're Ok. "Tripping Over Air" has 53.2 million streams.
That is one of those poppy 1975 joints to me. Still no real album, although Spotify lists the eight song-long Supernova, from 2024, as a single. Which seems incorrect. I'll give you one more from that one, because it is the most Coldplay of these tunes and I wanted you to hear that too. "Bloom" has 7.1 million streams.
I want to go to that green and lush hillside immediately. The weirdest damn thing, I take one day off for Memorial Day and my fingers are literally missing every key here. I am re-typing half of the words as I write them. Deeply annoying. Anyway, I thought he was saying that you make everything "blue" the first ten times I heard this song (it is in his catalog many times) because he is talking about other colors in there - black and white, everything's green, etc. But yes, the earnestness of Coldplay is on display.
Surprisingly, I like it. Normally, I might shy away from earnest pop music, but it has held my attention for longer than I would have expected.
