Magdalena Bay (2025)

One Liner:  More synth pop that loves the 80's and the Eilish bedroom pop sound.

Wikipedia Genre:  Synth pop, electropop, indie pop, alt-pop
Home: Miami to L.A.

Poster Position: 6
Both Weekends.
Saturday.

Ladybird Stage at 5:30.

Thoughts:  Last here in 2022, and I was not a fan in my preview.  But they went from the 14th line back then to the 6th line now, so I apparently don't know what I am talking about.

Dang.  I hadn't heard any Billie Eilish copies in a few weeks, was kind of hoping I was done with the whispery, dark, bedroom pop thing.  This is an electronic duo from Miami who headed west for L.A. to make their mark.  Wikipedia says they formed in 2016 while the two members were in college.  They had originally met while in a music class in high school in Miami, where they had a band called Tabula Rasa that did prog rock.  That sounds much more enjoyable than this.  Wikipedia also mentions: "The group is not named after the bay in Mexico, but an administrator at Lewin's former job."  Freaking weird.  His administrator was named Magdalena Bay?  Ah, nope, but close.  Maggie Bay.

Their first album was 2021's Mercurial World.  But their only big single isn't on there - it was on an earlier EP called A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling.  "Killshot" has 113.1 (up from 20.6 in 2022) million streams and some bad remixes.

You heard that Eilish thing there?  Whispery?  Check.  Dark?  Check.  Could have been made on a laptop while these two were supposed to be getting homeschooled by their mom?  Check.

Okay, it isn't all dark pop stuff, it also does just general pop stuff.  Generic stuff.  The top track from their 2021 album is called "Secrets (Your Fire)"  15.5 (up from 4.7) million.

Way too sticky sweet and breathy for my tastes.  The ridiculous goofiness of the video is kinda amazing though.  But I don't love the song.  

They released a new album in 2024 called Imaginal Disk.  Nothing nearly as popular as that "Killshot" song from their early days, but they got one track with 37.1 million streams.  "Image" is still kind of breathy and annoying to me.

You, like those weird aliens on the Home Shopping Network, would dance to it.  But this doesn't change my opinion on them from before.  I wouldn't go watch this.  To my ear, the rest of these songs are in this same vein and none of in interests me very much.