The Official ACL Blog for like Eight People!
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One Liner: Slight 80's influenced garage rock groove
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but indie rock, garage rock
Home: Melbourne
Poster Position: Late Addition Weekend Two Only. Friday at 1:45 (ooof, tough slot)
Miller Lite Stage
Thoughts: Before the first note is even strummed, my brain is already happy to hear this. Because their band name brings to mind two things that I love - the REM song "Radio Free Europe" and the Brit band Wolf Alice. if this can be anything like those two things, then sign me up.
Very odd connection - when I searched for the band, Wikipedia brought up the Valmorbida family, an Italian family that got started with grocery stores in Australia, importation of yummy Italian things into Australia, the Mitchelton winery, a Victorian cheese factory called Tylden Valley, several newspapers, radio networks, and more. Ends up that one of those family members is the guitarist in this band. I guess they get free olive oil and coffee in the rehearsal space!
The sounds is sort of catchy garage rock - guitar-forward like The Killers (who they have opened for) or, like, Interpol? Two Door Cinema Club but calmer? I also like the bass work, drives the melody and increases the danceability. "Johnny" sounds like something older - the Furrs or The Cure.
No real album, just a handful of EPs and singles since 2020. But a handful of those singles are from 2026, so maybe a new disc is on the way. Top track is "Look What You've Done" with 7.2 million streams.
Live version but you get the idea. Doesn't that intro sound like something The Killers or the Strokes would have released? But it is a good little groove. From one thing I read online, people are calling them nepo babies because they are rich, an industry plant (for the same reason), and maybe racist because they slagged off Usher in a radio interview and covered an Usher song, saying they could do it better. So, they are not out there making friends right now.
The most popular of the recent tunes in "Lunch Money" with 654k streams.
Got a Morrisey sound in those vocals on that one. Why would those jerks on the back of the bus steal her lunch money? And why didn't the singer stand up for her. What a twat. I had to ride a bus for two years of elementary school and then both years of junior high and it suuuuucked. I don't remember losing my lunch money to anyone (I guess I remember always having a lame lunch packed by my mom every day, so no cash to steal, I suppose) but I definitely remember sitting in the wrong seats when the 6th graders felt like showing off by intimidating the little redhead with glasses. Ahhh, childhood. But, great song. The synths sound like the Cure to me and I dig it.
One Liner: More flipping R&B, this one kind of like a rapper doing a hook but for the whole song
Wikipedia Genre: R&B, soul, funk, dirty south hip hop
Home: LA (via Anderson, South Carolina and Tampa)
Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 14 Weekend Two Only. Saturday at 2
SnapChat Stage
Thoughts: You know when Andre 3000 sings R&B type stuff in the later Outkast music? This is reminding me of those songs and that vocal tone. It is pretty generic sounding R&B to me - the background synths and beats just sound pretty plain to my ears, like I heard them before on a Justin Timberlake song or a Lauryn Hill track or some Timbaland b-side. I will admit, I looked up during "gutta child" to make sure it was still this same guy, because that one got me grooving.
Just one album, 2025's gutta child, and a bunch of singles that started in 2023 prior to that. The top track is called "the one" with 6.8 million streams.
That skate rink looks fun, but I really do not like the singing on that song. It feels like there is never an actual song, just the little hook that you would hear between rapped verses in a real rap song. Also, I need to go try roller skating again. In my head, I am truly godawful. But what if I can dance like an angel now? It isn't the top streamer, but I want to give you the title track to the album anyway. 1.4 million streams.
I like the funk and groove of the background on that one. I'd like to be that lady, eating takeout noodles and bobbing my head. But I will not be there for this show - y'all can have fun without me on this one.
One Liner: Massive hits with a synth-heavy rap rock thing that seems to have gone out of style
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, electropop, alternative hip-hop, pop rap, indie pop, pop rock
Home: Columbus, Ohio
Poster Position: Headliner! Both Weekends. Sunday at 8:30
American Express Stage
Thoughts: Weird. I could have sworn that I already did them for this year, but apparently that was a fever dream. But boy, I will tell you that when they last came here, I was not very complimentary! Here is what I had to say back in 2015. First, when I tried them out because they were on the 6th line of the Lolla poster:
Twenty-One Pilots. This is crap. Kind of EDM-y, kind of earnest piano rock, kind of Linkin Park rap/rock, with plain bad rap added in for good measure. Two 2015 singles, "Tear in my Heart" and "Fairly Local" to follow up two albums and a Spotify Sessions from SXSW. Here is "Tear in my Heart,"
"The songs on the radio are OK, but my taste in music is YOUR FACE." Mmmmkay. Yeah, and that might be an improvement over the most popular songs on Spotify from the last album. This reminds me of bad Good Charlotte.
And then once I realized they were on the ACL poster and I had to go back to the well:
Yuck. I listened to these dudes a few weeks ago in trying to figure out who was on the 6th line of the Lolla poster, and they have not gotten any better with distance. I just tried their most recent album out again (2013's Vessel) and its still bad rap/rock/electro badness. I'm doing a public service here, forcing myself to finish the album long after I can tell how that is going to go. This is the 7th line of the poster! Fitz & the Tantrums and Gaslight Anthem last year! Ugh.
I already showed you "Tear in my Heart" (see link above), so here is their most listened to track on Spotify, "Car Radio"
In a nutshell, bad Linkin Park poetry rap over a simple piano/drum, then some synths kick in too, and then it turns into an electro dance instrumental until the singer screams some lyrics. I mean, maybe if you are an angst-y teenager and you want to mumble these lyrics to yourself while you think about mean people in your junior high? Is that what is going on here? Over 16 million spins for that track on Spotify, so someone thinks its worth listening to over and over again. And then a lot of the other songs are much more poppy and dance-y, not so screamo. I have no clue what this is supposed to be. I'd love to dig the bands this high on the poster, but I just can't get behind that stuff.
Wow. And the result of their ACL show in Austin that year was that they became massive stars. So, shows you what I know about anything... My recollection is that the lead singer climbed up on the stage scaffolding and everyone was amazed by it, but I can't argue with the fact that they became a massive band after those two songs kept getting airplay.
And now, in 2026, I don't know if the world has worn me down, or if I have just come around, but I am actually finding myself enjoying some of this. Their most recent release is an hour and twenty-six minute long live show from Mexico City, and I am finding myself grooving with it. His singing/rapping voice sort of sounds like Eminem now. Except for "Guns for Hands," where he kind of, confusingly, sings like Ben Gibbard.
They have an MTV Unplugged album on Spotify, and the intro was interesting to me because he admits that their normal music is mainly just preset loops that they then play and sing over. I kind of figured these were mainly real instruments being played - like the synths play the fake ass reggae bop - but I guess the reality is that they just play the bass and drums over the otherwise computerized tracks.
In light of the fact that the University of Texas is playing Ohio State University this weekend, I can clearly and definitely say that Columbus, Ohio blows. These two guys met each other playing basketball in Columbus youth leagues, and remained friends through middle school and high school. Frontman Tyler Joseph began playing music with an old synth he received for Christmas, trying to replicate melodies from the radio. Later, while attending Ohio State, Joseph met Chris Salih at a party and they started making music. They invited another friend to join, and 21 Pilots was launched. Several years later, some of the guys, along with Joseph's old friend Josh Dun, were involved in making music at a Columbus church and with a gospel rock band called New Albany Music. In 2011, two of the founding members left the group, Dun officially joined, and the band moved forward as a duo. Soon thereafter, they signed to the Fall Out Boy label and got to work on their big hits.
2013's Vessel included the very large hit linked above - "Car Radio" - now with 570 million streams. The album reached #21 on the Billboard charts, and every single song on the album received at least a Gold certification, which was somehow novel. They went on tour, opening for Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy.
But then it was 2015's Blurryface that blew it all open for them. "Tear in My Heart," that first song up above, was the first mega hit, but then "Stressed Out" went 13x Platinum, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and racking up billions of YouTube streams. It now has 3.1 BILLION streams on Spotify.
Honestly, if I put away my prejudices against rock rap and these being overplayed, the lyrics are close to perfect and the groove is undeniable. I too wish that I could turn back time to the good old days. Man, those mothers shown in that video SUPER look like they are Columbus, Ohio mothers. Dammit. I'm actually on board with that song once I really dig in to it. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category. The next song that blew up on the album was "Ride," now with 2.3 BILLION streams and that super annoying reggae dub beat and half rap.
Ready made to be sung in a stadium, but not actually a good song to me. Again, every song on this album went at least Gold, making them the first band with two albums in a row with Gold certification for every single track. They also won the Billboard Music Award for Best Rock Album and Top Rock Artist in 2016. Right around here, they also release "Heathens," which was featured on the Suicide Squad soundtrack, and racked up another 2.3 BILLION streams.
As I recall it, I kind of liked Suicide Squad. Although, if you asked me to tell you the plot of it, I would be pretty unsure which one of the crappy DC Comic ones featuring Margot Robbie this one was. Song is fine. However, when it hot #4 on the Hot 100, the band became the third rock act in history to have two top 5 songs at the same time, joining Elvis and the Beatles. That bums me out a little.
2018's Trench missed my consciousness at the time. The top song from that album is called "Chlorine," and it really doesn't ring any bells. Has 708 million streams though, so it has been around. He sings about "sippin' on straight chlorine" in it, which seems like a really bad idea. The lyrics overall make no sense to me. This beat is a chemical and the moment is medical. Deep bro. 2021's Scaled and Icy looks to have been a dud by their standards - many of the songs failed to hit 100 million streams, and the hit ("Shy Away") doesn't sound familiar at all and sounds like a weak 80's synth pop cover.
2024's Clancy looks kind of the same - no song on here breaks 153 million streams and many of them are under 100 million. I don't recognize "Overcompensate" at all, the top track. Pretty high energy though. 2025's Breach was an even worse one for stream counts, no song passed 75 million. Feels like the world has passed by the rap/rock synth movement that they were pushing.
I have found myself surprisingly on board here. And I honestly think that a big reason why is the live album that they released here. The sound of the crowd, absolutely howling along with the hits, definitely brings a new angle to how I hear them. It sounds like a blast. Unfortunately, the XX is the only other headliner that I would consider watching, and of course they are up against each other. But I guess I could see myself doing this one.
One Liner: The sweet swagger of catchy rock and roll
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock
Home: Nashville
Poster Position: Late Addition Both Weekends. Saturday at 1:15
American Express Stage
Thoughts: Right when I thought I was done, then I notice that they snuck this gal into the early afternoon on Saturday. But I am two minutes in and am very pleased. She sounds like someone else, like my brain is trying to come up with the band she is already in. Maybe no one. Let's dig in.
Her Wikipedia is an extremely boring recitation of when music was released. Like this: "DiRusso released her first two songs, "Gone/Blue Walls," in 2017. DiRusso's third song was released in 2018 titled "Dead Dogs". DiRusso released her fourth song in 2018 titled "Don't Swerve."" And then the only facts below that are that she grew up in something called Croton-on-Hudson, New York and is queer.
TINY DESK!!!
That eye makeup is really something. But the music itself is great - reminding me of The Beths with those harmonies and light riffage. Courtney Barnett? Olivia Rodrigo? My brain really wants to find the vibe that she reminds me of. I think that I keep coming back to Rodrigo - she has some of the same vocal mannerisms, and they both do poppy sounding words over the top of good riffage. I want you to hear "Muck" even though it is not the top streamer, but it was the first song I heard and I think the riffs are salty. 1.5 million streams.
That one locks me in. Straight grungy rock and roll with delicious fuzz. "Good Ass Movie" is fun too. There is some little tile on Spotify under a title of "Featuring Annie DiRusso" and the tile is an image of a woman in a red mock turtleneck, mouth slightly open, and eyes up and to the right, and as my eyes flitted past I thought that the title of the playlist was Today's Indie Rock fr. Jackin. Double take. What do we have here? But no, it says "ft. Julia Jacklin." My mind is still locked in 8th grade sometimes...
Not sure why she has a song called "Derek Jeter," but it has a spoken word part in the middle about something that happened at some game in the World Series against the Diamondbacks. Very odd. I guess she is originally from New York, so maybe that is her favorite player so she decided to make a very short and very weird tribute song. She went to Belmont University, which I suppose is what got her to Nashville, and I like the lane that she chose to pursue with her music. She says that her inspiration to do music came from when she was 10 or 11, and watched a bootleg Taylor Swift documentary, and was inspired when Swift said that people should learn to write songs. "Frisco Forever" feels like a well-written one about escaping a place tied to a relationship.
Her top streamer is a single from 2021 called "Coming Soon." 12.3 million streams.
Shout out to all of the formerly gifted and talented kids who are now just farting along in life wondering why you aren't the highest paid NASA scientist in the world or whatever. Do you hear the Rodrigo in there when she sings in harmonies and barks "that's so disgusting to me!" Anyway, not quite as rifftastic, but still a good one.
She has some bangin' covers in here too, like "Complicated" with Ruston Kelly (they do another duet on her new album and they sound great together, "Wearing Pants Again," a really nice tune) and "I Think Were Alone Now." She has toured with/opened for HAIM, beabadoobee, and Djo, so she is getting some good notice. I think the music sounds fantastic. I doubt anyone will be there for the 1:15 slot on Saturday, but this is worth a listen to me.
One Liner: A feminist anthem and some Florence and the Machine sounds
Wikipedia Genre: indie folk, folk pop, dark pop
Home: Derbyshire, UK
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 7 Both Weekends. WE1 - Friday at 3:30; WE2 - Friday at 5:15
Miller Lite Stage
Thoughts: I am sometimes curious about where I get my thoughts about musicians from. Like, would my brain have located Florence and the Machine as the comp for this gal on its own? Or did that only pop into my head because Wikipedia says that she was heavily influenced by Florence, Hozier, and Ed Sheeran? I suppose I will never know, but as I listen, I feel like these songs could be passed off as Florence tunes and I wouldn't bat an eye.
She has one mega-hit - "Labour" has two versions that sit atop her Spotify list, one version with 247.8 million streams and one with 425.8 million streams. She had been releasing singles and trying the music thing since 2020, but when this song hit in 2023 it became a big viral hit because of its subject matter - a feminist anthem about the unpaid labor that women have been made to do throughout history.
Yeah, that is a really good song. The tune itself is very catchy and ready for a sing-a-long, and then the lyrics are well-done too. I should probably keep that song away from my wife.
Paloma grew up in Ashbourne, in the English county of Derbyshire, and attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College. She studied Fine Art and History of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2022. England is weird with the whole "college" before going off to "university" - I wonder if we should adopt that model and then people who finish high school can say they graduated from college. Austin High College has a nice ring to it. Also, the one Premier League soccer game I have ever been to was Derby County's game in like 1997. I can't recall who they played, because our seats happened to be in the Derby supporter section, so those were the cheers we enthusiastically learned and yelled throughout the match. Good times.
She has a load of singles stretching back to 2020, but only the one album, 2024's Cacophony. I like that disc as an overall cohesive unit - feels like it should be heard in order to feel it grow and morph over its course. It appears that a new album will soon be released, as her Spotify right now has slowly growing singles that repeat the same songs after whatever the new song is. I dislike this modern style of rollout. Just do one single and then release the disc. I mainly dislike it because when I try to listen to her catalog for this blog, I end up hearing "Good Boy" nine times before I even get to her one album, since it was the first single and has been included nine times in her catalog since release. Her biggest release other than the "labour" track is called "the fruits" and was a 2022 single - 87.8 million streams.
Sort of feels like the same cadence as "Labour" without the power of the chorus. But I definitely hear the Florence feeling in there. "as good a reason" is another with Florence power and a more upbeat tune that I like. I have found myself enjoying these tunes over the past two days. I could see this show being enjoyable.
One Liner: Pop mastermind churning out eighties inspired pop bangers and some filler
Wikipedia Genre: Indie pop, new wave, alternative rock, synth-pop Home: NYC
Poster Position: Line 3 Both Weekends
Saturday at 6:15pm
T-Mobile Stage.
Thoughts: Last here in 2021, and here in 2014 before that. And here in the form of fun. before that. I'm on a run of folks who came to the Fest not that long ago. Which sometimes is a good thing, right? Like if a band is crushing it and releasing album after album of amazing stuff and we need to get them back to see it all unfold while its fresh, than that is rad. Some of these, it doesn't feel that fresh. But Bleachers just released a new album that is pretty good.
This is the project of Jack Antonoff. He came to the Fest in 2013 as fun., with that fantastic "We Are Young" song, and "Some Nights," and "Carry On." I saw that fun show and it was a good time. I kind of figured they were one hit wonder machines, but their hits were good and their cover of the Rolling Stones was way better than I would have expected. I took immense pleasure in knowing immediately that they were playing the Stones, while all of the stoned 14 year olds around me in the crowd looked confused. Suck it, teens. No, not like that. Stop.
But then that ended and he started Bleachers, and they came to ACL in 2014 in support of their new album Strange Desire. "I Wanna Get Better" was the jam off of that one. 192 million streams now.
An excellent pop jam. Highly danceable and sing-able and full of 80's synth joy. In addition to being a catchy tune, the video is funny too - "I don't know how to power clash" is a great line. "Rollercoaster" is a good tune off of that album as well. Has some Springsteen-ness to it and 218.6 million streams.
I read an article about him in Rolling Stone a few years back, because the dude has become THE MAN. He's buddies with Springsteen. He produces Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey (among many others). I mean, if you get to be the guy helping Taylor be the biggest star on the planet, then you're doing things right. And he apparently even had a band before fun, called Steel Train that did really well for itself before they disbanded in the early 2000's. Talented dude. And he plays most of the music in the studio, just using the rest of the band for when he is playing live.
He was raised in New Jersey, but commuted into New York for the Professional Children's School (which sounds terrifying). His older sister has become a fashion designer, and his younger sister died of brain cancer when she was 13, when Jack was a senior in high school. He has said that influenced his entire career, which is terribly sad.
Wikipedia says "Bleachers' pop music is heavily influenced by the late '80s, early '90s and the high school-based films of John Hughes while still using modern production techniques." That is fascinating - never would have guessed this was a John Hughes stan band.
Their second album was 2017's Gone Now. The hit on there was "Don't Take the Money," with 152.2 million streams.
I don't love it. Definitely still doing the 80's derivative thing, but something about the pacing of the vocals bugs me. Maebe Funke though! I have no clue what is going on there with the bride and her hardcore friend, but I know that this is an 80's music track that is unnecessary. Just give me the real 80's music.
He's won THIRTEEN Grammys, one for "We Are Young" with Fun, as well as Best New Artist with Fun; Album of the Year for his work on Taylor Swift's 1989; Best Rock Song for St. Vincent's "Masseduction"; Album of the Year for Swift's Folklore; Best Alternative Music Album for St. Vincent's Daddy's Home; Producer of the Year, non-classical for 2022, 2023, and 2024 (?!?!); Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for Swift's Midnights (while also nominated for Album of the Year for his production on the Lana Del Rey album that year); Record of the Year for SZA's "Luther"; and Best Rap Song for Kendrick Lamar's "TV OFF". That is honestly mind-boggling. His sound has become the sound of the decade, pretty much, from rap to rock to folky pop. Fascinatingly, he is given co-writing credit on many of the Kendrick songs from the new album. Did he really come up with the words to "Squabble Up"?
But this Gone Now album should not be winning any Grammys. Its not terrible, but also not very interesting to me. "Goodmorning" rips off the sound of Crosby, Stills & Nash's "Our House." "Goodbye" sounds like a Kanye b-side beat with some weak lyrics. Nope. Don't care for it. Although, like, listening to it again right now, it dawns on me that "All My Heroes" sounds like something that could have been on one of those two new TayTay albums, just slowed down and with more acoustic guitar.
The 2021 album is agonizingly called Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, and the cover of it makes me think of Jeff Buckley's Grace. Springsteen comes out to holler some gravelly lines about finding tomorrow with a girl like you on "Chinatown." "How Dare You Want More" has saxophone as though it is a Bruce song. "45" starts out sounding like an acoustic Foo Fighters song, but then old Jack starts doing his semi-yelp singing pattern again and you can tell its Bleachers. The album kind of ends with a whimper - I definitely prefer the fun 80's bouncing tunes to the sad sack introspective stuff. Like, "How Dare You Want More" is a fun, snappy little tune, and the "Stop Making This Hurt" track is the winning spot on the album. 29.1 million streams.
Its that bouncy piano riff backed up by the little horn squonks that make it seem like you just need to dance to this tune. Heavy dose of 80's joy right there (even as the lyrics point at a darker moment behind that joyful sound). I don't love the whole album, but there are some bright spots like that one in here.
Next, after a few years because the guy was freaking busy winning all the Grammys, you get an eponymous album, 2024's Bleachers. You know how everyone thinks that "Blinded by the Light" is a Springsteen song because it sounds so much like the Boss? Well, you can welcome "Modern Girl" on this album into that club of songs that so shamelessly rips off the Springsteen schtick that it is overwhelming. Saxophone and guitar riffs! Even steals the little xylophone hits. It's for sure the most popular track, so just check it out for yourself. 43.2 million streams.
I say all of that as though talking smack, and yet its a blast of a song. Rip off or not, but its a pure party locked into there. There are some other good rock bops on here as well, like "Tiny Moves" is fun too. But some of this album veers into the boring Taylor Swiftian world that Jack Antonoff has been foisting on the world for a while now, and I don't need any of that anymore. Like, the one with, I think, Lana Del Rey on it (no contributor is listed on Spotify), is like a mopey ripoff of "My Hometown" that I definitely don't need. The Vampire Weekend-ish autotuned "The Waiter" is also unneeded. It's too bad, this album has some good bits, but also some misses for sure.
There was another 2024 album in the midst of this that I never noticed. Looks like no one else did either, only two songs with more than a million streams and multiple with less than half a million. Wonder if it was like a b-sides collection or something? Ah, no, it was a re-recording of their debut album. That is a weird thing to do.
Anyway, they have released 2026's Everyone for Ten Minutes here recently, and it generally tracks the rest of the catalog (although there is really not a major bop on it). The start of "the van" sounds like he is about to release a rap track about growing up hard on the Jersey shore. Then it turns into a 70's groove. "you and forever" comes on like a weird remix of Do-Re-Mi. That is the top streamer with 9.3 million.
There is a lady who felt like she was doing that same sort of thing outside of my office window the other day, bending down on her patio to shave her dog's legs while wearing only a t-shirt and a thong. It is not a very happy seeming video or song.
One Liner: The nostalgia rocks Gods have spoken and present to you - An Oasis in Nirvana!
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is Alternative rock, grunge
Home: Manchester?
Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 16
Weekend One Only. Sunday at 1:15 pm.
American Express Stage.
Thoughts: I very literally just whispered "ohhhh, there we go" at my computer screen. I saw this band name and figured we would be talking about some other R&B pop singer, and instead, we get straight buzz bin guitar shred like Stone Temple Pilots loaned their riff machine to Oasis. I am so grateful for this gift. That first song is their most streamed - "Placebo" with 579k streams.
A villanelle is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. What in the world are we naming that style of poem for? Nineteen line poem? GTFOH. Also, Villanelle was a fictional assassin in BBC America's Killing Eve and in related Luke Jennings novels and a 1893 song by Eva Dell'Acqua. 1893? Damn!
Wait, one of the members is named Gene Gallagher. I swear I came up with the STP+Oasis thing without reading a thing. His dad is actually Liam! I think he kind of sounds the same! And I really like it. How the hell are these guys playing at 1:15pm on Sunday! They should be hours later.
"Hinge" sounds like they are doing a Nirvana tribute band.
That initial bass rumble is like something from Bleach, then those drums come in like "Breed," and then the guitars roar in like any number of classic Nirvana tracks. Sign me the hell up. I am deeply annoyed at their time slot, but maybe this leads me to go to one of the late-night shows after all.
One Liner: Sloppy, bashing, raucous rock and roll action
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, indie rock, country rock
Home: Abilene, TX (their Wikipedia actually says Throckmorton, TX, a town of 727)
Poster Position: Late Addition Weekend One Only. Sunday at 2:45.
American Express Stage.
Thoughts: Last here in 2024, and I generally liked it.
So, without looking them up yet, my first impression from a run through their limited catalog is that this sounds like a Kings of Leon cover band that was hired to play a fictional L.A. rock band in an Almost Famous/Daisy and the Six-style story about a young band learning how to deal with fame and groupies. They sort of remind me of that Dirty Honey band too, except they're sloppier. This definitely feels DIY and done in a garage.
Their website explains that they actually come from Abilene, which is a trip. And that their fans call their genre Western Space Grunge. Which, okay. They claim the following as influences - Foo Fighters, Pink Floyd, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and Whiskey Myers. I don't know that last one, but I guess I can hear the Foos and RKS. None of the four members of the band appears to be named Dexter. The drummer's name is Fox, which is pretty badass.
Their first single, from 2021, is their most popular track by quite a bit. "Couch" has 14.8 million streams. [up to 22 million in 2026]
Pretty chill. In a different song he laments that all the songs he writes are so sad, and it sounds like this starting point got him aimed that direction.
They have a 2021 EP, a handful of singles, and then a live album. The live album is definitely fun - you get a good idea of these guys just bashing it away up there on stage and having fun with it. If you listen through their catalog though, it gets annoying because they have that song in here like eight different times. The second top song is a 2024 single that sounds even better to me. "She Likes Girls" has just over 1 million streams. [up to 11.6 million in 2026]
The bashing drums and that little twiddly riff sound pretty cool in the chorus. And newest single "Sad in Carolina" is solid too. I am on board with checking this out - legit sloppy rock and roll action.
Since writing that, I have heard their tune "Sad in Carolina" a good number of times, I think on the radio, but also from my 18 year old daughter's playlists. It was part of their 2024 EP called Western Space Grunge. 14.7 million streams.
That woohoooowoooo part is the jam for the big festival crowd. Smart stuff. But it is also just a good, driving, thumping tune with good Foo Fighter-ripping riffs and bashing drums. Their 2025 EP called Happy to Be Here then one upped that tune with "Ritalin" and its 18.2 million streams.
Another solid rock tune. Sort of like Nothing But Thieves. But then after that, they randomly had one that just plain blew up. A 2026 single called "Freakin' Out" that has now been streamed 156.8 million times. Which has to be so freaking cool. You've had some minor success with other singles and gotten to play music for a living and things feel pretty cool, and then you see the stream counter for a new song just go up and up and up. Probably feels amazing.
Again, there is nothing in there that makes me think - ah yes, this is the hit - and yet it is a solid rock and roll tune. I have just let these guys play for a few days - I really enjoy it. Rock is a smaller portion of this poster than ever, but these guys are doing it well.
One Liner: Americana leaning into lite rock and roll with great lyrics
Wikipedia Genre: Americana, folk, country, rock Home: Hickman, KY Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 18 Day: Friday at 2pm Weekend Two Only.
BeatBox Stage
Thoughts: When I saw this on the poster, I figured it was S.L. Houser, who was at ACL last year and offers music lessons for Austinites. Nope, another lady using initials to confuse and entertain. (also, not L.P. Giobbi or M.J. Lenderman, who were both at ACL last year. Initial Artists for all!).
Also, she is coming to Bourbon and Beyond in September, so I might get to see her there.
She is pretty good! She was raised in Hickman, Kentucky, which is a tiny town on the Mississippi River, in that little key-tip of Kentucky. I have never been to Kentucky. I am realizing, looking at the map, that it is just north of Tennessee (where I have been), and just south of Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri (where I have never been). Recently, someone hit me up for a free ticket to an ACL taping for her. Wish I could have gone.
She was raised in the Southern Baptist church and says she went three times a week. That seems like too much church, but I think I did the same with Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. Good times. She has also been driving since she was seven, which is apparently legal in Kentucky.
The tunes are kind of a mix of Sierra Ferrell's quasi-country Americana and Lucinda Williams' soulful, rockin' Americana. I have been enjoying it quite a bit. She got started in 2017 with an album with something called The Savage Radley, and then 2020 was her solo debut called Old Time Feeling. Produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, I think it has a cool combined sound. That one includes her most popular song, "Space and Time," with 10.7 million streams.
Tyler Childers covered this later, likely being the reason it launched into popularity. Here and there, that little vibrato she does for a second in the second line can get to be too much in some of these songs, but overall, I think she is a really good songwriter with some good chill vibes. Like "Snapping Turtle," from 2025's Planting by the Signs, where you believe she is about to join some kids in torturing a turtle before she turns the stick on those little shits and makes them cry - I can see it all in my mind's eye and I really like it. She also does a dope cover of the Butthole Surfers' "Pepper" that includes some great guitar.
One Liner: Model and actress who went from forgettable bedroom pop to kinda funky indie pop
Wikipedia Genre: Her Wikipedia doesn't list a genre, it just says model - actress - singer, but I'll say indie pop, bedroom pop
Home: London
Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 4 Both Weekends. Saturday at 4:15
T-Mobile Stage
Thoughts: She was last here in 2023, and my review was pretty rude. The funny thing is that now, after listening to this for most of one work day, I was feeling like this is pretty solid (especially compared to much of this poster). Funny how time and context changes things.
I can't hear the name Suki (or Sookie) without immediately thinking of Gilmore Girls and the first time I recall seeing Melissa McCarthy. My wife loved that show a million years ago, and more recently, middle kid has watched through the entire thing at least nien times. Very clever show.
This is not Melissa McCarthy though. Alice Suki Waterhouse is an English gal (partner of Batman/Sexy Vampire/Cedric Diggory Robert Pattinson, and maybe they made a baby together since 2023) who got her start in modeling (like, a legit modeling career with multiple covers of Vogue and major brand runway walking), then an acting career that included one of the Divergent movies and more recently the miniseries Daisy Jones and the Six. We gave up on that miniseries, but the wife and I both really enjoyed the book! her father is a plastic surgeon, and she has two younger sisters who are models. Hmmmmm.
But in the midst of all of those things keeping her busy, along comes a few loosie singles that popped. The first big one was "Good Looking," released in 2017, which apparently became a viral hit in 2022. It was, of course, because of TikTok. She said that she was working on getting her real record out, when this six year old song popped back up. Apparently, her management had asked if they could delete all the old crap from before the album so that the album was the music available, and she thankfully disagreed. 933.3 million streams! (up from 199.6 back in 2023, so the popularity has continued).
She admitted that the recording was "dodgy" and done in her apartment. You can definitely tell. Lotta kissing in that video, and then WTF is up with the blood? Damn. That was disturbing. A comment claims that it was real - she accidentally stuck her hand in the fan as she was dancing around on the bed. Usually, a video makes me like a song more, but that video did the exact opposite. Nope.
Three albums - 2022's I Can't Let Go, 2024's Memoir of a Sparklemuffin (great title), and 2026's Loveland - and then some singles and an EP. I think the difference with the more recent tunes is the production and instrumentation. It's not just her farting around in her bedroom anymore, she's got indie rock musicians in the background making the songs sound more full and complete.
None of her other songs come anywhere close to the success of that track, but "Moves," from the first album, tries the hardest with 120.4 million streams.
It is an odd thing - after powering through her catalog, my overall feel was that I liked the tunes. But now, really paying attention to these two tracks, I find them annoying. They feel overwrought and heavy-handed, trying to shove an emotional response at me or something.
But, the new album was released on July 10 and I think it has a different style. Like, "Happy With It" has some funk and fun, made me think of Mitski. "Notting Hill" has a little Neko Case in there. "Weirdo" makes me think of Lana Del Rey. The top track is the first one, "Back in Love." 10.1 million streams.
Yeah, I like this new album quite a bit more than the first one. I could see trying her out.
One Liner: Country-tinged folky pop for the heat of the day
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but pop, country pop, folky pop, Americana
Home: Georgia (now in Nashville)
Poster Position: Late Addition Weekend Two Only. Saturday at 12:45
BMI Stage
Thoughts: Another new artist popping up with a terrible slot - hottest part of the day when everyone is still having lunch and watching college football. And she only gets 30 minutes, during the second weekend, so she is not getting many favors from the Fest here. I am pegging her tunes somewhere in between Sheryl Crow and Miley Cyrus. Oh, sorry, just MILEY. Wait, unless that was a different artist. Macy only has about 10-11 songs, so her stuff keeps ending and Spotify plays someone else who sounds just like her. So it is a little confusing.
Originally from Georgia, she lives in Nashville now. Her music angles into the country world, and once I read that a Brandi Carlile song got her into music in the first place, I think that sort of comp makes sense. Not fully country, but not fully folky pop either. She also said that she spent a few years in Austin, saying that there was something about being here that brought out her Americana roots. She also said something interesting - she gets bored coming up with chords, so she'll go listen to classic rock deep cuts and look up the chords to figure out what they were doing that worked. I think that is sort of cool. So, instead of the Vampire Weekend feel of them copying classical progressions, she's figuring out what Deep Purple did on a B-Side from the Carter administration.
Her first album apparently went nowhere because of the dumb pandemic. She couldn't tour on it and it just sort of withered. You can't hear it on Spotify now either (unless these songs are from that disc. I dunno.) but what she has available right now is pretty enjoyable. I've just been bopping along to these for the day and I enjoy it.
Top track is "someone to you" with 453k streams. Can we please go back to the days of using capitalization? I know this is a boomer take, but it really bugs me.
It's that raspy voice and the vibrato right there at the start that gets me thinking Miley immediately. Also, the closed captioning on that video is psychotic, inserting [singing] and [music] into random spots. Like, the lyric doesn't end so that music is inserted? What is going on. I bet it is because someone didn't use capitalization. Second biggest streamer is a stripped down beaut - "love of my life" that is apparently about her family, who now live in Colorado, and she is sad about not seeing them enough. 175k streams.
She claimed that she tried multiple takes for that one, while she was living here in Austin, and her label decided that the super basic version was the winner. I think I agree. I mean, I will not be in the park at noon, so I will not see this, but I think it sounds really nice.
One Liner: Holy crap, this is really that band, the Live from the mid-90's that was one of my favorites.
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock Home: York, Pennsylvania (although a friend told me they rehearse in East Austin regularly) Poster Position: Late Addition Second Weekend Only.
Slot: Friday at 7:30
Beatbox Stage. Thoughts: Confusingly, back again. Last here in 2017 (which sounds really weird, I thought it was much more recently than that) but as with last time, they have not released any new music at all. As you may know from reading my other posts this year, I am about to go to the Bourbon and Beyond Music Festival, and that is more of the correct venue for a band like this - 90's powerhouse who no one remembers anymore and the kids have for sure never heard of.
BUT, man, Live was one of my top bands of all time when I was in high school and college. I have a clear memory of a time in high school, on a youth group weekend with my friend Cary's church, where a kid broke out Mental Jewelry on their discman and we plugged in some garbage speakers I had and just wailed "Pain Lies on the Riverside" at top volume.
That track is, without a doubt, their most popular from that 2011 album, at 19.6 million streams, ahead of both "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)" at just over 8.1 million and "The Beauty of Gray" at 6.1 million. The whole album was great 90's alternative rock happiness. And then Throwing Copper, that album was literally in my top ten albums of all time for years. That is the one with all the hits you remember. 1994, and you were listening to "I Alone," and "Lightning Crashes" and "All Over You." Hell, you may still be listening to those now on the alternative rock stations on the radio. There was a period when I worked at youth camp when I would sing a song at the nightly roundup each year, with some friend accompanying me on acoustic guitar. One year, I chose "Lightning Crashes" and got to witness the odd mix of joy and revulsion that comes from singing the word "placenta" to a crowd in a quiet room.
That one is, by far, their top hit, with 317.9 million streams versus "I Alone," which comes in second at 149.7 million. Again, the whole album jams. If you like grungy alternative rock then this will scratch the itch.
In a slight surprise, these dudes have continued to make music over the past 20 years as well. I know 1997's Secret Samahdi and 1999's The Distance to Here (although neither of those albums was nearly as big as the first two), but after those, I thought the band broke up or something. But no, there is V (2001), Birds of Pray (2003, nice cheesy Christian pun there), Songs from the Black Mountain (2006), and then three live albums mixed in there. Some of those had minor hit tunes like "Lakini's Juice" from Secret Samahdi (which always reminded me of a Tool song), but the largest was "Dolphin's Cry," from The Distance to Here, with 62.8 million streams.
OK. Watching that video and hearing that songs makes me think that I know what happened to the band. Creed. This sounds and looks kind of like Creed. I think people realized that Creed sucked, and so Live just got rolled up in the same tortilla. Whatever, even if they appear Creed-esque in this video, I still think their early tunes are great. As for the most recent album, let's give it a whirl. Songs from a Black Mountain, from 2006, and if this were their only album, then I would likely skip out on the show at ACL. It's not terrible, but it just doesn't have any of the fire and urgency of their good stuff. Bland. And the world agrees, with most songs showing streams in the sub-million stream range. But, unless a new album is forthcoming, I'd fully expect that we are going to get a greatest hits show just like the one in 2017. Looking forward to it.
If this is not something you are familiar with at all, fire up the Woodstock '94 Live disc on Spotify and you will get the gist.
One Liner: Top notch indie rock band with a heavy touch of melancholy and classic rock flourishes
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock, heartland rock, neo-psychadelia, Americana
Home: Philadelphia
Poster Position: 3 Both Weekends. Sunday at 7:30.
SnapChat Stage.
Thoughts: Last here in 2022. I forget when they were here prior, but 90% sure they are a multiple-time artist.
I like this band. I've been listening to them for a while, and have always enjoyed. I wonder if I saw them at the 2012 ACL and that is where I first heard their stuff? I can't recall by now.
The band started when frontman Adam Granduciel met Kurt Vile in Philly. Both of them had recently moved to town, and they hooked up and started writing and playing together. They started playing as War on Drugs in 2005, with the name coming from a friend "over a couple bottles of red wine and a few typewriters when we were living in Oakland." Granduciel claims it was either that or The Rigatoni Danzas.
Barrel of Batteries was their 2008 EP debut. It is very DIY-sounding, raw and unpolished. Claims to have six songs, but three of those are tiny little ditties that don't amount to squat. Not an auspicious debut, I would not have kept up with them if that was my first exposure to the band. Later that year, they released Wagonwheel Blues, which incorporated the three songs from the EP into an album. Also not great. After that album, Kurt Vile bailed on them to do his solo stuff (in fact most of the members bailed here).
2010 brought us Future Weather and then 2011 brought along Slave Ambient. From their cover art, they look related. Future Weather has a song or two where you can start to hear their angle to become Springsteen-esque, but then by the fourth song it goes back into more of that DIY type sound. The final two songs are kind of weird stuff that I don't much like. This isn't the stuff that made me like them later on down the road. Funny thing is that their Wikipedia doesn't even list Future Weather as existing. It just says that they put out Slave Ambient in this time. Slave Ambient is better but still doesn't get to the level where they will get in a few more years. The top track on there is called "Baby Missiles," and it was actually on both Future Weather and Slave Ambient. 11.7 million streams.
I don't know if Springsteen ever did anything quite so peppy. Kind of sounds like Dire Straits' "Walk of Life." Pretty good. But I'm telling you, the good stuff is yet to come.
2014's Lost in the Dream popped up in multiple year-end top album lists that year, and I said: "After one listen, it is really good - sounds like a Ryan Adams album with some Springsteen sax and Cure synth. Wow, no, seriously, after listening again, I'm 90% sure this is a Ryan Adams album. A really good one, but still." A few days later, I said: "I agree it was good, although after about 10 listens now, I think this may be more David Gray than Ryan Adams. Either way, it is a really nice album." Isn't it fun to just rehash what you previously didn't read that I said on this blog? Super fun. I should just quote myself all the time. Anyway, totally sticking by my David Gray comparison. This is good music that sad, old KGSR is going to play to death to the few people out there who haven't yet figured out that KUTX is the actual sound of Austin. "Under the Pressure" and "Red Eyes" are both really excellent songs. Since that time, "Red Eyes" has become his top streamer overall, with 199.3 million streams.
You hear those Cure/Killers synths? Really a good tune - the driving backbone makes it unstoppable.
A Deeper Understanding is the next album, in 2017. By now, I start to realize that he not only reminds me of David Gray and Springsteen, but now I also get Bob Dylan vibes - with tunes that sound very much influenced by classic rock. When I reviewed this album a few years ago, I actually said that I had "reviewed him a few years back when he came to ACL," BUT I CAN'T FIND THAT REVIEW! WTF man. This album is generally pretty relaxed, but still rock edged, and I can't shake the thought of Dylan anymore. The second-most streamed song is an 11 minute long one, but we will go with "Holding On," with 55.2 million streams.
Kicks in like a Springsteen song, with the bells ringing and the music ready to be used on a road trip mixtape immediately. My God I'm such a softie too, that damn video got me right up to the edge of tearing up over the superintendent from Coming to America losing his wife but having a good day reintroducing himself to his town. Criminy. But the tunes are good, a lot of them have that same driving feeling, and I repeatedly think that the organ/ synth is just about to start playing the lick from "Walk of Life." "Pain" is also an excellent song. Good album, I like it all.
And finally, the most recent disc from 2021, I Don't Live Here Anymore. As I listened to one of the songs on here - "I Don't Wanna Wait" - a great comp dawned on me. For some people, this will sound like the kiss of death, but as a lover of Bryan Adams from back in the day, I think saying that this sounds like classic Bryan Adams is actually a fine compliment. That dude could write a great turn of phrase, play the guitar, and craft up a pop rock nugget or three that still sound great today. And then the rest of the songs sound like Dylan got a backing band who only want to do songs that would be good to drive to. Which also might sound like an insult, but I don't mean it as one. I love driving songs. "Harmonia's Dream" makes me think of Springsteen and the Killers and some never-created 80's band who were never featured on a soundtrack for E.T. Lots of synth riffage. I'd really like to see this band live - between this album and that last one I find them to be a great version of rock. The top track is the title song, and it features nice background vocals from Lucius. "I Don't Live Here Anymore" has 45.3 million streams.
Between that guitar solo at the start and the synths, you get that immediate 80's feel. And seeing the singer, it makes me realize that I sometimes mix up this band with Strand of Oaks, and yet they are definitely different bands. A lot of these songs are sad, or at least feature sadness as part of the lyrics. That one up above, and even more so, "Victim," makes me sad. Maybe my mind is trained to remember that 80's sound and think of the things I'm missing from that era, or maybe these songs just really do have some melancholy. Not sure which, but I'm enjoying the sound.
Since that 2021 album, they released a live disc, but no real new music. The live disc sounds great though.
I'd absolutely go see them play if I have the space. I am relatively close to finishing up the reviews, and then I can start to be sad about what I will miss.
One Liner: Electronic dance music for the dumbing down of America
Wikipedia Genre: House, EDM Home: NYC Poster Position: 6 Both Weekends. Sunday at 6:30.
AmEx Stage.
Thoughts: Last here in 2022, and before that in 2018, and I freaking hated everything about it. Glad we apparently have a pact with them for an appearance every four years. Like bad locusts from hell. Here is what I said back then, with a few adjustments, and then we can talk about their new music too.
"I've got my rude britches on today or something. Listen to this tune, "Batshit," with their third-most streams (11.5 million, now up to 49.9 million in 2026, and no longer #3 in their catalog), and let me know the words that involuntarily came out of your mouth at 0:45:
Because if you said "Oh Dear God, that sucks," then you and I are special spirit animals and you should Venmo me your money. I get it, this isn't being made to challenge Bob Dylan for lyrical superiority, but it feels more like two kids were raised on nothing but Right Said Fred b-sides (not even the good shit) and grew up to make this song as their dance music anthem. And don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that this stage will likely be packed with loads of Adderall-addled kiddies yelling the delicious curse word, but it doesn't mean I have to sign up for this shit.
She was born in Germany and went to college in Italy. He was born in Massachusetts and went to Brown University to play basketball. They met at Brown at an art show, where Tucker was DJing the show, and after that the mashed up group here was born. During the COVID-19 outbreak, they plowed through hundreds of DJ performances from home, streaming on Twitch, Facebook, Dischord, and Instagram A 2016 EP (Soft Animals), then a 2018 album Treehouse, with a million remixes and singles in the middle. The band name comes from the two members' first names, Sophie and Tucker. I'm gonna give you two more songs, because these each have something about them that is slightly interesting. First, "Drinkee," was somehow nominated for a 2017 Grammy for Best Dance Recording. Which is terrifying. 53.2 million streams. 158.6 million streams, somehow, in 2026.
Hard to imagine how I would like "Batshit" better than something else in their catalog, but its true. Also, Wikipedia claims that this was "adapted from a poem written by the Brazilian poet, Chacal," and "sung sensually." The video may be a little sensuous, with her handling of that guitar and dancing, but the singing is more like a jibberish rap by someone who is choking on a marble. Final track is called "Best Friend," and it was featured in an Apple commercial for the iPhone X. 47.9 million streams - now up to 154.4 million in 2026.
Yeah, OK, that sounds sorta familiar. It was also featured in the 2018 version of the FIFA video game. The best ever use of a song in a FIFA game was the one they had in like 1998 or so, where the intro to the game was Blur's "Song #2" and it made me want to chew through a steel girder with excitement. Dance party? Yes. I can definitely see this show being a fun ass dance party. Lyrically interesting? Negative. Nothing on here appears to be serious at all, just built for a good time. Is that so wrong?" Not at all, now let's see what they have done in the years since 2018. 2019 EP called DANCING ON THE PEOPLE, with "Purple Hat" as the hit from that one at 113 million streams [now up to 270.6 million in 2026, their top streamer overall].
Yeah, no. Sounds like they have not advanced in any way since their prior stuff. Still an inane chanted chorus and goofy shit made to get people dancing. Makes me annoyed to see how big that crowd is. This is the kind of band where their laptop is going to break when they are playing and then they won't be able to play their set - wait, did that happen the last time they were here? Or was that another bad group with a guy and a gal who don't really make music. What is that one called? Oh right, Sylvan Esso. After that 2019 EP, they released loads of singles and remixes until 2022's WET TENNIS, which doesn't yet have any huge hits, but still has three tracks with over 50 million. Here is "Sun Came Up" with 55.2 million streams.
It is still an EDM track, but I like it better than those other dumb tracks. That James Bond-ish guitar lick and the buildup is kind of fun. Still super don't want to waste my team watching this, but I get the attraction for those who want to snort mushrooms and then dance all over each other.
After that though, they came up with, if I am being entirely honest, a pretty funny tune. A few months ago, I could tell that my 15 year old was trying to steal my Spotify connection to play music by the pool, and this was the song she was trying to jam - "Throw Some Ass" from the 2024 album BREAD, with 38.1 million streams.
She doesn't quite open her mouth enough when she sings. Maybe that is just because she is lip synching in that video, but it looks odd. Anyway, the lyrics of that one, while still very very stupid, at least made me grin. I would not go watch this show.
One Liner: I'm a sucker for an Irish singer/songwriter type...
Wikipedia Genre: Irish folk, indie rock
Home: Dublin
Poster Position: Last Quarter - Line 20 Sunday at 2
BMI Stage
Thoughts: The first stanza of his first song made me grin, as he is singing about not being able to understand how to work a washing machine. But I am also a sucker for an Irish accent, especially later when he has a song that sounds like he is recounting the history of his family. SIGN ME UP for hearing a lilting Irish brogue sing about leaving the mines to sign up for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers (an infantry division of the British Army, unpopular in Ireland because some saw it as fighting for the wrong side, as Ireland was fighting for independence). "John's Song." "Does my sister still resent me, now that I must wear the rose? ... With all my love, your fond son John." Gave me goosebumps hearing it again and then I wanted to tear up at the end for the epilogue. Hell yeah Aaron.
When you look up this name in Wikipedia, you get an English professional soccer player who most recently played for Gillingham. Which is not helpful, but there is a very tiny Wikipedia article about the correct Rowe - here is the entire entry: "Aaron Rowe is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Dublin. He is best known for his debut single, "Hey Ma", as well as his second and third singles, "Talking with You" and "Lose Lose". His debut EP, Exodus, was released in September 2025. In 2026, he released three songs: "Please Don't Hate Me", "John's Song" and "Hollywood Sign". He actually has two whole more songs than are in that list - "Drawing the Line" and "The Lane" are also on that 2025 EP, but apparently are uncool for whoever wrote that Wikipedia entry.
He sort of makes me think of a guy who did well on The Voice or American Idol. Very strong voice, and sometimes he will do some vocal freakouts to prove how controlled he can be with hitting notes with power. But overall, I find his tunes to be relaxing and enjoyable. In two weeks, he is apparently opening for Ed Sheeran (and Macklemore? Is Macklemore still a thing?) in Philly. So he is getting some notoriety anyway...
The biggest streamer is "Hey Ma," which is a great Bon Iver song. 3.6 million streams for the Irishman's tune.
I wanna go to Ireland and see those horsies! Some friends just went to Dublin last weekend to watch TCU suck mondo butt against UNC for the first game of the season, and I was pretty jealous of them taking that trip. Ireland is dope and I haven't been in like 21 years. Lovely little song. I hope he had a nice trip to the States. And even though the stream count isn't up there yet, I want you to hear "Hollywood Sign" because it is the new single. 390k.
I am guessing that is autobiographical about him moving to LA to give the music a shot. Poignant and sad. I'd hang out with you in L.A., buddy! You don't have to just drink a coke on the railing of a crappy C-Store!
One Liner: An under-the-radar-feeling pop artist with some downbeat tunes
Wikipedia Genre: indie pop, dream pop, art pop, electropop, dance-pop
Home: Ystad, Sweden
Poster Position: First Quarter - Line 4 Both Weekends. Saturday at 7:30
SnapChat Stage
Thoughts: I figured that this one might have been here before, but the only thing I found that I have written about her was this blurb, taken from my listen to the Grantland Top Ten Albums of 2014 article written by Stephen Hyden:
8. Lykke Li - I Never Learn "When Swedish pop singers cry, even the tears come out looking perfectly crafted." Yeah, this is a really pretty album - she's got a great voice. But I doubt I would ever listen to it again after the three chances I just gave it.
That was a true statement. Definitely never listened to that again. I used to do a really good job of listening to a handful of top ten lists from each year and giving my own opinion of them, but I found that the writers felt (to me) as though they were reaching farther and deeper into the well of music to find something they could champion that was edgy or unknown and so I'd end up listening to some really crappy stuff so that they could justify their label as a music critic. "No one else put The DeepSharts on their year-end list, I am truly above my peers."
And so, we are left with yet another pop artist up here at the top of the poster. Le sigh. Li Lykke Tomotej Zachrisson is the daughter of Zilverzurfam, a member of the Swedish punk-reggae band Dag Vag. I bet that band's music freaking suuuuuucks. Their top song is "Popitop" with 5.8 million streams, and indeed, it is freaking terrible. I guess it came out in 1983, and so what do you expect, but it sounds like the Swedish Chef trying to sing a Madness B-Side. I find it delicious, but it wort of sucks that someone included that into her Wikipedia as though it should matter at all. Her family moved to Stockholm when she was a toddler, and later lived in Portugal, Lisbon, Morocco, Nepal, India, and Brooklyn. She returned back to Brooklyn when she was 21 to record her first album.
In addition to six albums, she has acted in two movies and appeared as a model in multiple ad campaigns. Funny enough, at least to me, her Wikipedia's awards section shows ten nominations and two wins for the "Grammis" which are apparently the Swedish version of the Grammy Awards. No actual Grammy nominations or awards. She has contributed songs to lots of other projects too - FIFA 09, The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, the Teen Wolf tv show, The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack, the U2 album Songs of Innocence, and Divergent Series: Insurgent soundtrack.
2008's Youth Novels is actually an interesting disc. This doesn't sound like a Swedish Pop Star pushing for dance floor dominance. Instead, it sounds more like someone who has lived all over the world and now come to Brooklyn to work with one of the Peter Bjorn and John guys to make a really good album of indie music. "My Love" just made me look up from the work I was doing to make sure this was still the pop that I thought I was supposed to be listening to. There are real instruments supporting her solid voice here, and I dig those tunes. There are also ones with synths and drum machines ("Complaint Department," looking at you) but this is unexpectedly solid.
2011's Wounded Rhymes is sort of the same, but also has some girl group type songs, not sure what you call that, but like the doo-wop stuff from the 60's, mixed into indie pop? A little weird, but another album that I sort of enjoyed today. It also happens to have her most popular song, which is sort of a weird one, because it really doesn't strike me as a hit. "I Follow Rivers" has 230.3 million streams.
Definitely rushes in poppier than some of the other stuff on the disc, which maybe re-ordered her whole sound for the future? Who knows. But the lyrics are kinda whack with the following and the strained metaphor with the river and the deep sea baby? Huh. Oh well. That 2014 album I mentioned above, when I tried it again, sounds a lot like something that Lana Del Rey would have put out more recently. Sort of cinematic and sad.
Then 2018's so sad so sexy is the next album, and this feels like where she leaves behind the beauty and embraces the machine. This was apparently released after the difficult time of her son being born and then three weeks later her mother dying. I am sorry for her loss, but "sex money feelings die" is a bad song. Of course, it is her most streamed song with 267.8 million spins.
The vocals are annoying. The beat is generic. The chorus is like something that Gwen Stefani left on the cutting room floor because it was too dumb for even her. I am guessing it was used on TikTok a billion times by people trying to be deep or something. 2022's EYEYE wasn't very popular in the streaming department - feels like she tried to back away from the pure pop thing to delve into more sadness and strange effects (like one of these songs like The Cure being played backwards maybe) and was not rewarded for it. Or, like, she tried just writing a soundtrack album for a Bladerunner sequel that never materialized? It is an odd, outlier album.
The 2026 disc really isn't much to get excited about either. 24 minutes long, several of the songs are, again, pretty quiet and downbeat. "Lucky Again" has a little more funk to it, but not enough to really get me excited. Sort of sounds like the kind of song that Madonna would have made recently. Which reminds me that I need to go hear her new album. Supposed to be good. Hopefully it is better than this.
She's not bad for a pop star. I don't know why the lack of any Grammy nominations is sticking in my head, but it just seems indicative of a lack of real star power here. This feels like a niche that most people aren't even missing.
