ROMES

One Liner: Dance pop indie
Wikipedia Genre: Soul-pop, Alternative pop.  
Spotify Says Similar To: Secret Weapons and courtship
Home: Toronto

Poster Position: none, new addition.
Slot: Friday at 1:15 pm

Thoughts:  I'm already annoyed that they replaced Sigrid, because I really liked her sound and thought she could be a fun breakthrough artists from this year's festival.  Instead, I've been trying out these guys' pile of singles available on Spotify and am coming away unimpressed.  Their Wikipedia page says they are half Irish and half Canadian, and met in Ireland while in school.  The tunes are kind of danceable synthy-pop indie stuff, and it just is not doing much of anything for me.  Their top track has 1.3 million streams, and is called "Believe."

That tune was all the way from back in 2016, so here is their most recent single from 2017, called "Can't Get Enough," with just over 100k streams on Spotify.

I don't know, something about this band is just rubbing me wrong all day.  Seems like they are trying to hard or something.  I will not forsake Band of Heathens to go see this.

Ron Gallo

One Liner: Raw sounding guitar rocker

Poster Position: No clue, not on the poster
Slot: Friday at 1:15

Thoughts:  "Ron Gallo" sounds like a porn star or a low level player in the Soprano family, but his music comes off more like a Jack White guitar ripping kid.  He's only got one real album, and the cover art is of a dude with a pizza face wearing sunglasses.  For the most part, his songs don't have streams.  The one that struck me the most ("Why Do You Have Kids," which includes a line about cigarette ashes falling into the baby carriage and "accidents having accidents") has less than a thousand spins on Spotify. Sounds better than that to me.

Peep that afro!  PORN STAR LEVEL HAIR!  Classic sounding little trio jamming loose in the studio.

But that one album, 2014's Ronny, is nothing like the Jack White fire guitar action that you'll hear on his Audiotree Live album or the other live EP he has on Spotify, both of those have a ton more fire than the full album.  The full album is kind of boring sounding, like that Kurt Vile guy from last year but with no excitement.  The live versions of these songs are hella better.  Luckily, it is his recent stuff that sounds better, so we should get treated to the better end of his spectrum.  The most popular track is "Young Lady, You're Scaring Me," which has only 22.9k streams on Spotify.

It's got no listens, but its kinda a tight ass rock and roll baller song.  This track is from the 2016 RG3 EP, which is why it is tight.  Baylor Heisman Trophy Winning QBs 4Eva, yo!  I'm actually writing this one long after work, and long after the enjoyment of multiple beers, including some terrifying quad that a friend gave me for my birthday that was like a half gallon of 12 percent alcohol beer.  So, although I've been listening to this dude for two super stressful days at work, I'm only now writing most of this, and it is hard to tell if it is this good or I am just this good.  Whatever.  I'm enjoying him.  If I'm at the fest super early on Friday, I might just go check it out.

Kamaiyah

One Liner: Bay Area bad ass lady rapper

Poster Position: 18

Thoughts:  Well hell yeah.  Never heard of this gal before, but she does some tight rap action. If I'm comparing the two new lady rappers I've just run across, I'm giving Lizzo the crown, but this is good stuff.  Oakland girl, and I hear Too $hort for sure on tracks like "Ni***as," which even uses some of the same sounds as "Freaky Tales," just sounds like its been re-done by DJ Mustard.  Too $hort is awesome, by the way.  "Freaky Freaks" also has that sound, but also interpolates an old Snoop beat.  I think the most interesting thing about her is the voice - she raps in a low enough register that you could easily confuse her with a man, or at least a boy rapper.

Just one album, 2016's A Good Night in the Ghetto.  The big hit from it is her first single, "How Does It Feel," which she apparently distributed on USB drives that looked like brick phones when she was in Austin for SXSW this year.  Which is badass.  With 1.6 million streams, none of her other tracks even comes close.

Hard to believe you don't hear "MUZZYONNABEE" at the start of that track.  If it isn't DJ Mustard, then he should sue somebody.  Check that brick phone!  Got that Nintendo 64!  Pretty cool.  Her second biggest song is "Break You Down," with 345k streams, but I don't care for that one as much with its R&B sing-song aspect.  The Y.G. collaboration on "F*ck It Up" is pretty cool, and "I'm On" is another fun one, but I am still digging on that Too $hort sound.  Here is "Ni***s."

Great groove.  And I love the cover of that album too, great shot with the sack of Lays and a jug of wine (or maybe Hennessey?).  I like this album, I like her style.  I could see going to this show and having a good time.

Banks & Steelz

One Liner: Wu Tang meets Interpol for a pretty cool mash

Poster Position: 9

Thoughts:  So this is a group that was not originally on the poster for the fest, but was more recently added to the lineup.  Unfortunately, their album doesn't come out until August, so all Spotify gives me is two singles, "Giant" and "Love and War (ft. Ghostface Killah)."  "Giant" is the most recent release (June 10) and yet already has 219k listens in just a few weeks.

Kind of a cool thing, taking an upbeat rock track and then sticking RZA over the top with some rhymes.  I won't say that RZA is my favorite Wu Tang guy, but he's pretty cool sounding here. Anytime I hear a rock and rap collaboration it brings the Judgment Night Soundtrack to mind, which was super awesome.  This one reminds me of the Mudhoney and Sir Mix-a-lot track "Freak Momma."

The other track features Ghostface, who is my favorite of the Wu rappers, so I'm on board with that immediately.  312k listens on Spotify.

Glenn from Walking Dead!  Getting bitch slapped with a kilo of brown horse!  This backing track is less exciting, but the rapping is solid.  Pretty good.  I'll have to reserve a further judgment until the full album comes out, but just based on these two tracks, I'm liking the project.

Son Little

Another artist added long after the original lineup was announced, Son Little is actually pretty nice sounding soul/ rock/ hip hop hybrid music.  He's got a 2014 EP of five songs, plus a few singles, available on Spotify, and they sound great.  His most popular as of right now is called "Lay Down," which is a 2015 single that has 119k listens.

That is reminiscent of future mega-star Leon Bridges.  His set has been wedged into the early Friday schedule, right after the fun times of Calliope Musicals and Leopold and His Fiction.  His most listened-to track is less laid back, a little more snappy, and called "The River."  Over 671 thousand spins for this one, pretty impressive.

Kind of an ominous groove and slink on that tune - I like it alot.  If you don't want to dance and/or go down to the river with that darlin', then you need to get with the program.  This guy's real name is Aaron Livingston, his online bio details say that he is friends with members of the Roots, and worked with them on one of their albums.  Good friends to have, and some songs ("Your Love Will Blow Me Away," "Cross My Heart") have a clear hip hop influence.  Overall, I like the soul sounds better, with a classic sound that is well-done, but even these other new sounds are cool too.

I doubt I'll take the time to go see him on Friday early afternoon - if I make it out that early, I'm doing the Maccabees and Residual Kid, but I like what I hear here.

El Tule

Another band only recently added to the lineup for Weekend One.  Local band.  Looks like they are going to be slotted at the Saturday 5 o'clock slot against Sturgill Simpson, KOA, and Twenty One Pilots.  Look, I'm not going to even play around like I know this style of music, that their website says is influenced by "Cumbia, Merengue, Salsa and Reggae." As far as I know, two of those words are food, one is Bob Marley, and one is the shortened name for the country where all the coke comes from.  
That being said, their most recent album is a pretty fun listen. Tight as hell on the rhythms. If I knew how to dance, I bet it would be a pretty fun show to go rip up the floor to.  But in real life, I've got nothing.  I can bob my head, but my days at Zavala Elementary are so far away by now that I couldn't salsa if you paid me.

Only one of their songs has more than 1,000 plays on Spotify, so I'm going with that one as their big track.  An instrumental called "Anthem," they just crack the grand threshhold with 1,143 spins.  No YouTube presence I could find for that song, so here is a Spotify link.

Here is their most popular YouTube video, from that same album, and called "Reggae Cumbia."

Looks like fun!  I'm already locked in to see Sturgill on Saturday during this time slot, but I would bet money that the folks who go see this show are going to have an awesome time.

Alina Baraz

Generally boring slow jam R&B.  A little more rap-sounding than pure chill electronic, and a little more R&B-flavored than rap.  This falls right into one of those cracks in my musical love, and does nothing for me.  Here is "Fantasy," which is her most popular by a long way with over 10 million listens on Spotify.

So whispery!  She has one EP (2015's Urban Flora) and a single or three available on Spotify.  Her songs sound indie electro, but her voice and tone sound like the hook of rap songs.  Pretty voice, but I'm not going to see her play live.

FIDLAR

Lo-fi skate punk.  One album, two EPs, a few singles, and a lot of damn fun.  The opening track to their full length (2013's FIDLAR) is called "Cheap Beer," and with zero irony, they just chug right on through a two minute blast of "I DRINK CHEAP BEER, SO WHAT, F*CK YOU!"  It's kinda awesome.  Elsewhere on the album, they get more melodic and go lean just a touch into the pop realm, but you wouldn't seriously call this pop punk at all.  Grimy and raw, they barely crack 3 minutes on any song.
The most listened-to track on Spotify is "No Waves," from that 2013 album, with almost 2.6 million listens.

That video is super OK.  Made me laugh.  And the track is good too - loose but driving, feels like you should pogo and spill drinks on people.  "Cheap Beer" is their second most listened-to track, but I'm going to break out this other one that I thought was pretty good. Here is "Awkward," clocking in with just over a million listens on Spotify, and winner of the best cover art award.

Reminds me of The Pixies and Sum 41.  "I'll probably end up f**kin' up and make it super awkward!"

And just because this one is called "I Just Want to Die (ft. the Los Angeles Fire Department)," I feel like we all need to watch it together.

That tune is not on any of the album/EPs available on Spotify.  Sounds like 80's new wave.  Kinda funny.  And overall, I dug jamming these dudes for the past two days.  I got really busy at work and was too lazy to look up the next band to hear, but they are a fun blast of do-it-yourself sneer.  We'll see how the schedule works out, but it might be fun to go see them tear things up.

Vince Staples

Tight rap.  I'd never heard of the dude until just now, but I'm liking what I hear quite a bit. His Spotify bio says that he is part of the group "Cutthroat Boyz," which I've also never heard of, but then goes on to say he's been on Odd Future-related projects as well.  Which would tend to lead me away from him, but I can't deny the fact that his beats and style are solid.

Staples has two albums available on Spotify, 2014's Hell Can Wait and 2015's double album Summertime '06.  Summertime appears to be a biographical album of sorts, kind of like the Good Kid Mad City-type stories of gang-banging and life getting by in the 'hood.  According to Wikipedia, Staples is actually a Crip (a Naughty Nasty Gangsta Crip).  So, make sure to wear the right colors this year at ACL, or at least avoid the Bud Light Lime-a-Rita Stage when Staples is playing.

His most-listened-to song on Spotify is "Blue Suede," from that 2014 EP, with almost 3 million spins.

When that beats kicks in, right the hell on.  That is going to freaking crush at the festival in the fall.  I can just imagine my pearl snaps rattling to that bass.  Unlike many of the other people I've been reviewing, his YouTube count is significantly higher than his Spotify count, which is interesting. Austin watches the 43rd most, just ahead of Ho Chi Min City. Seriously.

"Senorita" from that new album, with just under 2 million listens, is the most popular from the new disc.

2.6 million spins on YouTube though.  Crazy video.  But the beat that literally had me looking up from my work to figure out what was going on was "Blue Suede."  "Loca" is pretty salty as well, and I also dig the hook in "Norf Norf" of "I ain't never ran from nothin' but the police."  Cool, glitchy, bouncing beat and delivery of the rap.  I dig what the guy has going on and may just find him to watch the show in October.

G-Eazy

Rap.  His Spotify bio says he is known as the "James Dean of rap."  Vomit.  His 2014 album These Things Happen has millions of plays per song, with one - "I Mean It" - cracking 38.5 million.  When I first looked at this back in April, he only had 20 million listens for that song.  

That tune is dope. Auto-tune is annoying, but I'm going to let it slide in favor of the chilly beat, good lyrics (about humping your girlfriend!  Sick burn!), and funny video.  His album is kind of up-and-down uneven, going from light R&B garbagio ("Let's Get Lost") to dumb concepts ("Tumblr Girls") to soft-core guitar crap ("Remember You") to pretty good, if overly repetitive, rap ("Lotta That" with A$AP Ferg or "Far Alone" with E-40).  He also has a remix of "I Mean It" with Rick Ross on it that is a fine remake.  "Been On" is also pretty slick.

That R&B track, "Let's Get Lost," is his second most listened-to track on Spotify, with just over 20 million spins.  His voice in there reminds me of Macklemore, that nasal, straight talking delivery.  Not sure if that is good or bad.

That one is OK.  I'd keep listening to him based on "I Mean It," but if "Let's Get Lost" was the single I heard, I'd never go hunt down the album.  Here is "Lotta That," which has almost 14 million spins on Spotify.

Trappy, tight beat.  A$AP Ferg is funny to me.

G-Eazy also has a Spotify Sessions album available on Spotify that is apparently a live show from SXSW 2014. I have to say that listening to it doesn't make me all that terribly excited about seeing him play a live show. Sounds like he uses a live band, which I respect as a cool musical move, but it also exposes the music when he can't rely on sweet production to make his songs sound better than they are.  I'm going to add "I Mean It" to my rap playlist for sure, but I won't go see him in October.

The Hunts

Promising single song from these folks.  From their album cover, it looks like a set of twin girls infiltrated a tween boy band, and the whole pack of them decided to break out their violin and mandolin and make a lovely little ditty.  Listen to this and, unless you suck, I bet you'll still be hearing that lilting little tune in your head.

It is in the Head and the Heart/ Lumineers vein, and all we get is the one song for now, but this is a great start.  However, they are up against Spanish Gold, so their crowd will not exist.  I feel bad for them, they are young, and might tear up when they see that their patch of grass in front of the BMI stage is completely empty.  But then they'll see the puddles from melted faces, flowing like a river of pale lava, from the Samsung stage, and they'll understand.  Hope all the best for them - this song is good.

Imelda May

Torchy, jazzy rockabilly with a strong voice.  Her most popular track on Spotify is called Johnny Got a Boom Boom, which is a kind of awesome title regardless of anything else.

She is apparently Irish, which is surprising since her voice doesn't seem to have any accent that I can hear. Her most recent album on Spotify is Mayhem, from 2010, although the internet seems to believe that she put out another (Tribal) in 2014.  Mayhem is more of the same as the above - good rockabilly groove with her powerful voice cranking over the top.

She might be kind of fun to go see play, but luckily for me, she easily comes in third behind Gaslight Anthem or Fitz & the Tantrums on Sunday afternoon, so I'll just have to appreciate her groove from afar. 

Haerts

This band only has four songs, but they are pretty dang good tuneful pop.  Although I have to get over the lameness of that name.  Am I supposed to say "harts," "hay-erts," "ha-erts," or what? Get offa my LAWN!  Both of their most popular songs sound really familiar to me.  They must be on the radio or something, especially All the Days.

Their first single is called Wings.  Almost 2 million listens on Spotify and over 600k spins on YouTube, so they must be doing something right.  Most of the other bands at this area of the schedule (11:30 am on Sunday) don't have six figures.

That is a good tune.  Their next single is called All the Days, and I think it is even stronger than that first song.  Kind of a brooding little groove of a bass line, with some atmospheric synths over the top.

I don't think I'll even be at the Park by this time in the morning.  But if I am, I'll likely drop by to see how these guys sound in person.

Nostalghia

A kind of Nine Inch Nails meets Siouxie and the Banshees/Kate Bush thing?  Thankfully, the name of the band is the lead singer's last name, so I don't need to feel disappointed in the youth of today right now. None of these songs have more than 10,000 listens on Spotify, which is not a large surprise to me because this stuff is extremely different.

Her song with the most listens is called Homeostasis:

This next one is a little more Bjork doing baby voices over a very simple piano riff that turns into a screaming, brooding techno beat.  Amy, do not click on this link or you will likely hurt your brain.  Or you might hurt me.  Whatever, don't listen to this song.  It sounds nothing like old Indigo Girls or Tracy Lawrence.

Yep.  So, lucky for me, this guys will be jamming at 11:30 on Sunday morning, so I'll let their 150 biggest fans handle that show for them.

James Bay

Pleasant piano rock.  Is that damning praise?  Two EPs, one from 2013 and one from 2014, so his stuff is relatively recent.  Hopefully one of his album covers later down the line does not involve the same drawing of his Smokey the Bear hat with stringy hair and his nose poking out underneath.  I bet he'll come up with something by 2015.  This one is an acoustic only version of his most popular tune - Let It Go (thankfully, not a Disney cover):

Soulful stuff, right?  His second most popular song is from the earlier EP, called When We Were On Fire:

Still wearing the Arby's sign on his head, but again it is pretty soulful and simple.  I like it.  Weird part is that these videos don't sound quite like the studio versions, so it makes my comment that he plays pleasant piano rock sound insane.  Just believe me, his most recent EP is full of piano.  Or go listen for yourself.  After making it through all of his music, I like him.  I wish the dude would go find a kick ass band to front - his voice is strong and expressive.  His stuff is good, but I think he could be fantastic in front of a good band.  I'm going to put him in touch with Guns n Roses.

Vic Mensa

Er, not sure when they added him to the lineup.  And Spotify has zero for me to go on.  I did manage to find videos on YouTube of the guy, and it sounds like he's got some of the intelligent rap stuff going on here.  According to the Internets, he is part of the Chance the Rapper posse in Chicago, which totally sounds right on the second video down there.  This first one, with over a million views, sounds like a b-side from the Disclosure/Sam Smith sessions.  My first impression was that this was weak, but after a second listen, its actually pretty snappy.

The start of this next one is weird, some pre-teen show on Nickelodeon or something.  Tune is called Orange Soda.  I need to find re-runs of You Can't Do That On Television to show to my kids.  I can guarantee you my son would dig that stuff in a major way when people got the green slime poured on them.   

 One more, called Feel That, which feels a little bit like when Lil Wayne wanted to clown by doing Lollipop:

(is that Mandy Moore in the video at about 2:28?)

From these three videos, I have no clue what to think of this guy.  First, he hooked up some EDM/disco music to rap and sign along with.  Second, he goes backpack rapper with a simple little beat and verbose rap.  Third, he goes mainstream rap where the beat takes the reins because the rap is so repetitive and generic.  Whatever, if I am at the park by 1 on Sunday, I'd like to go see Reuben and the Dark anyway.

Jamestown Revival

Fine alt-country, roots-folk stuff.  A little more funky than some of the others in that vein, but still rocking all-acoustic with a banjo sprinkling and solid harmonies.  These songs feel like I have heard them before - I wonder if KUTX ever plays them, or if they are just so good that they feel right on first listen.

California (Cast Iron Soul) is the first single off of their only album, which came out this year.  I like it.  The rest of the album isn't quite so polished, which I also like.  Loose and relaxed, makes you feel like you are hanging out with them while they jam in a living room.

This is good stuff.

Jhene Aiko

Good hook singer for top rappers, with her own soft R&B stuff.  If you listened to Drake's Nothing Was the Same, you'll recognize her from "From Time," which sounds pretty dang close to her most popular track on Spotify, "The Worst."

31 million damn views on YouTube?  Damn!  Either people like looking at her bra, like the way she steps over her dead man's body while she makes some peanut butter toast, or this song is good.  I think it might be the first, but the song is likeable.  Her rap in the middle is interesting because it is kind of quiet, not as low as a whisper, but there is something cool about the delivery she uses.

Her second most popular track from her album is Bed Peace, with Childish Gambino.

Which I find myself wanting to dislike, because in general I'd say that R&B is not my thing, but as I listen to the song and watch that video a second time, I find that I like this quite a bit.  The softness in her voice is really nice.  The message, of taking time in bed, sounds wonderful.  I'm going to send my kids to her stylish all-white flat next weekend and see how much bed peace she gets.

Rey Pila

Some of their songs are in spanish, but they sound like an 80's synth band.  They get rocking here and there, but in general, I'm hearing a good time, seeing legwarmers, tasting Jolt Cola, and wishing that Ally Sheedy would just dance with me!  Most popular song, No Longer Fun, is from their 2010 album, Rey Pila.

It has a TV on the Radio vibe, except that they want you to shout along to the chorus and dance and stuff.  I don't get that feeling when I usually listen to TVOTR.  But it also feels like something Demi Moore's band would have played in Better Off Dead.  Either way, this is their most popular song, with about 30k listens. Second most popular tune is a 2013 single (with Lady in Red on the B-Side!  What?!  Literally, a cover of that terribly awesome song), called Alexander.

They definitely stick with the 80's new wave sound.  And it works - this is a pretty catchy, bouncing pop song.  I may just wander by and check these cats out on my way to Kodaline.

Nightbox

According to Wikipedia, this is a "dance-punk" band from Ireland.  Falsetto-filled dance pop, yes.  But I hear nothing that could even remotely be called punk in the four songs they have on their EP.  They apparently have a second EP out as of April 2014, but Spotify doesn't have it.

Nice groovy dance song.  Their rhythm section in the background is locked in and really good at hitting a nice disco pop groove.  Here is their most listened to one from YouTube with just over 30k spins.  Called Relocate You:

Weird video about a dude saving a space alien against his buddies' wishes, where shotguns apparently shoot regular bullets.  Another pretty good dance-pop song though.  I don't see anything wrong with putting on your pop groove shoes here and there - maybe I'll stop by this stage on the way between Spanish Gold and Falls.