The Official ACL Blog for like Eight People!
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One Liner: Self-taught, self-produced indie psych rock fella
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, indie rock, funky pop, psych rock
Home: Highland, CA
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 10. Weekend One Only. Friday at 3:30
BeatBox Stage.
Thoughts: Japanese and Mexican heritage, entirely self-produced, and sorta funky. The section of these tunes that I am in right now is making me think of Khrungbin. He was named the Luck Reunion Artist on the Rise in 2025, so it makes some sense that we snagged him for the Fest.
He apparently played drums in the middle school marching and symphonic bands, but fell in love with music because of the jams his dad would play around the house - RHCP, Zep, Floyd - and so he shifted out to join the high school jazz band and go a little further afield with his sounds. He sold his X-Box as a sophomore in high school, bought an electric guitar, and became obsessed with making sounds. he then began mastering the other instruments so that he could be a one man band. After high school, he started busking and was successful enough to feel like he could really give it a go. So, he got a job at a Guitar Center (lol) and started using his earnings for equipment to master and produce his own stuff. That is so cool.
A couple EPs, with only one true album - 2022's Monterrey Village. The photo on the cover is awesome - shirtless in overalls with a sombrero and cowboy boots at about age 4, holding a play guitar and looking at the camera. The top track is from that album - "when sunday comes around" has 20.9 million streams.
Got an indie rock thing with a little psych rock flavor in there. Sounds kind of like a lot of indie rock artists right now, but I think some of the other tunes on the disc are even better. Like, "buen provecho" has some of that funky instrumental groove that I love. "novocaine" is snappy as hell. "Skin" reminds me of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who I like a lot. Let's do that one, a recent single off of his 2026 EP called Half Moon. 857k streams.
Digging the groove. I have enjoyed this one. At times, I wonder if he is pretty generic and sounds like a lot of other things, but then I just find myself cruising along and enjoying the ride. I'd go check him out to do his thing.
One Liner: One of the Stranger Things actors making good psych and indie rock.
Wikipedia Genre: neo-psychedelia, indie rock, psychedelic rock, synth-pop Home: L.A. (born in Massachusetts, college in Chicago, but he's bound to live in L.A. now, right?) Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 2 Both Weekends.
Saturday.
Ladybird Stage at 7:30
Thoughts: He was supposed to come in 2022, but he actually bailed at the last minute. On Insta, he shared a cryptic message saying that an unfortunate last minute scheduling conflict is causing him to miss. But it was a month and a half prior to the Fest. What is last minute? You've got a month and a half to get it fixed! But, since then, he has grown significantly in popularity.
Before I understood who this was, I was slightly confused. Here was my digging into that in 2022... Always fun to have someone like this on the poster, where I get to find out that Djo is a Portugese futsal player, DJO is a manufacturer of medical devices (headquartered in Lewisville, Texas!), DJO High is Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (high school of Eric Metcalf!), Djo d'Eloy is a Cape Verdean singer (whose greatest song is "Arriola"!), Djo Mpeko is a footballer (a defender for the Girabola!), Djo Tunda Wa Munga is a film director (winner of the 2011 MTV Music Awards for Best African Movie!), AND HE IS ALSO THE OLDER BROTHER IN STRANGER THINGS!?!?!
Of all the things I did not expect to happen today, way way way high on the list would be to click on the listing for Djo and see that it is the stage name for Joe Keery's music career, when he is not starring as Steve Harrington in Stranger Things or the movie Free Guy or the fifth season of Fargo (as a super psycho Sheriff Deputy). Fascinating. He went to DePaul University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. In his musical career, he apparently started out by releasing music under the name Cool Cool Cool, but then became a guitarist for a band called Post Animal for a few albums. According to one interview I read, he said that the fame from Stranger Things made that weird because the rest of the band didn't want to just be the "guy from Stranger Things" band - but they've stayed friends and he's gotten their help on making his solo album. In 2019, he started releasing music under the Djo name.
And you know what? It's actually pretty solid! Kinda low key indie psych rock. Think super basic Tame Impala. One song, which I have heard in the interim on the radio a good bit, is for sure the megahit with 1.58 BILLION streams. Damn. "End of Beginning."
Good, chill, nugget for me. I dig the groove. Part of me wanted to come to this post with the angle of whether or not he would have gotten this far on the ACL poster if he wasn't the Stranger Things guy. Like, would he have separated himself from the other indie rock out there without that slice of pop culture notoriety? Almost like a nepo-baby thing, but instead of a famous mom, being cast on a wildly popular show. But after churning through these songs for a day, this is legitimate. I dig it.
Well, then I have to say that the 2020 single "Keep Your Head Up" is not my favorite. Too much falsetto, too much saxophone, too much squelchy synths. The stuff from the 2019 album Twenty Twenty is much better. The second most streamed tune from that album, called "Roddy," has 102.4 million streams.
Pretty good tune - nothing particularly stands out in there, but good guitar and vocals and a nice little groove. The synth voice thing in the middle, straight out of Ferris Bueller, is a little weird, but otherwise it is a solid tune. "Chateau (Feel Alright)" is the other big song, with 142.9 million streams and a similarly woozy rock sound.
Nice chill tune. Brings me some Beck vibes. "Mutual Future" has some Strokes vibes, but also some jam band guitarage near the end. "BNBG," with its ridiculous outro of repeatedly saying "babygirl," is a massively cringe inducing moment. "Personal Lies" kicks in with a pop rock swagger, but then devolves into a spacey meander. I like it.
After that disc, you get 2022's DECIDE, which includes that mega-hit posted up above. Nothing else on there comes anywhere close to that level of excitement. The top song otherwise has 33 million streams. Finally, you get 2025's The Crux, which is pretty good as well. The title song has a Beatles piano ballad vibe to it. The bigger song is "Basic Being Basic," but I like "Delete Ya" much better. 20.4 million streams.
Again, nice groove to go with a catchy tune. Sort of a The Cars vibe in there to my ear.
I'm in. A little shocked at that decision with where my head was pointed when I started this, but I like it.
One Liner: Reggae-tinged rock grooves from Down Under
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, psychedelic rock
Home: Sydney
Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 9 Both Weekends. Saturday.
Miller Lite at 3:15.
Thoughts: I'm hearing all sorts of things here. Thundercat, Moon Taxi, Black Crowes, like 311 or Rebellution or one of those other vaguely reggae-ish rock bands... Wikipedia claims that their style has been described as "cruisey psych, rock and reggae fusion." If I told you that these names had created a band - Baden Donegal, Angus Goodwin, Lach Galbraith, Mitch Galbraith, Nic Blom, and Tom O'Brien - where would you guess that band hailed from? Sounds like Scotland or Wales to me, but instead it is from good old convict island of Australia.
They joined up in a backyard shed in 2011, and soon had gigs all around Northern Beaches, which is apparently a suburb of Sydney. Wikipedia says "Not to be confused with North Beach, North Shore (Sydney), or North Sydney." I guess they are not very original with their naming down undah. Actually kind of cool, they apparently toured the whole of Australia five times in their own four-wheel drive throughout 2014 and 2015. I like the idea of the band piled into a classic Land Rover pounding the sand between Canberra and Perth, eating wallaby legs they've killed with their bullroarer and listening to Midnight Oil the whole way. Even if it was significantly less romantic than that, I have been enjoying just letting these tunes roll along all day today.
2013's Mellow Yellow EP kicked off their career, and the title track was the initial hit that has continued to resonate even today. 87.9 million streams.
I like the bouncing little bass rips that are cruising along under that reggae-ish guitar licking. Makes for a funky groove. Slightly in the jam band lane, in the way a Moon Taxi or Revivalists can be. I enjoy. 2016 was the first real album with Lost Tropics. A couple tunes on there top more than 10 million streams, but the winner is "Lemonworld" with 56 million.
What is their deal with yellow and lemon? Still got that reggae-style guitar lilt going. Feels a little under-produced. I wonder if they were doing all of this themselves in the backyard shed still. In my completely uninformed opinion, I feel like their band name hurts them. It's not as awful as Hootie and the Blowfish or something, but it will not stick in my mind. I've been enjoying this music and yet the name will not stick.
They followed up this album with a full on European tour, playing sold out shows all around. Their 2018 album that followed boasts the big boy song. Chiaroscuro is the album, and "Confidence" is the song with 241.4 million streams.
There is some of that Thundercat funk bass business. Skates are for sure one of those things that seems way more fun than it actually is, although watching attractive ladies come close to eating it is more fun than I would have expected. Ah, I kinda wanted mega-dork to find one of the ladies and impress her with his skillz. Good groove though. Two more albums, 2020's Lonely Diamond and 2022's Low Altitude Living. Both are good, neither has a huge hit on it.
According to Wikipedia, "Confidence" actually shot up the charts to popularity in 2023 because of a TikTok trend called Behind Every Girl, celebrating confidence and happiness. Way to go TikTok! Since then, they have announced a big tour and sold out a bunch of shows and festival slots.
I'd absolutely check this out. I want to just keep it playing right now.
One Liner: Influential indie/chillwave piece of Animal Collective Wikipedia Genre: psychedelic pop, electronic Home: NYC (via Baltimore, although now in Portugal, so, whatever) Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 12 Day: Friday Both Weekends.
Beatbox Stage at 3:30.
Thoughts: I feel like I have heard about Panda Bear for years, but never really known what he has going on. I similarly never remember listening to Animal Collective, so I have missed out on his original band as well as his current thing. Well, no longer.
Noah Lennox started using the name Panda Bear in the late 90's when he added a drawn picture of a panda to the cover of a tape he made in his bedroom. He grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, went to Boston University to major in religion, and ended up in New York City. Since 2004, he has lived in Portugal. When he got to New York in 2000, he and some of the others from Animal Collective shifted that band from a loose, long-distance thing into a more formal band and started releasing music. They released five albums from 2000 to 2007, when Panda Bear released his first real solo disc - 2007's Person Pitch. But then they both just kept on doing their thing concurrently.
I fired up his new album, and it sounds like the Beach Boys are still making lush and catchy pop harmonies in my office. I absolutely love it. But I want to go back in time and dig in on this guy, so let's go to the beginning instead.
2007's Person Pitch still sounds kind of like it was influenced by the Beach Boys and that sort of spacey harmony thing, except that it also wiggles with samples and electronica involved. The album opener is the top track on it - here is "Comfy in Nautica," with 4.8 million streams.
If the Beach Boys had acquired an army and asked them to march upon Malibu, this would have been the sound as they goose-stepped up the Pacific Coast Highway. "Take Pills" burbles with random noise as the underlying song seems piped through a distant tunnel. "Bros" also has an echo-ey quality, but shines with the trippy harmonies of a Pet Sounds b-side, until it goes into the 12 minute trippy freakout of a Sargeant Pepper's b-side. There are nice little ideas and sounds in here, but I'd say that the overall feel of the album is stressful and weird for me. Wikipedia claims that this album inspired the chillwave genre and numerous other acts. This ain't the type of chillwave I want to hear then. Also interesting, to me at least, that multiple things I read called this album highly acclaimed and trailblazing and whatever, and yet the top streamer has less than 5 million listens. Doesn't feel especially acclaimed if no one listens.
I asked a friend who is in to chill music what he thought of Panda Bear, and his response was something like "the songs I love, I really love, but much of it is not great." He then sent me a link to "Good Girl/Carrots," saying that if you would just forward about three minutes in the song is amazing. But it sucks to have to forward a chunk of a song to get to the goods. Oh well!
2011's Tomboy also comes on with those trippy harmonies and Brian Wilson vibe, but there is more straight guitar in the mix. "Slow Motion" almost has a hip hop vibe to it. Hahaha - I was literally coming here to say that a song sounded like a hellacious drone track, only to find that the name of it is "Drone." Spot on, Panda Bear, spot on. That song sucks! Like the first one, the album is up and down, but none of the stream counts point to any particular hit here.
In here, the Bear appeared on one of Daft Punk's songs from that Random Access Memories album that won all the Grammys and reintroduced Daft Punk to the world. So, despite it being a collaboration, Pandaman has himself a Grammy.
2015's awesomely titled Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper is his highest charting album, reaching #2 on the US Indie charts and #34 on the regular US charts. He keeps the weirdness alive here too, with the layered harmonies and electronica sounds. "Mr Noah" is louder and harder than most of the other stuff though, while "Tropic of Cancer" is a harp-fueled cloud. "Come to Your Senses" is almost poppy. Just feels all over the place. But the big streamer from it is "Boys Latin" with 11.3 million streams.
It sort of loses the beat there at the start - that is weird. it's like I am listening to two songs at once. I just paused it to make sure I wasn't. Are any of those vocals actually words? Trippy, brah. Here is what I will give the guy with this album, I am genuinely curious to hear what is coming next. You literally cannot predict what the next song will be like the first time you hear this disc. I don't know if it is all good, but at least it is interesting for sure.
2019's Buoys starts out with a song that reminds me of the new Radiohead style of strangely sparse songs, although this one also has water drop sounds interspersed throughout for reasons. He is using effects on his voice here that are kind of trippy and remind me of the times that Vampire Weekend has used the same. No big songs here.
2022's Reset (which is done with someone or something called Sonic Boom) heads back towards the Beach Boys angle. And like that last disc, you really never know what is coming next. Spanish flamenco influence? Sure. Morose folk? Of course. "Edge of the Edge" is probably my favorite on here. No songs on here crack 2 million either. I am really interested to know how the songs from the new album sound so amazing in comparison to much of this. He also does an extended version of this and then a "dub" version too. No one listened to that.
Finally, we get to 2025's Sinister Grift. It is rad. I feel like he took the Beach Boy harmonies and the Tame Impala usage of that and wrapped them into a new set of tracks. I don't know why this one registers so cleanly with me, but I think it is really great. Still kind of trippy and weird, but also a more normal-ish indie rock record with guitars and drums and whatever. Top track as of now is "Defense," featuring the elusive Cindy Lee. 1.6 million streams.
Nice groove underlying that action. Ooooooh, wait, a Tiny Desk from 4 weeks ago!?! Fresh Tiny Desk!!!
Reminds me of Car Seat Headrest at times. The explainer on that says that this is the first time Panda Bear has toured with a full band since he started doing solo action. Two songs from the new disc ("Ferry Lady" and "Defense") and then a deep cut from a 2009 Animal Collective disc. Great harmonies. Definitely just seems like a regular ass indie band though - they stripped off the weird stuff. Which I dig! Let's go do it with the Panda!
One Liner: Funky African-tinged rock and roll flavor from some local fellas
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but they call themselves Afropsych
Home: Austin
Poster Position: 20 Weekend Two Only. Sunday at 1:40.
BMI Stage.
Thoughts: This is an Austin band with vocals from Kalu James, a Nigerian immigrant, and guitar wizardry from Jonathan "JT" Holt. Solid action for a band who has gotten to open for the Black Keys and Parliament/Funkadelic, among others. James immigrated to the US at age 18, and moved to Austin at age 25, where he teamed up with Holt to combine the West African influences with some bluesy psych rock style. Both sides are really strong.
Two albums with a big gap in the middle - 2017's Time Undone and 2023's Garden of Eden. The biggest streamer is off of that first album - "Too Low to Get High" has just over 2 million streams.
Starts up like something the Black Keys would make, or at least Dan Auerbach would produce. That song jams. Understated and building it up at the start, and then you feel him reaching out to take it bigger. But the guitar tone has a yummy fuzziness and warm tone. Good stuff.
Funny thing, I was just listening along and in my head I was like, "man, this guy sort of sounds like David Shaw and the Revivalists, what track is this so that I can make note of that" aaaaaaand the algorithm had switched me over to David Shaw. Funny. But the comparisons I have more often while listening here are TV On the Radio, and then every once in a while he sounds like Peter Gabriel.
The second-biggest track is from the newer album, the title track, which has 664k streams.
I really dig the guitar sound at the start of that one. I'd say that overall, this is a really fun sound and would likely be fun to see on stage. Every once in a while, the groove edges towards the edge of the rails, it feels like they are sloppy sometimes. Maybe sloppy isn't the right word, but in general it is fun stuff.
One Liner: My favorite new thing (and also a kinda Britpoppy psych rock thing)
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but Britpop and psych rock
Home: Austin!
Poster Position: 23 Weekend Two Only. Sunday at 12:10.
Miller Lite Stage.
Thoughts: Is it weird to anyone else that some of the best rock and roll stuff on the whole damn poster is just shoved into early Sunday on Weekend Two? Why can't I get some Rickshaw Billie's, these cats, and Molecular Steve on Weekend One? Hoes.
This first song is going to get your ass out of your seat, baby. "Star Starter" sounds like something that Austin Powers would be dancing to when he shows up in 90's England. Super tasty. 190k streams.
Like, that isn't Oasis, but is it Blur or Pulp or Stone Roses? Please play this at my funeral and everyone is requested to boogie their asses off on top of my casket. I am very much enjoying just letting this stuff roll right now! A couple singles and a 2023 album called Good Time that starts off with that song up above. "Heathens Gate" just got me ready to move to Manchester and dance through the streets. The combo of those drums and that guitar strummage and those light vocals. Eat it up.
You just say the band name as "daystar," by the way. Second biggest tune is "Tracemaker" with 173k.
When that starts, you just FREAKING KNOW that the tambourine is about to start in with the drums in a few seconds. God it scratches an itch in my brain when it happens. The dud really plays his guitar funny, but I think this whole schtick freaking rules. Sign me up.
I mean, listen to the infinite fuzz of this live set of them at some Seattle radio station and tell me it doesn't light up your pleasure center.
I was kind of hoping they'd talk and tell about themselves or something, but it rules either way. In the interview piece, that went like shit - he asked where the band name came from, and the dude was like "dunno?" They apparently started the band in 2020 with masks and all that crap. Either way, I am super in.
One Liner: Funky Khruangbin Vibe with Middle Eastern flourish
Wikipedia Genre: Psychedelic rock, synth, funk, instrumental rock, rock
Home: Melbourne
Poster Position: 15 Both Weekends. Sunday at 3.
Tito's Tent.
Thoughts: Thank God this wasn't Glass Animals. They've been here before and that freaking "Gooey" song makes me want to die. Instead, this is sort of another band in the "Khruangbin vibe" neighborhood, except with more middle eastern feels going on in the groove. I kind of dig it.
Unfortunately, very limited music available right now. Two EPs totaling 8 songs, with three released in 2021 and five released in 2024. The top track is a new one - "Mahal" - with 7.9 million streams.
That is a sweet groove. I don't know where to really place it geographically, so I have to just go with Middle East, but there is probably someone who would make fun of me and say this is totally from Egypt or whatever. I just know it grooves. Also, from looking at a live video they did for this, the band appears to wear little bejeweled doilies over their faces when they play, so for all we know this could actually be R.E.M. or Metallica or Khruangbin (more likely).
The band was founded by Rajan Silva, and his inspiration was traditional Indian popular music and western rock. He apparently remembered watching the Concert for George, a tribute to George Harrison featuring Ravi Shankar along with western rock musicians, and decided something like that was ripe for action. Wikipedia, by the way, says that those masks are Russian designed.
Here is an interesting section of a Rolling Stone interview with the founder:
I think it may sound glib, but I did want to ask about the masks that you all don and what it represents. What kind of things have you heard/read about fan interpretations, if any?
Like a singer explaining the lyrics to a song, we’re hesitant to give the definite answer of what they mean to us, for fear of destroying the beautiful fan interpretations.
Here are two favorites:
Indra’s Net in mythology is an intricate web which extends infinitely across the universe. The net is bejeweled, it’s glistening, as at each node of the net where threads cross there is a perfectly clear gem that reflects all the other gems in the net.
Ego Death is a “complete loss of subjective self-identity”. Complete transcendence − beyond yourself, beyond words, beyond spacetime. No self. Just pure awareness and ecstatic freedom.
In a very strange method, their second-most streamed song just ends mid-groove. I thought it was a glitch and Spotify couldn't finish the song, but no, when it gets to 2:14 and ends it is just right in the middle of the action. Strange choice. But the third most streamed track is from that first EP - "Mirage" - has 5.7 million streams.
That version is live from the studio, so that you can see the freaky mask action that they wear while they jam their jams. Weird that he is making that one sound just using the knob on that synth. Cool. Wikipedia does not identify the rest of the band, so I am just going to continue to assume that is Tame Impala guy and one of the Khruangbins.
Wikipedia Genre: psychedelic rock, surf rock, funk, instrumental rock, dub, rock
Home: Houston
Poster Position: Headliner! Both Weekends. Saturday at 6:20 (sure, makes total sense for them to be before non-headliners from the 3rd row).
AmEx Stage.
Thoughts: Last here in 2018, and at the time I remember them feeling like a revelation - like, there was nothing like this going on anywhere I feel like. Now, these are multiple other copies of them on this same poster. But still, while back in 2018 I thought these folks were off the reservation, I still found it absolutely freaking cool. It is like these cats are trying to make funk instrumentals for spaghetti Westerns to use. And I do not mean that as an insult in the slightest. I'm truly digging what this band is laying down.
By now, much of their catalog is familiar, and local radio stations like KUTX and Sun keep them in the roatation. This isn't the top track, but its still the one I want to present to you first, because it is flipping tight and the one I recall being the biggest one first. I need Killer Mike to lay a track down over the top of it yesterday. This is "Maria Tambien," with just over 53.4 million streams.
By the way, that speaking stuff in that video doesn't belong - that is not in the real version of the track, but is for some reason included in the official video... But the key to these tunes is that bass. Hot damn, that bass is a reason to get up in the morning and face the day. Gimme some more of that stuff. The name though, I don't even understand how to say it. Wikipedia says the following: "When asked to play their first gig, [bassist] Laura Lee, who was learning to speak Thai at the time, decided they should name themselves after her favorite word, "khruangbin," which means "engine fly" or "airplane" in Thai. Speer admits that, had they had the foresight to predict the band's success, they may not have chosen a name that was so difficult to pronounce. Though the band's name is notoriously challenging to say, it symbolizes the international set of influences that shaped the band's formation." This video (with a very annoying screaming woman in it) shows how to pronounce it.
Krung Bin. Someone please make that lady shut up. No need to scream at the top of your lungs while this guy is trying to explain the band name. Criminy. Four albums, 2015's The Universe Smiles Upon You, 2018's Con Todo El Mundo, 2020's Mordechai, and 2024's A LA SALA. There are also some other EPs and remixes and collaborations in there, but those are the four official releases. Oh, and lots of official live albums. I like the second album quite a bit more - the first one has more of a psych/surf vibe, where the 2018 album feels more solid and more funky. The "Maria Tambien" song up above is from the new album, but their most popular streaming track is from that first album, this is "People Everywhere (Still Alive)" with 116.2 million streams.
Tasty funky little nugget of goodness. Just let that one rip and feel the groove.
Also, how fucking cool do these cats look in this video.
That is the good shit right there. That simple drumming to keep it moving. The complex bass climbing and descending and bouncing around, and then the ringing, plucking, insistent guitar. That first track is freaking goodness. The video is 50 minutes long, so I get it if you're not going to go that far, but just check out the opener. No, you need to see the second one too. I want to make sweet love to this music. Not like listen to it while I make love, I want to actually bone this music. Also, the fact that the bassist and guitarist share a hairstyle is kind of messed up. On her, looks great, especially when she breathes into the mike. On him, scary Moorish molester man. They are apparently just wigs. It is wild that they are from Houston - doesn't feel like it matches, until you think about how ethnically diverse and weird Houston really is. Sure, it is the Energy Capital of the World of whatever, but it is also a major melting pot of cultures and languages and ethnicities. Well, Mark Speer (guitar and vocals) and DJ Johnson (drums, keyboard, vocals) met playing in a gospel band at a Methodist Church in Houston, and over drinks realized that they both shared a deep love for music. In 2007, Speer met Laura Lee Ochoa (bass guitar and vocals) and he taught her the bass, and then she joined the band Yppah, where Speer was already the guitarist. After a tour, they were motivated to keep it going and started the new band. And it worked out swimmingly. "The New York Times wrote that Khruangbin's sound was so distinct and popular that "there now exists an entire subgenre of music broadly known as 'Khruangbin vibes.'"
Let's go a little more into the music itself. 2020's Mordechai had the unfortunate fate of many pandemic releases. More very fun, cool, funky, eclectic tracks - some instrumental and some with words - that could frequently act as a very good rap background if someone cool was so inclined. "Father Bird, Mother Bird" has the sound of one of those cool BadBadNotGood tracks that Ghostface Killah used to rap over on that Sour Soul disc. Love this track - smooth as silk and fully laid back. The top track is a great one - "Time (You and I)" with 73.1 million streams (impressive!).
Got that tight wacka wacka action from the guitar, some funky bass machinations, and overall a damn good groove. I just put it in a playlist for my sister the other day - I think it matches her very well. Also, that video is amazing.
Then they hooked up for two EPs with fellow ACL posterboy Leon Bridges, to make the fantabulous 2020 EP - Texas Sun - that is super yummy. Texas Sun came out just right before the pandemic, and something about it just nailed a vibe that we needed in my household at the time. The kids would roll their eyes at this tune by now, because of how much we played it, but it is freaking beautiful. "Texas Sun," with 259.7 million streams (by the way, up from 246.7 million in the last month when I wrote the Leon Bridges review).
The combo of that voice with those groovy, funky, intertwining instruments, is just rad. Seems really bad to have distilled the sun into that little ball and then just look at it with your wife. Your ophthalmologist will be sad. Also, while I'm not sure, I am pretty certain that at least one of those shots in the video was out in or near Alpine, Texas, and I love Alpine, Texas. Maybe it's just more El Paso. And then, in 2022, the Khrungbridges fired out Texas Moon. Not anything on there as good as this, but still solid.
In 2022 they released a disc with the African singer Vieux Farka Toure called Ali. When it was released, I was joking to myself, in the car, that KUTX's playlist is just Khruangbin in different iterations. By themselves, with Leon Bridges, with Toure, probably with like Megan Thee Stallion and Dolly Parton. But this one has a completely different style than the collaborations with someone like Leon. Toure is a Malian guitarist, the son of another famous Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure (thus the album name, because this is a set of his dad's tunes). And so, the funky worldliness of Khruangbin gets a boost from the African sounds of Toure to make a really nice combination. It is a chill gem of long grooves and relaxed funk. The top track is "Diarabi", which has been on the radio a lot around here. It has 12.5 million streams.
Would be dope as hell with a cool rapper freestyling over the top of that. No clue what he is saying in the lyrics, but the smoothness of the overall track is cool as hell. Now just set Kendrick loose over the top to talk about his childhood and we're cooking with gas. Good disc.
Finally, you get 2024's A LA SALA. You'd never know that this wasn't the same album they put out in 2020. Not that I know the hustle, they found a lane and they are sticking to it, but it is exactly more of the same. Maybe a little more chill, if that is possible, with less of the upbeat numbers as last time. Great vibe music - although if I am being honest, a few times through this one and my brain has wandered and wished I could put some music on. Which is not a great sign. 3 songs crack 10 million, with "May Ninth" being top of the pile at 20.4 million.
Not sure if I like the singing ones or the pure instrumentals, but either way, they really use the smeary little vocals like they were just another instrument in the quiver. Yeah, good vibe here, something nice to hear at a restaurant while you chat. Otherwise, this final feature is a little less than exciting for me. I want more of the Leon Bridges combo action I think.
Oddly, they have a track on the new Childish Gambino album that is just a straight Khruangbin song. No rap. Nothing other than these guys just doing one of their usual funk jams. Strange.
But yeah, I'd go vibe along with this. I very well might end up doing that, being that Saturday's headliners are otherwise underwhelming.
One Liner: Crunchy, fuzzy, local psych rock goodness
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but psych rock, surf rock, weirdness Home: Austin!
Poster Position: 24 Weekend Two Only. Saturday at 12:05pm.
IHG Stage.
Thoughts: Wow. Speaking of people throwing back to a classic old sound, this is spot on 60's psych rock action over surf guitars. Incredible harmonies and fun fuzzy guitar. Even though I was just complaining about some other band ripping off the past in an uninteresting way, I freaking dig the hell out of this one. Also, a little weird that they are behind Promqueen on the poster when their songs have significant streams and promqueen has nada. Bull.
Being Dead is a book by Jim Crace, published in 1999, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction and was selected by the NYT as the Editor's Choice of the Year. The film version stars four people I have never heard of. But otherwise, Wikipedia doesn't know them. But their PR company's description of them is very interesting. Even though there are three people in every photo, they claim that this is an Austin, TX duo consisting of Falcon Bitch and Shmoofy. Their Spotify bio says it is a duo made up of Falcon Bitch and Gumball. So, Falcon Bitch is definitely in the band, that is for sure.
Handful of singles prior to the first album, 2023's When Horses Would Run. Really a fun album - could have come from 50 years ago or yesterday for sure. The top streamer is "The Great American Picnic," with 393k streams, but several others have more than 100k and two more have more than 200k streams.
Falcon Bitch and Shmoofy are not very nice to those who are smaller than them! Look's like they were the KUTX artist of the month at one point and did a live jam for the station in Studio 1A. Check the vibe.
"ONWARD! BUFFALO! According to the video description, Ricky Moto is that extra person playing bass, but then they say that both Falcon Bitch and Gumball each play guitar, drums, and vocals, so you get no closer to knowing which is who? Oh wait, they announce! The lady is Falcon Bitch! Now we know! But what I am realizing is that I need to figure out when to just go see these two weirdos around Austin sometime.
The current single of their upcoming album Eels is called "Firefighters" and according to something I read, it is apparently told from the perspective of a Dalmatian who is overworked at their fire station. 38k streams and all the fuzz pedals.
She sounds vaguely Australian. That tune rules. I'd absolutely go see them, but since they are weekend two only (booooooo) it looks like I need to find them elsewhere in Austin before the Fest!
One Liner: Absolutely fun times throwing back to the 60's rock and then riding up on My Morning Jacket's coattails
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but indie rock, soul rock, psych rock, boogieliciousness
Home: Wales
Poster Position: 4 (20) Weekend Two Only. Saturday at 12:30
Thoughts: Church Village Collective, but I kept conflating it somewhere in between PVC pipe and CVS pharmacy. Easier to think of it by the full name. They are a pile of dudes from Wales, and I'm always a fan of Welsh things. I have a friend whose wife is Welsh, and I find great pleasure in trying to comprehend the guttural sounds that the Welsh people use to make words. Like, she texted me happy birthday and it said "penblwydd hapus." My buddy said that using the road signs there is a brutal experience. But beautiful place and nice folks!
But the band is trying to bring back the chilled vibes of the 60's rock and roll scene, that sort of soft-focus, AM-Gold, Laurel Canyon, peaceandlove vibe, but then they also bring some funk to the party like the way that My Morning Jacket did with that Evil Urges album. The town where they are from is actually called Church Village (although I'm sure on their signs it is called Ggggyghhlm Up). After just a few tunes, I actually wish that they had a later slot in the day! And both weekends! "Mademoiselle" brings some Santana-partying-at-the-Disco vibes.
"Sophie" is the top track, the hit from their only album, 2023's Get Real. 749k streams.
My man looks like the Narcos actor. YOu hear that 60's vibe in there? All those damn ooh, lalala's? I dig it. But I dig the second-biggest streamer even more, this is the MMJ-sounding one. "Good Morning Vietnam" comes on like some Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, then the grooooooooves right into a Big Holiday funkin' all up in your pants. Also, his voice sounds kinda like Eddie Money in there.
I am entirely ready to find this band and hear them blast that tune directly into my eyeballs. So much energy and top-shelf jamaliciousness. I won't be there for the noon shift on second Sunday, but this is legit.
One Liner: Fantastic alt-country psych rock by two of the Howler Bros.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but alt-country, jam, psych rock
Home: Austin
Poster Position: Not on the Poster, late addition Weekend Two Only. Sunday at Noon
Thoughts: Leon the Third is pretty solid! if I needed to wrap a comp up into a pithy phrase, this sounds like the Drive-By Truckers joined forces with the Grateful Dead. I was already digging the whole vibe here, and then they threw in a cover of the imminently rad Jane's Addiction song "Summertime Rolls" and I am positively turgid. I could just listen to these dudes all day long.
Leon III of Abkhazia was the king of something called Abkhazia from 957 AD to 967 AD. Reading the short Wikipedia entry about it feels like I might as well be reading some chapter of the new Game of Thrones book: "He succeeded in 926 as viceroy of Kartli to his older brother Constantine, the latter was blinded and castrated by George II after Constantine's unsuccessful rebellion." Apparently, this is part of Georgia now.
These two cats were formerly part of a band called the Wrinkle Neck Mules, which is really quite a band name. Andy Stepanian and Mason Brent are the members, and they use a pile of session musicians to make the whole thing come to life. The Mules were apparently a Virginia-based band that hewed to the bluegrass and country sound, but they decided that they were tired of that string sound and wanted go a little further afield. I really like where they ended up. Wait, hold on. I just read this line in a background piece: "Stepanian and Brent also collaborate in the form of Howler Brothers, a popular outdoor clothing line based in Austin, Texas, which they operate and which bears their artistic imprimatur." WTF!!!! Talk about burying the lede here - Stepanian co-founded fucking Howler Bros.? The Howler Brothers co-founder plays in a rad alt-country psych band?!?!?!!? What the hell. What a bad ass life - you play music on the side of a massively successful lifestyle brand. Damn.
Three albums - 2018's Leon III, 2021's Antlers in Velvet, and 2023's Live En Cyclorama. That last one is a live album, and despite being released in February it shows zero plays at all on Spotify, which is odd. I'm honestly fascinated by the lack of streams for this band overall - they are completely slept on, but I am loving it. The most streamed is from that debut album, "Between the Saddle and the Ground" has 59k streams. Apparently, shares it's title with a song by something called the Peter Wells Band.
Man, that breakfast looked good. I love good pancakes. Never eat them because now I'm old and they'll make me feel terrible, but damn if they aren't yummy to eat. Disconcerting video because of how much he stares at the camera. He looks so different after shaving!
The top song from the new album is "This Whisper is Ours," with 31k streams and a push away from those more traditional alt-country sounds and into a psych-rock-with-pedal-steel place. He still stares at the camera too much.
That cheating ass mascot hoe! I just recently followed along with morbid interest as a classmate of mine was tried in a murder-for-hire scheme where he tried to have his girlfriend's husband killed for allegedly messing with a 13 year old step-daughter. That second album is where the goodness is - top to bottom I could just keep playing that one all day without getting tired of it. Like, how could a Deadhead not groove on "Fly Migrator?" It jams.
Sadly, these dudes play at freaking noon on Sunday, and weekend two only, so I will almost certainly not get to see them at the Fest. But now that I know they exist, I'm thinking I hunt down another show at Stubb's indoors or the Yeti store or something to check it out. I am down.
One Liner: Alt. rock psych guys who made a funky new jam of 60's pop that everyone has heard
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative rock, indie rock, psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop, experimental, progressive rock
Home: Portland, OR
Poster Position: Headliner Both Weekends. Friday.
Thoughts: They were last here in 2017. I 100% did not recall whether I had watched that show, and just went back to read my review from that year. Not the finest of compliments for this band.
Weekend One, I said: "Not so sure about Portugal. The Man, in the end. I feel like, if I had been further up in the crowd, I might have gotten energized by it and more into the sound, but from the way back where everyone was talking and using their phones, I didn't get much out of it. So, after a few songs, I hooked up with some other friends and went over to the Killers' stage and got ready for their show."
Weekend Two, I said: "I wanted so badly for Portugal. The Man. to be a great show. After last week went poorly, I was hopeful that this week would be better, but again not good. The sound at the HomeAway stage was complete garbage. The band started the show in a super fun way, rolling out covers of Metallica (instrumental jam, I think from "For Whom the Bell Tolls") and Pink Floyd ("Another Brick in the Wall"), before tearing right into "Purple Yellow Red and Blue." But the sound at the stage was like going to a concert where the band was going to play in a submarine and you had to stand on the shore and see what you could hear through the waves. The conversations around me were much louder than the band. Such a bummer. Several people around me were talking about it, and finally I just decided to roll out and get closer for Gorillaz."
Booooooooooo! Because they have some really fun songs!
First things first, we have to figure out what the hell is up with their band name. A little bit of research later, and here we go:
PTM: It’s an interesting name, I guess. It is kind of an alter ego like Ziggy Stardust and Sgt Pepper. It’s our character to represent us as a band. In picking a country’s name, it was one name that represents a group of people. It made sense for a while, but we have regretted it ever since that day (Laughs). BB: Is there a reason for the pronunciation and spelling of Portugal, period, the Man? PTM: We did that to state that Portugal was the man’s name and he is the man; he’s the shit.
So there you have it. Portugal is a person, who is the shit, and he represents the whole band while they make music? Still not sure I understand. I think they need to change their name to Foo Tang. But I honestly appreciate the honesty there, that they fully understand and regret how annoying their name is. Their monster hit track, still getting airplay right now on the radio after 6 years of being released to the world, is a refreshingly sweet blast of 60's girl group pop that sounds like the soundtrack to an Austin Powers dance number in a volcano lair. Get some of this "Feel It Still" action. 1,141,903,272 freaking streams. A BILLION.
Daayyuuummm! I want to jump out of my seat and make a run through every embarrassing dance move that the Breakfast Club did in the library, while blowing out the speakers in my office. LET'S DO THIS SHIT! So much funkiness. So much falsetto. So catchy and ready for my emotive love. "Feel It Still" won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. So, that track is from their 2017 album, Woodstock. The album has some good stuff on it, but also has some out-there things that took me a few listens before I could get behind. For example, "Keep On" is a good, pretty straight-forward rocker. On the other hand, "Easy Tiger" is a freaky kaleidoscope of beats and effects and twisting sound that was a turnoff at first, but then it stuck in my brain and I wanted more.
Wikipedia says that they are originally from Wasilla, Alaska. That town will always be synonymous with that SNL skit where the Tina Fey version of Sarah Palin said that she could see Russia from her doorstep. It is a big group of folks in the band, but the original two members met and started making music at Wasilla High School. They moved to Portland before the band got super serious, and added a bunch of new members. After that, it didn't take long before they were touring with big bands, playing Bonnaroo, and becoming semi-famous.
Prior to that most famous album, they (shockingly to me) had approximately 80 billion other albums. 2006's Waiter: "You Vultures!," 2007's It's Complicated Being a Wizard, 2007's Church Mouth, 2008's Censored Colors, 2009's The Satanic Satanist, 2009's The Majestic Majesty, 2010's American Ghetto, 2011's In the Mountain in the Cloud, and then 2013's Evil Friends. That is some damn OUTPUT, y'all! None of the albums prior to Evil Friends appears to have made much of an impact, at least in the streaming world. Nothing on their first three albums broke three million streams (and most are way lower than seven figures). But as I mentioned earlier, by now they had already been touring with the Black Keys and other big bands - even before these albums blew up they were moving up. And their first real hit was from that Evil Friends album, the "Purple Yellow Red and Blue." 64 million streams.
This album is more of a straight-forward rock disc. Well, kind of psych and weird, but you know what I mean. That video is freaky, yo. This is actually their second-most listened to track on the disc, behind "Modern Jesus" with 69.2 million streams. Also on that album, but not nearly as popular, is another song that I heard a few times on the radio and liked quite a bit - "Hip Hop Kids," which has 16.9 million streams.
When you go back beyond Evil Friends and Woodstock, you get less freaky (in my opinion) and stuff like the Bowie-esque "So American" from In the Mountain in the Cloud or some meandering stuff like on the first three albums. That Mountain/Cloud and American Ghetto albums are both pretty darned good. I'd never heard them before now, but they are actually really good psych rock alternative stuff. Just to give you a taste of the old stuff, here is "The Sun," the most popular track from the first few albums, at just over 17 million streams.
I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I discovered all of these several years ago and then just forgot about them. These albums are all pretty damn solid.
The fascinating thing is that after that massive output early in the career, they start making big gaps in between albums. The next one after 2017's Woodstock (and likely huge fame now!) is 2021's live album Oregon City Sessions, and then nothing until 2023's Chris Black Changed My Life. I seriously wonder if they just got famous and kinda rich and were like screw this noise...
The new disc is actually pretty good too - the second song ("Grim Generation") feels like they went back to the well of the 60's groooooovy baby sound to see if they could tap back into that zone. And then the most streamed song is one that I have already heard a good number of times (in part because it was on a Taco Bell commercial that played during sports things this year) but also because it interpolates Coolio's "1,2,3,4 (Sumpin' New) (which he could have stolen from something else, I dunno) and at least one line follows the same vocal patterns as Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" (about 1:00 in). 8.6 million streams.
Hahahahaha That video is unhinged and awesome. WTF. Catchy song for sure. The track with Unknown Mortal Orchestra on here is good as well. Solid album. Ends up that I just like this band, apparently.
And if you are wondering about the album name, I did too: "We lost a very dear friend of ours on May 19, 2019. It shook us to our core. Chris was one of those people who was like glue; he brought everyone together. His passing really messed with us. The band was in shambles and this record is the first time I feel I made a complete record; a complete thought about our world crumbling around us and the journey back. While it is a very personal journey, I feel like everyone has a Chris Black in their life; at least I hope that everyone has a Chris Black in their life. That one friend who has a way of making everything right and making everything fun. The one who keeps you in check when you go off course and is always there to celebrate the good times and to support you in the bad times. Chris Black Changed My Life." So, that might explain some of the gap in their output.
I'd definitely like to go see them jam it out in the Fall, hoping that whatever issues they had with their sound last time will be rectified by now.
One Liner: One of the Stranger Things actors making good psych rock.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia about his music, but this is rock, synth rock, psych rock Home: L.A. (born in Massachusetts, but he's bound to live in L.A. now, right?) Poster Position: 14 Weekend Two Only. Saturday.
Thoughts: Always fun to have someone like this on the poster, where I get to find out that Djo is a Portugese futsal player, DJO is a manufacturer of medical devices (headquartered in Lewisville, Texas!), DJO High is Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (high school of Eric Metcalf!), Djo d'Eloy is a Cape Verdean singer (whose greatest song is "Arriola"!), Djo Mpeko is a footballer (a defender for the Girabola!), Djo Tunda Wa Munga is a film director (winner of the 2011 MTV Music Awards for Best African Movie!), AND HE IS ALSO THE OLDER BROTHER IN STRANGER THINGS!?!?!
Of all the things I did not expect to happen today, way way way high on the list would be to click on the listing for Djo and see that it is the stage name for Joe Keery's music career, when he is not starring as Steve Harrington in Stranger Things or the movie Free Guy. Fascinating. I've been wanting to watch the new Stranger Things season! He went to DePaul University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. In his musical career, he apparently started out by releasing music under the name Cool Cool Cool, but then became a guitarist for a band called Post Animal for a few albums. According to one interview I read, he said that the fame from Stranger Things made that weird because the rest of the band didn't want to just be the "guy from Stranger Things" band - but they've stayed friends and he's gotten their help on making his solo album. In 2019, he started releasing music under the Djo name.
And you know what? It's actually pretty solid! Kinda low key indie psych rock. Think super basic Tame Impala. Well, then I have to say that the 2020 single "Keep Your Head Up" is not as good. Too much falsetto, too much saxophone, too much squelchy synths. The stuff from the 2019 album Twenty Twenty is much better. The top track overall is from that album, called "Roddy," with 31.2 million streams.
Pretty good tune - nothing particularly stands out in there, but good guitar and vocals and a nice little groove. The synth voice thing in the middle, straight out of Ferris Bueller, is a little weird, but otherwise it is a solid tune. "Chateau (Feel Alright)" is the other big song with 29 million streams and a similarly woozy rock sound.
Nice chill tune. Brings me some Beck vibes. "Mutual Future" has some Strokes vibes, but also some jam band guitarage near the end. "BNBG," with its ridiculous outro of repeatedly saying "babygirl," is a massively cringe inducing moment. "Personal Lies" kicks in with a pop rock swagger, but then devolves into a spacey meander. I like it.
I really wish this guy was going to be both weekends, because I'd go check it out for sure.
One Liner: Son of Doug Sahm doing psych rock and cosmic cowboy country covers
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative, punk rock, psychedelic rock, country, heavy metal Home: Netherlands, but from San Antonio Poster Position: Late Addition. Weekend Two Only.
Thoughts: This is some weirdo stuff. "Woofie" sounds like a rehearsal jam with nonsense lyrics that somehow accidentally made it onto the record. "All in All" could be a low-key Pearl Jam track left off of Vs. And then half of these songs don't sound rock and roll at all, they sound more like some gonzo country stuff. You can tell from the genre list up above - from metal to country to psych rock. I figured he had to be the kid of Doug Sahm, and that is correct. Doug was a big part of the Texas Tornados and Los Super Seven. Among the people who still worship at the altar of The Armadillo and classic Austin music, Doug Sahm is the man. Well, this dude is his son, and he has been a drummer for a handful of bands over the years, including the metal band Pariah and the weirdo band Meat Puppets, and also played with some other weirdos like the Butthole Surfers singer Gabby Haynes. Wikipedia says that he now resides in the Netherlands. Also, lest you think he is some child (because I keep talking about him in terms of his father) the dude is 50. None of his tracks have more than 1,000 streams on Spotify. His 2006 album, Knock Yourself Out, is a rock and roll album, and has some pretty cool tracks. "Everything's Cool" is actually enjoyable rock. "Rock n Roll Demon" sounds like a bad KISS b-side sung by the lead singer from ACDC with a cold. "Marijuana and Sex" is both funny and rockin'. Here's the first track from the album, because it actually has a video.
Dude looks like Iggy Pop, sounds like a heavy groove from the Flaming Lips or something. Lyrics are pretty idiotic, but if you just immerse yourself in the rocking, you'll do both cool and fine. His new EP is a tribute to the old man, that has that gonzo country vibe I mentioned up above. He's covering his dad's tunes, finding a groovy way to jam out those old nuggets of cosmic cowboy wisdom. Again, none of them have more than 1,000 streams, so I can't pick through that metric. I'll just give you this one, "Meet Me in Stockholm."
Has a Townes Van Zandt flavor to it, but with a country-style bass line underneath. It sounds nice, but I'm not sure I need these covers in my life. Probably won't see him, although kind of an interesting dude to discover - son of Texas cosmic cowboy royalty who played drums in a metal band...
One Liner: Tasty psych rock goodness and modern groove science
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock, psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop, neo-psychedelia Home: Perth, Australia Poster Position: 1 Both Weekends.
Thoughts: This was one of my favorite shows of 2015's ACL, and that year was stacked with some really great stuff. They put on an amazing show of freaky psych rock, groove-powered pop, and overall amazing music. I loved it. Psych rock goodness. If you only heard their first two albums, you would just think that they are copying the freaky acid-tripping side of the late 60's Beatles, and maybe some Cream, and a little bit of Jimi Hendrix Experience. But then they released 2015's Currents, and they morphed that psych rock thing into something different, with more beats and more groove and more soul. It's excellent. I have been entirely late to the Tame Impala party - I had heard one of their hits ("Elephant") for years on the radio without actually knowing who sang the song, and only when they were coming in 2015 did I figure out who they are. Aussies from Perth, they started out with a few EPs in the late oughts, but then really hit their stride with 2010's Innerspeaker and then gained real fame with 2012's Lonerism. Although, what I have realized after reading about them for a while is that really this is the Kevin Parker show, and the other band members are just there to make his vision a reality. InnerSpeaker was released in 2010, and won Rolling Stone's album of the year, as well as a handful of other accolades. The most popular track off of Innerspeaker is "Solitude is Bliss," with over 20.8 million spins.
The effects on those guitars is trippy and cool. Good groove though. I have to say that I'm not nearly as in to that older album as I am to the 2012 one. Innerspeaker kind of keeps going on for too long, where as I felt like Lonerism ended too soon. According to the crack team of the World at Wikipedia, "Lonerism was voted number one overall in Rolling Stone, Triple J, NME, Filter, Urban Outfitters, FasterLouder and Obscure Sound's 2012 Album of the Year polls." Ooooh, the vaunted Urban Outfitters year-end poll! I bet the band was PSYCHED to add that trophy to their cabinet. Back when I was reviewing them for the 2015 show, Lonerism was their major hit album, but Currents has definitely overtaken it for stream count. Their two most listened-to tracks from the album are "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" (148.3 million) and "Elephant," (101.8 million). Here is "Elephant"
Remember that one? Really cool song. I love the bass line and the opening lyrics - "Bet he feels like an elephant, shakin' his big grey trunk for the hell of it." Doesn't make any sense, but it feels right to sing it along with the great chug of this tune. And they've got some other strange things going on in the album. I feel like you could easily confuse someone with some of these tracks by telling the listener that this was long-lost Beatles B-Sides - check "Be Above It," the album opener. After running through this album all day at my desk, the whole thing makes me think of that era of the Beatles. Their experimental, psych phase. Great stuff. I also hear a hint of the 90's Brit-pop folks like Blur and Oasis. Currents is their most recent album (speaking of which, shouldn't a new album have come out by now?), and it absolutely rules. I went so far as to purchase it because I wanted to love it so hard. They definitely have an evolution from their earlier albums, but I still think the new, evolved product is wonderful. Trippy, harmonic, fuzzed out rock, but with a little more electronic sound now. I think "Let It Happen" is my favorite track from the album - I love the weird glitch-out in the middle of it - but shockingly that one is not the most streamed. That crown goes to "The Less I Know The Better," which surprisingly fires up more than double the streams of their other big hits. 362.8 million streams.
Oooh, I had forgotten that video. I like that freaky ass video. Funky tune and I dig it.
"Let it Happen" is kind of a crazy eight minute long thing, shifting between dance rock, glitchy electronic, orchestrals, and smeared synths. (148.2 mill. on Spotify)
"'Cause I'm a Man" sounds like a joke Lonely Islands song or something. All 70's swanky slink and synth with falsetto singing about being a Man. But then you listen to the lyrics, and he's apologizing for making bad choices and blaming it on being a man. Eminently pleasurable song. (63.4 mill. on Spotify)
"Eventually" is a sleepy, fuzzy rocker heavy on the organ. (72.6 mill. on Spotify)
"Disciples" gets a little funkier and danceable. But it feels like it ends too early - like there is more coming. (40.1 mill. on Spotify).
"New Person, Same Old Mistakes" is a jam as well, with a heavy bottom end that helped it become a sweet cover by Rihanna (73.3 million).
I have one bad memory associated with Tame Impala, and that is this one time when I was chilling in Mexico with some buddies, and went over and stuck Currents on my phone through the stereo system. One of my buddies, who is also pretty into music, was floating around in the pool at the time and said something to the extent of "ugh, the new electronic stuff, I wish they would have stayed with the old sound." And that random thing has stuck in my head for like 5 years, that Chad actually didn't like Currents, when it was the most dope album ever. Well screw you, CHAD! I'm gonna go watch the party show and jam out to the new stuff! Actually, in a horrible twist, I may not get to see the band, because I'm gonna go watch Guns N Roses for sure, and so unless I get a one day pass to go Friday night of second weekend, I'm gonna miss this stuff and be very low about it. The next video was on their website for a while, and I find it completely fascinating.
That one guy can just wander around a studio like that, with some looping equipment attached to his instruments, and form a full-fledged track. I mean, I'm sure he worked and prepared and wrote and it isn't this easy by a long shot, but still, the dude literally makes it look like he's goofing off and he just made a really cool groove. While they still don't have a full new album out, two new singles have popped out in 2019, teasing the sound for the new album. Seems like we are sticking with the psych pop electronica thing - leaving the guitar rock behind. I can't say I love either of them - "Borderline" is very much a pop track, and "Patience" is better but still a little repetitive and overly full. On the one hand, it has a great groove and many-layered psych sound that I dig. On the other hand, it feels a little too tricky, like he's showing off the layers he can stack and the effects he can apply. Of course, I just listened to "Borderline" again and then find myself humming it as I walk down the halls - its catchy for sure. We shall see what the new album sounds like, but I'm hopeful for another classic.
