Flower in a Hurricane
I just returned home after a celebratory happy hour with Temper City, Thirty Knots and managers Ash, Brandon and Jack, clinking my Diet Coke with the band’s beers to toast 20 weeks of “Self Aware” at #1 Audience on Mediabase. It’s wild to consider how big this record is—it’s also #1 in most cells of Rate the Music. This is a unicorn of a record, similar to Dominic Fike’s “Babydoll,” which is on a swift path to #1 and will likely unseat Temper City as the biggest song in Audience. For those unaware, #1 Audience means the chart is based on spins and market size, so obviously airplay on Alt98.7 and KROQ carries more weight than spins on an HD3 in market 150+ (also known as the sound of one hand clapping).
I missed Phoebe Bridgers at the Intuit Dome because a sore throat kicked my ass last weekend, but Lisa Worden said it was “magical!” I promised Brady Marks at WNWV that I would join her in Cleveland when Phoebe plays there next year. Grammy nominations are announced in 10 days, and I’m counting on Lost Weekend being acknowledged in multiple categories. “Lost Boys” is one of my favorite songs of the year—an absolute classic for her. Phoebe will be the musical guest on SNL Nov. 14. Last time she was on SNL, Vogue noted that she was wearing NARS Audacious lipstick in the color Bette, so I bought a tube for every female programmer, attaching the simple message “Smash the Patriarchy,” which was an homage to her guitar-busting finale during “I Know the End.” I’ve been writing about Phoebe since Stranger in the Alps—very few artists compare to her genius.
Speaking of genius, I’ve started buying multiple vinyl copies of Cameron Winter’s latest Live at Carnegie Hall as Hanukkah gifts. My kid went to school today in his Getting Killed T-shirt—many of his classmates are children of Grammy voters—just doing my part to make sure Geese is also nominated in multiple categories this year.
My kid is counting down the days to Grand Theft Auto VI, which we preordered ages ago. I’ve been playing the Justice song featuring Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard from the soundtrack, which is taking over the Alt chart thanks to the efforts of Marlee Ehrlich and the Virgin team. “Flower in a Hurricane” is fantastic, and Justice also composed the score for GTA VI. The last video game I played was Ms. Pac-Man, but I know a hit when I hear one.
Speaking of hits, you should have time and energy to focus on these new songs: The War on Drugs’ “Who’s That?” continues to enthrall those who have listened more than once. I heard the DJ on SiriusXM’s XMU wax rhapsodic about Adam’s vocals, the 12-string guitars and the lyrics—definitely one of my Top 5 songs this year! Also incredible is U2’s “Silencio”—I always get excited at the prospect of a U2 record, and I know many of you feel the same way (Dustin Matthews). I also read that they’re playing SoFi Stadium on Thanksgiving Eve during halftime of the Rams-Packers game. How cool would it be to attend that? Even though the last football game I attended had Joe Namath playing for the New York Jets. As it was before, Dan Connelly is handling Alternative, Rock and Triple A promotion for Interscope, and he’s also working beabadoobee’s “Write Me a Letter” from her latest album, Pylon. bea is the greatest, and so is Dan!
Leap, the U.K. band we’re all excited about, has made its presence known with an extraordinary social-media campaign and airplay on “Exit Signs.” One of the band members is always on IG wearing a New York Dolls shirt, which begs the question, “Which three of their songs are your favorites?” (Mine are “Looking for a Kiss,” “Personality Crisis” and “Stranded in the Jungle.”) I pointed out to Edie Lundeen that the band made a fantastic showing in this week’s Rate the Music—clearly meaning that the song has huge potential. Edie has the hits!
SONG TO HEAR (AGAIN): CHVRCHES’ “Roses” (love, love, love).
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