BEST OF COACHELLA: SMALL PRINT EDITION - SUNDAY

So you’ve made it all the way to Sunday, huh? Keeping up with these lists like your life depends on it? (IT DOES). We love supplying the goods so that you don’t have to listen to each and every act on the lineup all on your lonesome. What is it? Like 174? That’s too many!

I really hope you’ve enjoyed all that we’ve had to offer. It’s sure been fun building these three pieces. I mean, between you and I, this is more for me than anything ... I get to explore every nook and cranny of the lineup on the company's dime. Now that’s living the dream.

We’ve found some selections that we would have never dreamed were worth listening to unless we were forced to do so by our editors. The lesson goes: just because you haven’t heard of the name doesn’t mean that you know anything, so pay attention when a website you like recommends them because that's their job to find cool things and share them with you. We Are: The Guard is a site for and by tastemakers. So let’s get tasty...

Check in on those Friday and Saturday posts again for good measure, and make real good sure that you didn’t miss something dope. 

GUY GERBER

Go ahead and name me one other person on the lineup who has worked with Diddy. Can’t? Exactly. My work is done here. Guy Gerber is about as much of a house legend as it gets, so how dare we miss him play jams for an hour or so in the Yuma? What are we, above greatness?

HYUKOH

Damnnnnn. This song is catchy as hell. They love us? But, I love them. This is THE year for South Korean music at Coachella. Between girl-group BLACKPINK, post-rock act Jambinai (see Saturday) and now HYUKOH, it’s a bonafide Korean invasion. I’m majorly psyched for all three acts, but it’s HYUKOHs catchy indie vibes that I’m absolutely giddy for. CAN’T WAIT!

DENNIS LLOYD

This one is kind of cheating because I already wrote about him for this website a couple of months back. Here are some buzzwords that I used when writing about this same song:

Swoon
Chill Vibes
Sultry
CATCHY AS HELL

The real catch here is that “Nevermind” is a major earworm, that’s been stuck in my head since I first heard it. I can easily imagine ⅓ of the festival humming this one to themselves at the campground or airBnB after the function. I know I will be.

070 SHAKE

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know Kanye isn’t on the lineup any longer, but this really was about to be YeChella. My first introduction to 070 Shake is via their track “Ghost Town” off of Ye. Let’s hope both Kid Cudi and he comes out to feature on 070 Shake’s set. This song would’ve / still will tear the desert a new drought. I’m saying it here first, on the record: 070 Shake is the hip-hop equivalent of the Velvet Underground’s Nico. Like she simultaneously couldn’t care less and doesn’t give a fuck. Too cool. Major pick for those who are fans of Juice WLRD and XXXTentacion’s emo-rap.

SOCCER MOMMY

Drone-based female-driven indie-pop has been a major staple of Coachella lineups for the past couple of years and Soccer Mommy is definitely going to be this year's all-star in that niche genre that’s way bigger than I ever would have thought. Expect this to own the hell out of the Sonora. This is catchy, it’s vibey, it’s harsh, it’s stark, it's fun. What more could you even ask for?

RICO NASTY

Filthy.

COLA BOYY

Cola Boyy was the first name Coachella dropped when they were building hype on lineup release day. Cola Boyy is like a cross between Mac DeMarco and Daniel Johnston(?). That feels right … I don’t know, but I like it so I’m going to keep it. He’s got some danceable, funky indie-rock jams that are right up my wazoo (what’s a wazoo?) If the festival was hyped enough about him to throw his name out alone before the other 179 artists then consider us down for whatever he’s going to bring to the desert.

NOCTURNAL SUNSHINE

Maya Jane Coles working with darker bass music? UHHH SIGN ME UP. Hints of dub, hip-hop, and breaks are going to make this a special one for all the throwback heads. Or me, mostly me. I don’t really care about you anymore. It’s like the 27th artist I’ve written about. One for me.

DUSKY

Dusky has been impressing me personally since summer 2014, which is ironically the last time I went to Coachella. What’s the catch here? Maybe it’s just that I’ve been subconsciously waiting for Dusky to make their way to the Polo Fields. Maybe not, who knows!? They’ve got this incredibly airy and open sound that’s unlike anybody else out there playing house. It oozes with patience. So here I am, patiently waiting for them to play.

OCHO OJOS

Damn, this that REALLL Moombahton shit. Dillon Francis eat your heart out. Wut wut? A psychedelic-cumbia band straight out of Coachella, CA? This is that homegrown madness that’s sure to be a locals-only party. That’s where we show up and pretend that we KNOW and get brought into the real family of the festival. I mean, if you can’t give a shot to the local band absolutely crushing it, then what’s the point of even throwing a festival?

Okay, bye! Happy Coachella! Happy digging! Hope I made your life exponentially harder with oodles of new set time conflicts.

Photo by Hamid Khaleghi on Unsplash

From deep within the murky depths of the Los Angeles River emerged a creature: 50% raver, 50% comedian, 10% Robotcop. Kurt Kroeber doesn’t own a dog, operates Soundbleed (the world’s only dance party comedy talk show rave), and is down to party with you. Come up some time and say “Hey dude!” But definitely make sure to casually drop the secret Illuminati password.