Cage The Elephant

Since forming in 2006, Cage The Elephant have quietly bloomed as one of this generation's premier rock bands buoyed by uncompromising creativity and wildly cathartic performances. Thus far, they have earned dozens of Gold, Platinum, and Multi Platinum certifications, tallied 5 billion streams and counting, and notched ten #1 records on Alternative Radio and 5 #1 records on Triple A Radio. The guys consecutively garnered two GRAMMY® Awards in the category of “Best Rock Album” for both Tell Me I'm Pretty [2015] and Social Cues [2019]. Of the latter, Entertainment Weekly raved, “The album's introspection paired with its urgent energy make Cage The Elephant sound more passionate than ever.” In the meantime, their music has also surged through popular culture as “Cigarette Daydreams” graced the soundtrack of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 blockbuster video game, “Goodbye” appeared in The Summer I Turned Pretty, and “Trouble” powered a global campaign for Amazon Prime. Plus, they're the rare force of nature who can inspire millions of TikTok creates or hold their own on stage with Dave Grohl and duet with Iggy Pop and Beck. The Kentucky-bred six-piece instinctually lean on their enduring bond as both musicians and friends to get through anything and everything. Together, the band members make sense of life's unpredictability and uncertainty via music. Moments of elation might take the form of sticky hooks, swaggering rhythms, or upbeat guitars, while tense riffs and jittery grooves could give shape to feelings of anxiety, doubt, or instability. As such, the group fearlessly alchemize a season of tragedy and turbulence into the twelve tracks on their sixth full-length album, Neon Pill [RCA Records].

Sublime

Sublime, the Long Beach, CA, reggae-punk/alternative rock trio, was founded in 1988 by Eric Wilson, Bud Gaugh and Bradley Nowell. Their first self-produced album, 40oz. to Freedom, was released in 1992 via the band's label Skunk Records. The success of that album and heavy radio exposure by Southern California's KROQ (two years after its initial release) secured Sublime signing to MCA Records in time for the band's 1994 sophomore album, Robbin' the Hood, which revealed an experimental ethic more in keeping with cut-and-paste dub than the well-tuned rage of the Cali punk revival. The album performed well at college radio and set the stage for the breakout success of their self-titled third album. On May 25, 1996, however, lead vocalist and guitarist Nowell tragically passed away and the band collapsed, but the eponymous SUBLIME was still slated for a July 1996 release. On the strength of the chart-topping alternative radio hit “What I Got,” the album was certified gold by the end of 1996. “Santeria” and “Wrong Way” followed and enjoyed heavy airplay, and their self-titled album eventually sold more than seven million copies, making it one of the most popular reggae-punk albums in history. Such success spread to the band's earlier albums too, leading 40oz. to Freedom to double-platinum sales and Robbin' the Hood to gold certification. Sublime has gone on to sell over 18 million RIAA certified albums in the US, and their genre-defining music and their cultural influence is stronger today than ever before. In late 2023, Bradley Nowell's son Jakob Nowell joined original Sublime members Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson on stage for the first time to perform at a benefit concert for Bad Brains' H.R. With an undeniable musical synergy between Nowell, Gaugh and Wilson, and overwhelming reaction and support from fans across the world, the trio decided to move forward and continue the Sublime legacy, starting a new chapter of the band with Jakob Nowell as front man.

Fitz AND The Tantrums

Multi-platinum artists Fitz and The Tantrums have energized popular music and culture with a series of unshakable, undeniable, and ubiquitous anthems and albums. Since 2008, the Los Angeles collective have magnified the scope of pop with a dash of indie, a dose of soul, and a whole lot of dancefloor-ready bounce. Their catalog spans fan favorite records such as Pickin' up the Pieces [2010], More Than Just A Dream [2013], the gold-certified Fitz and The Tantrums [2016], and All the Feels [2019]. Along the way, they've impressively tallied just shy of 4 billion streams and counting powered by enduring hits such as the 4x-platinum “HandClap,” 3x-platinum “Out of My League,” platinum “The Walker,” and gold “Moneygrabber.” As an inescapable presence, their music has notably coursed through the mainstream conversation, soundtracking films on NETFLIX and campaigns for CVS Wellness, Sunchips, Sofi, Xfinity, Walmart, Norwegian Cruise Line, Lays, and Wells Fargo, to name a few. Beyond standout performances everywhere from Coachella and Bonaroo to numerous late-night television shows, they've consistently sold out some of the most iconic venues in the world, including The Forum and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Not to mention, they've incited the applause from Rolling Stone, Billboard, People, and more. Fitz and The Tantrums' most recent album Let Yourself Free arrived in 2022 with bold, bright, and buoyant singles “Sway” and “Moneymaker.” The band closed 2023 with their Perfect Holiday EP, featuring original songs to ring in the holiday season.

Fitz and The Tantrums are: Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick (vocals), Noelle Scaggs (vocals), James King (saxophone, flute), Jeremy Ruzumna (keyboards), and Joseph Karnes (bass).

Petey

On his new album USA, Chicago-bred singer/songwriter Petey bares his soul about all the endless things that keep him up at night. As he muses on everything from masculinity to anxiety to the very nature of human existence, the Los Angeles-based artist drifts between warmhearted sincerity and delightfully warped humor—a deeply affecting dynamic that also defines the absurdist alt-comedy that's earned him a massive following on TikTok. Built on his idiosyncratic but viscerally charged breed of alt-pop/rock, Petey's Capitol Records debut ultimately brings a gloriously strange convergence of comfort, catharsis, and unrelenting joy.

The follow-up to his 2022 debut Lean Into Life, USA finds Petey working with co-producers John DeBold (Wallows, Remi Wolf) and Aidan Spiro to piece together what he refers to as “an origin story of a typical American male in their 30s.” While the album includes decidedly autobiographical tracks like “Home alone house” —a real-life account of getting busted smoking weed on the beach in eighth grade—Petey's songwriting often takes the form of impressionistic vignettes revealing the sheer depth and scope of his inner world. On “I'll wait,” for instance, he delivers an explosive piece of pop-punk whose lyrics offer a candid perspective on mental health. “It's a song from the mindset of an anxious man who's acutely aware of the resources available to him, but for whatever reason decides to just wait it out,” Petey explains. “There's some recognition that doing nothing will make the problem drag out longer, but there's also an understanding that the uncomfortable moment will eventually end—just like everything else in life.”

Mainly recorded at Gold-Diggers Sound in L.A., USA came to life with equal parts intention and spontaneity. “For me making music has always been like throwing spaghetti at the wall, and working with John and Aidan allowed me to be reckless and experimental while giving each song the care it deserved,” says Petey, who plays guitar, bass, drums, and synth on USA. “It helped me fulfill the only real goal I had for the album, which was to make sure every single song would be super-fun to play live.” To that end, “Family of six” unfolds in dance-ready grooves as Petey shares a fantastically surreal meditation on gender expression. “We hear so much today about toxic masculinity, so the idea behind that song is trying to reclaim masculinity in a way that's actually positive and helpful,” he says. “Each stanza is imagining a parallel universe where the laws of physics are different, and therefore I'm the best version of a man that I could be.” On “Did mention I'm sorry?,” USA takes on a combustible urgency as Petey captures the kind of all-consuming insecurity that tips into self- indulgence. “It's about someone who's so self-conscious that it becomes almost narcissistic, because they can't stop obsessing about their own anxiety,” he says. And on “I tried to draw a straight line,” Petey cycles through a whirlwind of existential questions, offsetting the track's uneasy bewilderment with sweetly lilting rhythms and majestic guitar work. “That song's an overview of my mental state when I'm over-analyzing everything,” he says. “It ends with wondering if we're living in a simulation, and all the paranoid but also calming thoughts that come with that.”

At turns philosophical, introspective, and wildly playful, the lyrics to USA mostly emerged as Petey hiked the trails surrounding an abandoned gold mine in the San Gabriel Mountains. “Hiking has become a really good creative vessel for me,” he says. “Once you get used to a trail it becomes second nature, which leaves space for your brain to think in different ways.” A longtime musician who previously played drums in Chicago-based indie-rock band Young Jesus, he first started writing songs at the age of 27 after making his way through a series of dead-end jobs. “I never earned more than minimum wage, and I never felt like I was capable of exceling at anything within the realm of American capitalism,” he says. “But then I wrote a song and put it on Spotify, and that somehow ended up being the thing that worked.” A bittersweet but exuberant breakup song, Petey's debut single “Apple TV Remote” soon led to his signing to indie label Terrible Records, who later released Lean Into Life and helped pave the way for his signing to Capitol Records in 2022.

With the release of USA, Petey hopes that exposing his deepest neuroses might have a liberating impact on the listener. “So much of life is out of our control, which is really scary, but hopefully these songs will help people feel a little better and less alone in their struggle,” he says. “I hope everyone can find some kind of solace in recognizing that life is incredibly complicated for everyone—so instead of spending too much time ruminating on a mistake you've made or something that went wrong, maybe the best thing is to go easy on yourself and let it go.”