TV Girl - "Who Really Cares" (2016)

 

Continuing on with the Primavera line-up, another artist I've gone back to a few times is TV Girl. The band are fairly high up on the poster and have a couple of songs with over a billion streams on Spotify, so I'm surprised that I haven't really heard anything about them before. From their Wikipedia page, they're Californian and blew up on bandcamp, and still to this day entirely independent. Not much else on them is readily available. I've listened to a couple of their records, and this is the one that has those big streaming songs - and therefore the one I've pain the most attention to.

Who Really Cares is best described as an indie pop record that draws from a lot of 90's alternative scenes, a bit of neo-psychedelia, a bit of alt dance, a bit of trip hop and electronica. What results is a very light and summery sounding album that's very easy on the ears when I've had it on in the background while working or out on a walk in the sunshine. However, when listening to it with a bit more attention in order to talk about it here, the cracks have really started to show for me.

While the genres that TV Girl are calling back to are all ones that I'm a big fan off, they don't really do all that much with these styles other than the surface level basics, making the whole aesthetic of the album feel rather derivative and half baked. I don't think this would be quite as notable if it was a crop of really well written and engaging songs, but the tunes are really just not there. The songwriting is pretty basic and very much relying on the tropes of the genres being called back to to give them some personality that wouldn't be there otherwise. I think what has really soured my opinion of the record was paying more attention to the lyrics. They basically read as a shitty guy being bitter and jealous of an ex. There's no story or interesting angle here, and the whole thing comes off pretty immature and just rubs me wrong way.

The songs I like the most on the record are the ones that lean into the looser and dancier neo-psych and alt dance genres. Opener Taking What's Not Yours is build around a jazzy horn sample and a breakbeat loop, and features some of the better lyrics on the record about the stuff left behind at an ex partners place after a breakup, with a reference to an unread copy Gravity's Rainbow to highlight the protagonists pretentiousness. (Do The) Act Like You've Never Met Me has a textbook jangly baggy/Madchester groove that I can find myself getting into (even if it is the most by the numbers version of it possible). The layered up synths, gentle breakbeat and warbly sampled background vocals sound straight out of an Ibiza chillout room.

Who Really Cares is an album of diminishing returns. On first listen when not paying to much attention, I liked the dreamy and chilled out vibe. On the second, I noticed the stylistic derivativeness. On my most recent listens while writing this, I've grown tired of the unimaginative songwriting and the boring and kind of shitty lyrical content. Maybe TV Girls stuff will hit a little more after a few pints in the sun, but on tape it really struggles to make an impression.

Top Tracks: Taking What's Not Yours

4/10

Big Thief - "Double Infinity" (2025)

 

Next up on the Primavera docket is Double Infinity, the 2025 album from indie folk outfit, Big Thief. I have been listening to a lot of artists on the line up who's names I know but have never listened to before and Big Thief has been one of the ones I have been gravitating towards for relistens. Apparently, their previous album to this, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, is regarded as their best - but as an 80 minute double album I've been more inclined to put this one on as it fits in with when and how I listen to music these days.

Double Infinity is a laid back and hazy record, with the 9 tracks here layered in reverby, vaguely psychedelic production and Adrianne Lenker's twangy, mid-western vocals diving in and out of the mixes. The opener, Incomprehensible, tells the story of a car journey back from Lenker's grandmother's, where she's reminiscing about times past when she was younger and thinking about what is to come in her future. The layers of breezy guitar lines and twinkling chime bells really add to the nostalgic atmosphere. The loose, groovy drumming and jangly guitars of the following track Words give a very 90's indie / slacker rock vibe and they also similarly build to a noisy crescendo during the choruses. Much of the first half of the record leans into this soft, throwback folk and indie rock sound - perfect for a mid-afternoon slot at a festival. Los Angeles is more on the folk and americana side of things, with slow burning guitars and a chugging base line; and All Night All Day features congas as part of the percussion and pairs it with twinkly and reverby guitars.

The record really hits its stride at the mid-point, with the title track and No Fear. Double Infinity strips back a lot of the layers to let Adrianne's impassioned vocals shine through. The track returns to the themes of past and future, comparing them to two infinities - what was lost, and what is yet to come. The instrumentation slowly grows with intensity as the track progresses, making the song feel quite triumphant in a bittersweet kind of way. No Fear follows this by slowing the record right down and playing with the texture and timbre of the music over the course of the 7 minute tune. The song opens with a minute and a half intro with a repeated moody bass riff that really lets you sink into the atmosphere of the song. The track slowly introduces Adrianne's sultry vocals and noisy additional guitars that layer up as the song progresses. It is eery but very warm sounding song, like finding some tranquil haven in the depths of a dense forest.

Unfortunately past this point in the record, it somewhat loses my interest, as I feel like it's shown me all it has to offer and has nothing else up it's sleeve. Grandmother is another woozy indie folk jam that doesn't do all that much with it's 6 minute runtime even with the inclusion of ambient pioneer Laraaji on backing vocals. The jangle pop of Happy With You is definitely my kind of thing on paper, but the vocals on the song are incredibly repetitive. It's so overbearing that it must be the point, but it really doesn't work and makes the song a bit annoying to be honest. How Could I Have Known returns to a more stripped back folksy style to close the album out, and is certainly better than the last two tracks, but it doesn't really do enough to reengage me in the records final moments.

I'm glad I've given the time to Double Infinity, as there is stuff here that I do like that probably would've just breezed past if I hadn't given it multiple listens. But as whole record, it's a bit hit and miss and honestly a little too soft and dependant on it's laid back production for my taste. It can quite easily descend into background music if I'm not intentionally listening; which is probably why I've gravitated to it while I've been working, but struggling to really dig into the lyrics and themes when giving it my sole focus. I'm definitely going to check out Big Theif's set as I think it'll be a good time, but I'm not sure I'll put Double Infinity on again in full after I return home.

Top Tracks: Incomprehensible, Words, Double Infinity, No Fear

6/10