TV Girl

Consisting of Brad Petering, Jason Wyman and Wyatt Harmon, Los Angeles-based band TV Girl revel in the landscape that is pop, rock, rap, hip-hop and whatever else more—you haven’t heard this much exploration of different sounds since Beck’s Midnight Vultures.

Other than an abandoned MySpace page, a Facebook page with little-to-no information and a Bandcamp profile, any history about the band on the internet is thin to nonexistent, and from what I gather, this isn’t the original lineup, but is the most up to date. They have two albums: French Exit, their debut, was released in June 2014, and is self-described as “12 songs about lost lust, too much love and not enough, “ and a second album, Who Really Cares, that was released earlier this year.

But however absent their social media presence is, I can tell you that TV Girl masterfully executes electro-bubblegum pop. They utilize analog synthesizers that boop and slide, guitars that wah-wah, and the rushing beat of a drum machine to transport us to a different time—a more carefree time in our lives.

With hip-hop drum loops, folky guitars and a dizzying assortment of samples, TV Girl creates a discography that they say is “about sex, or lack thereof,” which is a fair assessment. When you listen to TV Girl you’re reminded of those years of mild, dry summers in your youth—the ones accompanied by a hazy atmosphere where you walked the fluorescent lit paths of downtown in your shorts, sneaking the 40 you asked your older brother to get you, and smoked too many cigarettes because you thought it was cool (or was that just me?).

You would walk the streets; recite lyrics like Bible versus, hyped up on sexuality, and relish in the fact that you were just a stupid teenager. Each one of their songs plays onto our nostalgia for those carefree hot days in our adolescence, with fuzzy-toned riffs, deadpan rap, and tunes built on a dreamy, ethereal feeling. TV Girl is the perfect summer band. »

– Samantha Lopez

*TV Girl plays May 8 at The Liquor Store.