It was a battle royale for #1 on the NACC 200 this week. One perk subscribers to the NACC Charts receive is live-time building charts. As each individual station chart is submitted it’s added to the chart in real time. Up until about 5 minutes before the chart closed this week Greta Kline (aka Frankie Cosmos) looked like she was going to spend a fifth week on top. But with moments to go, Hop Along well… hopped into the lead, rising 4-1 with their fourth release, Bark Your Head Off, Dog. Even more impressive for Hop Along is that they were climbed over by Unknown Mortal Orchestra last week. The Philly quartet, signed to Saddle Creek, continue a wonderful streak of women (both solo and lead singers of bands) dominating the NACC 200 by occupying the #1 spot for 25 of the last 30 weeks.
Last week’s most-added album from Massachusetts quartet Speedy Ortiz wastes no time leaping into the NACC Top 10. The Carpark release, Twerp Verse, races from 66-7 this week, certainly lining themselves up for a possible #1 run in the weeks to come. Speedy Ortiz is currently on a tour called “You Ate Your Title” partnering with 11 local businesses along their tour route to create limited-edition vegan dishes. Lead singer, Sadie Dupuis has been vegan for over 13 years. The band also just announced dates later this summer opening for Against Me! In addition to Speedy Ortiz reaching the Top 10, Mark Oliver Everett’s band Eels also reach the upper ten, climbing 12-10 this week with their twelfth release, The Deconstruction.
The NACC 200’s highest debut this week comes from Nandi Rose Plunkett, better known as Half Waif. We’re not sure what the other half of her is, but that’s the beauty and mystery of using a word like ‘half’ in your name. Lavender (out on Cascine) is Half Waif’s second LP and was named for her grandmother, Asha, who used to take lavender from her garden and boiled on a pot on her stove to fragrance her home as well as a ritual of purification. Plunkett’s grandmother was alive when she wrote the album, but passed away at the age of 95 in September and the album’s themes of age and collapse reference the close of her life. Lavender debuts this week at #35.
Advancing from 189-57 on the NACC 200 are Philadelphia band Low Cut Connie. This album is the second of a two-part album they released in May of last year. Dirty Pictures (Part 2) was put out on frontman Adam Weiner’s own label, Contender Records. Several years ago the producers of The Voice saw Weiner perform and offered to fast-track him onto Season 9 of the show without an audition. Despite the exposure it would have given his band, Weiner ultimately decided against it, not being able to stomach performing music he doesn’t connect with along with canceling commitments he had previously made. Can you name one winner of The Voice? Seems like he made a good choice.
Collecting 120 Top 10 Adds this week (a massive 45 more than their nearest competitor for #1) are Seattle surf rock four-piece, La Luz. Signed to Sub Pop offshoot Hardly Art, La Luz relocated to Los Angeles in 2015 and recorded their second LP, Weirdo Shrine, with Ty Segall. To support their third LP, Floating Features, La Luz are on tour all through the months of May and June with dates in more than 20 states from coast-to-coast and playing several shows in Canada as well. Floating Features also debuts on the NACC 200 this week at #58.