If credibility were currency, Fake Names’ wealth would be off the charts. Composed of Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Dag Nasty), Michael Hampton (S.O.A., Embrace), Dennis Lyxzén (Refused, INVSN, The [International] Noise Conspiracy), Johnny Temple (Girls Against Boys, Soulside) and the newest member Brendan Canty (Fugazi, Rites of Spring), the band is a veritable post-hardcore dream team. However instead of rehashing the past, Expendables is a reinvention that sees the band dialing back the distortion and leaning into the melodies. The result pairs their unparalleled pedigree with a pop sensibility that’s slightly unexpected and wholly satisfying. “On our last record [2019’s Fake Names] the general influences were 70’s U.K. punk and power-pop; but it wound up with a little classic rock vibe as well, like the Vibrators meets Aerosmith. We never saw that coming!” Baker explains. “The pop influences are a little more out front on this one and the production really helps it shine. It sounds more direct, more urgent.”
Royale Lynn brings a signature blend of hard rock and country to life with fearless ambition. A small-town girl turned Nashville singer/songwriter, Lynn grew up with Avril Lavigne and Breaking Benjamin in her CD Walkman and makes music with gutsy abandon and charm. Lynn’s songs resonate with folks equally cozy at Stagecoach Festival or Sonic Temple. Heralded by Billboard as “a ferocious newcomer with ceiling-scraping vocals,” Royale Lynn’s boundary-smashing amalgamation of hard rock and country demonstrates the growing appetite for her brand of genre-bending. “I know there are a lot of people who grew up in the country that love rock, and vice versa,” Lynn reasons. “I want to bring together a community of people who embrace being different and who are open to talking about mental health in small towns.” That coming together is already well underway, as evidenced by the success of self-released singles like “Six Feet Deep” (which blew up on TikTok and Instagram) and “Redneck Rockstar.” Over one million people around the world listened to Royale Lynn on Spotify alone in 2023. “Six Feet Deep” acquired over 20 million social media views between Facebook reels, Instagram and Tik Tok. It shot to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Sales chart. The earnest resolve, huge hooks, and catchy melodies of songs like “Rocket Man,” and “Runs in the Water” are undeniable. She played dozens of shows in 2023, including support slots with Luke Combs, Eli Young Band, and Jarrod Niemann, as well as a slew of headlining gigs across the country. In November 2023, she signed a worldwide deal with Epitaph Records. The sky’s the limit as Royale Lynn shares more of her music and herself with the world. “I just want to create,” she says. “If I sound more rock on some days and more country on others? Who cares? Why stay in a box? I won’t stay in a box. It’s just not something I can do and remain authentically myself.”