Pop Loser: Karma Is the Guy From Metallica Falling Straight off the Stage

Welcome back to Pop Loser! This week, Olivia Rodrigo announced her own version of Lilith Fair, Halsey dragged Anthony Fantano, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett experienced Taylor Swift’s karmic powers, and pioneering Portland queercore band Team Dresch announced their first new album in 30 years. It’s Pride weekend, and there is so much great live music happening. Plus, I’ll share a personal ode to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” 

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This Week in Music: 

Lilith Fair (Olivia’s Version): Back in 1997, Sarah McLachlan launched Lilith Fair, a travelling music festival of female-fronted bands and solo artists. Now, Olivia Rodrigo is following in her footsteps with the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields, coming August 29 in Irvine, California. The festival will surely bring Coachella-sized crowds, considering acts like Stevie Nicks, Chappell Roan, Mitski, and, of course, Rodrigo herself. “I actually feel like it’s my calling in some weird way,” she told Pitchfork. “I have had this dream to do this festival for a really long time.”

Hallelujah, CRJ8 is coming! Carly Rae Jepsen announced that her new 24-track album, Day and Night, will be released on September 18. According to press materials, half the album is inspired by ’70s psych-pop (“Day”), while the other half is songs made for the dance floor (“Night”). The album’s first single, “On Wires,” will drop this Friday. 

DRAG HIM! Few things make me angrier than hearing YouTuber Anthony Fantano’s reviews of albums by women on his channel, the Needle Drop. It turns out I’m not alone. Back in 2024, Halsey released the critically acclaimed album The Great Impersonator, which radically explored postpartum depression and chronic illness. At the time, Fantano criticized it for suffering from “main character syndrome.” Now, years later, Fantano quote-tweeted a criticism of the review, writing “If they’re more into the review than the album 🤭”—and that’s when Halsey got involved. In a legendary series of tweets, the pop star roasted Fantano to a crisp.

RIP Clive Davis: The famed music executive credited with launching the careers of icons like Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, and Patti Smith died on Monday morning from age-related illnesses. He was 94. 

Karma is the guy from Metallica falling straight off the stage. Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett enraged Swifties last week after sporting a shirt that said “Taylor Swift is a CIA psy-op” at a concert in Budapest. Just days later, Hammett tumbled off the stage at a Dublin concert (don’t worry, he wasn’t injured!), which has some people suspecting Swift’s karmic powers. Whether dissing her or praising her, it seems that aging male musicians will continue to use Swift’s name to stay relevant (see: Dave Grohl, Flava Flav, Diplo, etc.). 

SZA warns that AI music generators are exploiting Black artists. Last week, the Atlantic dropped an AI detection tool for artists to check if their music is being used to train AI music generators. SZA took to her Instagram story to share her own experience: “Jus checked and music AI has trained off 238 of my songs. I’m certain some unreleased. If your a musician and you support this degenerate shit? Your disgusting and there’s NOTHING YOU COULD EVER SAY TO ME TO MAKE THIS OKAY.” She continued on a separate account, writing, “I AINT HEARD A WHITE AI SONG YET.. why so disproportionate? We have no protection in legislature medical or creative. The easiest to steal from.”

The dream of the ’90s is alive! Pioneering Portland queercore band Team Dresch have announced their first new album in 30 years, Furthermore (out September 18). The album’s lead single, “One Song,” is out now. Indie pop band Velocity Girl (whose song “Pop Loser” is this column’s namesake) have also announced a compilation of early recordings, spanning 1989–92. The comp will be released August 28 via Slumberland. 

Music Events Worth Your Hard-Earned Money This Week:

Big Richard, Minor Gold June 24, Tractor Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

All the Feelings Tour with Metric, Broken Social Scene, Stars June 25, Chateau Ste. Michelle, 6 pm, all ages

Kremwerk Pride 2026 June 25–27, Kremwerk, times vary, 21+ 

Sir Richard Bishop, Climax Golden Twins June 26, Black Lodge, 7 pm, all ages

Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs, the Black Tones, Parshall Blue June 26, Tractor Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Queer Pride Festival June 26–28, 11th Ave between E Pike St and E Pine St, times vary, 21+

Heavenly, the Umbrellas, Swansea Sound June 27, Crocodile, 6 pm, all ages

Mt Fog, Marika Christine June 27, Ghosts Vintage, 8 pm, all ages

A$AP Rocky: Don’t Be Dumb World Tour June 30, Climate Pledge Arena, 7:30, all ages

Black Ends, Give Me the Money, the Wameki, Dim Desires June 30, Chop Suey, 8 pm, 21+

The Songs That Keep Me Up at Night:

“I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor

The last time I visited my grandmother in Eastern Washington, I drove home with a stack of cassette tapes rattling in the passenger’s seat that I rescued from her “donate” pile. Among the tapes was nothing rare or unexpected—mostly Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, and Enya—but seeing how tattered and worn they were from years of listening, they felt intimate and worth preserving. Amongst the stack of tapes was a handmade cassingle of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” which looked like it had been played 10 million times. As I listened to it, I heard the lyrics in a new way. I imagined how my grandmother related to the song at the time she made the tape—she was a stay-at-home mother of two until she was left by my grandfather for another woman, after which she took college night classes, got her teaching degree, and rebuilt her life as an elementary school teacher. I’m proud of her for what she survived, and now, when I hear Gaynor’s disco anthem, it reminds me that I can survive, too. 

“Rotten” by Gia Margaret

I saw Gia Margaret play the Fremont Abbey over the weekend, and I can’t stop thinking about it. “Rotten,” from her new album Singing, especially stood out. The chorus “And I don’t know why / You would always listen to me cry / Even when I was rotten” gives me chills.

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