TV Girl

Based in Los Angeles, TV Girl cleverly blends styles like ’60s bubblegum, vintage soul, and hip-hop into their hypnotic strain of indie pop. A barrage of eclectic, sample-heavy singles and EPs paved the way for their alluring 2014 debut, French Exit. The group’s sonic amalgam continued to evolve over subsequent releases like 2016′s Who Really Cares and 2018′s Death of a Party Girl which veered into airy, psychedelic dream pop. They are also known for their offshoot projects which take the form of collaborations (2021′s Summer’s Over with Jordana) or pseudonymic experiments (2020′s Aestheticadelica by TV Girl and Bloodbath64). Following the surprise viral success of their song “Blue Hair,” TV Girl returned with their fourth proper studio album, 2023′s Grapes Upon the Vine. Drawing on their love of classic girl group, French pop, and hip-hop, San Diego musicians Brad Petering and Trung Ngo formed TV Girl in 2010. They quickly drew attention when their song “If You Want It” — which samples Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me” — earned acclaim from various music blogs. It drew controversy when Rundgren’s label sought to have the song removed due to copyright infringement. Unfazed, the band released its self-titled EP (which included “If You Want It”) later that year. Over the next few years, TV Girl proved to be a prolific endeavor, issuing several singles, EPs like Benny and the Jetts and Lonely Women, and the mixtape The Wild, The Innocent, The TV Shuffle. Self-released in 2014, French Exit marked TV Girl’s first full-length outing. A mix of airy vocals, strange samples, chiming guitars, and organs, the album delved into darker areas of love and revenge. It also yielded a minor hit in the moody “Lovers Rock” which charted in the U.K. and parts of Europe. Their ophomore album, Who Really Cares, appeared in 2016 by which time Ngo had left the group and Petering began working with Jason Wyman and Wyatt Harding. Described as “an album about sex,” it bore tones of psychedelia and an even greater reliance on dance beats and unique samples. 2018′s Death of a Party Girl continued to explore psychedelia as well as dream pop and yielded another hit in the song “Blue Hair.” At this point, Petering shifted his focus to production and began a spate of mysterious side projects featuring unknown collaborators. First up was 2018′s Maddie Acid’s Purple Hearts Club Band, a psych-rap set featuring a vocalist called Madison Acid. It was followed in 2020 by the vaporwave project Aestheticadelica, credited to TV Girl and Bloodbath64. That same year, TV Girl issued a compilation, The Night in Question: French Exit Outtakes, then teamed up with bedroom pop musician Jordana for 2021′s Summer’s Over. Around this time, both their debut album and their 2018 song “Blue Hair” enjoyed renewed success thanks to TikTok, which helped the latter go viral. Petering responded in 2023 with two new albums. Grapes Upon the Vine served as a return to TV Girl’s primary album canon, while Ace of Tre was another side venture with Petering recording under the name Varial Heel. ~ Timothy Monger & Heather Phares