Artist Spotlight: Topline Addicts
- Jul 7
- 3 min read
Welcome back to Artist Spotlight, where each week we will give you the rundown on an underrated musician (“underrated” here meaning any artist with under 200k listeners on Spotify). This week: Topline Addicts!
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Topline Addicts are an indie rock band with a sweet 60s pop flare. While the band’s discography consists of just a handful of singles, their views and likes across TikTok and Instagram are proof enough that you need them on your next Spotify playlist. They were kind enough to send us their latest single, Not That Good, ahead of its release so keep reading for our review (spoiler: it is that good). If you are in the Dallas area, you can catch the single’s release show next month and see Topline Addicts perform in their signature red wine suits, inspired by the 90s movie, That Thing You Do!
You’ll like Topline Addicts if you like: The Beach Boys, Vampire Weekend and The Beatles
The band have described themselves as “if the Beach Boys and the Foo Fighters had a rock baby” which is an accurate description. Lead vocalist Carter Brooks has written the majority of their work so far and clearly loves what he does. He draws inspiration from a lot of 60s indie and jazz music, which is evident through their cheerful sound and unique way of making retro sound modern. In an interview with PaperCity, he said: “There are a lot of indie bands now that have these drenched-in-reverb effects, and I just thought, what if we did the opposite?”
A fun fact:
We spoke to Carter about the meaning behind the band’s name and it turns out, “Topline Addicts” is an inside joke among the group. The term “topline” refers to a song’s vocal melody. Carter said: “The name is an inside joke about me being a bad lyric writer! I usually just come up with filler words that sing well, and focus more on the melody I’m singing. Instead of working on more meaningful lyrics I just used to move on and write another song!”
Single review: Not That Good by Topline Addicts
Without giving too much away, Not That Good is a great example of the band’s signature sound. It’s fun, it has that get up and go vibe and has brilliant lyrics. In contrast to the happy pop sound, the lyrics are quite sassy and bitter, which gives the song a bit of edge. In the song’s chorus, the singer playfully tells the recipient of the lyrics that they are “not that good” and “never really had it”, which is followed by a clean guitar solo. I am incredibly jealous of those going to the release show as while I was listening to the song, I can picture which sections the audience will be dancing to and which sections the band will get the crowd clapping along.
My only complaint is that Topline Addicts do not release music often enough. It is awful when you listen to a band who release music intermittently, as you fear feeling let down by new music but with Topline Addicts, you don’t get that. They are one of those bands without a single skip.
Not That Good will be released on 24 July.
A song to convince you to listen: Dance With Me
Carter said: “If you wanna dance around in your pajamas like nobody’s watching or drive with the windows down and blast some loud, fun rock songs, we’re your guys!”
You can find Topline Addicts on all streaming platforms or on socials @toplineaddicts.
Written by, Maisie Ellis
Comments