Shaky Knees 2022 version finally arrives on Friday!!! Of course Atlanta is going to be buzzing with headliners Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, and My Morning Jacket, but what makes the festival so special isn’t the headliners, it’s the undercards – the new discoveries. You know the small print on the festival posters…..and this year is no different with a bunch of under the radar artists – whether brand new or longer running – ready to win the day.
What constitutes under the radar? Who even knows these days. You can find artists with millions and millions of streams, but you’d have a hard time finding someone in your friend group that’s ever heard of them or seen them live. There’s also the longer running critically acclaimed artists who’ve been lauded over and over by the likes of Pitchfork and others, yet they still aren’t as known in the general public and still a smaller line item on the festival poster. And then there is the legit almost brand new artists still making their way into the ears of the mass audiences; the possible next wave of future headliners.
On this year’s Shaky Knees Music Festival lineup poster, there is basically 4 different fonts. For our 10 Under The Radar Artists to Catch at the 2022 Shaky Knees, we’ve picked some favorites from the smallest font to highlight – artists who you should definitely consider checking out whether you are already a fan or not. Of course there is way more than just our list, and some on the next font up that you may not know, but to us are obvious choices to see this weekend – like Amyl and the Sniffers, Faye Webster, Nilufer Yanya, and Djo.
For our full SHAKY KNEES 2022: Preview, Guide, & Vote On Toughest Choices, and Favorite Food Vendors, click here
Presenting Shaky Knees 2022: The Undercard – 10 Under The Radar Artists to Catch:
ACID DAD
Friday, 2:00pm-2:45pm – Criminal Records Stage
Acid in the band name? Yes please, because you guessed it, this band is psych rock heaven. But this isn’t the usual West Coast psych rock we are accustomed to these days; these cats are from Brooklyn and ready to rock your world. These dudes not only put on a hell of live show, but they also make their own guitars, so if one breaks during the set, who cares, they will make another! While Acid Dad’s 2018 self titled debut album was full of fuzz, their 2021 sophomore album, Take It From The Dead, brought more catchy melodies with 90’s neo-psych, modern post-punk and plenty of 70’s rock-n-roll that should mix to make one of the best early sets on Friday of Shaky Knees.
MANNEQUIN PUSSY
Friday, 2:45pm-3:30pm – Ponce De Leon Stage
With the release of their third album, Patience, in 2019, the Philadelphia punks seemed to be really taking off with huge festivals and tours scheduled for 2020. Of course that all got shut down, so instead the band regrouped for a pandemic EP, Perfect EP, that showed off some new tricks while just expanding the hype. The now three-piece band, Mannequin Pussy is finally out there again and ready to rock stages around the world. While they may come with a punk label, the band led by vocalist and guitarist Missy Dabice are just as much tender as they are power. There’s an emo side to Mannequin Pussy with emotions that pierce the soul, while able to switch it up on a dime and rock your face off with more traditions structures, plenty of grunge and sometimes the more off the wall guitar structures. It’s a perfect push and pull, and what makes Mannequin Pussy so great. This should be a thunderous set at Shaky Knees.
ADA LEA
Friday, 3:30pm-4:15pm – Criminal Records Stage
Another artist who has worked with Phoebe Bridgers’ co-writer and producer Marshall Vore, Ada Lea is another strong songwriter with introspective lyrics and a smooth, sultry sound. Mixing in crunchy guitars with spacey synths, the Montreal-based artist has released two albums on Saddle Creek Records, including 2021’s excellent one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden. Ada Lea is emotional storytelling at it’s finest, and she’s going to help us all release our feeling and emotions as we groove on at the Criminal Records Stage.
DEHD
Saturday, 12:45pm-1:30pm – Peachtree Stage
“Run Baby, Run from the bad love” and run right to the Peachtree Stage to catch Chicago-based Dehd. This is all the reason you need to get over your hangover from Friday night and get yourself to Shaky Knees early on Saturday. The three-piece band first formed in 2015, releasing their self titled debut in 2016, but it was with their 2019 album, Water, when Dehd really started to make noise nationally with their mix of post punk and surf rock to make one of the freshest sounds going in indie rock. Dehd’s 2020 album Flower of Devotion was met with critical acclaim, and now the band has already released two killer singles in 2022 as they prep the release of their next album Blue Skies, out May 27th on Fat Possum Records. Basically Dehd will bring a wall of sound that will have the crowd hype and dancing their butts off. Don’t miss this one.
CHASTITY BELT
Saturday, 1:30pm-2:15pm – Piedmont Stage
The quartet based out of Seattle led by the stellar Julia Shapiro, Chastity Belt has been making the perfect guitar-based slacker rock since their formation in Walla Walla, Washington in 2013. They’ve released four studio albums since, with the last being their self titled album in 2019. Chastity Belt did release the “Fake/Fear” single back in December that showed a little bit of their grunge repertoire, so hopefully new music is on the way, with Shaky Knees being a great place to test. So anyways, basically we are looking at the perfect early afternoon set with breezy guitars that circle the soundscapes with lushest and morning sounding lyrics to pierce your soul. It’s gonna be euphoric.
PRETTY SICK
Saturday, 1:30pm-2:15pm – Ponce Stage
The four-piece band out of New York City and led by Sabrina Fuentes have made noise since their inception in 2014 and first EP in 2016, especially in the Lower East Side. But it wasn’t until the last few years until the band started getting recognition on the national level, releasing an album in 2020 and 2021, and showing some shift in the band’s sound. Nowadays, Pretty Sick lives up to their name with a mixture of alternative-rock, grunge, riot grrrl, and post-punk, while still being able to mix in a breezy guitar-based sound perfect for an early afternoon set.
SPIRITUAL CRAMP
Sunday, 12:45pm-1:30pm – Criminal Records Stage
Spiritual Cramp, out of the San Francisco, are led by Michael Bingham, formerly of post-hardcore outfit Creative Adult and post-post-hardcore outfit Self Defense Family. Yet they are quite different from those former bands. The band’s Spotify bio reads “Citing sources from early Dub influenced Clash, Blitz and The Modern Lovers – Spiritual Cramp exist in a strange vacuum somewhere between David Byrne’s oversized suit and a bar fight between a bunch of drunk goons on Polk Street in SF. Hate for the police, the government, the status quo and himself are reoccurring themes in Bingham’s lyrics.” You have our attention Spiritual Cramp. So basically it’s going to be some fist pumping punk rock that you can dance to somewhere in the mosh pit. This should be a wild early set on the Criminal Records Stage.
DESTROYER
Sunday, 1:30pm-2:15pm – Piedmont Stage
This was probably the most surprising band to find in the small print section on the initial Shaky Knees lineup announcement. Don’t get me wrong, when one is dreaming up the perfect festival set, Destroyer probably doesn’t come to mind – there probably won’t be a mosh pit or crowd surfing. Dancing though, yes. More just grooving to the sounds of one of the most talented bands on the lineup. The Canadian band led by Dan Bejar, I guess you could label them as one of the weirdest bands on the lineup. Forming in 1995, and releasing 13 studio albums, including one of the best so far this year in Labyrinthitis, this is a band that has been critical darlings many times by Pitchfork and many others, while also plenty of debate on their worth as Dan has continued to experiment and find their sound throughout the years. But basically at Shaky Knees, you are going to find a set with music to get lost in, dance in, feel in, and probably some of the most talented musicianship you’ll see as Destroyer will… well, destroy you. Soundscapes to work every angle of your ears and brain. It will all be worth it.
ANGEL DU$T
Sunday, 1:30pm-2:15pm – Ponce De Leon Stage
You could call Angel Du$t a supergroup of sorts, formed in Baltimore in 2013, and made up of members of Turnstile and Trapped Under Ice, the band has released four albums including 2021’s YAK: A Collection Of Truck Songs, released via Roadrunner Records. Much like Turnstile, Angel Du$t can switch it up on you any second and do anything from hardcore punk to pop rock. There’s grunge, surf rock, alt rock, melodic hardcore and even soft rock. Basically it’s catch as hell, full of hooks, and shifting moodiness and power, which should make for one hell of set at Shaky Knees.
GIRLPUPPY
Sunday, 4:00pm-5:00pm – Criminal Records Stage
A basically brand new artist from right here in Atlanta, Girlpuppy, led by Becca Harvey, may be the new girl on the block, but that’s just even more reason to check out Girlpuppy on the Criminal Records Stage. With the pandemic giving her time to work on the Girlpuppy moniker she started a year earlier, Becca quickly found steaming success releasing her first single “For You” in 2021. Catching the ear of Phoebe Bridgers’ co-writer and producer Marshall Vore, she holed up with him to write and record Swan, her 2021 EP, and found a label home in buzzing indie label Royal Mountain, all before ever setting foot on stage. Now she gets to hit the big festival stage in her hometown, and we get to check out what all the buzz is about. If forlorn pop songs with confessional lyrics that pierce straight through the heart are your thing. You are going to be in love with Girlpuppy.
