Do Not Miss Alex G at FYF!

Words: Steven Ward

With FYF Fest 2016 less than five days away, the anticipation is running thicker than hot lava! Pull your phones back out and rip up your schedules, here’s another must-see act you don’t want to hear about how amazing they were, because you missed them standing in the merch line or trying to buy a two-hundred dollar pizza slice.

This week’s featured FYF undercard is Alex G.

Two years ago Alex Giannascoli dropped out of school to pursue his musical career, four albums later he’s playing FYF, and right now the sky seems the limit for the Pennsylvanian native. A lo-fi singer/songwriter that pushes out albums the way Hollywood remakes movies, between 2014-2015, he dropped four full-length releases under the moniker Alex G. Going from the esoteric, vocal-drowning headiness of his debut DSU, Alex continued to toy with his love affair between warbling guitar incoherence and more melodically tame, but high in reverb, introspections. His latest release, the deceptively titled Beach Music (stream it below), is a tightrope act of influences. Alex channels a more fleshed-out version of jangle-pop artists Mac DeMarco–but not without a few originalities of his own. Songs like “Kicker” trudge forward without the aid of any solicited reverb or electrics (as does much of the album), but after its melancholy stroll against fingered guitar lines, the song begins to whine piercingly as Alex’s other fascinations almost break free. But predictable is exactly what he’s not, on a few of his Beach Music tracks, Alex throws in a piano-trumpet driven ballad, switches from crisp vocalizations to ghostly hazy ones, and flexes a bit of his underlying psychedelia in the process. But perhaps the most exciting thing about him are his multi-instrument, layered compositions. Decidedly rooted in the beach goth fervor, which should make Alex feel right at home in Los Angeles. It’s hard to say with his large discography how much he’ll pull from each of his albums–but experience seems it’ll be from his latest release. If that’s the case, Alex’s mellowed, overcast-waltz-along-the-sand tunes will glisten spectacularly at FYF.

Alex G performs at FYF Fest on Saturday, August 27 at 2:45 p.m. on the Trees Stage. Stream his latest album release, Beach Music below, or purchase it here.