Not everyone can be Picked to Click.
Last fall, Racket resurrected P2C, as we’ve come to call the long-running “best new bands” poll we inherited from City Pages. The ballots we collected from members of the local music scene selected our 10 winners, but they also reminded us of all the other great musicians who’ve surfaced over the past decade.
And so… Poised to Pop.
Many of the artists you’ll see here received multiple mentions from P2C voters. In fact, one of our Poised to Poppers (I won’t say who) came in at No. 11 and was one vote away from making our Picked to Click list.
But Poised to Pop isn’t a consolation prize. These are simply artists (selected solely by me) who deserve to be heard, who you’ll want to be listening to in 2025 and should have been listening to in 2024. And who knows—some of ’em might even make our Picked to Click list this fall.
Crush Scene
Who are they?
Madalyn Rowell (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rachael Guertin (lead guitar), Janet Kolterman (bass), Tasha Spencer (drums)
What do they sound like?
They shuffle with a garage-rock core, and Guertin’s mosquito stinger of a lead guitar pierces the jangly dissonance. When Rowell’s drawl kicks in, they even resemble something we’d have maybe called cowpunk in the ’80s.
Where did they come from?
Rowell was a drummer for 15 years, in bands like Devil Baby and the Toxins. (She still drums in Mad Mojo Jett and the Black Widows.) She’d written songs for years, but it was in the early Covid days that she started playing more guitar. “I especially wanted to play with femme and femme-presenting musicians, because even five years ago, there wasn't this much, like, female representation in our local music scene,” she says. A few of the other members hadn’t been in bands before and learned on their feet.
What have they done?
The group’s first big year was 2023, with a residency at Mortimer’s and the release of their debut album, Rejection Therapy. “We are consistently collaborative,” Guertin says of the band, noting their participation in the local femme country collective the She Haws, the burlesque shows and skateboard events they’ve played, and their work with the Twin Cities United Performers Union (TCUP). “And we’ve grown together as besties,” she adds. “We just kind of like being silly, and we want to invite others to do that,” says Rowell.
What will they do next?
Crush Scene is headed into the studio later this month, and they plan to release singles throughout the year, culminating in the release of an album with a loose radio theme, including skits. “We were thinking it would be fun If we made it like someone scrolling through radio stations,” Rowell says. “Because while we have a sound, we kind of genre jump, and we’re getting a little more funky in some songs. So it’ll be like listening to the radio, and we’re hoping to work with some local DJs.”
Where should you start?
The country-flavored “Cease and Desist” suggests where they might go next.
Essjay TheAfrocentricRatchet
Who is she?
She’s Afrocentric: “I grew up on the north side of Chicago, that was a very culturally diverse area and I went to an international study school.” And she’s ratchet: “Then we moved to the west side—the ghetto, the hood—and I had to learn how to navigate that part of my community.” In short: “I’m educated, but I’m also still a hood rat at heart.”
What does she sound like?
On the whole, a smidgen more ratchet than Afrocentric, with a smooth flow that edges into singsong but snaps into place with a fierce attitude when it has to.
Where did she come from?
When she had a baby at 18, Essjay moved to Minneapolis from Chicago. She’d briefly lived here before, for a year when she was 4 or 5, she says, so, “I knew there was this happy magical place called Minnesota where you could start a new life.” She was a shy child, but she found her self-confidence in 2017 during a bout of mania. “I asked a friend to teach me how to use Pro Tools. I had no fear and felt like I could do anything in the world. It was a fun scary. I locked myself in the room for two weeks” she remembers. After seeking mental health treatment, she was concerned she’d lose that drive. “But I finally got the mania controlled and learned how to still make music,” she says. “It’s a balancing act, music is kind of the balance.”
What has she done?
Once she started making tracks, Essjay visited the Tangible Moments open mic at A-Mill Artist Lofts, hosted by Ricki Monique and Za’Nia Coleman. Along with producer and musician Zak Khan, these people became the core of Essjay’s creative community, what she calls “a family that was creating in real time,” and they’ve been participants in her music so far. In 2023 she put on a showcase of some of her favorite musicians called Once Upon A Time at Ratchet St Entry, with dancers, costumes, and effects.
What will she do next?
While she just released an EP, 4 Tha Ratchets Deluxe, Essjay has plenty more on the way in 2025. “I’m really stepping into this idea of allowing myself to flow naturally with my different moods,” she says. “The top half of the year I plan on dropping an album that has a lot of Afrocentric, neo-soul inspiration. But then, come summertime, we getting ratchet again. I’ll be dropping a mixtape.”
Where should you start?
Her 2024 single “BUGZ BUNNY,” with racing 808s and massive synths, boasts like “I been running shit so much forgot there was a finish line,” and a killer vocal hook.
In Lieu
Who are they?
Nikii Post (vocals, guitar), Kyle Adams (guitar, vocals), Mano Holgin (drums), Jack Carlson (bass)
What do they sound like?
“I’ve always loved punk and had a quick, get to the point, get in, get out, sort of approach to music, we've always kind of kept it really short in these like two-minute songs,” Post says. “Over time, we’ve started trying to fit as much chaos as humanly possible into these little two-minute pieces—sort of upscaled punk.”
Where did they come from?
In Lieu have been kicking around since 2016, when Post started songwriting in earnest. Then it was much more of a singer-songwriter outfit; In Lieu’s 2016 debut, Falling in the Right Direction, was very much her project. But by the time the band recorded a split EP with Gramma the following year, Adams and Holgin had joined and their recognizable sound had begun coalescing. Since then, Post has begun sharing songwriting duties with Adams, “So we have more of a balanced sort of writing relationship between us,” says Post.
What have they done?
After the split EP, In Lieu released one more album before the pandemic hit, 2019’s Hatemail. They followed that up with two EPs: Edible in 2021 and, most recently, Kettle in 2023.
What will they do next?
Last weekend In Lieu went into south Minneapolis recording studio Signaturetone with producer Adam Tucker to work on a new album that will be called Hooligan. “We've never really considered ourselves a political band, but this next album really focuses on the evils of, like, abusing power on every level,” Post says. “We figured if we're gonna be this loud we should make something like fight music.” If you’d like a preview of Hooligan, you can catch In Lieu at the Turf Club on February 8 with God Bullies and Gay Witch Abortion.
Where should you start?
Kettle is a good introduction while we’re waiting for the new material, but keep in mind that In Lieu is a band in progress. “This is the first album we're doing with the sound we actually want it to be,” Post says of the music they’re working on now.
Kavyesh Kaviraj
Who is he?
A jazz pianist who has played with musicians across genres in the Twin Cities, from straight jazz to R&B to looser improvisational music.
What does he sound like?
That often depends on the context. Accomplished in a variety of styles, Kaviraj adapts without losing his own voice. You can often hear echoes of older legends like Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner in his expansive playing.
Where did he come from?
Kaviraj was raised in Oman, where his parents had moved from India, and he played classical piano as a boy. “I discovered jazz through YouTube when I was about 18 or 19,” he says, and his introduction was an unusual one. “Jamie Foxx was doing a standup show, and he's playing very gospelly, very rich chords, and I'm asking myself, ‘What are these chords?’” he recalls. And so began his exploration of the history of jazz, which eventually led Kaviraj to Minnesota to study at McNally Smith Music School, which shuttered before he graduated. After finishing his degree at Columbia College in Chicago, he returned to the Twin Cities. “Cities like Boston and Chicago have the effect of boxing you into a certain kind of style or certain genre,” he says. “And what I find here is just this unlimited freedom to wander around and create however I want to.”
What has he done?
Kaviraj has become a semi-regular player at the Dakota, co-billing a show with L.A. Buckner and performing tributes to jazz greats Ahmad Jahmal and Roy Hargrove. He’s a member of Lady Midnight’s band. And he’s justifiably proud of the opportunity to play with Wynton Marsalis at an impromptu fundraiser for St. Paul’s Metronome Brewery. Last year, he stepped out on his own with Fables, his solo debut, on local label Shifting Paradigm Records.
What will he do next?
“I put up the record in summer last year, and everything that I could have asked for to happen, it really happened,” he says. “Now I'm sort of back into this mode of trying new things. I've just been throwing stuff at the wall and seeing if it sticks. I've been writing some strings for Aby Wolf, and we've just had a concert. I've been producing a lot. I've been playing with big bands. I've just been trying everything. So maybe this year will be the most amount of experimentation I've ever done.”
Where should you start?
Fables, of course. It’s an excellent album all around but if you need vocals to coax you into hearing jazz, try “Beloved” with Aby Wolf or “Take My Hand,” featuring MMYYKK.
Lonefront
Who is he?
Ross Hutchens, an internationally known techno producer.
What does he sound like?
Rooted in old-school techno, Lonefront’s music evolves slowly with a propulsive and hypnotic effect. During his sets, he augments his own tracks with live modular synths and drum programming.
Where did he come from?
Born in the Bay Area, Hutchens was a rocker when he got to the Twin Cities, playing guitar in hardcore bands. Around 2014 he started getting into DJ Rashad and Chicago footwork, and began messing around on an Ableton, making “like a hodgepodge of hip-hop/neo-soul.” He was still concentrating on studying jazz guitar in school; then a friend invited him to rave. “I was pretty reluctant, since I associated rave music with European EDM culture and, at that point, didn't know about its roots in Detroit and Chicago,” he says. But a night at the DVS-1’s warehouse venue, Future Classic, was a revelation. He went home, studied up on electronic music history, and started making techno tracks. “I always tell everyone, the rest is history,” he says.
What has he done?
After meeting the local DJ and event planner Steven Centrific, Lonefront booked bigger gigs in Minnesota, which eventually led to international recognition. “I think there's more attention on what's happening with dance music in Minneapolis the past few years, mainly with the Great Beyond,” Hutchens says, referring to the Centrific-thrown party in the Minnesota River Valley. “So now we've got, like, a festival that's bringing a flavor of techno that is actually pretty rare for North America. A lot of people from the coasts are flying in for it; people flew in internationally last year. That's creating a shift where people are more aware of what the city has to offer.” He credits that rediscovery of the Minneapolis dance scene with his opportunities to play on the West Coast and in Berlin.
What will he do next?
Lonefront is looking to release some vinyl on his fledgling label, Uncoiled. He’s also got some festival sets in the works, both in the U.S. and Europe. And he’ll return to Berlin—the North Loop jazz club, where he occasionally performs ambient sets.
Where should you start?
His hour-long set at The Great Beyond in 2024 is as good a Lonefront primer as you can ask.
Products Band
Who are they?
Alex Hanson (guitar/vocals), Jo Kellen (guitar/vocals), Jack Woolsey (bass/vocals), Konner Johnson (drums)
What do they sound like?
Jagged but melodic postpunk with chops that never undercut the song.
Where did they come from?
Before the pandemic, the members of Products Band were in groups like the Florists, Posh Loss, Frankie Teardrop, and Air Ducts. “We just started chatting about playing together,” Hanson says. “I think at first we wanted to just hang out and play some Stereolab covers.”
What have they done?
Products Band has recorded prolifically, beginning with the On the Dotted Line EP in 2018, right up to their 2023 full-length Some Sudden Weather. They’ve unexpectedly landed on some industry playlists for Tidal and Apple Music without “a ton of background push.” Says Hanson, “We have never really been a playlist-friendly band, so it's been weird to navigate this world too.” And locally they’ve built up a fanbase they describe as “this weird cross section of people that went to Jay’s Longhorn in the late ’70s, that are excited to see a band that kind of feels like that, and gay teenagers.”
What will they do next?
The band plans to keep releasing singles while working on a full-length, and their sound is adjusting along the way. “We're really leading into kind of the polar opposite of the twinkly, trebly guitar of our past. Now we're going into deeper, richer, more bass-forward kinds of tracks,” Kellen says. “We're going in a direction that I think is a little bit less like, anxious, hectic, minute- and-a-half bursts.” They compare the shift to that of the band Wire. “It's like the trajectory between Pink Flag and like Chairs Missing and 154.” (IYKYK)
Where should you start?
The two newer singles that the band touts as establishing their new direction: “Steady/Sugarless” (released last fall) and the very recent “You Bend the Light.”
Rosie
Who is she?
Rosie Castano is an introspective indie songwriter and an extroverted scene presence. “I love talking to people. I love going to shows,” is how she sums herself up.
What does she sound like?
Her voice is sometimes dreamy but rarely moody, and her acoustic-based tracks are carried forward by shifting but not intrusive beats and electronic touches.
Where did she come from?
Castano grew up in Robbinsdale (“I didn’t go to downtown Minneapolis until I was 18”) and released her first song, “Lilac Season,” while still a student at the Perpich Center for Arts Education. Then a friend took her to a show at Pilllar Forum. “After that show, I was like, I need to play shows, like, this is what I need to do,” she says, and she diligently set about figuring out how to do that. “I would stalk Undercurrent MPLS’s page and I would go through almost all their posts,” she adds. “I'd click on each of the bands that they covered, check out their music, see if I liked how they sounded. And if I did, I would either email them or DM them. I didn't really know how to reach out to venues yet, so I was like, ‘Hi, I'm Rosie. Here's my socials. Like, here's my music I'd love to play here.’”
What has she done?
Once she started making connections, Castano kept hustling. “I played like 50 shows the first year,” she says. “I think it was like 39 shows the next year, me and my band were playing like two shows a week, and I did some solo stuff. I was just, like, obsessed with it. I was like, ‘I want to play as many shows as I possibly can.’” This culminated with a New Year’s Eve performance at Green Room where she sang “Autumn Leaves” with Room3. Last August, she released her first EP, SYRINGA, and she’s also been creating her own merch. “I thrift sweatshirts, like blank sweatshirts, good quality ones, and then print on those,” she says. “So then people get their very own sweatshirt. No one else can have it.”
What will she do next?
“I feel like this year I have a little bit more of a grasp on what's going on in the music world and I have an idea of what I want to do,” says Castano, while not revealing too many concrete plans just yet. She will, however, be playing the Green Room on February 12 with Eli Brunelle, Vinny Franco & The Love Channel, and BAKKWOODDRIFT.
Where should you start?
The title track of SYRINGA, of which one lazy writer quoted himself as saying: “There’s just so much happening. Her Auto-Tune-tweedled voice. A busy bassline that glitches out unexpectedly. A light little strummed melody busted open by a heavy beat that bursts in and out. A delight.”
Yonder
Who are they?
Hattie Peach (violin), Emma Jeanne (guitar), Oliver Gerber (guitar), Dylan Hilliker (drums), Daisy Forester (bass).
What do they sound like?
Scrappy indie rock with smart lyrics, tight female harmonies, and unexpected fiddle breaks.
Where did they come from?
Hattie Peach and Emma Jeanne met while working for public radio station KUMD in Duluth, but their attempts at collaboration didn’t quite gel. “She's true Americana, and I'm kind of more of a ‘say it as it is’ type of writer,” Emme Jeanne says of Peach, who also plays in a country band with her family, the Penny Peaches. “When we started writing together, I was like ‘Hattie, not everything has to rhyme!’ We kind of stopped pretty quickly there.” But after both singers moved down to Minneapolis, and Emma Jeanne had established a name for herself as a solo performer, they gave it another shot. Yonder then came together quickly—they booked a show at the Entry before they’d fully assembled a band.
What have they done?
Having firmed up their lineup and gigged themselves into shape, the band released its debut EP, Memento Mori, last month and held a release show at St. Paul’s Can Can Wonderland.
What will they do next?
With Memento Mori out there, this is sort of a victory lap year for Yonder. They’ll be playing a few festival gigs this summer. Emma Jeanne is excited to find out what Forester, who had previously been a member of Dial Tone, brings to the table as a writer and harmony singer.
Where should you start?
“Oil Light,” the lead single from Memento Mori, of which some guy said: “Oliver Gerber’s fancy guitar lick, flashy but not wanky, is what hooks you. Harmonies from Hattie Peach and Emma Jeanne are what keep you. And Peach’s violin break is an unexpected treat.”
