Based in: Los Angeles, California

Active: 2015–present

I first heard of her: from a post that compared her music to that of Jack Off Jill

Sound: I initially said that “Jack Off Jill is not the first comparison I’d make,” but now that she has covered Jack Off Jill’s “Fear of Dying”, I guess Poppy herself disagrees.  But bizarre as it might seem, I’m inclined to draw a comparison to Sparks!  She started out with a public persona that was largely a performance (à la Ron Mael), and much of her early output had a satirical bent.  But even more Sparksy has been her genre-hopping: in her short career Poppy has careened from punk to ska to 8-bit to dance-pop to electronica to metal to shoegaze, and I’ve left out some genres for the sake of brevity.

Further listening: I think I’ll work backwards here.  We’ll start with some tracks from her most recent full-length album, Flux; next comes a demo from her Eat EP, which somehow made my top ten with just five songs; after that, one of the few tracks from I Disagree that isn’t already in the Hot 100; then, a couple of songs from the Choke EP; finally, we’ll wrap up with an outtake from back before her official debut.  This would be an amazing best-of for most musicians, and it’s not even her very best stuff!

		“Flux” (2021)
		“Lessen the Damage” (2021)
		“As Strange as It Seems” (2021)
		“Never Find My Place” (2021)
		“Eat (demo)” (2021)
		“Sit / Stay” (2020)
		“Choke” (2019)
		“Meat” (2019)
		“Heavy Metal” (demo)