Happy Monday! Hope you had an amazin’ weekend! We kickoff the first day of the week with Dave Hanacek from KJEE/Santa Barbara, CA sharing his fun stories on #HAPPENS Famous Firsts.

Franz Ferdinand “Hooked” is the #1 Most Picked song on Alternative Picks this week. It’s the second single from the new Franz Ferdinand album and is this week’s only Mediabase Alternative Chart debut at 39*. Lots of buzz on Slow Joy and Sleep Token too. Take a look at the rest of the Top 5 songs buzzing on Alternative Picks. 

Balu Brigada “So Cold” is the #1 song this week on the Mediabase Alternative Chart. Congrats to Atlantic’s Greg Dorfman & the Balu Brigada team! Dorfman said, “First spin was seven months ago, slow and steady this song is the real deal. Artist development all the way, streaming up 13 weeks in a row. Thank you for all the radio airplay! Headline tour coming later this year with a new album.”

Alternative New Music Discovery #HAPPENS with new singles from The Ramona Flowers “Human”, Jesse James Pariah “Horns Under Halo”, and Stereophonics “Seems Like You Don’t Know Me” releasing new music that is now available for airplay on the Happens Alternative Downloads page. I have their new singles queued up for you to listen, download and get song info below. 

Some bummer news last week. Scott Burton is out at The Orchard and Jon Adler was downsized at WLUM (FM 102/1)/Milwaukee.

More ALT news, KVIL (ALT 103.7)/Dallas has announced the lineup for “ALTERIUM”.

Get the details on these stories on Alternative News.

Did you see blink-182 and Hozier are headlining Sea.Hear.Now Festival? I have the lineup posted on Alternative Music Info.

AWOLNATION played a private performance at KKDO (ALT 94.7)/Sacramento last Thursday and Andy Hawk had a trophy for Aaron Bruno. Cool moment with video too! Kiernan from WRIS (106.7 The Resistance)/Madison catches up with honestav. Check out the smiles and video on Alternative Photos. 

ALTERNATIVE NEW MUSIC DISCOVERY  

The Ramona Flowers “Human” (Distiller / CO5) 

Listen & Download HERE.

Bristol, England 5-piece The Ramona Flowers released “Human” on March 19th. 

It’s the follow up to their 2024 single “Dangerous.” Produced by Dimitri Tikovoi (Charlie XCX, Becky Hill, MNEK, Purple Disco Machine), the track was written by the band with lyrics that reflect a personal, heartfelt message. 

The band says, “Human is a song about learning from mistakes, letting go of guilt, and realising that every moment is a chance to begin again and grow into a better version of yourself. At the end of the day we’re all Humans, everyone on this planet makes mistakes, it’s just how you learn from those mistakes and move forward which makes the difference.” 

Look for The Ramona Flowers to announce a summer tour soon!

Jesse James Pariah “Horns Under Halo” (SVN / BVRNT / Regime) 

Listen & Download HERE.

Hawaiian-born/Los Angeles-based Jesse James Pariah released “Horns Under Halo” on March 19th. 

It’s the first single from his debut solo album, set for release in spring 2025 via Jakob Nowell’s SVN/BVRNT Records and produced by DENM. Hailing from the island of Kauai, Jesse spent his formative years as a pro-surfer and got his start as a member of Slum Beach Posse alongside DENM and Landon McNamara. 

About his single, Jesse says, “The inspiration for ‘Horns Under Halo’ basically came from my life story. Like many people, I was misunderstood most of my life, and people didn’t see my true, pure intentions. I guess I just came off as a skateboarding, surfing, drug addict, punk, which I probably was most times, but I swear I wasn’t trying to be. Life is a trip, and if you’re lucky enough it will come full circle, like it did for me. This life has given me so many chances, and I feel the reason is because of the universe, my true intentions and who I am.” 

Jesse James Pariah is confirmed for this year’s BeachLife Festival and will open for Sublime in Denver at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Stereophonics “Seems Like You Don’t Know Me” (Universal) 

Listen & Download HERE.

Wales 4-piece Stereophonics released their new single “Seems Like You Don’t Know Me” today. 

The track is the second installment from the band’s highly anticipated 13th album, Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry, Make ‘em Wait, out on April 25th. 

Lead singer Kelly Jones had this to say about the new song: “It always had a great melody, but in the studio I took it through three or four different versions, from very complex busy drumming refs to the finished, very sparse drum machine and juno synth version on the album, which I love. That atmosphere and the lyrics match so

well together. Relationships are complex. Communication is so often broken.” The album artwork was inspired from a Louise Bourgeois postcard Kelly saw in New York’s Modern Art Museum gift shop, “[It was] on a pink background that said ‘Art Is The Guarantee Of Sanity’”. Scribbling the words of the album title onto his own pink background, here now lies “the pink album”. 

Stereophonics kicked off a No Hit Left Behind World Tour with US dates underway now through April 9th in San Diego. Find the tour dates HERE.