Vampire Weekend’s new album, Father of the Bride (Columbia), just debuted at #1 in America, selling 138k! The band’s new single, “This Life,” sure sounds like a real hit song to me…

Tracks from Billie Eilish’s Darkroom/Interscope album were streamed more than 75m times this week. That’s truly amazing. As for airplay at presstime, it looks like she’ll have her first #1 at redio with “bury a friend”…

Many congrats to Warner Bros.’ Rob Goldklang for guiding Black Keys’ “Lo/Hi” to #1 this week. It’s the band’s fifth #1 at Modern Rock. They also accomplished the rare feat of going #1 at AAA and Active Rock with this song. When you get the chance, go and stream…

Vince Richards

KKDO Sacramento: This is the best story out there today, when it comes to Modern Rock radio. The station—guided by Andy Hawk and Vince Richards—is #1 in persons 18-34 and 18-49. I also believe they have the highest numbers of any station in the format in the 18-34 cell. And they just saw the highest April ratings the station has ever had [See above for a sample hour.]…

The Lumineers’ “Gloria” (Dualtone) arrives in the Top 5 with some strong callout from RateTheMusic, which has it Top 10 in all demos. The band started out their summer of playing festivals this weekend at Hangout in Alabama. I look forward to seeing them next month at WRFF Philadelphia and WKQX Chicago radio shows, where attendance will be close to 25k at each event. It’s certain that the Modern Rock listener really likes The Lumineers…

Breaking through the minefield that is the Modern Rock chart is a true artform—if you can figure it out before it breaks you. S-Curve’s AJR is a young group who’s done just that. It certainly helps having great songs like “100 Bad Days”—their third consecutive Top 10 track! New album Neotheater has sold an impressive 40k albums in two weeks, with streams over 20m. “100 Bad Days” alone has accumulated 40m streams so far. The aforementioned KKDO serves as a good example here, with 600x in. Who says 18-34-year-olds don’t participate?...

Andy Hawk

Isn’t Columbia’s blink-182 the best band combining the genres of the Modern Rock format? With blink, you get the oldsters and youngsters agreeing on how much like they like them; that’s a rare feat in 2019. Many congrats to the label’s Lisa Sonkin and Darice Lee for a fantastic start on new single “Blame It on My Youth.” Speaking of Columbia, more congrats are in order for getting iHeart’s On The Verge with Dominic Fike’s “3 Nights,” which has been streaming over 3m a week. That’s impressive…

Doesn’t Of Monsters and Men’s “Alligator” (Republic) sound great on the radio? I sure think so, and it’s great to see the format jump right into the deep end on this one…

The next Top 5 hit at Modern Rock? I’ll put my money on The Head & The Heart’s “Missed Connection” (Warner Bros.)…

It’s great to see Matt Malone named PD at WQMP Orlando. Good guys do win!..

Speaking of good guys winning, Joel Weiss was quickly hired at KCJK Kansas City, fresh from WBOS Boston… It’s also super to see Tom Ferguson return to the PD chair at WFUZ Wilkes Barre-Scranton…

Judah & The Lion’s “Why Did You Run?” (Caroline) is currently climbing the charts and looking good. The band’s new album, Pep Talks, sold over 22k this week!...

Is it me or does Bastille constantly deliver one great song after another? New single “Joy” (Virgin/Capitol) is definitely destined for the Top 10 and beyond…

Records to watch include Badflower’s “Promise Me” (Big Machine/John Varvatos) and ILLENIUM f/Jon Bellion’s “Good Things” (Capitol).