wilt

In the year since releasing their debut single, “gwen,” wilt has gone from relative obscurity to one of the buzzier bands coming out of Los Angeles. With more than 54 million combined views on Instagram and TikTok to date, the indie-rockers, which include lead vocalist Chelsea Rifkin; guitarists Aaron Liebman and Andrew Vance; bassist Jake Shpiner; and drummer Dan Bermudez, have built a fanbase so devoted, they can no longer self-deprecatingly call themselves “your favorite band you’ve never heard of.”

Subsequent singles only fueled the fire, earning numerous placements on editorial playlists, including Spotify’s New Music Friday, New Noise, and Undercurrents; spins on influential radio stations KROQ and KCRW; and an opening slot with Britain’s massively popular Lovejoy on multiple sold-out tour dates in 2023. On Spotify alone, over 500,000 listeners across more than 150 countries have streamed wilt’s songs millions of times.

But what makes wilt so special? It starts with Rifkin, whose vocal prowess and captivating stage presence have drawn comparisons to Hayley Williams, Debbie Harry, and Joan Jett. Add to that a repertoire of hook-laden, anthemic, and introspective tracks all recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered start to finish in Liebman and Vance’s home studios. The results defy categorization, while simultaneously recalling such influences as Nirvana, Radiohead, Slow Pulp, Car Seat Headrest, and Weezer.

Rifkin has also made no secret of her love for ’90s grunge, and credits Hole for inspiring wilt’s moniker. “In the song ‘Celebrity Skin,’ which we love to cover, there’s the lyric ‘wilted and faded somewhere in Hollywood,’” she explains. “When we were coming up with band names none of them were hitting. And then I was like, ‘wilt.”’ Adds Vance: “I knew when I heard Chelsea say ‘wilt’ that it was the band name for sure.” Their followers, known as “wilters”, would agree. “The response from our fans has been mind-blowing,” says Vance. “The amount of attention we’ve been getting is really all we could have asked for.”

That said, wilt is just getting started, and 2024 promises to be a breakout year for the band with more singles on the way, the release of a debut EP, and tour dates scheduled across the U.S.