TV Girl

TV Girl’s groove-forward update of the classic pop ideal made the band an online sensation in the 2010s and 2020s. Trung Ngo and Brad Petering formed TV Girl in 2010 while living in San Diego, and the pair’s self-titled debut EP, which combined reverb-soaked insouciance with crate-dug samples and irresistible hooks, established their sound. After releasing more EPs and the mixtape The Wild, The Innocent, The TV Shuffle, Ngo left the group, and Petering brought in keyboardist Wyatt Harmon and drummer Jason Wyman. French Exit, TV Girl’s first full-length, came out in 2014, and Petering and company steadily self-released music in the following years. Their persistence paid off, as their catchy, nostalgia-tinged songs made them a sensation in the early 2020s, with short-form video creators mining their back catalog for soundtrack material—particularly “Lovers Rock,” a French Exit cut that sampled The Shirelles over a rhythm reminiscent of the shaggiest ’90s Britpop, which became a viral hit in late 2023.