Your Guide To WAM’s Most Popular Act Nominees

It's been a busy year for Drapht, POND, San Cisco, Tired Lion, Kucka and Tame Impala

There are 35 categories for this year’s WA Music Awards, and perhaps the most anticipated of the bunch is Most Popular Act.

After all, the title implies said artist is the best in the state, and looking at this year’s list, it’s safe to say the nominees are some of the best talent in the country, if not world.

We’re proud to once again be hosting the Public Voted categories, which Most Popular Act falls under, and here’s a breakdown of the acts up for the top honour.

Have your say here.

Drapht

It’s been a few years between full-length drinks for venerated West Australian hip hop artist Drapht, but he’s never been too far from our minds in the time since releasing his acclaimed 2011 full-length, The Life Of Riley. Most recently, he whipped local audiences into a frenzy on a national tour back in August, celebrating his return to the limelight with a new single, Dancin’ John Doe, and proving that there’s more than enough vitality left in the elder statesman of Aussie hip hop.

Pond

Now a far cry from the days where they were reflexively labelled a Tame Impala spin-off band, local garage-psych luminaries POND have established themselves as a vital and vibrant prospect all their own. Most recent full-length Man, It Feels Like Space Again, may be the sixth full-length the group has put out in as many years, but they’ve never felt fresher or more assured – hell, even the UK and Argentinaare well on board at this stage. But, then, have you heard the record? The results are not surprising.

Tame Impala

Psych rockers Tame Impala smashed back onto the international scene this year with their third studio record, Currents, and dominated charts around the world. We said the album transformed them “into the kind of group that writes introspective anthems where the music is the focus”. Read the full review here.

They were also in the middle of a legal battle between Universal Music Australia and Modular Recordings founder Stephen 'Pav' Pavlovic, which wrapped up a few weeks ago.

San Cisco

Another global juggernaut that kicked off a new album cycle, San Cisco’s latest record was received with arms wide open and saw them embark on an extensive tour that took in a wealth of regional areas. We said Gracetown is “concise and direct” and likely why it was another success for the band.

The trend seems to be that extreme highs are also followed by unwanted situations, and for San Cisco that was bassist Nick Gardner accidently shooting himself in the foot.

Tired Lion

The Perth indie-rock four piece came out of nowhere, racking up massive triple j time with single I Don’t Think You Like Me, before supporting the likes of British India, Kingswood, Luca Brasi and more around the country and eventually taking to the main stage at Splendour In The Grass. They also dropped new EP Figurine, and produced one of the best Like A Version cover of the year. We said the EP was “a strong release through and through”. Read the full review here.

Kucka

Synth-pop outfit Kucka continued to ride the wave of success from single Unconditional all year, taking out WAM’s Song Of The Year award in March and also signing on for the Red Bull Academy in France. The EP of the same name didn’t disappoint, and you can read our review here. 2015 also saw her branch out further into collaborations, working closely with Paces, Cosmo's Midnight, Simo Soo and more.