April 21st

April 21st started in San Francisco in 2010, with Cody Votolato on vocals and guitar and Stephen Smith on bass. The band took its name from the date of the Woodstock '99 festival, which ended in chaos. For a few years, they played a lot of shows and put out their own records, but things didn't really click until 2015. That's when they released an EP called 'Coldest July', and the title track caught on in a way nothing else had. It's a slow, sad song that people kept sharing, and it got the band some attention they hadn't seen before.

After 'Coldest July', April 21st put out albums like 'Antebellum' and 'Time Heals Nothing'. Those records got a bit darker and weirder, which some fans liked and some critics didn't. They also wrote songs like 'Healing My Wounds' and 'Resilience', which kept that introspective tone. In 2018, there was some noise about their lyrics being called misogynistic, which led to a few canceled shows. The band said the songs were just personal, not meant that way.

As of the last update, the group was still Votolato and Smith. They haven't had a huge hit since 'Coldest July', but they kept making music for the people who connected with that sound.