A prodigy? Kali Flanagan started making music at age 11. By 15, he had signed a record deal. For years, he performed simply as Kali and was a favorite among teenagers; he wrote songs that resonated—and still resonate, of course—with his peers and also served as a gateway to the semi-mature indie rock we all seek out at a certain age. In 2024, despite opening for the Strokes and Weyes Blood, he still had a job at a record store in Los Angeles. Almost a cliché from another era, but one that not only suits him but is completely justified. Kali Flanagan is still very young. It was also in 2024 that he decided to change his name, becoming Superfan—a change that accompanied Tow Truck Jesus, which gave him a whole new dimension.
My Piledriver Heart will be the second chapter of that mission. What has changed? For starters, the voice. It seems strange to go down this path, but over the years one thing that has changed in Kali is his voice—the growing pains of starting out so young, but also of discovering it, how it fits into his music, and how it can evolve with him in this process. It is, contrary to what it may seem, an advantage—a musician growing with his songs, and we, on this side, growing with him and with them, the songs. Even if we’ve already grown too much, it’s never too much to grow, especially with melodies and lyrics that seem to be discovering a way to exist in today’s indie-rock scene.
We were already familiar with some of them from My Piledriver Heart, such as the beautiful “Aperion (Fantasy Football),” released about a year ago, which was already a strong indicator of the change to come: compositions layered with arrangements, with a darker tone—not necessarily black, but something heavier, as if covering the voice a little were a desire, in a gesture somewhere between shyness and stylistic choice. Kali murmurs a lot, which isn’t new, but his voice on My Piledriver Heart sounds like a continuous lament, one that doesn’t get stuck in alleys and keeps moving forward, in a carousel-like fashion, searching for a mirage of happiness.
“Joy” closes the album, and it is no coincidence. It is another step in this process of maturation. Kali Flanagan as Superfan is not yet a mature musician, but he is a fully formed one. The search for his voice today is a process, a luxury he can afford because he sees himself as being ahead of the others. Not out of arrogance, but out of advantage. Take advantage of the opportunity to see him live in 2026.
AS