Artist · chart history
Big Thief
Band Brooklyn United States Formed 2015 US indie folk band
Big Thief formed in 2015 in Brooklyn, United States. Big Thief has 89 chart appearances on 61 radio countdowns from 18 stations on RockLists, spanning 2017–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Simulation Swarm”, which appears on 18 lists with a best position of #2. The station that charted Big Thief most often is WYEP (Pittsburgh, PA), with 14 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2022.
Big Thief came together in Brooklyn in 2015 around 2 founding members, singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker and guitarist Buck Meek, with Max Oleartchik on bass and James Krivchenia taking over the drum stool from original drummer Jason Burger after the debut album. Their records sound like folk songs caught mid-fever, Lenker's voice fragile one minute and ragged the next, with the band able to go from a campfire hush to a squall of guitar noise in a single verse.
Masterpiece came out on Saddle Creek in 2016, Capacity followed in 2017, and then in 2019 they signed to 4AD and released U.F.O.F. in May and Two Hands in October. U.F.O.F. got a Grammy nod for Best Alternative Music Album, and "Not", a wiry, relentless burner from Two Hands, picked up nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, a sprawling double album, landed in February 2022, drew another Best Alternative Music Album nomination and gave the countdowns "Simulation Swarm" and "Certainty". Oleartchik left in June 2024, citing interpersonal reasons, and in September 2025 the remaining trio put out Double Infinity with help from a batch of session players, later adding Joshua Crumbly on bass for live shows.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Big Thief on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simulation Swarm | 18 | #2 | – | 2022 | |
| 2 | Vampire Empire | 14 | #3 | – | 2023 | |
| 3 | Not | 15 | #6 | – | 2019 | |
| 4 | Incomprehensible | 11 | #10 | – | 2025 | |
| 5 | Shark Smile | 8 | #13 | – | 2017 | |
| 6 | Certainty | 7 | #18 | – | 2021 | |
| 7 | Words | 4 | #6 | – | 2025 | |
| 8 | Little Things | 1 | #4 | – | 2021 | |
| 9 | No Reason | 1 | #37 | – | 2022 | |
| 10 | Mythological Beauty | 2 | #66 | – | 2017 | |
| 11 | Born For Loving You | 1 | #41 | – | 2023 | |
| 12 | Change | 1 | #448 | – | – | |
| 13 | Masterpiece | 2 | #458 | – | – | |
| 14 | UFOF | 2 | #74 | – | 2019 | |
| 15 | Spud Infinity | 1 | #82 | – | 2022 | |
| 16 | Cattails | 1 | #1102 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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