Lake Street Dive have one of those catalogs that rewards wandering, two decades of albums, covers EPs and live staples, all stamped with the same conservatory-honed craft. But if you're arriving fresh, wandering can wait. Their most-loved tracks form a near-perfect introduction on their own: six songs that cover the band's whole range, from upright-bass soul to gleaming modern pop. Here's the order to hear them in, and why each one earns its place.
Key facts
- Start here
- Good Kisser (2018)
- The breakthrough era
- Bad Self Portraits (2014)
- The cover to hear
- Rich Girl (Hall & Oates)
- The modern single
- Hypotheticals (2021)
- Signature ingredients
- Rachael Price's voice, four-part harmony, upright bass
First listen: the front door
"Good Kisser" is the front door. The lead single from the self-produced Free Yourself Up (2018), it's the band's sleek, confident side: a slow-strutting bassline, gospel-tinged backing vocals, and Rachael Price delivering a kiss-off with the poise of a classic soul singer and the bite of a modern one. If this doesn't hook you, Lake Street Dive may simply not be your band, but it hooks almost everyone.
Follow it with "Hypotheticals", from 2021's Obviously. Produced with pop veteran Mike Elizondo, it's the band at their brightest and most contemporary, a nimble, disco-adjacent groove under a lyric that turns romantic what-ifs into a singalong. Together, these two songs map the band's modern era: soulful but never retro-costume, polished but never sterile.
The breakthrough: Bad Self Portraits era
Now rewind to the record that broke them. "Bad Self Portraits", the 2014 title track written by bassist Bridget Kearney, is one of the great wry heartbreak songs of its decade, a lyric about a camera bought for a relationship that ended, sung by Price with equal parts humor and hurt. It's also the clearest showcase of what makes this band's writing special: literate, specific, and completely unpretentious.
Its running mate is "You Go Down Smooth", from the same album, the band in full swagger, horn-kissed and harmony-stacked, built to end sets and convert skeptics. This is the song that turned national TV appearances into new fans by the thousand back in 2014, and it hasn't aged a day.
“Six songs, three eras, one constant: a band that treats a great hook and a great harmony as the same job.”
The cover and the deep cut
No Lake Street Dive introduction is complete without a cover, because covers are how the world met them, first through the viral sidewalk video of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back, " then through the Fun Machine EP. From that EP, "Rich Girl" is the keeper: Hall & Oates' pop classic rebuilt around Kearney's upright bass and a swinging, jazz-club pulse until it sounds like it was always theirs. It's a masterclass in arrangement, the band's conservatory training doing its most playful work.
Round out the six with "Better Than", a longtime fan favorite that consistently sits among their most-played tracks. It distills the band's easy magic, conversational lyric, effortless groove, Price making difficult singing sound like talking, and it's the kind of song that sends new listeners spelunking into the rest of the catalog, which is precisely the point of this guide.
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Your six-track starter, in order
- Good Kisser, the modern signature; start here
- Hypotheticals, bright, nimble, irresistible
- Bad Self Portraits, the breakthrough, and the best lyric
- You Go Down Smooth, full-swagger soul from the same era
- Rich Girl, the cover that shows off the arranging chops
- Better Than, the fan favorite that pulls you into the deep catalog
Where to go next
Once these six have their hooks in you, the albums await Free Yourself Up and Bad Self Portraits are the natural first two, with 2024's Good Together showing how fresh the band still sounds. Completists should also grab Side Pony (2016), the Dave Cobb-produced Nashville record, and Fun Machine: The Sequel (2022), which proves the covers well never runs dry. And when you're ready to branch out, Lake Street Dive sit at the center of a wonderful modern soul neighborhood: try the horn-driven joy of Sammy Rae & The Friends, the sleek grooves of The Dip, the southern soul power of St. Paul & The Broken Bones, or the loose-limbed warmth of The California Honeydrops. Each scratches a neighboring itch; none quite replaces the original.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
What is Lake Street Dive's most popular song?
Good Kisser and Hypotheticals are their biggest modern singles, while Bad Self Portraits and You Go Down Smooth remain the beloved breakthrough-era staples. Better Than and their Rich Girl cover round out the most-played list.
Is Rich Girl a Lake Street Dive original?
No, it's a Hall & Oates cover from the band's 2012 Fun Machine EP, radically rearranged around upright bass and swing rhythm. Reinvented covers have been part of their identity from the start.
Which Lake Street Dive album should I listen to first?
Free Yourself Up (2018) for their modern soul-pop sound, or Bad Self Portraits (2014) for the breakthrough era. Good Together (2024) is the best entry point for their current chapter.
Who sounds like Lake Street Dive?
Fans tend to love Sammy Rae & The Friends, The Dip, Sir Woman, St. Paul & The Broken Bones and The California Honeydrops, all bands mixing soul, pop and serious live musicianship.
