Kevin Bronson on January 7th, 2015

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Every year, when the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival announces its good-if-not-great lineup, the social media feeds of Southern Californians fill with bile. There’s the too-cool-for-Coachella-school camp, the I’ll-melt-in-the-desert-heat whines; and the you-call-that-a-headliner? disses.

Oh, bollocks.

Coachella would probably sell out if it were just for EDM-heads, but the 2015 lineup — while short on the legacy bands/old cult favorites that often make the festival interesting to (ahem) a certain demographic — has plenty to go around. Even if your take on the headliners is that AC/DC is too moldy, Jack White is unworthy in his solo guise and Drake is, well, too Drake, read the bill from the bottom up. (For instance, 14 of the 25 artists in Pitchfork’s top 25 albums of 2014 are playing, only one [St. Vincent] a second-liner or above on the poster.)

Besides, Coachella isn’t curated for spoiled Angelenos, who can see any number of these artists on tour stops. It’s a destination festival, and a communal experience. Part of its allure is meeting real human beings who fly in from South America with Belle & Sebastian as No. 1 on their must-see list. Part of its allure is pure spectacle. And if you have any degree of competence when it comes to festival management, it’s like going to 15 clubs shows in one weekend.

Just mix in a bottle of water.

Festival passes for both weekends — April 10-12 and 17-19 — go on sale at noon today. General admission passes must be purchased as a shuttle combination for both weekends. GA passes are $435; VIP passes are $899. Links: Weekend 1; here for Weekend 2.

So here are 15 Reasons to Be Excited About Coachella 2015:

â–º Because up until their November announcement, it didn’t look as if the fractious parties in Ride — 19 years after their last album and 25 since their landmark “Nowhere” — would ever consent to a reunion, and everyone who waxes ethereal over the current crop of shoegazers/dream-poppers should hear them.

â–º Because after reuniting for a one-off show last August, their first show in 19 years, the surprising Drive Like Jehu are back again for what appears to be a two-off during respective weekends of the fest.

â–º Because Steely Dan was all fastidious and inscrutable before your fussy, indie-idol genre-mashers, and if you’re curious about tracing the lineage of some of the music clogging your digital listening device [and it says here you should be], then you should hang with the dads for this set.

► Because Los Angeles has never been repped stronger at Coachella — from underdog bands like Chicano Batman and Saint Motel to youngsters like Bad Suns, Joyce Manor and Ryn Weaver to commercial favorites to critical darlings, there are more than 18 L.A. acts on the bill, making new friends and influencing people.

â–º Because Swans will crush your puny bones.

â–º Because if you’re craving the wobble-wobbles of Electric Daisy Carnival, the EDM scene is represented each day of the fest, with electronic acts Alesso, Axwell ^ Ingrosso, DJ Snake, David Guetta, supergroup J.E.S.&S (Jack Master, Eats Everything, Skream & Seth Troxler), Kygo, Nero, Odesza and more.

â–º Because even if you don’t like EDM, you’ve still got multiple options for a dance party, with sets from DJ Harvey, Duke Dumont, Flosstradamus, Kaskade, Martin Solveig and Todd Terje sure to reverberate through those hips.

â–º Because you’ve got hip-hop options old and new, from headliner Drake, to the perennial veterans Raekwon & Ghostface, dynamic duo El-P & Killer Mike as Run The Jewels, Ab-Soul, Lil B, Tyler the Creator and Vic Mensa.

â–º Because even if he isn’t performing on 4/20 this year, Action Bronson might pull some crazy stunt like this.

► Because there will be plenty of opportunities for special guests and collaborations with producers like Cashmere Cat (who has worked with everyone in the pop business), remixers like RAC (who have remixed every other indie band), DJ Martin Solveig (who had the huge hit “Hello” with Dragonette), David Guetta (who dominated the radio in 2011 with songs featuring Sia and Usher) and more…

► Because the lineup is loaded with compelling divas like St. Vincent, Jenny Lewis, FKA Twigs, Kiesza, Kimbra, MØ, Marina and the Diamonds, Florence + the Machine, Lykke Li, Ryn Weaver and Yelle. And Azealia Banks, if you count her.

â–º Because there will be plenty of chances to get lost in mosh pits with bands like OFF!, Parquet Courts, Cloud Nothings, Joyce Manor, the Orwells and more playing.

â–º Because of Charles Bradley’s pelvic thrusts.

â–º Because even the bands listed in the poster’s smallest font are sure to rip it up on the early side, including Benjamin Booker, Eagulls, Ryan Hemsworth, the Night Terrors of 1927, the Orwells, Sturgill Simpson, and Until the Ribbon Breaks.

► And because — although late additions have been a rarity the past few years, you never know who might crash the party.

Compiled by Buzz Bands LA’s Seraphina Lotkhamnga, Andrew Veeder and Bronson.