Angel Wong’s “Seeing Red” sets an examination of a person who has succumbed to red pilling to delicately layered textures and rhythms that weave a dynamic mood throughout. Employing distorted and acoustic guitars, simple percussion and the Guzheng, a traditional Chinese string instrument, Wong’s song is both compassionate and pointed because there are choices made on the path to the manosphere. We hear the story of Marcus who had an idyllic childhood until things went sideways with his parents and he tragically started to see the world as completely transactional over time. Wong’s complex yet evocative arrangements are reminiscent of late 80s Kate Bush and the more orchestral leanings of Mitski and as thought provoking as it is affecting. Listen to “Seeing Red” and follow Angel Wong on Spotify.
From the beginning of “OH LA LA!” by Alexandra John seems to tap into the tones of 1980s Pet Shop Boys with the layered, icy synth melody and cadence of arrangement. But as her vocals come in we hear a sensibility that is more akin to ABBA with a spirited lilt to her delivery and saturated synth lines trailing into the distance. The song itself is about yearning for someone in your life that strikes you as special immediately. Someone that isn’t trying to prove something to you because there’s always some element of not being fully oneself. John sings of wanting to feel in her bones that she has met someone who is right and who checks off the right boxes for someone suitable. She sings about how she doesn’t want to wait forever but that she’d rather be alone than, by implication, with someone who isn’t right because she’s been through that. Being more discerning would certainly save a lot of people a whole lot of drama and heartache. Listen to Alexandra John’s lush synth pop single “OH LA LA!” on YouTube and follow her at the links provided.
Avery Friedman combines quiet tender moments and saturated sonics on her “You Move” single. Her vocals are at the forefront expressively singing words that seem to reflect savoring memories of someone while contemplating if things are salvageable and is there a path to fruitful reconciliation by focusing on the roots of what brought you together. In the music video Friedman is in a rooftop garden in the summer sunlight frolicking with tomatoes cultivating the garden with an attentiveness so that it will yield an abundant crop as though she’s singing good times back. The song builds to more than one crescendo of spirited guitar melody and saxophone so that the faint melancholy at the beginning of the song is replaced with hope and savoring what’s to come. Watch the video for “You Move” on YouTube and follow Avery Friedman at the links below.
The minimal keyboard and intimate vocals in the beginning of “Sky is Blue” by Hour has a mysterious quality particularly as the vocals drop into minor chords in unexpected moments. The music video shows rain droplets hitting an outcropping of concrete and coursing down before the reflected lights take on an aspect like a clear night sky as the piano and clarinet come into the sound field but all contributing minimalist components that together build a mood that starts melancholic and rises in tone as the visuals turn to colored, abstract lights and solid drum beats and other horns come forth and a spare orchestral sound establishes itself bringing a complexity of emotional resonance that peaks right before the end. It’s like a post-rock jazz piece but one that evokes a sense of calm, introspection and wonder. Watch the video for “Sky is Blue” on YouTube and follow Philadelphia’s Hour at the links provided.
“Peacocking” by Peter Cat sounds like the mutant spawn of David Bowie and Human League with the wry humor of Sparks. Its saturated synth sounds and R&B funk soundscapes immediately draws you into the song and the low, intimate vocals are somehow both conspiratorial and sinister. In moments they’re reminiscent of mid-90s Jarvis Cocker down to the spoken section in the second half of the song. The care in songwriting is not as common in this current era and the personal side of social critique is well executed. The song is anthemic yet self-aware which is also not usual for even an art pop song. Listen to “Peacocking” on YouTube and follow Glasgow, UK’s Peter Cat at the links below.
“Rokia” by Rabie Houti fuses North African and Arabic musical ideas with techno aesthetics for a song that sounds like if Laibach was from Algeria. But the song doesn’t have an undercurrent of irony. Its polyrhythms support and anchor a variety of sounds from harmonic drones, chanting vocals and those more carrying the tale of a romance not approved by the family of one of the parties involved and untangling and coming to terms with that impasse. Think like an industrial post-punk song with some violin tracing the upper reaches of the melody. It’s a melange of sounds that unless you’re keyed into the music scenes of the Arabic world and North Africa you might find tonally and rhythmically exotic but the resonances cross cultures. Listen to “Rokia” on Spotify and follow Rabie Houti at the links below.
The accelerating, distorted synth line that runs through Acid Idiot’s “Less Dead” lends the track the appropriate psychotic mood. The minimal percussion in off beats with the main burbling electronic bass is nearly hypnotic as the lyrics seem to outline the intrusive thoughts of someone who is driven by an inner compulsion to harm a random person without it being personal to take out some kind of inner rage on someone but not out of passion or revenge. It’s like a dark, almost lo-fi EBM track but because of that both disturbing and exciting at once. Like the companion song to a Gaspar Noé film—unsettling yet compelling for its raw emotions. And the vocals in the song go from a kind of lunatic calm to a more distorted near yell. Does the title refer to a feeling of liberation from existential numbness brought on by modern life through extreme emotion? Judge for yourself. Listen to “Less Dead” on YouTube and follow Acid Idiot at the links below. The band’s new album New Dreams For You released July 31, 2026.
dälek is an experimental hip-hop group that formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1998.When the project got going its broad and deep palette of sounds in the beats was outside the mainstream but well within the realm of hip hop production. The songs had a literary quality to its creative observations and on the debut record Negro Necro Nekros (1998), there was some use of Indian percussion and sitar as well other organic percussion samples that lent the music a hypnotic quality that felt like entering a different kind of reality than most other hip-hop acts were offering. Since then dälek has innovated in its use of samples and live performance while delivering lyrics of great depth and insight into not just personal psychology but the realm of the psychosocial landscape. Its most recent album is 2026’s Brilliance of a Falling Moon, it’s third to be released on Ipecac Recordings. The record continues themes of its recent albums as an exploration of the corrosive effects of corruption and authoritarianism on our everyday lives while bringing to the delivery a personal touch that gives the song an urgency and power. The new record exposes the failings of the culture to address the crumbling of civil society and its connections to underlying power structures used to oppress political and social minorities to benefit the power elite at home and globally. And yet the critique offered by dälek is rooted in a place of love and how that emotion drives us to make life better for ourselves and everyone else. Listening to the album expect passionate vocal delivery, haunted and harrowing atmospheres and bracing sounds that will get into your head and remind you you’re not alone in feeling an inner compulsion to resist fascism and to, perhaps take action on those impulses whether creatively and/or with direct community engagement.
Sunday | 11.01 What:Everclear – Lucky 7 Tour w/American Hi-Fi When: 7 Where: The Gothic Theatre Why: Everclear’s career basically began at the dawn of the alternative rock era in 1992 with the a debut album World of Noise releasing in 1993. That record lived up to its name a bit and was more in line with the punk that lead singer and primary songwriter Art Alexakis came up with. For the follow up Sparkle and Fade (1995) and 1997’s So Much for the Afterglow, Alexakis’ songwriting shifted a little embracing melody and a different kind of hook that not only garnered major label attention but also led to mainstream success on alternative rock and Top 40 radio. What the songwriter didn’t modify so much was his searingly honest lyrics and unique vocal style and even the hit songs put raw emotions and sometimes harrowing stories into homes across the world. After the alternative music wave subsided with the end of the 90s Everclear wasn’t as commercially successful but Alexakis has continued to write honest and provocative music. For this tour the band will perform 7 of the most requested songs in each city as polled from the band’s website.
Thee Sinseers, photo courtesy the artists
Monday | 11.02 What: Thee Sinseers w/The Charities https://www.gothictheatre.com/events/detail/?event_id=1438082 When: 7 Where: The Gothic Theatre Why: Led by multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Joseph Quiñones, East L.A.’s Thee Sinseers perform music in the Chicano soul style fusing soul, R&B and doo wop. But the group has a full brass section as well to infuse its songs with an orchestral pop grandeur. The band’s latest album Love Stories sounds like something that could have come out at the peak of 1960s R&B pre-classic rock era with songs that convey the various facets of love with poetic nuance and both vibrant declarations of such and honoring the more melancholic periods of any relationship that continues to evolve. Sure it’s a bit nostalgic and tapping into a previous era for style but songwriting and presentation matters and sets a band apart as the product of actual humans and Thee Sinseers embrace the analog human experience and haven’t skimped on the quality of what they offer.
Periphery, photo byPriscilla Scott
Monday | 11.02 What:Periphery w/NE Obliviscaris, Greyhaven and Ando San When: 5 Where: The Fillmore Auditorium Why: Periphery is the progressive metal band from DC who are credited with being pioneers of djent. But don’t hold that against them if you’re into the more prog end of modern metal. A Pale White Dot, Periphery’s eighth studio album, was released in May 2026 and it is the first not to have a title that sounds overtly the name of the chapter of a nerdy science fiction series. The album itself isn’t a giant departure from its previous albums though it does in moments come across as more cinematic and atmospheric even amidst more aggressive passages. If the music sometimes also sounds heavier it’s because the group tuned its baritone six strings to F standard, something most bands wouldn’t write around.
dälek, photo by Jonny Scala
Thursday | 11.05 What:dälek w/Moon Pussy and Shocker Mom When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: dälek is a hip-hop group that formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1998.When the project got going its broad and deep palette of sounds in the beats was outside the mainstream but well within the realm of hip hop production. The songs had a literary quality to its creative observations and on the debut record Negro Necro Nekros (1998), there was some use of Indian percussion and sitar as well other organic percussion samples that lent the music a hypnotic quality that felt like entering a different kind of reality than most other hip-hop acts were offering. Since then dälek has innovated in its use of samples and live performance while delivering lyrics of great depth and insight into not just personal psychology but the realm of the psychosocial landscape. Its most recent album is 2026’s Brilliance of a Falling Moon, it’s third to be released on Ipecac Recordings. The record continues themes of its recent albums as an exploration of the corrosive effects of corruption and authoritarianism on our everyday lives while bringing to the delivery a personal touch that gives the song an urgency and power. The new record exposes the failings of the culture to address the crumbling of civil society and its connections to underlying power structures used to oppress political and social minorities to benefit the power elite at home and globally. And yet the critique offered by dälek is rooted in a place of love and how that emotion drives us to make life better for ourselves and everyone else. Listening to the album expect passionate vocal delivery, haunted and harrowing atmospheres and bracing sounds that will get into your head and remind you you’re not alone in feeling an inner compulsion to resist fascism and to, perhaps take action on those impulses whether creatively and/or in community engagement.
Supreme Joy, photo by Tom Murphy
Friday | 11.06 What:Institute w/The Consequence, Candy Apple, Supreme Joy and Glueman 23rd anniversary When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Austin’s anarcho punk legends Institute headlines this birthday celebration of the Hi-Dive’s 23rd anniversary. But it’s a show packed with punk adjacent greatness with noise punk/post-punk group Candy Apple, literary/subversive post-punk group Supreme Joy and grunge-garage ragers Glueman.
L7, photo by Charles Peterson
Friday | 11.06 What:L7 w/Nobro When: 7 Where: The Summit Music Hall Why: L7 is touring in the wake of the passing of longtime bassist Jennifer Finch and as a farewell to being a live band. You can bet that they’ll bring the same fury, irreverence and borderline scary intensity to the show as always and deliver the songs that eviscerate the terrible people and things of the world and purge the psychic darkness that is forced into your psyche by everyday living in a sexist, racist, imperialist society with Christian nationalists in too many places of power.
Cheap Wigs, photo courtesy Bob Rob Medina
Saturday | 11.07 What: Denvoid and the Cowtown Punks Re-Release When and Where: 1-4PM at Wax Trax and 7-9:30PM at Mutiny Comics & Coffee Why: The updated re-release of the 2015’s Denvoid and the Cowtown Punks the illustrated oral history and cultural catalog of Colorado’s underground music scene in the realm of punk and adjacent music including 28 new pages spanning the years 1982-1987. The comprehensive tome is a classic of Denver music American cultural history. The event will include live musical performances from Hex Cassette, The Disposable Icons and author Bob Rob Medina’s band Cheap Wigs at Wax Trax and in the evening Cheap Wigs will play again at Mutiny with The Legendary Union 706 and The Nervous.
Tank and the Bangas, photo by Jeremy Tauriac
Saturday | 11.07 What:Tank and the Bangas w/Ariel J. and Zeus When: 7 Where: The Gothic Theatre Why: Tank and the Bangas are touring in support of their new album The Last Balloon. The band from New Orleans offers a vibrant fusion of funk, soul, hip-hop, spoken word poetry and traces of reggae. Tarriona “Tank” Ball has one of the most versatile and commanding voices in the realm of modern hip-hop easily transitioning from singing to rapping to suit the mood and rhythm of the songs. With a legendarily charismatic live show the album’s new songs that are both fun and challenge prevailing power relations and interpersonal conflict with creativity and love will get their proper expression on stage.
Margaret Glaspy, photo by Ebru Yildiz
Saturday | 11.07 What:Margaret Glaspy w/Olive Klug When: 5:30 Where: Ophlia’s Electric Soapbox Why: Margaret Glaspy’s new album I Am Both wastes no time getting right into the emotional resonance from the first track, “Michigan.” It showcases the singer-songwriter’s expressive and vivid vocals and her ability to weave a story of vivid resonance and unabashed vulnerability. Is it folk pop? Sure but Glaspy’s songwriting is so strong and her style so immediately engaging and fresh there’s no mistaking her for another artist. The record seems to take on social mores and conflicts in the current era that many of us had thought part of the past yet Glaspy makes those concerns part of her personal narrative thus rendering them more relatable and in the end harder hitting.
I, Doris, photo courtesy Cassie Fox
Saturday | 11.07 What:Loud Women Fest When: 3pm doors, 4 show Where: The Fox Theatre Why: The London, UK-based feminist music festival comes to Boulder for the first time. Launched by Cassie Fox of the “mummycore” band I, Doris and friends the festival has become an international concern. For the Boulder edition you can see a variety of bands from Colorado and else where. The lineup consists of GUNK!, I, Doris, Tarah Who?, All Thicc, Bitchflower, Dressy Bessy, Fatal Femmes, Brokentear, The Dollheads and Blankslate.
Amiture Music teams up with experimental pop/jazz artist Eliana Glass for the song “Idela” and its accompanying music video. We see Hanna Gabbler on a patio in New York looking across the bay to downtown and making shapes with her hands toward the clouds and sun. The music begins minimal and builds to an urgent melody paired with a discordant part that suggests tension and an internal conflict. The view goes from Gabbler standing and walking around to a negative image of a hallway while the visuals seem to focus on angles, close-ups and long shots. Directed by both Jack Whitescarver of Amiture Music and Eliana Glass it is reminiscent of the kind of underlying menace present in the film version of High Rise where normalcy is surface level. But it never quite goes as dark except that the lyrics suggest skullduggery and the decay and fall of Western civilization. But that’s just on point for the time and place we’re living. If there’s a film version of Jim Di Bartolo’s 2026 graphic novel F*ck Billionaires this should probably be on the soundtrack. Watch the video for “Idela” on YouTube and follow Amiture Music at the links below. The new Amiture Music EP 2 Women releases October 30, 2026.
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