simianthinker

Best Shows in Denver 09/12/19 – 09/18/19

SummerCannibals_March2019_JasonQuigley — Summer Cannibals perform at Lost Lake on September 13, photo by Jason Quigley

Thursday | September 12

SheerMag_Oct7_2017_TomMurphy — Sheer Mag circa 2017, photo by Tom Murphy

What: Sheer Mag w/Tweens and The Born Readies
When: Thursday, 09.12, 7 p.m.
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: Sheer Mag sounds like a band that grew up listening mostly to Thin Lizzy, 70s power pop and AC/DC but invented punk rock without ever having heard it. It’s new record A Distant Call finds the band having refined some of its raw power without blunting it.

Friday | September 13

DubTrio_WilliamFelch) — Dub Trio, photo by William Felch

What: Soulless Maneater, Sweetness Itself, Sad Bug
When: Friday, 09.13, 8 p.m.
Where: Mutiny Information Café
Why: Sad Bug is sort of a neo-emo pop punk band. Sweetness Itself might come off as a bit of a fuzzy psychedelic band but sometimes Cyrena Rosati’s guitar work verves into bendy waves akin to something you might hear from My Bloody Valentine via No Joy. Which is to say gloriously loud and noisy but also tied to tight songwriting and accessible hooks. Soulless Maneater is what happens when you give doom metal more of an abrasive edge and more pointed and political lyrics aimed at where a critical eye belongs.

What: Summer Cannibals w/Mr. Atomic and Knuckle Pups
When: Friday, 09.13, 8 p.m.
Where: Lost Lake
Why: Summer Cannibals have for the past seven years charted a path out of the neo-garage rock that dominated American underground rock for several years. Its own songwriting more fluid and dynamic than just the adolescent release and raw, youthful enthusiasm that was both what was exciting but ultimately limiting and tiresome about the new garage bands. Summer Cannibals didn’t just have a healthy sense of humor but the band also seemed to take seriously its songcraft but without overthinking it. Its new album, 2019’s Can’t Tell Me No is Summer Cannibals in high form with its contrast of melodic vocals, grit, attitude and confessional lyrics.

What: Dub Trio w/Incubus
When: Friday, 09.13, 7 p.m.
Where: Fillmore Auditorium
Why: It shouldn’t work and maybe for some it doesn’t, but Brooklyn’s Dub Trio took inspiration from King Tubby and applied the principles of dub to heavier music in terms of shaping sound, production and signal processing. Surface level, the group comes across like an arty doom band and it has served as part of the backing band for Mike Patton on the 2006 Peeping Tom tour and on its new album The Shape of Jazz to Come, it worked with Buzz Osborne of Melvins fame. But the bass is sculpted in a way to sync up with the sampled and manipulated sounds fed back into the mix for a disorienting yet hypnotic effect. Sure, opening for a pretty famous nü metal band but worth going to see for their set alone.

Saturday | September 14

Strand-Of-Oaks_Alysse-Gafkajen-1 — Strand of Oaks, photo by Alysse Gafkajen

What: Dub Trio w/Incubus
When: Saturday, 09.14, 7 p.m.
Where: Fillmore Auditorium
Why: For Dub Trio see above on 9.14.

What: Day of the Green Fish: Emerald Siam, Pale Sun, No Gossip In Braille, Wild Call, Kilonova and Palehorse/Palerider
When: Saturday, 09.14, 7 p.m.
Where: Rhinoceropolis
Why: Really a showcase for some of Denver’s greatest practitioners of darkly atmospheric rock from the post-punk, shoegaze, tribal drone and psychedelic underground.

What: Test Dept w/Acidbat, eHpH and DJ Dave Vendetta
When: Saturday, 09.14, 7 p.m.
Where: Antero Hall (formerly Eck’s Saloon)
Why: Test Dept is indeed the legendary early industrial band from London touring through Denver before it performs at the Cold Waves festival in Chicago. Percussion heavy, full, mind-altering assault to the senses in the vein of those early industrial groups of the 80s. Different from but definitely for fans of Einstürzende Neubauten and Crash Worship.

What: Total Trash, Vampire Squids From Hell, Lords of Howling
When: Saturday, 09.14, 8 p.m.
Where: The People’s Building
Why: September’s Get Your Ears Swoll will include “doom surf” band Vampire Squids From Hell, avant-folk Lords of Howling and psychedelic indie rock phenoms Total Trash.

What: Strand of Oaks w/Apex Manor
When: Saturday, 09.14, 8 p.m.
Where: Globe Hall
Why: As Strand of Oaks, Timothy Showalter has had a prolific career writing delicate and thoughtful, introspective, folk-inflected pop songs. One might call it pastoral but by candlelight. There’s an intimacy to Showalter’s songwriting that sets it apart from some other songwriters exploring similar sonic territory. That and Showalter’s attention to the rhythm side of the music so that all parts compliment each other well. His new album, 2019’s Eraserland, was never supposed to happen until some friends convinced him to get back into the studio to write the record and it’s a particularly touching testament to rediscovering the strength to continue on and do what you love even if it feels to you at the time pointless and hopeless. It’s a personal reinvention with music that feels gently reinvigorating as well.

What: KGNU Quarterly Showcase, Smash it Back Edition: Sputnik Slovenia, Little Fyodor & Babushka and The Hinckleys – DJ Andy Z
When: Saturday, 09.14, 8 p.m.
Where: Lion’s Lair
Why: This edition of the KGNU Quaterly showcase features Jim Yelnick of hardcore band Pitch Invasion playing his solo material and probably treating you to some unusual humor. And of course the great, avant-garde punk band Little Fyodor & Babushka will be putting in a, these days, rare appearance and demonstrate how punk can push the boundaries of the songwriting and subject matter while writing incredibly catchy music. There is no fashion victim type stuff with Fyodor because he already looks like an accountant who burned down his office and started a cable access show about underground culture and the impending collapse of civilization.

Sunday | September 16

Altas_2019 — Altas, photo by Evan Semoìn

What: RETIFest: Los Mocochetes, iZCALLi, Roka Hueka, El Cro, Altas, Sierra Leon, 2MX2, Modulor, Puete Libre
When: Sunday, 09.15, 10 a.m.
Where: Mile High Flea Market
Why: This is sort of an all day festival featuring some of Denver’s best bands whose membership is largely of Latinx extraction from the psychedelic funk band Los Mocochetes, hard rock group iZCALLi, experimental post-rock powerhouse Altas and hip-hop crew 2MX2.

Monday | September 16

LowerDens_Torso — Lower Dens, photo by Torso

What: Of Monsters and Men w/Lower Dens
When: Monday, 09.16, 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Mission Ballroom
Why: Icelandic pop band Of Monsters and Men are currently touring in support of its 2019 album Fever Dream and will provide the expansive, emotional, melodic songs made for the larger club setting. Opening the show is experimental dream pop band Lower Dens. The group’s earlier albums were in the realm of dub-inflected post-punk but its newer material, particularly on its new record The Competition, combines its lush melodies with an almost disco flavored adult contemporary sound. Like Jana Hunter and company mined 80s pop music and removed the cheese but kept the solid songwriting and production.

What: Roselit Bone, High Plains Honky and Erika Ryann
When: Monday, 09.16, 7 p.m.
Where: Lost Lake
Why: Roselit Bone is like a honky tonk, cow boy high desert Gun Club and visually reminiscent of the same. Intense live performances and riveting storytelling. Its new album Crisis Actor is a storybook of American skullduggery, misdeeds and a celebration of life.

Tuesday | September 17

GRLwood_MickieWinters2 — GRLwood, photo by Mickie Winters

What: Man Man w/GRLwood
When: Tuesday, 09.17, 7 p.m.
Where: Globe Hall
Why: GRLwood from Louisville, Kentucky sound like an emotionally nuanced math-y emo band on its 2018 album Daddy. Though there is a smoldering sensibility to the vocals the band is able to reconcile powerful feelings with actually feeling its hurt and transforming that into a melancholic catharsis that bursts forth in fiery riffs and introspective passages. And it will contrast well with Man Man, the psychedelic art rock band formerly form Philadelphia who made it “indie big” in the 2000s with its ambitious albums and theatrical and bombastic live shows.

Hatchie_Alex-Wall — Hatchie, photo by Alex Wall

What: Hatchie w/Orchin and Slow Caves
When: Tuesday, 09.17, 7 p.m.
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: Hatchie’s 2019 debut full length Keepsake is the rare dream pop offering of late with a keen ear for the low end to give the music some weightiness and drive. Maybe there’s no surprise there since Harriet Pilbeam has played bass and guitar in her musical career up to now and the songwriting on Keepsake reflects an appreciation for a broad spectrum of how the music can stimulate your emotions. It’s breezy in dynamic and Pilbeam’s vocals warmly melodic but the songs always seem to be reaching forward to draw you in.

Wednesday | September 18

Torche Band — Torche, photo by Dan Almasy

What: Kælan Mikla (Iceland), No Gossip in Braille, French Kettle Station and Shadows Tranquil
When: Wednesday, 09.18, 8 p.m.
Where: Rhinoceropolis
Why: Kælan Mikla is an Icelandic post-punk band whose desperate vocals paired with lush, brooding bass and synth tracks are an entrancing contrast. Definitely for fans of Tollund Men.

What: Torche w/Pinkish Black and Green Druid
When: Wednesday, 09.18, 7 p.m.
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: Torche formed in 2004 in Miami and came out of the heavy music underground of the 90s when Steve Brooks and former member Juan Montoya were members of doom/sludge legends Floor. Torche was a different animal and as the band has developed over the years it is difficult to really call it a sludge or doom band, especially with its 2019 album Admission with its sometimes shimmery and gritty melodies, expansive vocal dynamic and sinuous rhythms. The fuzzy drones seem to have more in common with the likes of Swervedriver than what you’re likely to hear on a doom record and yet often enough Torche employs a colossally blunt riff but then sends it spiralling in different trajectories giving the songs a sound like what might happen if a psychedelic metal band left behind its limiting tropes and explored the inherent possibilities of its sound palette.

What: Man Man w/GRLwood
When: Wednesday, 09.18, 7 p.m.
Where: Globe Hall
Why: See above on 9/17 for Man Man and GRLwood.

Best Mann Reflects on a More Nuanced Approach to Romance on the Lush and Hypnotic Single “MCO”

BEST_MANN_GEORGIA_TEENSMA-sm — Best Mann, photo by Georgia Teensma

The mellotron loop that runs throughout Best Mann’s single “MCO” keeps up back drop of dreamlike abstract melody upon which songwriter and producer Nate Mondschein places percussion, bass, minimal guitar and a story of some people’s tendency to need to have one’s romantic experiences and relationships to be like something out of a movie and overdoing everything in a way that could never be sustained by mere mortals long term. And the expectations placed on oneself and others that puts undue pressure on the association before it can really start or solidify and work to erode it from the start with the heaviness of it all. Everyone wants their love relationships to be imbued with some magic and passion but life isn’t always peak moments and if we let in some breathing room we might have more of that if we don’t always expect it of ourselves and our loved ones. Or out of any situation in life. The down times and those times we might think of as boring or dull are as important to our psychology as those that are the opposite. Joseph Campbell might have implied something like that in The Hero With a Thousand Faces. At any rate, the lush atmospheres and slow dynamic wave of the song is a recognition of this reality and attempt to honor the impulse of connection without shame as well as the human emotional limitations that often go unacknowledged. Best Mann’s new album …And the Sky is due out on October 25, 2019. Listen to “MCO” on Soundcloud and follow Best Mann at the links below.

bestmannmusic.com/epk
soundcloud.com/bestmannmusic
twitter.com/BestMannMusic
instagram.com/bestmannmusic

The Horizon Sun and Delicate Melodies Give Caoilfhionn Rose “Being Human” a Disarming Authenticity

CaoilhfhionnRose2_crop — Caoilfhionn Rose, photo courtesy the artist

There are examples aplenty of the negative and destructive side of humanity in the world. But Caoilfhionn Rose’s “Being Human” is a song that puts the focus on the appreciation for the people who enhance and nourish our lives in everyday often small ways. The video for the song was filmed at Fletcher Moss Park in Manchester, England at a time of day when the sun is on the horizon and casting a soft, nostalgic light with some lens flare visible in the shot on the proceedings but it suits the tone of the song that is one about the songwriter letting the people in her life that she likes being human with them and all that entails that is unique and valuable and beautiful about the experience if you’re able step away back and see yourself and the people around you from an expanded perspective. Rose doesn’t seem to romanticize so much as shine a light on the fragility of existence and the necessity of expressing your appreciation of people for who and what they are, flaws and all. The gentle, intricate melody of the song and Rose’s versatile and warm vocals give the sentiment of the song a refreshing authenticity that is much more effective than scolding people to be better and care for one another. Watch the video on YouTube and follow Caoilfhionn Rose at the links below.

caoilfhionnrose.co.uk
soundcloud.com/caoilfhionnrose
open.spotify.com/artist/6YRqlhH88xZ7h2WOhwNYOb
facebook.com/caoilfhionnrose

“Nvr Loved U” by Father Sheed is the Sound of a Breakup Without the Drama

FatherSheed2_crop — Father Sheed, photo courtesy the artist

“Nvr Loved U” by Father Sheed sounds like something put together inspired by checking your voicemail on an elevator ride up a tall office building and then later a train ride through late night rain, your face illuminated by your mobile device and refractions of light from sources nearby but indistinct. The voice message is of someone breaking up with you as gently as they can without leaving some painful hint that maybe you can patch things up. There’s no easy way to say you’re breaking up with someone but the voice in this song seems to make it not sound cruel. The arc of melody and percussive tones over the steady beat conveys a deep sense of isolation even given being in a big city with thousands if not millions of people. But the paradoxical sense of space and intimacy that this song captures makes that isolation seem almost comfortable. The title of the song suggests a realization either on the part of the woman leaving the message or the person listening to it but it also more than hints that the break is for good without the messiness of one of those dramatic partings that make some people think the relationship must have meant something. This song sounds like a breakup without the drama imbued with a sense of acceptance. Listen to “Nvr Loved U” on Soundcloud and follow Father Sheed on the Spotify account.

the Rec’s “(I don’t understand) town slang” is Humorous and Witty Example of the Adage “You Can Never Really Go Home”

theRec_IDontUnderstandTownSlang_cove2_crop — the Rec “(I don’t understand) town slang” cover (cropped)

When you’re away from where you grew up for a sufficiently long period of time and outside the contexts that reared you and on to something that makes more sense for the life you want or when circumstances force you onward, sometimes going back is an odd and alien experience because you’re forced to confront the fact that what is considered normal and acceptable is often contingent on context and not universal down to the local patois. UK group the Rec explores this phenomenon regarding the town in which they grew up, Oswestry in Shropshire located on the border between England and Wales, on the song “(I don’t understand) town slang.” The members of the band moved away from Oswestry in the 1980s and one can only imagine the culture shock when maybe you’ve been somewhere that isn’t trapped a little in the past or maybe a little culturally hermetic.

The story set to a dynamic beat with a surreal melody of shimmery synths and psychedelic keyboards like a post-punk song reminiscent of Sleaford Mods and its own vocal cadence and tone. The vocalist sings of having spent half a day driving to town and then crossing “the line into the alien zone” and running into blank expressions and thousand yard stares when he spoke because he wasn’t speaking in a way that made a lot of sense to the locals. Isn’t this his hometown? Then he escapes the situation and tries to find his brother’s place but getting lost and in fear of more encounters with people speaking “town slang,” some of which echoes in a chaotic, jumbled fashion that comes at you from all angles before the main melody of the song reasserts itself. The chorus about town slang making the singer feel “uncomfortable” might suggest some of this slang seems regressive the way some people use expressions and words so casually and unmindful that the rest of the world has moved on. The song ends with the singer relating how he went to the “taxi rank” to get some gas and then to drive as fast as possible to get to “a place that I can understand.” In a way the song is like a miniature horror story. Like the movie Get Out where you know something’s wrong but instead of the scenario in that movie it’s a culture you can no longer relate to and where you will never again fit in even if you try down to the local slang. It’s the classic you can never really go home story but told with a wry humor paired with a transporting electro post-punk melody that evolves throughout the song and on its own helps to keep your attention focused on the story and its mixing in keen local details and references. The song also seems to hint that sometimes you are stuck in that situation but aware that you don’t belong but the people in the Rec understand. Fans of the Happy Mondays and the aforementioned Sleaford Mods will find much to like here. Listen to the song below and follow the Rec at the links below.

(I don’t understand) town slang by the Rec

therec1.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/therecOswestry

“Eye On the Ocean” by Downtempo Artist Castle1 is Like a Zen Epiphany

Castle1_2_crop — Castle1, image courtesy the artist

The sound of distant conversation and equally distant saxophone float in the minimal beat and synth drone like the haze of an underground speakeasy. Or you’re standing on the deck of a cruise ship alone at night as the boat hits a mild bank of fog with the sounds of other human activity indistinct but oddly comforting so that you know you can’t quite let your imagination let you fantasize for a moment about being on ghost ship. As you stand there and take in the vision of the light fog floating past the ship and over the ocean it strikes you that this is as close as you’re going to get from the hustle and bustle of everyday life because there’s nowhere to go to distract yourself from contemplating what it’s all about. But you come to no real conclusions because you don’t have to solve the world’s problems, as if you could do that alone anyway, and you didn’t arrange to go on this vacation to focus on the demands of your life like you normally would. So you accept that these neurotic impulses can be put to rest and you can come to just accept that having the luxury of taking in the view and taking on its tranquility is as perfect a moment as you’ll get, a Zen epiphany. We’ve been talking about UK downtempo project Castle1’s track “Eye On The Ocean” which you can listen to on Soundcloud and follow Castle1 at any of the links below. The new EP from which “Eye On The Ocean” is taken was released on Bandcamp and Soundcloud as a free download.

soundcloud.com/castle1music
youtube.com/channel/UCIihnISNmrGbBqdRdRGDTdQ
zyridmusic.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/castle1music

Dr. LaFlow Has Distilled the Essence of Staying Focused on the Late Night Grind While Looking to the Future Into His Surreal Track “Speed And Chaos”

DrLaFlow1_crop — Dr. LaFlow, “Speed And Chaos Cover” (cropped)

“Speed And Chaos” sounds like Dr. LaFlow practiced for composing the track by having a few computers listening to different internet radio stations and took note of whatever sounded interesting and fit an overarching theme he had in mind and later dreamed up a rap to fit the resultant sonic puzzle pieces he had assembled. Apparently he came up with the lyrics while restocking the cooler during his gravyard shift at CVS. Which is how a lot of great creative ideas come together—while we let or imaginations roam as we do mundane work at mundane jobs rather than focus on a task that takes so little of our focus. Dr. LaFlow came up with some choice surreal one-liners like “Smoke so loud I woke the neighbors,” “Popeye’s over Colonel Sanders,” and “No days off until I’m faded” and arranged them in stream of consciousness style in a song with a sample that sounds like something from a Betty Boop cartoon and somehow it all makes sense. Like you need to keep your mind working the nights and it takes whatever can stimulate it in the moment because it sure isn’t the canned music or the fluorescent lights and not often enough the scintillating late night conversation of your co-workers. This song is so relatable in its lines about staying motivated and thinking about what the money from this work will get you in order to be where you want to rather than get stuck in the drudgery of the moment. Working late nights is a completely different vibe and energy from the daytime world and Dr. LaFlow has captured that in the mood and pace of “Speed And Chaos.” You go into work when it’s dark, you come out when it’s light, it disorients your perspective, you go in when the world is working at a slow pace and coming out of work when it’s ramping up or up to full speed. It stretches your psyche and forces it to work in various modes and to adapt in ways that not everyone will ever know. Listen to the song on Soundcloud and follow Dr. LaFlow at the links below.

soundcloud.com/drlaflow
open.spotify.com/artist/0GT8lAshoj8giFXEOojFLT
drlaflow.bandcamp.com/album/hypnodrome

“@m hours” by baby back then is a Tender Breakup Song Without Angst

babybackthen2_crop — baby back then, image courtesy the artist

Sometimes you find yourself in a relationship that after the initial rush of attraction you wonder how you ever got involved with that person but you still try rather than give up because maybe you’re going through something in your own head. But then the core disconnect becomes more obvious and you find yourself finding excuses to spend less time with that person and that dynamic just causes unnecessary drama and things end in a less than ideal fashion. “@m hours” by baby back then is a song about that sort of experience and the conflicting emotions that seem to make a bad end inevitable but without bad intentions going in. The spare melody with guitar, minimalist percussion and breathy vocals express both sides of that experience eloquently and how most people enter into a doomed relationship without malice in the beginning or really in the end either. Listen to “@m hours” on Soundcloud and follow baby back then at the links below.

soundcloud.com/babybackthen
babybackthen.bandcamp.com

Perfect Blue Channels the Raw Pop of C86 on Exuberant New Single “Poppyseed”

PerfectBlue1_crop — Perfect Blue, photo courtesy the artists

“Poppyseed” by Perfect Blue from Chicago sounds a little lo-fi for a song that balances out a broad spectrum of sound but that quality is what makes it reminiscent of C86-era bands and Shop Assistants in particular. Both bands share an affinity for raw compositions and upbeat melodies. Perfect Blue uses saxophone the way other bands might use bass as both a rhythm instrument and a carrier of melody at once. And at times it gives the song an unusual sound like if Felt (circa Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty) and General Public did a song together. At the first the song may strike you a little odd but it rewards repeated listens in appreciating the layers and aesthetic that isn’t in some style being replicated endlessly even as darkwave and yesteryear post-punk has been mined well beyond the American and English strains of that music. Look for the group’s forthcoming self-titled EP but for now listen to “Poppyseed” on Soundcloud and follow Perfect Blue at the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/52lpeXl3LgpmOaeWPitUCg
perfectblueband.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/perfectblueband

Blushing Boy Rages Against Becoming a Corporate Cog on Seething Post-Punk Single “Consumer”

BlushingBoy3_crop — Ella Naseeb of Blushing Boy, photo courtesy the artist

Blushing Boy examines the way we’re indoctrinated to fill a certain role in society these days on its song “Consumer.” Frontwoman Ella Naseeb sings about the various ways we’re channeled into what we think are meaningful choices in life that shape our identity when really those identities are ways by which we can be marketed and fulfill our role as consumers pre-conditioned to consuming in specific ways streamlined to fit ourselves into a demographic that justifies research data to keep the international modern capitalist grind running smoothly. But everyone knows deep down that such a state of things is antithetical and even anti-human and unnatural. In declaring “I’m not a consumer!” amidst chilling keyboard atmospheres, expansive and caustic guitar feedback and brooding but urgent rhythms. The song sounds like a fire set to the notion of going along to get along with the machinery of oppression both internalized and otherwise. Watch the video for consumer below after the Soundcloud link to listen to the song and follow Blushing Boy at the links provided.

breakingtunes.com/blushingboy
soundcloud.com/blushingboy/consumer-single
open.spotify.com/artist/6kIVT81y1fm2aXCjx9HmMG
twitter.com/blushingboy_
instagram.com/blushingboy_