Raygun Carver is the moniker under which singer/songwriter Michael Soiseth has been releasing some of his music of late. The latest single is “Jesus He’s Right.” Not a religious song, the tune sounds like something that came out of being on the outs and staying up until dawn trying to come up with the right words to say to the object of one’s love and ditching at least a few hundred couplets before you realize you have to stop trying to overdo it and outsmart yourself. The evocation of tarnished glitter in the lonely, echo-y guitar and the doleful horn in the middle elevates this from the usual folk pop crowd into the realm of urban Americana noir minus the skullduggery.
Walt Disco “Strange to Know Nothing” cover (cropped)
Listening to “Strange to Know Nothing” by Glasgow’s Walt Disco it’s impossible to anyone relatively familiar with glam/Goth/post-punk not to be struck how it’s reminiscent of the eccentric and energetic weirdness of Sparks or The Pop Group with a Heaven 17-esque pop baseline. The impassioned, warbling vocals and the minimalistic guitar riff and synth swells executed in a wonderfully melodramatic fashion makes me personally wonder if San Francisco’s The Sleepers got in a time machine and recorded a new record after listening to only post-punk and ska from the UK made between 1981 and 1986. If this is retro it’s at least borrowing after an original fashion. If that’s the band on the cover, and even if it’s not, rarely has a group of eccentrically dressed yet indisputably cool Goth misfits been so perfectly rendered as a representation of a song as rambunctious yet as haunting as “Strange to Know Nothing.” Listen for yourself below.
Freedom Fry has been releasing an EP a month in 2019 and “The Sun is Gonna Shine On Your” comes from the group’s latest offering. The song is gritty yet breezy retro-futurist pop like a 1970s AM radio hit with modern sonic sensibilities. The video is more or less a lyric video but with the shifting, stylized yellow and black pinwheel in motion as the background imagery, it’s like you’re seeing an intermission reel for a lurid action thriller epic set in 1978 with the vibe of a safety video, Schoolhouse Rock and one of those psychedelic shorts in Sesame Street and Electric Company designed to make reading, doing math and learning language as exciting as they can be. Whatever the exact aim of pairing the song with these visuals, there’s no denying the impact. To further explore and keep up with the band’s new releases and other hijinx at any of the links below the video.
“Ceasfire” by Brooklyn, NY-based The Bergamot has a downtempo anthemic quality that reminded me a bit of Low in the past decade and a half. The fantastic vocal harmonies between husband and wife duo Nathaniel Hoff and Jillian Speece going from gently textural verses to ethereal yet forceful choruses is utterly entrancing. All the while the music starts in simple, interweaving layers of percussion, glistening guitar and breezy synths and resolves into triumphant tones. Fans of The Besnard Lakes will appreciate the bright and scintillating take on a psychedelic indie folk. Keep with The Bergamot at any of the following and listen to “Ceasefire” below.
emzae at Hockey Hustle circa 2018, photo by Lucy Beth Photography
Since beginning to share her self-produced music online in 2014, emzae, a songwriter based in Derby, UK, has navigated the vagaries of mental illness to making music that is striking, emotionally rich and imaginatively produced. She really has a knack for expressing the moods and modes of the mind as it struggles with conflicting or negatively repetitive messaging in a way that is accessible and relatable to anyone truly honest with themselves. Her latest song “Another Lesson Learnt” follows in the wake of the success of her tracks “Lucid Dreaming” and “Glory.” “Another Lesson Learnt” is a downtempo, melancholic, introspective piece but one that feels like a processing of the notion of yearning for validation through other people and the fantasies and unrealistic expectations involved when resolving that root of those desires are possible within our own minds.
Emzae’s tracks seem to be companions to her incredibly thoughtful and insightful blog posts discussing her successes, challenges and general thinking. Reading her words on various subjects is an great reminder to be patient with and kind to yourself as a method of keeping oneself on a fruitful path to a more fulfilling life long term. You can read the blog and learn more about the artist for yourself at emzaemusic.com and follow her work and music at any of the links below.
Jack Simchak’s influences and inspirations are obvious on his song “Tonight.” With the lightly flangered guitar (The Cure), spare drum fills (Joy Division) and understated but foundational bass lines (The Smiths) Simchak makes no bones. But with his gently soulful, Steve Kilbey-esque vocals circa Remote Luxury and broad but subtle dynamic range, Simchak’s songwriting pushes what might otherwise be considered throwback into the realm of the modern. The artwork seemingly referencing Unknown Pleasures and Peter Saville’s artwork in general is likely no accident. But, again, with the colors and change of angles it suggests another era, one that is as bleak for many as the neo-liberal takeover was in the early 80s for people then now living under the regimes of what Bertram Gross termed “Friendly Fascism.” But today’s is arguably less friendly and the threat of nuclear annihilation once again no less distant. “Tonight” may have a dusky melody but suggests a spark of hope in the darkness even if that resistance can seem as simple as pursuing a potential love interest. Listen to the spare and glittering beauty of the song below.
Simchack is a multi-instrumentalist based in Brooklyn, NY and he performed the music and recorded it in his home studio. He plays in various bands around NYC and you can keep up with his endeavors at his Facebook page. facebook.com/jacksimchakmusic
New Zealand-based multi-media artist and composer Jesse Woolston was inspired by his work scoring music for the Carl Sagan Institute and it’s search for habitable exoplanets in making his 2018 EP Nova. The track “Wave Remnants” was surely inspired by the human projection of tranquility and otherworldly beauty on outer space and the quest for signs of life in our own solar system and beyond. But the elegant and mysterious quality of the song is also reminiscent of former Siouxsie & The Banshees bassist Steve Severin’s soundtrack for Nigel Wingrove’s controversial 1989 short film Visions of Ecstasy. The hypnotic unfurling of tone flowing into infinity as ethereal drones on “Wave Remnants” is particularly entrancing. Listen below and if you’re so inclined give the full EP a listen here. There you can also delve into Woolston’s larger catalog.
Kempt is MC Wolfe and former Asobi Seksu guitarist James Hanna. The duo started Kempt in the winter of 2018 in Brooklyn and brought to the band a great deal of polished musicality as evidenced by the single “Commune.” What is striking about the track for anyone more than familiar with dream pop and electronic post-punk is that Kempt draws upon nostalgia for 80s synth pop without sounding like a later era chillwave band too late to that movement’s sell by date. It has an upbeat, even effervescent quality that is enhanced greatly from strong vocals from both Wolfe and Hanna. That the lyrics are about to evoke a sense of empathy and affection for a suffering loved one without maudlin sentimentality is an achievement in itself. But listen for yourself below and take in the entire five-song EP.
What:Onkilter 1 release: Church Fire, Data Rainbow, Felix Ayodele, J. Hamilton Isaacs, Offthesky, Otem Rellik & Patrick Lee followed by DJ Ilind When: Thursday, 05.23, 8 p.m. Where: Syntax Physic Opera Why: Multidim is a Denver-based experimental electronic record label that recently released its debut compilation of some of the Mile High City’s most interesting and inventive projects. The compilation, as well as this showcase, will donate all proceeds to the non-profit Youth On Record, an organization whose mission is to provide at risk youth with music education from performance, composition, production and the business end of things as well.
What:Glasss Presents the Speakeasy Series Season 3: Equine and Julien Miller When: Thursday, 05.23, 6:30 p.m. Where: Hooked On Colfax Why: This latest edition of the Speakeasy Series features guitar wizard Kevin Richards’ project Equine. By introducing left field methods, chord structures, signal manipulation and unconventional composition methods in general, Richards is pushing the frontier of the styles and sonics of guitar-base sound art.
What:Necromantic When: Thursday, 05.23, 9 p.m. Where: Shag Lounge Why: Necromantic is an old school Goth DJ night with plenty of the best of the newer darkwave and industrial music mixed in. Each second and fourth Thursdays of every month you can partake of the evening’s main DJs as well as select guests to bring a little bit of that old Denver flavor back into downtown.
Friday | May 24
Refused circa 2012, photo by Tom Murphy
What:The Hives and Refused w/Bleached When: Friday, 05.24, 9 p.m. Where: Gothic Theatre Why: Two power houses of punk and garage rock, Refused and The Hives respective, will make this a memorable night where you will probably be not just pleasantly surprised but inspired by the sheer energy and charisma of both bands. Refused in particular pioneered multiple genres of punk on its 1998 masterpiece The Shape of Punk to Come. Bleached includes former members of irreverent noise punks extraordinaire Mika Miko. And the group went through a phase of exploring various sounds before fully developing its knack for intimate pop songs with some bite, attitude and punk energy.
What:Tommy Wright III When: Friday, 05.24, 9 p.m. Where: Rhinoceropolis Why: Tommy Wright III must be considered one of the early progenitors for the style of underground hip-hop that one hears echoing in the work of the various members and associates of A$AP, Odd Future and Migos. The creatively profane lyrics and subject matter of his songs, the lo-fi-but-deep production style with the finely treated loops as heard in so much modern trap is present in one form or another in Wright’s 90s output through today. This is a rare chance to see the legendary producer live in Denver and witness his mastery of outsider gangster rap up close and personal.
What:Cloud Rat, Gadget, Immortal Bird and 908 When: Friday, 05.24, 8 p.m. Where: Syntax Physic Opera Why: Sort of a deathgrind show given Gadget from Sweden and Cloud Rat from Michigan are on the bill. 908 from Colorado Springs definitely fits into what will be a night of short, furious sets.
Saturday | May 25
Rowboat, photo by Tom Murphy
What:Slugger and Michael Thompson When: Saturday, 05.25, 2-4 p.m. Where: Wax Trax – Sidewalk outside Why: Slugger is basically showing where psychedelic rock can go when the musicians focus on the songwriting over adhering to some style. Michael Thompson of Arc Sol will also perform a solo set of his songs informed by a broad range of unusual music. What:LUTHI at Denver Day of Rock When: Saturday, 05.25, 6-7 p.m. Where: 16th Street Mall Why: The Denver Day of Rock will have plenty of bands, local and otherwise, to see throughout the day and evening all along the 16th Street Mall. In the early evening you can catch LUTHI from Nashville, Tennessee. The seven-piece band perform music that’s a compelling blending of funk, downtempo pop and what might be called post-Daft Punk psychedelia. There’s some unusual X-factor about the band that keeps it well apart from “party” bands in general while also providing suitable music for a dance party.
What:Jello Biafra’s Incredibly Strange Dance Party When: Saturday, 05.25, 9 p.m. Where: Lion’s Lair Why: Jello Biafra needs no introduction and this is an edition of his Incredibly Strange Dance Party where he’ll bring some of the most bizarre dance tracks to DJ at the Lion’s Lair and knowing Biafra he may even join in on the dancing, adding to the strangeness.
What:Spirit of the Beehive w/Strange Ranger, Cuckoo and Rowboat When: Saturday, 05.25, 8 p.m. Where: Larimer Lounge Why: Spirit of the Beehive could be something like a light psych indie rock band but its aesthetic has a bit of a collage element and its songs sound out of phase with the contemporary world and its sometimes ennervating cultural climate. It’s music is a side step into spaces more dreamlike and mysterious. The rock instruments integrating perfectly with the warping and wefting electronic compositions is beautifully disorienting. In 2018 the band released Hypnic Jerks, a title and songs suggesting the band is coming at the world from a different angle than a lot of people. Like Unknown Mortal Orchestra but more grounded in American 90s weirdo indie pop.
What:Lav Andula, Asymptote, I Hate It Here, Causer and Tepid When: Saturday, 05.25, 9 p.m. Where: Rhinoceropolis Why: A night of experimental techno and noise including the debut of Tepid, the solo project of Voight’s Nick Salmon.
Sunday | May 26
Shocker Mom, photo by Tom Murphy
What:Shibui Denver #3; Shocker Mom, Space Geist and DJ Vahco When: Sunday, 05.26, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: Shibui Denver is a monthly event last Sundays of the month at Mutiny Information Café. It’s designed to start and end early and aims to showcase some of the best Denver underground acts and the occasional touring band that fits the format of being a little different. Tonight’s featured guests are Shocker Mom, Robin Walker’s ambient beat driven pop act whose album >^^< will be included in our much belated Favorite Albums of 2018 listing. Walker has been a prolific songwriter and collaborator in Denver as a solo artist under her given name, while a member of indie pop duo Cougar Pants, in hip-hop outfit Nighttimeschoolbus, sitting in with rapper Time and folk pop artist Jason Horodyski. Vahco Before Horses heads Glasss Records through which he boosts, produces and finds spaces to showcase the music of some of Denver’s most forward thinking underground artists. This night he will DJ Denver bands and several from the Glasss Roster. Space Geist is a solo guitar band in which riffs will be looped and manipulated in post to produce, with any luck, disorienting tones and rhythms.
What:Alien Weaponry w/Dreadnought and Palehorse/Palerider When: Sunday, 05.26, 6:30 p.m. Where: Bluebird Theater Why: Alien Weaponry is a band from Waipu, New Zealand. While operating somewhat in the realm of melodic thrash its lyrics are often in Maori because its three members are of that extraction and it suits the music in a way for which English sometimes seems inadequate. Opening the show are psychedelic doom folk band Dreadnought and heavy ambient noise/industrial dark psychedelic band Palehorse/Palerider also from the Mile High City.
Tuesday | May 28
Sebadoh, photo by Justin Pizzoferrato
What:Sebadoh w/Flower and Race to Neptune When: Tuesday, 05.28, 7 p.m. Where: Globe Hall Why: Sebadoh didn’t invent lo-fi rock but in the early 90s it helped to chart the direction much of that style of music would go by incorporating field recordings alongside off the cuff recording and an emphasis on feeling over precise capture of “professional” fidelity in the studio. Naturally the band went on to take that aesthetic into actual recording studios but the spirit of play and fidelity to emotional honesty and spontaneous energy remained. Currently Sebadoh is touring in support of its newly released record Act Surprised. Flower was and is now again from New York City that in the 80s reflected the city of legend and its mixture of evolving Bohemian subcultures, melting pot ethnicity, gritty urban decay, a sense of possibilities and the avant-garde alongside emerging popular culture. Musically that meant Flower was well within the realm of post-punk at the time. It wasn’t so far in the past that The Ramones, Patti Smith Group, Television, Blondie, Talking Heads, Suicide and countless others had built the foundation of what punk could be and even less far back since the bands that emerged out of that milieu, directly inspired by it in various ways like the No Wave groups, Sonic Youth, SWANS, Live Skull, Bush Tetras, Arthur Russel, Liquid Liquid, ESG, The Lounge Lizards and other unfortunately less-well-known bands that made up the ecosystem of the New York underground. Flower formed in 1986 while Richard Balulyut was still in college and its sound fit into the rich diversity of the then NYC scene. The group split in 1990 soon after which Balulyut and two of his brothers formed indie/alternative rock band Versus which went on to some acclaim in the 90s. The latter band reconvened in 2017 and it dawned on Balulyut that he could write new music in the more post-punk, some might now say darkwave, style of Flower and now the band is on tour in support of its new material and there’s a better than half a chance you’ll get to see some of its older material live as well.
What:Closet Witch, Law of the Night and Bi-Proxy When: Tuesday, 05.28, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: Kind of a grind-y hardcore night including a set from Closet Witch from southeast Iowa. Molly Piatetsky’s feral vocals are something to witness.
Update: This show was combined with another at Syntax Physic Opera at 8 p.m. with a line up that is now Full of Hell, Primitive Man, Genocide Pact, In The Company of Serpents and Closet Witch.
Wednesday | May 29
Skeletonwitch, photo by Nico Poalillo
What:Sleep w/Big Business When: Wednesday, 05.29, 7:30 p.m. Where: Boulder Theater Why: Sleep is one of the most influential bands out of the world of doom metal. Though its sound was lumped in with “stoner rock,” which seems apt seeing as it’s until recently latest album was called Dopesmoker comprised of a single track over an hour long. Its psychedelic, towering drones live up to the hype as do the more concise songs, like those on the 1992’s Sleep’s Holy Mountain. Sleep is almost as heavy as it gets and its high volume show as engulfing as you would hope for. Big Business is a sludge rock band well suited to the bill. The members of the band were part of The Melvins for around a decade and recently released a new record. The Beast You Are is a collection of dynamic, triumphant songs with unconventional melodies and an elevated updraft of tone. Big Business has always been, if nothing else, heavy but buoyant. On The Beast You Are, Big Business experiments further in the songwriting with its use of space and pacing. There’s still the headlong rush you’d expect from the band but also an imaginative application of its palette of sound that has kept the band from being predictable, an uncommon quality in heavy music. For Big Business it is not enough to pummel with its colossal sound but to have emotional and thoughtful intentionality behind it.
What:Skeletonwitch w/Soft Kill and Wiegedood When: Wednesday, 05.29, 7 p.m. Where: The Marquis Theater Why: Skeletonwitch has been perfecting and then evolving its technical melodic death metal sound since its inception in 2003. Its latest record, 2018’s Devouring Radiant Light finds the band bringing in even more unconventionally atmospheric elements into its brutal and unrelenting soundscape. All while maintaining the dark imagery and animalistic, distorted vocals like they are telling stories of a mythical past in our current impending, post-apocalypse after climate change has cleansed the earth of much of human civilization.
Afternoon Author is a band from Phoenix, Arizona that is currently in a cycle of releasing a song every six weeks until the release of its album later in 2019. “Gila Bend” is the group’s third single and what struck me about the song was how it captured a deep sense of introspection by employing multiple layers of sounds, a variety of textures and tones that not every band would think to place in a chill track. In some ways its reminiscent of 90s indie pop weirdos like Olivia Tremor Control, at times of a non-rock Shriekback for the sheer otherworldly quality in the realm of pop. The use of organic samples and ending on a passage of what sounds like what represents the track breaking down or the tape warping down into slow motion. The song’s hypnotic intro and whispery vocals really bring you into this dream journey of a song. Get lost in the song below.
Keep up with Afternoon Author and its progress toward album completion at any of the following links:
You must be logged in to post a comment.