“Kim Gordon” is bit of a different style of song from Lisbon, Portugal’s Too Many Suns’ new album Reverie (released May 24, 2024 on the band’s own Reverie Records). Whereas a good deal of the rest of the album is in the realm of psychedelic pop, “Kim Gordon” is brash and noisy and seems to be inspired by one of those songs Kim Gordon herself would write about the life of a person struggling with personal demons and an oppressive culture that inspires what some might see as an extreme reaction to internal and external pressures but given Gordon’s delivery and emotional nuance reveals those responses as simply normal human reactions to heightened anxiety in the face of dysfunctional forces. The band ties the noisy riffs and emotional outbursts as vocals to a groove but in the end just lets the self-deconstructing song be what it tranquilly settles into. Listen to “Kim Gordon” on Spotify and follow Too Many Suns at the links provided.
Singer / Songwriter Steve Dawson, photo by Matthew Gilson
Steve Dawson is a Chicago-based songwriter who released his most recent, and sixth, solo album Ghosts on June 7 via Pravda Records on CD, LP vinyl, digital download and streaming. Though perhaps best known for his membership in alt-country band Dolly Varden, Dawson’s solo work on the new record infuses his songwriting with power pop sensibilities, fitting for ten songs that explore ideas of how the past weighs on the present and influences how we live life and understand the world around us as well as the people we’ve lost along the way whose presence lingers in our hearts whether they have passed on to the great beyond out simply out of our lives. Dawson also examines times in his life that he remembers vividly that impacted the course of his own path as a human as an artist. For instance “Leadville” which so accurately captures life in various small towns in America that it could be about some place you’ve lived and not the songwriter’s hometown in Idaho. Dawson doesn’t romanticize that time in his life even as the country rock song has a touch of nostalgia to its sound. Each song is a poignant portrait of a space and time and the people that make up where we come from, where we’ve been and to some extent guide where we’re going.
Listen to our interview with Dawson on Bandcamp and follow the songwriter and musician at the links below.
Three Lefts And A Right, photo courtesy Dan Ruprecht
Three Lefts And A Right sounds like it walked right out of The Paisley Underground on “Opened Up My Eyes” with its kaleidoscopic, jangle guitar driven psychedelia. But its raw exuberance grounds it in the present as do its words of looking forward and not getting stuck on notions of the past and the future when there is plenty in life right in front of you right now to enjoy and to act upon whether one’s life adventure or romantic possibilities that can come and go in an instant if you let them pass you by. Musically it’s also reminiscent a bit of early XTC, The Smithereens and REM but through the lens of musicians who rediscovered that music after coming up in punk. Listen to “Opened Up My Eyes” on Spotify and follow Three Lefts And A Right and band leader Dan Ruprecht at the links below.
Samuel Nicholson is about to release the Further Listening EP on July 10. The latter is a companion piece to the 2023 full-length Birthday Suit with songs that didn’t quite make the final album and others reworked to give them a distinctly different flavor. “Black Dog Funeral – Alt” takes the robust and expansive indie rock of the original with its giant hooks and boosts the low end so it has a dub-like feel but with Nicholson’s vocals standing clear in the warm yet enigmatic soundscape. Fans of Smog and Bill Callahan in general will appreciate this musical transformation and how the reverse delay gives some of the tones an otherworldly quality while the slightly blown out distortion adds a unique texture that feels wonderfully rough around the edges. It all makes the song have a more intimate feel like this was how the song hit before filters and editing were added to give it the kind of clarity one generally wants on a record released to a general public yet sometimes you prefer the raw and real deal in art. Listen to “Black Dog Funeral – Alt” on Spotify and follow Samuel Nicholson at the links below.
Gabriel Abedi’s song “Ekewo” is immediately striking with a cinematic resonance with its sonic richness and depth. It’s like music for a movie you wish existed about some kind of near future thriller drama or historical epic set in Africa. The title refers to an Ewe word that can be taken to mean “roots” in English in the sense of one’s origins and the cultural heritage that has helped to shape you and your perspectives and sensibilities. The dynamic song layers modern classical composition with the percussive and polyrhythmic textures of the Ewe music of Ghana and draws inspiration from a time in the nation’s history when the Ewe people escaped the rule of the dictator Togbe Agorkoli centuries ago. The piano melodies, the hushed but commanding vocals and the intricate yet evocative percussion conveys a sense of historical sweep and anticipation of something promising on the horizon. Listen to “Ekewo” on Spotify and follow Gabriel Abedi at the links provided.
With the breakbeats and 8-bit style synth tones sprinkled in Reykjavik Kids’ “Sanctimony” has a massive sound like a fusion of 90s electro-Britpop and 2010s indie electronic pop circa Crystal Castles and M83. Except this band with this song has a triumphant spirit even with the even keeled and clear-eyed lead vocals and the call and response harmonies. The rich tonality in the production makes the song a standout even if its subject matter seems to be about anonymous and vicious judgment that can come at you out of nowhere in great numbers in the social media environment. The song feels like a shaking off of that mood. Listen to “Sanctimony” on Spotify and follow the UK band based in Newcastle upon Tyne at the links below.
The nearly abstract pulse of downtempo melody that courses throughout alterity’s “i don’t deserve this” is like a melancholic mood that can hang over you across an entire day or days at a time. But through this murky filter glimmers of clear tones shine through like the flickering of hope when life seems to be going through a period of sustained gloom and prolonged self-examination and processing why you’re tolerating the way things are rather than making an abrupt and immediate change. But trauma can have that impact on you and you can float through longer periods than would otherwise be normal and you cling to these seemingly emotionally tangible motes of hope and joy until the dark times have passed or you have managed to gather the will to push yourself through the things you need to do to get clear of the situations that have you feeling like you’re living in a muted version of a vibrant life. The song captures that feeling that is rarely articulated well in life and in art and fans of Tim Hecker’s most beautifully nightmarish moments will find some moments of solace here too. Listen to “i don’t deserve this” on Spotify.
“less today” by plaster 0f paris sounds like a noir version of a post-punk song. It has breathy vocals and granular guitar tones that together give the song the sound of weary resignation that bears out the title some. For mood think somewhere between True Widow and A Place to Bury Strangers and that starkly vivid intensity that allows for the atmospheric melodies to take center stage in how the song emerges from a more spacious opening into swimming in the sinuous swirl of melancholic yet commanding haze. The project is a new flavor for guitarist and vocalist Tony Bevilacqua who some may know for his time in The Distillers but one that showcases his interest in crafting vivid and evocative atmospheric compositions. Listen to “less today” on Spotify and follow plaster 0f paris at the links below. The 3-song less today EP dropped May 17, 2024.
“Constructing my new world” by Squarewav sounds like the music you’d want to hear if you had to witness a visual representation of the reconstruction of your life in chapters. The sequenced, textural beats and melodic paces are uplifting and bright, hopeful even. The saturated synth tones mid-song are reminiscent of the work of Norm Chambers and his Panabrite project. Later in the song the distorted sounds of a robot construction crew welding, landing rivets and screws and assembling the shiny and tidy final project end the song on a satisfying note like getting closure on an ambitious project that is your life or at least a chapter that began in raw disarray but now feels like a place where you can move forward with confidence and integrity. Listen to “Constructing my new world” on Spotify where the rest of the Beautiful digital, construct my world EP dropped on May 3, 2024 and follow Squarewav at the links provided.
Blushing, photo by Eddie ChavezBlushing in 2023, photo by Tom Murphy
Monday | 07.01 What:Blushing w/Wave Decay and Cherished When: 7 Where: The Skylark Lounge Why: Austin-based shoegaze band Blushing recently released its latest album Sugarcoat with its blast of melodiously gritty and ethereal pop. Its flares of tone and anchored rhythms lend the group a dynamic that has an undeniable power on its recordings but even more so in the live setting where the band seems to have a an expansively friendly energy. Opening the show are krautrock/shoegaze band Wave Decay from Denver and the emotionally charged dream pop of Cherished also from the Mile High City.
The Church, photo by Hugh Stewart
Tuesday | 07.02 What: The Church and The Afghan Whigs w/Ed Harcourt When: 6 Where: The Ogden Theatre Why: Both The Church and The Afghan Whigs could headline a tour of their own. The Church made its initial splash in the 80s with records that infused post-punk with psychedelic guitar rock color and thoughtful lyrics anticipating in its songcraft dream pop and shoegaze. Fortunately The Church continued to evolve as artists with records going into its later era that are among its most creatively fascinating including the twin albums The Hypnogogue (2023) and Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars (2024), concept albums about a future not so far in which the struggle to find meaning persists in human society and the psyche despite developments in technology and the evolution of human culture in an age of techno-globalism. The Afghan Whigs seamlessly melded R&B and post-punk for a hybrid sound that predated and helped to define alternative rock in the 90s but with a sound and songwriting style that has aged better than a lot of music of the era. Greg Dulli has seemed able to write songs about love and relationships and his own inner turmoil with passion and poetic insight since the band’s early days. Live both bands seem very capable of bringing you into a heightened emotional space shakes off the regular world for the duration. Listen to our interview with The Church’s Ian Haug here.
Winnetka Bowling League, photo by Paige Sara
Tuesday | 07.02 What:Winnetka Bowling League w/Emi Grace When: 7 Where: Meow Wolf Why: Winnetka Bowling League recently released its debut full-length Sha La La. Nevermind that for some listeners will be reminded immediately of The War on Drugs’ sweeping Americana psychedelia and the warm low end and ethereal melodies of first wave chillwave it’s a set of songs that has some poignant commentary on life in America with vivid set pieces in the lyrics that will be familiar to anyone that has lived through America since the 2010s and paid attention either because you were growing up in that time or observant and aware of the psychological climate of the time. It’s sonically rich indiepop for the time we’re in and its nostalgia-tinged lyrics honor both a flickering yet irrepressible sense of hope for the future and the wry acknowledgment that we could all be doomed given the political, ecological and cultural climate of the world.
King Rat, photo by Tom Murphy
Thursday | 07.04 What:King Rat 30 Year Anniversary w/Black Dots, These Kids Today, Anti-Formula and Terror Attack When: 5 Where: EastFax Tap Why: King Rat has had a bit of a storied existence across its three decades as a band and its melodic punk and dabbling with roots rock has remained consistently worthwhile with well crafted lyrics and a compelling live show. They play at 10 so all the “adults” in attendance can make it to the show after family obligations and home early enough in case they have to work one of those jobs that don’t give adults the day after a national holiday falling on a Thursday, Friday off.
Cherry Spit, photo by Tom Murphy
Thursday | 07.04 What:TV Star, Angel Band, Cherry Spit and DJ Ryan Wong When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: TV Star is a jangle psych pop band from Seattle that sounds like it is tapping into 70s power pop and late 80s college rock like the later period of Paisley Underground acts like Game Theory, Let’s Active and Opal. Angel Band is coming from a similar sonic cauldron and indie pop. Cherry Spit, though, is a gouge the lightning from the skies noise rock outfit that includes former members of Quits and Endless, Nameless.
Glass Spells, photo from Bandcamp
Friday | 07.05 What:Glass Spells w/Hex Cassette When: 8 Where: HQ Why: Glass Spells is a darkwave synthpop band from San Diego that has been making music with a clear leg in 80s New Wave and post-punk but more the modern approach bringing together influences, direct or indirect, from electroclash and Nu Disco/Italo disco as well as touches of Latin music rhythms. Opening is the synthwave deathcult performance art act Hex Cassette whose high energy shows make you part of the proceedings with some friendly but intense cajoling. And it all wouldn’t matter too much if his songs weren’t also worthwhile on their own separate from the stagecraft.
The Picture Tour, photo by Tom Murphy
Saturday | 07.06 What: The Picture Tour, CELICA, Up Yours People When: 8 Where: The Skylark Lounge Why: The Denver Goth scene hasn’t embraced The Picture Tour yet but it should because Billy Armijo and his bandmates have crafted the perfect fusion of shoegaze and moody post-punk. It has too much grit to be the kind of sadcore dad rock you might expect from Denver music scene veterans including Armijo who is the former lead guitarist of Emerald Siam. The guitar tones are searing and soaring yet imbued with enough melancholic melody and atmosphere to sound like a soundtrack to autumn. Up Yours People includes former members of Boss 302 and it is a mutant version of garage punk but noisier and more grimy and aggressive than one might expect even from past projects of the members of the band.
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, photo by Harvey Robinson
Wednesday | 07.10 What: Sarah Shook & The Disarmers w/Alana Mars and DJ Jake Luna When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Sarah Shook & The Disarmers have been one of the more acclaimed bands in the broad realm of Americana of the past several years. On March 29, 2024 the group released its latest album Revelations on Thirty Tigers. The record isn’t short on the charm and warmth that has made the band’s previous releases so accessible and inviting and this time there seems to be a defiant spirit to the lyrics rejecting being defined by others and engaging in active self-discovery while finding some meaning in establishing healthy boundaries.
Diles Que No Me Maten, photo from Bandcamp
Friday | 07.12 What: Diles Que No Me Maten w/Wave Decay and Pink Lady Monster When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Presumably named after Juan Rulfo’s 1951 story of the same name Diles Que No Me Maten (which means “Tell Them Not to Kill Me”), this Mexico City-based band on the surface is a psychedelic folk group but he further one delves into its body of work you hear elements of dub and art rock with an ear for ambient soundscapes. More akin to the like of The Legendary Pink Dots than a modern psych rock band. Its most recent album Obrigaggi (2023) is a hushed and entrancing listening journey. Wave Decay is the Denver-based shoegaze/psychedelic rock band with far better than average tonal richness. Pink Lady Monster might be described as a No Wave-esque art rock and performance art band and a can’t miss act from Denver for the discerning music fan.
Pallbearer, photo by Al Dalmasy
Saturday | 07.13 What:Pallbearer w/Inter Arma and The Keening When: 7 Where: The Gothic Theatre Why: Pallbearer’s 2024 album Mind Burns Alive has been a long time coming and its first since 2020’s Forgotten Days. The doom metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas has always been a cut above and more interesting than many of its peers because its music has had complex melodic arrangements and particularly on the new record a widely dynamic vocal harmonies. The new album apparently represented the group being together in the same city after a prolonged time apart. The heaviness of the album taps into concept that the themes and emotional content are what makes for the heaviest of moods and its sometimes psychedelic guitar excursions resonate with what peers like Amenra have been up to of late. Opening the show is former SubRosa guitarist/vocalist Rebecca Vernon and her The Keening project and her own flavor of transcendent, ambient doom.
Kontravoid in 2022, photo by Tom Murphy
Saturday | 07.13 What: Kontravoid w/French Kettle Station, Modern Devotion and Kill You Club DJs When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: For over a decade Cameron Findlay has been writing and release music as Kontravoid. With heavy, pulsating, industrial beats and dense and murky synths the project with Findlay performing in a white mask in theater style Kontravoid has offered a kind of dance music that draws upon the likes of classic EBM, the creative production style of Meat Beat Manifesto and techno. The latest album Detachment includes vocal contributions from Nuovo Testamento singer Chelsey Crowley. Opening the show are Denver acts French Kettle Station and his own fusion of glitch, electronic dance pop and performance art and Modern Devotion’s minimal techno.
Quasi, photo by John Clark
Thursday | 07.18 What:Quasi w/Jeffrey Lewis When: 7 Where: Marquis Theater Why: Quasi is the rock duo comprised of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss. The former some may know from his time in Heatmiser with Elliott Smith. The latter was the long time drummer of Sleater-Kinney and Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and one of the truly great live drummers of the current era. After years of being inactive Quasi released Breaking the Balls of History in 2023 on Sub Pop and a set of songs that showcase the band’s gift for fusing punk and bombastic art rock. Jeffrey Lewis is the eccentric punk musician and visual artist whose songs are punk in spirit but not in the predictable way musically—just a disregard for convention of genre and expectation of subject matter like a one man They Might Be Giants.
mxmtoon, photo by Joelle Grace Taylor
Th and S | 07.18 and 07.20 What: AJR w/mxmtoon and Dean Lewis When: 6 Where: Ball Arena Why: AJR is the trio from NYC comprised of Adam Met, Jack Met and Ryan Met (thus the name, the last name truncated from Metzger) who are all vocalists and multi-instrumentalists and all are involved in the songwriting that’s a hybrid of hip-hop, indie pop and some elements of hyper pop and Americana. Opening the show is multi-media artist and folk bedroom pop artist mxmtoon who propelled herself into the public eye with her use of social media from a young age sharing her visual art and early songwriting with ukulele on a YouTube channel she started at age 13. Her soulful vocals help to set her music apart from what some may assume to be her natural peers and her songwriting demonstrates a poetically thoughtful perspective that takes on the usual subjects of the struggles of youth and looming adulthood with creativity. Add her imaginative production and free association of musical styles into a coherent one of her own and mxmtoon is easily one of the most interesting pop artists now more than flirting with mainstream success.
A Strange Happening in 2022, photo by Tom Murphy
Friday | 07.19 What: A Strange Happening, Plague Pitted Moon, Penny Auction When: 8 Where: The Skylark Lounge Why: Plague Pitted Moon is a psychedelic doom band from Rapid City that recently released its 2024 self-titled EP. Its dark, distorted drones are like a grittier, more metal-inspired shoegaze band. Penny Auction from Casper, Wyoming is similarly minded but generally more noisy and menacing like if someone that listened to a lot of Sonic Youth, Big Black and My Dad Is Dead decided to start a band that was more lo-fi than even all of that. A Strange Happening is basically an indie rock band if its members were all nerds for old radio serial programming and psychedelic garage rock but skipped on the 2010s version of that sort of thing and essentially a weird band that writes accessible music.
Digable Planets, photo from Bandcamp
Saturday | 07.20 What: The Roots w/Digable Planets When: 7 Where: Mission Ballroom Why: The Roots are a band that early on adopted using live jazz instrumentation into its brand of hip-hop setting it apart from most of its peers especially when it launched in 1987. Stylistically Digable Planets shared eclectic and jazz and R&B rooted sensibilities when it too formed in 1987. Both projects have roots in Philadelphia though Digable Planets first came to prominence when it was based in Brooklyn. Both outfits released their respective debut albums in 1993 on major record labels with a follow up in 1995. Digable Planets split for a decade after the release of that album, the deep mood jazz psychedelia-infused Blowout Comb, while The Roots continued to build its cult following into relative mainstream success even before it became the official house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2009. Big ups for the 2011 Michele Bachman incident. Although it hasn’t released a new album in nearly 30 years Digable Planets began its latest run as a live band in 2015 and The Roots for its own part hasn’t offered a new record since 2014 but both have proven themselves as vital live bands whose sounds and ideas have helped to shape the aesthetics of much of the modern hip-hop that dares to break the mold of standard and well worn ideas with imagination and a willingness to think of their own music beyond tradition and established style.
Daikaiju, photo by Tom Murphy
Saturday and Sunday | 07.20 and 07.21 What: Daikaiju and TripLip w/Pink Lady Monster (07.20) and Big Canned Ham (07.21) When: 7pm both nights Where: The Matchbox (07.20) and The Squire Lounge (07.21) Why: Daikaiju is the legendary psychedelic surf rock band with truly exciting live shows with fire and breaking the audience and performer wall by making an entire venue a potential stage. TripLip could be described as a progressive surf rock punk band but really art rock in the more playful 90s vein and truly not easily put into any genre box though a perfect band to play with Daikaiju. Pink Lady Monster is the charismatic and enigmatic No Wave post-punk/art rock band from Denver. Big Canned Ham is sort of a psychedelic art rock funk band that apparently didn’t see some reason not to fuse Pink Floyd, Primus and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
The Decemberists, photo by Holly Andres
Tuesday | 07.23 What: The Decemberists w/Ratboys When: 7 Where: Mission Ballroom Why: The Decemberists have long been one of the quintessential indie rock bands of the 2000s and beyond with its penchant for eclectic instrumentation, folkloric, literary lyrics and a sound that dips into Americana and chamber pop. Plenty of shade has been thrown the band’s way for being pretentious in its theatrical presentation, its often somewhat nerdy subject matter and the baroque aesthetic of its cover art yet it’s refreshing to see a band put that much effort into the small details of its music from its performances to the way its music greets the world separate from the live context. Not to mention the creative ambition to pull it all off and to establish a body of work with layers of meaning and nuance. The band’s latest album As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again (2024) sounds like a descendant of jangle rock and 80s indiepop as embodied by groups out of the Paisley Underground and the southeastern part of the USA like The Windbreakers, Let’s Active and The db’s.
Facet, photo from Bandcamp
Tuesday | 07.23 What: Facet, Moon Pussy, Abandons and Wingwalker When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Facet is the Oakland-based, noisy post-hardcore band whose self-titled 2023 album is half Amphetamine-Reptile-artist-esque atonal madness and DC post-punk. Fitting Denver’s own noise rock weirdo geniuses Moon Pussy are sharing the bill along with instrumental art doom trio Abandons and heavy, angular post-punk trio Wingwalker.
Ben Howard, photo courtesy the artist
Tuesday | 07.23 What: Ben Howard w/John Francis Flynn When: 7 Where: Ogden Theatre Why: You don’t need any kind of background on the artist or the making of the album to get something out of Ben Howard’s 2023 album Is It? The singer-songwriter whose career stretches back to the late 2000s suffered two mini-strokes in 2022 which initiated some lifestyle changes and the subsequent album which in some ways charts his creative coming to terms with and working through his life changes isn’t just introspective in expected ways the music is richly detailed and flows with a seemingly organic flow of electronic and not so electronic elements that is instantly engaging and is resonant with recent offerings from Mount Kimbie. The songs are illuminating and tender, emotionally vivid and Howard’s vocals, processed or otherwise, shine with a gentle warmth. The record is the artists magnum opus.
Easy Honey, photo by Amanda Laferriere
Wednesday | 07.24 What:Easy Honey w/Sex Wacks and Welcome Back When: 7 Where: Larimer Lounge Why: Charleston, South Carolina-based Easy Honey originally started in Sewanee, Tennessee and have cultivated a sound one more often associates with the mood and energy of a psychedelic pop band from the opposite side of the country. But in its songwriting one hears threads of influence beyond obvious touchstones. There is a power pop sensibility crossed with the storytelling mode of The Kinks and the way the latter ties its captivating choruses with big, melodic hooks. There is an easygoing aspect of the music even though its wit and exuberance inform the songwriting and the performances. On July 19, 2024 the band released its new album Cupidity Unlimited and is currently on a wide touring leg in Colorado alone that began on July 7 in Buena Vista and continues through July 27 in Colorado Springs.
Mark Farina, photo courtesy OM Records
Friday and Saturday | 07.26 and 07.27 What: Mark Farina When: 8 Where: Meow Wolf Convergence Station Why: Mark Farina is the legendary DJ who fused house, jazz and downtempo with elements of other styles in an almost free association of beats and sounds to produce his trademark sound “mushroom jazz.” The latter hit like acid jazz mutated by left field hip-hop beats. Farina explored the inner and outer edges of that aesthetic across several releases in the Mushroom Jazz series. Farina’s eclectic, mellow but vivid production has influenced at least one generation of house and electronic dance music creatives Farina performs sets Friday and Saturday at Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station where the room’s spacious and spare accommodations seem like the right place to experience music provided by one of modern house music’s most significant artists/mixologists.
Street Fever, photo by Tom Murphy
Tuesday | 07.30 What: Street Fever w/MDX View, Palace Guard, Dream Compartment When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Street Fever is the performance artist and industrial techno/EBM darkwave artist from Boise, Idaho who has a bit of an underground cult following dating back around a decade when he was a completely mysterious figure whose sets were in the realm of gritty darkwave before that became more of a thing within a few years. But more recent Street Fever shows have been more intense, seemingly more focused and heavier, harder beats perhaps heard in the most realized form on the 2024 album Absolution. The record whose themes seem to explore working through religious trauma and life under late capitalism is refreshingly not stylistically monolithic and start and has moments of sublime, melodic beauty and emotionally vibrant vocals. Live, Street Fever often brings the stage into the audience and involves those who show up in his personal catharsis.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
You must be logged in to post a comment.