Friday | 01.03 What: RAREBYRD$ album release w/Machu Linea and Shocker Mom When: 9pm Where: Roxy on Broadway Why: RAREBYRD$ is an experimental hip-hop group from Denver whose mix of sensuous soundscapes, earthy romanticism and radical compassion and sensitivity has produced a powerful and playful body of work that hits deep. This show ushers in the release of its first album on vinyl with Pa$$-A-FiSt. On hand for this show is electronic pop producer and DJ extraordinaire Machu Linea and his creatively imaginative R&B-inflected songwriting as well as ambient indie pop genius Shocker Mom.
Brian Posehn, photo from brianposehn.com
Thursday-Saturday | 01.09-01.11 What: Brian Posehn When: Varies by date Where: Comedy Works Denver Why: Brian Posehn is an active and prolific whose career spans decades including doing some writing and performing on the beloved comedy show Mr. Show. He’s had parts in The Big Bang Theory, The Mandalorian, Lady Dynamite, New Girl and he’s been in films like Devil’s Rejects and Uncle Nick. But his comedy that is partly surreal and confessional spanning subjects from personal issues, nerddom and his status as a lifelong metalhead. There’s something charming and immediately relatable to Posehn’s delivery that makes even his more playfully transgressive material accessible.
Oryx in 2021, photo courtesy the artists
Friday | 01.10 What:Oryx, Midwife, Many Blessings and Aridus When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Oryx is the doom/sludge band from Denver that recently released its latest album 2024’s Primordial Sky (available through the group’s Bandcamp digitally and on cassette and through Translation Loss on limited, colored vinyl editions). Starting out as a the duo of guitarist, vocalist, synth player Thomas Davis and drummer Abigail Davis, Oryx recently added bassist Joshua Kauffman who contributed to the writing of the new record. The sounds of the new release are more open and cavernous than the previous Oryx offerings which were inspired forays into brutal yet epic and cathartic compositions blurring the line between grind, doom and Oryx’s own style that incorporated unconventional rhythms and a heaviness that was dense yet dynamic. The new album is a commentary on the hubris of our civilization seem built on a bedrock of endless consumption at the expense of all. Also on this bill is “heaven metal” artist Midwife whose immersive soundscapes of processed guitar and vocals are like if folk music was being transmitted from a future existing in the consequences of current human hubris but expressed from deep emotional places processing despair and loss. Many Blessings is the solo harsh noise project of Primitive Man guitarist and vocalist Ethan McCarthy. Aridus is a moody black metal band from Santa Fe that includes Galen Baudhuin who contributes to the live lineup of influential “Cascadian black metal” legends Wolves in the Throne Room.
David Dinsmore, from his Facebook page
Saturday | 01.11 What:Celebrate the Life of David Dinsmore featuring Judge Roughneck and Lost Dog Ensemble (vinyl release party) as well as Tivoli Club Brass Band and guests. When: 6:30 Where: The Oriental Theater Why: The late David Dinsmore passed away in 2024 suddenly due to health complications when he was on the verge of doing more music of a wide spectrum of expression. He was of course the long time trombone player in the great jazz ska funk band Judge Roughneck, he was a singer and musician in Tom Waits tribute band Lost Dog Ensemble, he performed experimental music in various projects including Bowshock. He was a friend to many in the local scene and certainly a fan of supporter. What isn’t obvious is his broad taste in music and his willingness to get out and see new music regularly, weekly. He was someone who isn’t often celebrated but is one of the true linchpins in the music scene, some of the social connective tissue in one person and he is already greatly missed. This show is a celebration of his life with performances from a couple of his old bands.
Ipecac, photo from Bandcamp
Saturday | 01.11 What: Boot Gun, Ipecac and Radio Fluke When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Boot Gun isn’t just some classic rock revival band though that’s certainly one of the flavors of its music. Its members have absorbed modern psychedelic garage rock and a touch of prog. But its vocals are at least as strong as the musicianship and it seems obvious someone in the band has spent some time listening to a lot of soul records and southern blues rock. Ipecac similarly is hard to pigeonhole as purveyors of fuzzy hard rock with fiery musicianship and a charismatic, soulful vocalist but all of that is what makes the group noteworthy in the realm of music taking inspiration from another era.
Pink Lady Monster, photo by Tom Murphy
Thursday | 01.16 What: Pink Lady Monster, Ray Diess, Part Weapon and Babybaby When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Pink Lady Monster is like the reincarnation of both a No Wave band and an avant-garde glam rock band with the performance art aspect very part of the delivery of the music. Ray Diess likewise incorporates performance art into his experimental, hyperpop strangeness. Part Weapon actually fuses psych rock, shoegaze and post-rock into a cohesive whole that isn’t a boring mish mash of elements or a derivative manifestation of any of them. BabyBaby is what happens when someone who has spent time making more conventional music with others lets loose and crafts gorgeously entrancing experimental electronic pop like something from the memory of blissful dreams.
Teacup Gorilla, photo courtesy the artists
Friday-Saturday | 01.17-02.01 What: JANE/EYRE with live music from Teacup Gorilla When: See link for dates and times. Where: Buntport Theater 717 Lipan St. Why: Denver-based theater production troupe Grapefruit Lab is putting on an encore run of its debut full-length show JANE/EYRE, a queer exploration of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel of the same name. The show includes musical performances by art folk/indie pop group Teacup Gorilla with songs written by the band and former Bad Luck City, current The Gentlys frontman Dameon Merkl. The multimedia show in its first run was an inspired examination of issues of class, religion, gender identity and sexuality. This remount of the show also celebrates the release of Teacup Gorilla’s debut full-length album also titled JANE/EYRE now available on digital download, streaming and limited edition vinyl.
ABANDONS, photo from Bandcamp
Saturday | 01.18 What: ABANDONS, Church Fire, Oyarsa When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: With its new album Liminal Heart, Denver instrumental, ambient post-metal band ABANDONS has made a great stylistic leap forward. Its earlier work didn’t fit into a neat and easy category with songs that seemed as informed by Pelican and Isis as Slint and 90s slowcore, especially live. With the new record the music is more deeply atmospheric and meditative with even greater attention paid to soundscaping details in the composition and the recording. The band lets tones hang and drift organically, setting them in motion and playing into where the sounds carry the melody. Fans of Mogwai will appreciate how ABANDONS now seems to embrace even more a richly moody dynamic to the way the songs unfold.
ZEPHR, photo from Bandcamp
Saturday | 01.18 What:ZEPHR Record Release w/Tuff Bluff and Black Dots When: 9 Where: The Squire Lounge Why: Heart on sleeve punk trip ZEPHR is releasing its latest album at this show sharing the stage with power pop/garage punk greats Tuff Bluff fronted by former Pin Downs and The Manxx guitarist and singer Sara Fischer and pop punk inflected quartet Black Dots. It’ll be an evening of music that reflects and represents an era of Denver punk that was a bit more diverse and cohesive.
Ashes Fallen, photo from Bandcamp
Saturday | 01.18 What: Ashes Fallen, Redwing Blackbird, Hypersomnia When: 8 Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Club Why: Ashes Fallen is a three piece post-punk band from California whose sound incorporates New Wave-esque keyboard work and slightly quavering Goth rock style vocals. But its guitar work and gift for moody, icy synth melodies set it apart from a cookie cutter modern darkwave band. Redwing Blackbird is a similarly-minded duo but Paul Baker’s guitar style is more in line with the vibrantly moody, melodicism of The Cure and a touch of shoegaze soundscaping. Hypersomnia is an electro darkwave dance project from Colorado Springs seemingly influenced by classic EBM but without waxing into future pop.
TopHouse, photo by Electric Peak Creative
Saturday | 01.18 What:TopHouse w/The Wildwoods When: 7 Where: The Ogden Theatre Why: TopHouse will release its new EP Promise on February 14, 2025 and this show will likely give you an early exposure to that music aside. The band started off in Missoula, Montana but relocated to Nashville where the prospects for developing its blend of bluegrass, Americana and chamber pop more fully among a wider range of peers and for larger audiences in a place where music the music industry is long established and robust. The band’s recorded output seems to reflect the sonic clarity and the intimacy of the live show with its lively and detailed instrumentation captured as perfectly as its uplifting vocals.
Lana Del Rabies, photo courtesy the artist
Monday | 01.20 What: God Is War, Lana Del Rabies, MPW, Maltreatment, Ethan Lee McCarthy and Ashen Glaze When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: God Is War is a noise/power electronics artist from Los Angeles whose aggressive, industrial style is also menacing and more layered in its composition of atmospheric layers than a more straight ahead artist operating in similar spheres of music. Lana Del Rabies is an artist that is refreshingly challenging to genre tag. Her ritualistic drones, industrial noise atmospherics and intense and theatrical live performances are cathartic and mesmerizing. Fans of HIDE and Lingua Ignota should definitely check out her music and go to this show. Maltreatment is the solo harsh noise project of Brandon Artus from death/grind group Vermin Womb. MPW is an electro-harsh noise and tape manipulation artist from Denver. Ethan Lee McCarthy will be doing some noise of his own that doesn’t fall under the aegis of his Many Blessings or Spiritual Poison projects. Ashen Glaze’s own compositions fall under the umbrella of noise but with his clear vocals and pounding, disintegrating rhythms and overtly industrial beats his stuff is more akin to a Justin Broadrick project of Omaha’s CBN.
Phil Hanley, photo from philhanley.com
Thursday-Saturday | 01.23-01.25 What: Phil Hanley When: Varies by date Where: Comedy Works Denver Why: Phil Hanley is a comedian from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who worked as model in New York and Europe before trying his hand at stand-up. Now Hanley tours regularly and his crowd work videos are among the best you can find online showcasing his gift for turning awkward moments and unpretentious human insight into great moments of shared humor and absurdity.
Ghosts of Glaciers, photo courtesy the artists
Friday | 01.24 What: Ghosts of Glaciers, Palehorse/Palerider and Clarion Void When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Ghosts of Glaciers released its latest album Eternal in October 2024 and its searching, wandering, drifting aspects of its sounds give the music an enigmatic quality suggestive of the title of the album. But not to worry, the band soars off into the fiery post-rock flourishes that have been the hallmark of its music since it evolved out of its earlier doom metal inclinations. But the band has always been different from many of its peers in being inspired in part by experimental, progressive metal bands and being capable of shifting back from intense and forward charging riffs into almost ambient tranquility with a vulnerable grace. Also on the bill is the current incarnation of heavy desert shoegaze band Palehorse/Palerider who also buck expectations with songs that sure fit what you might expect but the imagination behind the songwriting makes a difference as evidenced by previous shows in which the band had an almost tribal musical configuration in its rhythms and the execution of its instrumentation. Clarion Void’s death sludge sound seems to have been tempered by the sludgy waters of a time in heavy music when stoner metal seemed overly abundant and these guys just took that foundation and gave it some edge without losing the melody.
Alan Sparhawk, photo by Sophia Photo Co.
Saturday | 01.25 What:Alan Sparkhawk’s The White Roses Tour w/Circuit des Yeux When: 8 Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Alan Sparhawk’s 2024 album White Roses, My God is to most people familiar with his legendary slowcore band Low a drastic departure. But Low’s last two albums were part of a series of departures from expectation and the most experimental of the band’s career and for some the group’s best and most daring releases to date. For this second solo album Sparhawk couldn’t simply do what was expected of him. He seems to have took a deep dive into the realm of hyper pop, psychedelic IDM, trap and whatever amalgamation of all of that is manifest in the music of 100 gecs and SOPHIE. But true to form Sparhawk has created a unique piece of work that may not be fully appreciated by fans of Low or anyone with narrow expectations of what Sparhawk “should” be doing. There is a playful and alien beauty to the songs that exults in irreverent humor and a self-aware vulnerability that challenges listeners to set aside presumptions and indulge in experiencing something new and unexpected from a familiar artist who has done a ton of soul searching and the processing of grief and seems to have concluded that to indulge divergent creative instincts that feel like a renewed self and the freedom to reinvent is the best and most fulfilling path forward after some of the worst pain of one’s life has crashed into your psyche.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, phot by Kyle Cassidy, from the band’s Wikipedia page
Saturday | 01.25 What: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Shake the Sheets 20th Anniversary When: 7 Where: The Oriental Theater Why: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have been touring for the 20 year anniversary of the 2004 release of their Shake the Sheets album. That record came out right before things started completely collapsing for the Lookout! Records imprint and for the band marked a sound that was a complete unification of its punk and indie rock impulses. Its exuberant, melodic punk was not the pop punk that was the bread and butter of the label and arguably the band’s creative peak to date with songs that are political and non-didactic.
Extra Kool and Time, photo by Tom Murphy
Wednesday | 01.29 What: Extra Kool and Time vinyl release party for The Grimies w/Box State University, Helga Pataki and Preacher vs. Choir When: 8 Where: The Crypt Why: Extra Kool and Time are two of the most gifted lyricists and rappers in Denver of recent years but whose work has not often been championed in local much less national press and culture. Years ago they worked on tracks together in a project they called The Grimies with singles appearing on obscure compilations now challenging to track down. But separately and contributing to each other’s work they have written poignantly personal and vulnerable, insightful and emotional songs about life and society that are vibrant and heartbreaking. Time has frequently released music with the brilliant producer AwareNess as the experimental hip-hop duo Calm. and along with Extra Kool and artists under the label umbrella of The Dirty Laboratory they were a force in alternative hip-hop in the 2000s. That world imploded or faded away in “commercial relevance” if not in impact in influence around the 2010s but the legacy of that time has continued in the more interesting hip-hop of today and certainly Time and Extra Kool didn’t stop creating powerful work just because the crumbling music culture wasn’t shining as much of a spotlight on alternative hip-hop for a long time. In September 2024 Extra Kool and Time finally released their fully collaborative album titled The Grimies. It’s full of vivid and emotionally resonant bars traded by both artists with tales of Denver and existential exploration of what endures in the mind and heart long term, the ghosts that haunt us, our communities and our various cultures. It’s a deep record with richly realized production from the likes of Fumes the Threat, AwareNess, Satyr and Preacher vs. Choir with contributions from Illogic. In typical operating fashion from Time and Extra Kool the openers are up and coming artists from a variety of musical styles including punk band Helga Pataki, young hip hop crew Box State University and aforementioned San Diego based production collective Preacher vs. Choir.
Thursday | 01.30 What: Head Slug, When The Sun Explodes and Plastik Mystik When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Head Slug is a weirdo ambient slowcore project with haunted soundscapes and vulnerable guitar work, melancholic moods. When the Sun Explodes is also a noisy shoegaze band apparently that has its roots among students at D.U.. Plastik Mystik (aka Plastic Mystic) is a band that splits the difference and mix and matches elements of post-hardcore, noise rock and deconstructed Dischordism.
Michael Blaustein, photo from neonentertainment.com
Thursday-Saturday | 01.30-02.01 What:Michael Blaustein When: Showtime varies by date Where: Comedy Works Denver Why: Michael Blaustein co-hosts the Stiff Socks Podcast, has been on MTV’s Battleclips, On Campus Tour and the reboot of Punk’d. But watch his clips and shorts and you see a brilliant comedian with gift for surreal humor and turning any situation into art with his masterful crowdwork.
Cursive, photo by Bill Sitzmann
Friday | 01.31 What: Cursive w/Pile When: 8 Where: Gothic Theatre Why: Cursive is one of the most important and influential bands out of 90s post-hardcore/emo and helped to put its hometown of Omaha, Nebraska on the map as one of the flagship bands of the Saddle Creek Records imprint. Cursive could also never be pigeonholed as post-hardcore or emo beyond convenient touchstones for the style of music from which it emerged and which impacted its development. Cursive has always been more experimental and deft at pop songcraft than might seem obvious and its breakthrough records Domestica (2000) and The Ugly Organ (2003) offered insight into the American psyche of that era with a poignancy and poetry to match the band’s exuberant energy as a live band. Its new record Devourer (2024) is the recognition of and embracing of being a consumer and integrator of creative work and culture as part of the process of interpreting and passing forward the legacy of the world in which one finds oneself but also the dark side of that process and how that process can have a negative aspect that affects not just others but oneself and the physical and psychological ecosystem. Heady concepts aside it’s vintage Cursive with the memorable hooks and willingness to go off predictable sonic habits. But hey the great slowcore/post-punk/post-hardcore noise rock band Pile is opening so get there early and see two of the most consistently interesting rock bands of the past 30 years at one show.
Wednesday | 05.01 What:Slowdive w/Drab Majesty When: 6 Where: Levitt Pavilion Why: Slowdive was one of the original shoegaze bands of the late 80s and early 90s and it was more on the more sonically delicate and ambient end of the real of music. So much so that it’s then 1995 final album Pygmalion was not rock so much as avant-garde experiments in melodic atmospheres and abstract pop. It reflected its members immersion in electronic music and left field sounds in the world of dance music. Then the band split for nearly a decade while a few members went on to the more desert rock and Americana-esque Mojave 3. Another continued with Monster Movie and yet another played in Lowgold for a stretch. But 2014 brought the classic lineup of Slowdive back together and that reunion tour revealed a band that was surprisingly forceful in its gossamer webs of tone and melody and emotionally charged in its expansive atmospherics. But was the reunion a fluke? The 2017 self-titled album proved otherwise and was easily on par with its earlier catalog yet a clear demonstration of creative growth. The group’s complete embrace of electronic sounds and vulnerable guitar composition has meant its older music has aged well and its newer material clearly informed with an ear for the present and future. Opener Drab Majesty was one of the newer artists whose own fusion of electronics and melancholic guitar atmospherics seemed to look back at predecessors like Slowdive, Love and Rockets, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and Cocteau Twins while establishing a sound very much its own imbued with dark moods and futuristic glam imagery.
Brainstory, photo by Carlos Garcia
Wednesday | 05.02 What: Brainstory When: 7 Where: Larimer Lounge Why: Brainstory just released its latest album Sounds Good. Its fusion of jazz, psychedelia and R&B has a sound resonant with some of what Todd Rundgren was doing in the 70s but rougher edged like these guys spent some time playing in garage rock bands that played covers to earn their keep and took that discipline to make music with tangibly lush moods, a touch of that deceptively soft Steely Dan thing including the strong musicianship and while sounding like musicians from another era are clearly informed by the modern lens of that reinterpretation because the production style has a modern sensibility of intentional high contrast sounds and a real depth of sonic field.
Jesus Piece, photo by RAS
Thursday | 05.02 What: Sanguisugabogg and Jesus Piece w/Gag and Peeling Flesh https://www.gothictheatre.com/events/detail/?event_id=526035 When: 6 Where: Gothic Theatre Why: This is the kind of heavy music show that will offer a lot of aggressive sounds but sensitive sensibilities cloaked in brutal sounds and subject matter. Sanguisugabogg is a death metal band from Columbus, Ohio with extreme song titles like “Face Ripped Off” but whose music video is like an inversion of being tough and hard edged. Gag is a hardcore band from Olympia, Washington whose contorted sounds reveal eclectic roots and a surreal, absurd and sometimes dark sense of humor. Jesus Piece is the renowned metalcore act from Philadelphia that set out to be a death metal band but evolved into something its own. Yes, the aggressive vocals and rapidly bludgeoning riffs but with a rhythmic structure that has meant Jesus Piece doesn’t hit as just another death metal or hardcore band as its music has passages where it breathes rather than pummels, and the defiant energy of the music challenges the audience to join in its raw vitality.
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, photo courtesy the artists
Friday | 05.03 What: Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors w/Donovan Woods When: 7 Where: Summit Music Hall Why: For a little over two decades Drew Holcomb has been developing his songwriting in the public eye first as a solo act and since 2005 as Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. His contemplative and observant lyrics have an intimate quality suggest roots in folk while the pastoral atmospheric features of his sound hearken to more than a passing familiarity with the cosmic end of country. The band’s most recent album is 2023’s Strangers No More the title of which seems to be a calling card for the songwriter whose music connects on a direct human level as an attempt to build an informal community or at least encourage those impulses in particular the song “Find Your People.” Opening the evening is Donovan Woods who is touring ahead of the July 12 release of his new record Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now. The Canadian singer-songwriter’s material is poetically vivid its imagery and lush yet minimal in the way the songs are arranged like cinematic, miniature orchestral pieces the frame Donovan’s delicate yet passionate vocals.
Donovan Woods, photo by Brittany FarhatCherubs, photo from Bandcamp
Friday | 05.03 What:Cherubs w/Moon Pussy, Quits and Cherry Spit When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Austin’s Cherubs have been unleashing an unhinged noise rock that sounded like they were falling apart and clashing into each other constantly and there is a certain cathartic appeal to that sound. And from 1991-1994 the group would have been peers of other rock and roll weirdos like The Jesus Lizard and Butthole Surfers whose King Coffeey signed the band to his own Trance Syndicate imprint. Then the band went inactive only to suddenly reappear in 2014 seemingly undiminished in its ability to deliver relentlessly rhythm-driven sonic bursts of ruptured and noisy psychedelia. 2023 saw the remastered reissue of the band’s colossal 1992 debut Icing. Maybe Moon Pussy and Quits aren’t ripping off Cherubs but they are both surely direct descendants of the kind of sound Cherbus helped to pioneer. Moon Pussy this night is also releasing its beautifully disjointed and inspired new album Death is Coming.
Laraaji in 2019, photo by Tom Murphy
Friday | 05.03 What:LEAF: Laraaji visuals by L’Astra Cosmo w/Lisa Bella Donna and visuals by Christopher Robin Short at The Arts HUB sold out When: 6:30 Where: The Arts HUB Why: LEAF concludes the live music performance segment of the festival with a performance by ambient and new age legend Laraaji on his birthday no less. The multi-instrumentalist began working on music in the 70s when he bought a zither and then converted it into an electronic instrument and later in the decade began busking in New York. This is where Brian Eno encountered him and the two collaborated on Laraaji’s brilliant 1980 album Ambient 3: Day of Radiance on which the composer used various acoustic instruments and a hammered dulcimer to craft unique soundscapes the likes of which haven’t been heard or seen much since. Since that time Laraaji has delved into various forms of music and performance as well as presenting his Laughter Meditation Workshops. 2023 saw the 4LP reissue of Segue To Infinity, a collection of Laraaji’s early works from his 1978 debut album Celestial Vibration and six longer pieces recorded around that same time.
Mannquin Pussy, photo by Millicent Hailes
Saturday | 05.04 What:Mannequin Pussy w/Soul Glo When: 8 Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Mannequin Pussy has come a long way since beginning in Philadelphia in 201 when Marisa Dabice and Athanasios Paul formed the group as a duo inspired in part by experimental garage punk band Lust-Cats of the Gutters from Denver. One thing that has remained intact is Dabice’s ferocious and confrontational vocal delivery and incisive lyrics. Its most recent album I Got Heaven (2024) finds the group exploring themes of yearning but written in explorative fashion across styles and often threading punk boldness with emotional delicacy for a mixture that is undeniably compelling and refreshingly vital in its creativity and sonic nuance. For this tour Mannequin Pussy brings along Philly hardcore band Soul Glo whose sound of course in true tradition of music from its hometown strays widely from any formula. Its feral vocals often wax snotty but the music has so much momentum and the lyrics imbued with so much fire that you forget what it is you think you’re supposed to be hearing and get swept up in the moment. A perfect pairing.
Alana Mars, photo by Tom Murphy
Saturday | 05.04 What: Alana Mars EP release w/Tireshoe, The Salesmen and Sk8rade When: 7 Where: Lost Lake Why: Denver-based pop/rock artist Alana Mars celebrates the release of her latest EP The Prologue at this show. The six songs comprising the EP showcase the singer-songwriter’s gift for introspective and vulnerable lyrics and lushly atmospheric compositions. Live Mars isn’t short on personality, presence and humor. Also on the bill is the supercharged post-punk band The Salesmen and their unabashedly polemical yet creatively fun deconstruction and dismantling of social ills and injustices.
Jade Bird, photo by Aries Moross
Saturday | 05.04 What:Jade Bird w/Emelise and Kayla Katz When: 7 Where: Globe Hall Why: Something must be said in favor of Jade Bird’s moxie in releasing the 2024 EP Burn the Hard Drive. It’s about her split from her fiancée and former guitarist Luke Prosser who has writing credits on 2/3 of the songs. The EP also demonstrates Bird’s growth as an artist and while there are aspects of her more Americana and indie folk sound the most interesting songs including the title track are more electronic and informed by funk and neo soul sounds and psychedelia. They also feel the most cathartic even as the more guitar-driven songs are imbued with the emotional vulnerability that has been the artist’s hallmark from the beginning. It’s a pivotal release for Bird, though, and this might be a good time to catch her as she breaks more out of expectations built around her past work.
Young Rising Sons, photo courtesy the artists
Sunday | 05.05 What:Young Rising Sons w/Diva Bleach When: 6:30 Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Young Rising Sons are an alternative pop band that formed in Brooklyn in 2010. Bassist Julian Dimagiba and drummer Steve Patrick grew up in Red Bank, New Jersey playing music and caught singer Andy Tongren performing an acoustic set at a New York Cit bar and struck by his skills talked with him later about joining their fledgling band. The new group spent a few years with different names while writing songs and settling on the name Young Rising Sons. In 2013 the group signed with Dirty Canvas Music and their 2014 debut single “High” became a bit of a global viral hit leading to the band signing with Interscope that same year. For the following two years the quartet toured opening for the likes of Halsey, Weezer, The 1975 and The Neighbourhood. Although Young Rising Sons delivered three EPs with Interscope as with many other worthy artists that didn’t translate to the commercial performance expected by a major label. In 2017 the band parted ways with Interscope and a year later announced a hiatus that lasted a couple of years. Since reconvening the outfit has been regularly releasing singles and in 2022 it dropped its debut full length Still Point In a Turning World. Tongren’s soulful and passionate vocals and the tight pop songcraft of the band has remained intact. Its body of work including its new single “(Un)Happy Hour” reveals a sensitivity to the complexity and fragility of human life and the importance of accepting the high points and the low to experience to make it through an oftentimes challenging existence with dignity and a sense of fulfillment. Listen to our interview with Andy Tongren here.
Swans, photo courtesy the artists
Tuesday | 05.07 What:Swans w/Kristoff Hahn When: 7 Where: The Gothic Theatre Why: Swans are the influential, experimental rock band formed in New York City in 1982 as one of the standout acts of the no wave scene. Fronted by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira, the group’s ever-evolving lineup and sound has helped pioneer and in many ways define aspects of noise rock, industrial music, post-punk and in later eras of the band post-rock. Its earliest records were brutal affairs of a stark beauty and unsettling intensity. By the last half of the 80s singer and keyboardist Jarboe had joined the band and its music began to increasingly incorporate a musical intricacy, melodic ambiance and emotionally nuanced delicacy that became a regular feature of the songwriting. And for years the constant members of the band were Gira, Jarboe, and longtime guitarist Norman Westberg. Swans might have come to an end on a high note following the tour for the sprawling epic of the masterful 1996 album Soundtracks For the Blind. But in 2010 Swans reconvened and began another great arc of songwriting with songs that had an even more orchestral aesthetic than in the past and a series of albums that have delved into themes of existential terror, mortality, death and the search for meaning later in life in a world seemingly on the brink of unraveling. The latest Swans record, 2023’s The Beggar, finds Gira and his collaborators manifesting some of the songwriter’s most personal statements in songs that experiment even more deeply into modes of expression that disregard conventional notions of song structure and length in favor of experiential truth. Read our interview with Gira here.
Friko, photo by Pooneh Ghana
Friday | 05.10 What:Water From Your Eyes w/Friko and Red Scare When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Water From Your Eyes is the innovative and deeply imaginative art pop band from Brooklyn, New York. Its music is steeped in hip-hop style production with some free association sampling and live instrumentation mixed together for music that often seems reminiscent of an update of 90s IDM which itself had a leg in similar pools of inspiration. Live the duo is somehow both like an alternative hip-hop project and infused with punk spirit. Chicago’s Friko released its debut full-length Where we’ve been, Where we go from here on February 16, 2024 delivering on the promise of its early singles. Niko Kapetan’s captivating vocals have a rawness and vulnerability that is reminiscent of early Bright Eyes and the music is a thrilling fusion of post-punk angularity, orchestral arrangements and classic power pop with moments of noise rock fury.
Belle and Sebastian in 2015, photo by Tom Murphy
Friday | 05.10 What:Belle and Sebastian w/The Weather Station When: 7 Where: Fillmore Auditorium Why: Belle & Sebastian is the highly influential indie pop band from Glagow, Scotland. Its emotionally rich delicately crafted songs not short on literary quality are some of the foundations of modern indie rock and yet the band has continued to offer fine records including its 2023 record Late Developers for which the band is conducting a rare live tour. As a live band the group has a sprightly charm with shows that can feel a bit like you’ve been invited to someone’s living room to be in on something that is otherwise intimate and private but friendly.
Friday | 05.10 What: Panchiko w/Wisp and Weatherday When: 7 Where: The Summit Music Hall Why: Panchiko is a bit of a cult indie rock band that was originally around in the late 90s through 2001 when it split leaving behind few recordings but D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L its 2000 EP got a bit of a new life in the mid-2010s when a CD was found in an Oxfam charity shop and was very much an enigma. Fast forward to 2020 and the EP gets a deluxe reissue and in 2023 the group released its beautifully bizarre shoegaze/IDM/glitch pop record Failed at Math(s).
Guided by Voices, photo by Trevor Naud
Friday | 05.10 What:Guided By Voices w/Undersale When: 7 Where: The Marquis Theater Why: Guided By Voices has been putting out a steady stream of unique garage rock albums of varying levels of inventiveness and quality since and yet it seems like band leader Bob Pollard has a seemingly endless supply of great riffs and something insightful to say about the human condition. Currently the group is touring in support of its 2024 album Strut of Kings.
Members of Teacup Gorilla from Grapefuit Lab’s Whiskey from Strangers
F-S | 05.10-06.01 What:Grapefruit Lab Presents Whiskey From Strangers When: See Schedule Below Where: Buntport Theater Why: Queer theater group Grapefruit Lab launches its new show Whiskey from Strangers. The production weaves personal narrative and Denver mythology into a live concept album that runs weekends from Friday, May 10 through Saturday June 1. In collaboration with local indie rock band Teacup Gorilla the show will be part theater and part live musical performance. The show is imbued with a nostalgia for “Old Denver” in its mythic dimensions and adding new lore to the story. It is part album release as the live band draws stories from songwriter and musician Miriam Suzanne’s novel Riding SideSaddle for nine songs that explore themes of friendship, loss, identity and memory with the Mile High City as almost another character the way New York City and Los Angeles often are in movies set in those cities. The previous Grapefruit Lab shows have all been brilliant and poignant commentaries on American culture and how we all find ourselves navigating life with that legacy but through a queer lens that resonates beyond the specificity of identity. The final night of the run will include a performance by psychedelic indiepop phenoms The Green Typewriters. For tickets click on the link above and for the schedule of the run of the show see the dates and times below.
Friday, May 10th, 7:30PM Saturday, May 11th, 7:30PM Friday, May 17th, 7:30PM Saturday, May 18th, 7:30PM Sunday, May 19th, 2:00PM Friday, May 24th, 7:30PM Saturday, May 25th, 7:30PM Sunday, May 26th, 2:00PM Friday, May 31st, 7:30PM Saturday, June 1st, 7:30PM
Members of Teacup Gorilla from Grapefuit Lab’s Whiskey from StrangersCSS, photo be Gleeson Paulino
Saturday | 05.11 What: CSS When: 7 Where: The Marquis Theater Why: CSS is the renowned dance punk band from São Paulo, Brazil. The group made a name for itself in the US with the release of its 2006 album Cansei de Ser Sexy (“[Got] tired of being sexy”) and its first single “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above.” It’s playful and smooth sound was at times reminiscent of Tom Tom Club and a funkier version of its electroclash contemporaries like Ladytron with whom it toured the same year as the release of the album. In 2013 the group split but reunited in 2019 for what was planned to be a one-off show in their hometown but now currently touring in celebration of the 20 year anniversary of their coming together.
brother bird, photo by Chris Bauer
Saturday | 05.11 What: Dustin Kensrue w/The Brevet and brother bird When: 7 Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Dustin Kensrue is perhaps better known for being the lead singer and guitarist with influential post-hardcore band Thrice. His solo songwriting is decidedly different in style and mood and really more a solid Americana and country flavor. The Brevet is a rock band in the more gritty end of pop Americana with anthemic choruses and earnest and uplifting melodies. Now brother bird, the project of one Caroline Glaser, may have similar roots as the other two bands on the bill in country, folk and Americana. But her 2024 album another year has an delicacy of feeling and emotional strength at the core of the songwriting that is immediately accessible. The songs hit like songs from direct, actual experiences channeled through a creative interpretive lens without losing the essential truths of the real life stories. Glaser’s arrangements are simultaneously intimate and orchestral and in moments may be reminiscent for some of the early Rilo Kiley records.
Pond, photo by Michael Tartaglia
Saturday | 05.11 What:Pond w/26FIX When: 8 Where: Ogden Theatre Why: Pond from Perth, Australia has been developing its sound since forming in 2008 and though it shares membership with Tame Impala, Pond’s music has charted a musically divergent course. Its latest album Stung! (due out June 21, 2024) makes more obvious the influence of R&B and neo soul on its songwriting. Which is a contrasting departure from the more krautrock and electro-soul sounds of the 2021 album 9. But whatever flavor Pond is swimming in at the moment its live shows have a lushly transporting quality like the modern equivalent of a 1970s psychedelic space rock band circa late 70s Hawkwind with the mystical space vagabond trappings discarded in favor of glam rock.
X Ambassadors, photo by Jay Hanson
Tuesday | 05.14 What:X Ambassarors w/New West and Rowan Drake When: 6:30 Where: Ogden Theatre Why: X Ambassadors released its latest album Townies in April 2024 and the record feels like particularly vivid portraits of life in the kind of town that exists all across America where there’s a nearby college and an industrial town that partly caters to the needs of the school while having a social world not dependent on the academic institution while its native residents are often looked down upon by students as yokels. The songs are a warm depiction of life in these towns and the inherent dignity of people whose dreams and aspirations are, frankly, no less worthwhile or hopeful than those of their more well-heeled peers and whose stories have a unique poetic resonance. The songs for the band this time out are a little moodier, more atmospheric and introspective and with lyrics that shine a light on everyday life in all its vibrant and recognizable detail whether the details of which are harrowing, heartwarming or heartbreaking.
Slow Crush, photo by Tom Murphy
Wednesday | 05.15 What:Amenra w/Primitive Man and Slow Crush When: 7 Where: Gothic Theatre Why: Amenra is a Belgian post-metal band whose deeply atmospheric heavy compositions wed a cinematic aesthetic with a seemingly orchestral approach to its performances and arrangements. The names of its albums are reminiscent of classical suites but the music though steeped in exquisitely performed feats of technical prowess are cathartic and emotionally charged. Primitive Man is the by now legendary doom trio form Denver whose songs are an exorcism of the destructive nihilism of modern human civilization and its negative effects on all our lives as not prosperity but repression and internalized violence trickles down from the power elite. Slow Crush is one of the heaviest shoegaze bands on earth but whose music nevertheless has an ethereal grace that elevates its crushing songs into otherworldly realms of transcendent melodicism.
CNTS, photo from Bandcamp
Friday | 05.17 What: Moon Pussy, Church Fire, The Kronk Men and CNTS When: 7 Where: Squirm Gallery Why: CNTS are a band from L.A. whose sound seems to draw from hardcore and noise rock in equal measure with a caustic irreverence and hostility toward faux feel-good sentiments and empty gesture sloganeering. Clear roots in The Jesus Lizard and maybe Unsane. The Kronk Men from Bend, Oregon are somehow a post-hardcore surf rock band with a touch of dark psychedelia. Church Fire is of course the industrial dance trio from Denver who turn a maelstrom of pain, sadness, outrage and righteous anger into incredibly heartfelt music. Moon Pussy obliterates the line between great noise rock band, inspired awkward comedy and electrifying live performance art.
Medium Build, photo by Tyler Krippaehne
Friday and Saturday | 05.17 and 05.18 What: Medium Build w/Rosie Rush When: 7 Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Nicholas Carpenter played music for a handful of years in Little Moses while an intern at Disney Publishing. But moved to Alaska after that internship was over and started his current project Medium Build. Maybe getting away from his upbringing and roots and the American South was what Carpenter needed to spark his current prolific arc of songwriting but his lyrics are informed by working class sensibilities and cultural references that tell vivid tales of life’s all too at hand and intense struggles and joys. His new album, Country, released April 5, 2024 and its raw and vulnerable compositions are poignantly introspective like Carpenter took a deep dive into the fractured places in his own psyche in search of a personal reconciliation and finding that healing the bruised and broken places in your mind require more patience and grace than many of us are afforded. He’ll be haring his emotional discoveries across two nights a The Bluebird and throughout the tour.
IDLES< photo by Daniel Topete
Saturday | 05.18 What:IDLES w/Ganser When: 7 Where: Mission Ballroom Why: IDLES took a decidedly different musical turn with the release of its fifth album Tangk in February 2024. Singer and frontman Joe Talbot has said in interviews and press releases that the songs are about love and an attempt to get people hearing the music to dance and not overthink but to feel genuinely. It probably shocked and maybe even disappointed people who got into the band for its early, angular and ferocious post-punk. But the spirited energy is still there, it’s just swimming in moody atmospheric layers at times and others the aggression that has made earlier music from the band so engaging and exciting is delivered with more sonic creativity. The first half of the album almost sounds like a different band with experimental soundscapes and tonal textures worthy of early Liars. And in the lyrics the vulnerable sentiments are preserved and curiously and refreshingly exposed. How this will translate to the live show will have to be witnessed and certainly IDLES won’t disappoint. Also on the bill is the great darkwave post-punk art rock band Ganser from Chicago.
Red Rum Club, photo courtesy the artists
Saturday | 05.18 What: Red Rum Club w/High Street Joggers Club and Card Catalog When: 7 Where: Globe Hall Why: Liverpool’s Red Rum Club released its latest album Western Approaches in February 2024. The album is just under 32 minutes at eleven songs and is a fine example song by song of economical songwriting without sound like the band is skimping on rich melodies and storytelling. The group’s eclectic style straddles power pop and blue eyed soul with a standout brass section and infuses it with an infectious energy.
BleakHeart in 2021, photo by Tom Murphy
Sunday | 05.19 What: BleakHeart w/Palehorse/Palerider and George Cessna When: 7 Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Denver-based, dark shoegaze band BleakHeart celebrates the release of its second album Silver Pulse with a performance this night sharing the stage with friends the likeminded post-rock/tribal shoegaze act Palehorse/Palerider and singer-songwriter George Cessna whose work traverses realms of moody and existential Americana. The new BleakHeart album leans into the group’s more orchestral impulses with vocalists Kiki GaNun and Kelly Schilling interweaving their vocal talents further to create moving choruses, perfectly accenting each other’s voices.
Judah & The Lion, photo courtesy the artists
Sunday | 05.19 What: NEEDTOBREATHE w/Judah & The Lion When: 6 Where: Red Rocks Why: NEEDTOBREATHE is the Southern rock/Americana band from Seneca, South Carolina that has been building its audience since its 2001 inception. In 2023 it released its latest album Caves. On the track “Dreams” the group brought in Nashville-based electro folk and pop duo Judah & The Lion to bring in its own delicate and intricate touches to the song. Judah & The Lion released its new album The Process on May 10, 2024 establishing the band as masters of pastoral soundscapes and fusing the aesthetics of electronic pop and more traditional songwriting and musicianship. The album’s songs are simultaneously otherworldly and warm with an emotional immediacy.
Sculpture Club, photo from Bandcamp
Tuesday | 05.21 What: Sculpture Club w/Lesser Care, Baby Baby and Kill You Club DJs When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Sculpture Club is a synthpop-inflected post-punk band from Dallas that is touring ahead of the release of its self-titled album due out June 14 and sharing the stage tonight with the great shoegaze/post-punk trio Lesser Care from El Paso which released its latest record HEEL TURN in March 2024. Also on the bill is avant-pop group Baby Baby from Denver.
Mount Kimbie, photo by T. Bone Fletcher
Tuesday | 05.21 What: Mount Kimbie w/Chanel Beads When: 8 Where: Meow Wolf Convergence Station Why: Mount Kimbie has been charting a left field musical path since its 2008 inception. It began by innovating in the UK dubstep scene and has generally traveled in the circles of innovative and avant-garde electronic music and rightfully so. Utilizing field recordings, live instrumentation, programming and samples Mount Kimbie has blurred the boundaries between musique concrète, abstract hip-hop, IDM, ambient, dubstep and indie rock. Its latest record The Sunset Violent in particular pushes those boundaries with songs that are as accessible as they are challenging with a tranquil yet expansive mood that runs throughout the album’s runtime. Opening act Chanel Beads is a producer and expert soundscaper in his own right from New York. His debut album Your Day Will Come dropped on April 19, 2024 and its heavily-percussion and bass driven music is imbued with reflective, melancholic moods reminiscent of Safe in the Hands of Love-period Yves Tumor but more informed by hypnogogic pop and chillwave.
Chanel Beads, photo by Lauren DavisGuitar Wolf, photo from Bandcamp
Wednesday | 05.22 What:Guitar Wolf w/Hans Condor When: 7 Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Tokyo’s Guitar Wolf is the kind of mutant garage punk/noise rock that is easy to understand and difficult to explain. It’s raw exuberance as a live band is incredibly infectious and makes the madness and malestrom of its sound and live performance something to get swept up within. Listen to any of its records and it can be a blunt, fractured, hyperkinetic rock and roll that sounds like it’s deconstructing and imploding while you’re listening to it yet there is a primal charm to what this bands does on recordings and at its shows. It must simply be experienced at least once by anyone even pretending to be into rock music.
Optic Sink, Shawn Brackbill
Thursday | 05.23 What:Optic Sink w/Voight and Pill Joy When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Optic Sink is a project of Natalie Hoffman of art punk outfit NOTS from Memphis, Tennessee. She spent some time as the bassist of Ex Cult as well. This band is synth driven, minimalist post-punk seemingly inspired in part by early synth bands like The Normal and Fad Gadget. But on the band’s 2023 album Glass Blocks it also covered Liliput’s “A Silver Key Can Open An Iron Lock, Somewhere” for an effect not unlike Young Marble Giants with synths or extra stripped down Suburban Lawns or Roxy Music. Opening is shoegaze-post-punk duo Voight from Denver whose music is informed by and includes synth composition and aesthetics. But all undergirded by an emotional intensity that warps its purely musical aspects into interesting sonic shapes.
Waxahatchee, photo by Molly Matalon
Thursday | 05.23 What: Waxahatchee w/Good Morning When: 7 Where: Mission Ballroom Why: Waxahatchee is touring in support of its new record Tigers Blood. The previous record Saint Cloud felt like a shift in a new direction in singer Katie Crutchfield’s songwriting and this new record feels even more like Crutchfield has stripped the elements to the essentials. Part of that sound suits well the desire the songwriter has expressed in rediscovering the appealing essence of an already existing relationship, relationships and life situations. A re-orienting, a grounding and coming back from a vital place with which to imbue the performances and sentiments with fresh conviction. It’s not a radically different sound from the commanding indie folk and Americana flavor that has established Waxahatchee as a band to watch but after four years and the prolonged period of the early pandemic it sounds like Crutchfield reconnected with something in heart mind and heart that might have fallen out of sync as it did with everyone the past handful of years.
Trauma Ray in 2022, photo by Tom Murphy
Friday | 05.24 What:Trauma Ray w/Downward, World’s Worst and Cherished When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Trauma Ray is the shoegaze doom band from Fort Worth, Texas whose sound and energy comes off like the people in the band came out of the that city’s local punk scene. Presumably Downward is the emo-inflected post-rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma. World’s Worst from Salt Lake City blurs that emo and shoegaze line perfectly with delicate melodies and raw emotions as manifested most accessibly on its 2023 self-titled album. Cherish is of course the dream pop turned shoegaze band from Denver whose roots come from various places including the local hardcore scene. When the band started out it was called Lowfaith and had more of a death rock sound but over time its music evolved into emotionally charged shoegaze with a real ear for vulnerable moods and intricate yet evocative melodies.
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, photo from Bandcamp
Saturday | 05.25 What: Wicca Phase Springs Eternal w/Midwife When: 7 Where: Meow Wolf Convergence Station Why: Wicca Phase Springs Eternal released its self-titled album in 2023 and showcased how one can tap into darkwave moodiness and hip-hop production methods to create something uniquely compelling that doesn’t seem too beholden to the aforementioned styles of music. Opening is Midwife whose heartbreaking, ambient indie folk which she self-styles as “heaven metal” and whose songwriting engages deeply with its radical vulnerability with all pretense of performative toughness that is very much baked into the American psyche dispensed with. The result is instantly relatable music that shows how it’s possible to experience personal loss and feel that so deeply and still find a way to survive without the baggage of needing to “getting over” it.
Allison Lorenzen, photo by Tom Murphy
Saturday | 05.25 What: Allison Lorenzen w/Oldest Sea and Calamity When: 7 Where: Squirm Gallery Why: All solo sets from cosmic indie folk artists from Colorado and elsewhere. Allison Lorenzen fuses ambient compositional elements with experimental folk forms for warmly ethereal songs. Lorenzen is undertaking a short tour through the American southwest with Oldest Sea, an artist from New Jersey whose music some might call “funeral doom” because it is heavy, it has grittiness and exudes a densely atmospheric sound that fans of Lingua Ignota and SubRosa might fully appreciate. Calamity for this show will be a solo set from Kate Hannington so the core of her economic songwriting will shine on its own separate from the context of the full band and its more full-fledged shoegaze-adjacent style.
Friko, photo by Pooneh Ghana
Sunday | 05.26 What:Mind’s Eye w/Friko When: 7 Where: Lost Lake Why: Mind’s Eye is a psychedelic, indie garage rock band from Los Angeles whose 2023 album Long Nights and Wasted Affairs that sounds like a blend of early 2010’s post-punk and current shoegaze-y indie rock. Opening the show is Friko from Chicago’s who have been on tour with Water From Your Eyes and whose debut full-length Where we’ve been, Where we go from here dropped in February. The songwriting has the emotional rawness and vulnerability that fans of Bright Eyes and Microphones will appreciate for its orchestral arrangements and noisy power pop sensibilities.
Facet, photo from Bandcamp
Monday | 05.27 What:Facet, Church Fire and Probes When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Facet is an angular noise-rock/post-hardcore band from Oakland whose 2023 self-titled album is filled with urgent, caustic, cathartic sounds and sentiments. Think the modern equivalent of a Gravity Records band and if you enjoy that flavor of thrillingly abrasive music and/or Unwound Facet is for you. Church Fire will match the intensity and energy but with beginning to end industrial dance pop. On its Bandcamp page Probes from Denver says it’s “Bleak as fuck.” And it’s doomy sludge rock is heavy and stark like if guys who maybe got started in stoner rock bands discovered Shellac and Unsane.
Melt Banana, photo courtesy the artists
Monday | 05.27 What:Melt Banana w/babybaby_explores and Tomato Flower When: 6:30 Where: Meow Wolf Convergence Station Why: Melt Banana is the legendary noise rock/grindcore/electro pop duo from Tokyo whose 32 year career has revealed a knack for making sounds that get under your skin and electrify in the live setting. Witnessing a Melt Banana show is like being grabbed in the embrace of hyperkinetic energy and riding out a barrage of sounds that shift constantly with rapidly evolving rhythms in a train of jump cuts. Absolutely one of a kind and kind of an odd show to have happen at Meow Wolf rather than one of the dive bars the group usually plays in Denver. Melt Banana will soon release its new album 3 + 5.
The Japanese House, photo by Jay Seba
Monday and Tuesday | 05.27 and 05.28 What: Maggie Rogers w/The Japanese House When: 6:30 (both nights) Where: Red Rocks Why: Maggie Rogers apparently transcribed hundreds of hours of interviews for Lizzy Goodman that the latter put into her 2017 epochal book about 2000s New York rock music Meet Me in the Bathroom when she started at NYU thinking about a career in music journalism. But she she caught the songwriting bug and worked her way through an early band and experiments in style when in 2016 she wrote her breakout single “Alaska” Since then the singer-songwriter-producer has established herself as one of the more well known pop artists in the indie realm who is now touring in support of her 2024 album Don’t Forget Me. Opening the show is an artist who has been on the rise as well the past handful of years. Amber Mary Bain is a year younger than Maggie Rogers but has garnered a bit of critical acclaim and built an increasingly wider audience beyond her home country of the UK. Her own brand of indie pop weaves together electronic aesthetics and production so that even her more folk-inflected material has an otherworldly yet warm aspect that lends her songs a unique sense of intimacy.
Draag, photo by Devonte Johnson
Tuesday | 05.28 What: Wednesday w/Draag When: 7 Where: Gothic Theatre Why: Wednesday is a a band from Asheville, North Carolina whose sound seems to effortlessly shift from noisy shoegaze to alt-country with a curiously coherent ease across an album and sometimes within the same song. Its 2023 album Rat Saw God made that range clear and touring in support of the album the group performed that music with a joyful exuberance that turned the heartbreaking songs into catharsis. Opening the show is Los Angeles-based experimental shoegaze group Draag. Its sound brings together beat-making expertise with ambient soundscaping and abstract dream pop melodies. Its hazy layers of hypnotic sound make a listen to its 2024 album Actually, the quiet is nice like walking into a luminous fog that stimulates your mind and senses in unexpected ways. In moments its reminiscent of Loveless in its tonal drift and creative use of iterative repetition and live it promises an engulfing and transporting effect.
Ladytron, photo from Bandcamp
Thursday | 05.30 What:Ladytron w/boyhollow When: 7 Where: Reelworks Why: Ladytron is an electronic pop band from Liverpool, England that started in 1999 in a more minimalistic mode that got the group lumped in with the then nascent electroclash movement but its own sound wasn’t too in line with the aesthetics of other artists associated with that style. And almost immediately Ladytron moved on to other production styles, methods and sounds so that by the time of the mid-2000s some people were calling them a shoegaze band but there is nothing guitar-driven in the band’s music though its rich tones and saturated melodies seemed to have a resonance with the way many shoegaze bands reflected the influence of electronic sounds on their own musical expression. In much of the Ladytron sound one hears the influence of the likes of Giorgio Moroder and ABBA. After what seemed like a lengthy hiatus in studio output Ladytron in the last handful of years has released new albums including 2023’s Time’s Arrow. Boyhollow is Michael Trundle the legendary DJ who currently helms the long-running now monthly DJ night Lipgloss at Ophelia’s.
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, photo by Tom Murphy
Friday | 05.31 What:Slim Cessna’s Auto Club album release w/Little Fyodor & Babushka Band, Mr. Pacman and MC’d by John Rumley When: 7 Where: The Oriental Theater Why: Slim Cessna’s Auto Club is a Denver institution of the Mile High City’s branch of Gothic Americana. But in recent years the group’s albums have showcased the exuberant joy of its live performances as well as the literary underpinnings of the band’s songwriting which has been an often underrated aspect of its music from the beginning. This show occasion’s the release of its latest album Kinnery of Lupercalia; Buell Legion which has some of the most attentive production to the placement of sound in the mix of its albums to date. Opening the show are art punk legends Little Fyodor & Babushka Band and weirdo new wave synth punk giants Mr. Pacman. John Rumley has also been a fixture in Denver music including stints in bands like Urban Leash and The Buckingham Squares. An entire show of bands that have helped make Denver a place where unique music has been emerging for decades.
Suicide Cages, photo from Bandcamp
Friday | 05.31 What: Whores w/Native Daughters and Suicide Cages When: 7 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Fresh off its performance at the Caterwaul festival in Minneapolis, Atlanta-based noise rock juggernauts are making a stop in Denver. The group recently released its caustic and driving new album WAR. and its tales of inner turmoil and struggles with self-loathing and transcendence from personal darkness. Local support comes from doomy instrumental post-rock band Native Daughters and brutally noisy post-hardcore quartet Suicide Cages.
Emmy Meli, photo by Ashley Osborn
Friday | 05.31 What: Alexander Stewart w/Emmy Meli When: 7 Where: The Marquis Theater Why: Alexander Stewart is a pop artist originally from Toronto but now based out of Los Angeles who has enjoyed a bit of viral success with over a billion streams of his music to date. His emotive vocal style suits well his heart-on-sleeve lyrics and fusion of auto-tune inflected hip-hop, reggaeton and indie pop. Opening artist Emmy Meli recently released her Hello Stranger EP but made waves with early single “I Am Woman” which she initially posted to TikTok in 2021 where it became a sensation for her soulful and commanding vocals and the song became the theme song to Megan Markle’s podcast Archetypes. Meli is clearly steeped in the tradition of soul and R&B in a fashion that has garnered her some comparisons to Amy Winehouse. Her EP demonstrates that such accolades are very much deserved.
Lars Reid and Julie Rada in rehearsals for Strange Bird, Queer Bird
Strange Bird, Queer Bird is the latest production from Grapefruit Lab and it launches on Friday, April 7 and runs the following two weekends (see dates and times below) at Buntport Theater at 717 Lipan St., Denver, CO 80204. Per the latter’s press release:
“Strange Bird, Queer Bird, the latest original show from Grapefruit Lab, is an early-pandemic love story based on actual events. After a single face-to-face date, the world shuts down, but two queer people manage to connect despite the imposed distance. Against the backdrop of forest fires, uprisings in the streets, uncertainty, and massive death – this show finds a hopeful tone in the personal and profound connections still happening between people.
“It’s a story told through music, dance, and intimate correspondence,” says Lars Reid, one of the creators. “A story about falling in love, and finding comfort in a time of great loss and widespread isolation.” The text is taken verbatim from letters, phone messages, journal entries, and poems between Reid and Julie Rada – who perform as themselves. These words are joined with original dance (Kate Speer, Allison Blakeney) and live music (Teacup Gorilla) to create a poetic reflection on blossoming love.
“The show is inspired by the complex mating rituals of bowerbirds,” says Rada. “These birds build intricate nests and colorful collections to impress each other – and we’re telling a queer version of that story. In the context of the pandemic, it’s a story that seems relatable, in spite of these specifics.
“This vulnerable, charming production is a collaboration among many other local artists. In addition to the creators and performers, the show features sculptural scenic pieces and costumes created by the masterminds at Colorado Shoe School: Annabel Reader and Dan Huling. It is also being performed at (and co-produced by) Buntport Theater, another company known for their innovative original work.”
Allison Blakeney and Kate Speer in rehearsals for Strange Bird, Queer Bird
All ticket sales for the Sunday April 9 performance will benefit the Denver Actors Fund which profides financial support to Colorado artists in medical need. On Saturday, April 15 Grapefruit Lab will host a thirty minute “creative conversation” at 4 pm for attendees with an interest in a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how the production was made.
As per usual for Grapefruit Lab, a performance company founded by long-term collaborators Julie Rada, Miriam Suzanne and Kenny Storms, this show will be a mixed media affair imbued with great creativity, humanity, humor and warmth that will provoke thought and reflection on the subjects presented. For tickets visit Grapefruit Lab’s website at this link: https://www.grapefruitlab.com/shows/queer-bird/
Allison Blakeney and Kate Speer in rehearsals for Strange Bird, Queer Bird
Showtimes Friday, April 7, 2023 – 7:30pm Saturday, April 8, 2023 – 7:30pm Sunday, April 9, 2023 – 6:00pm (fundraiser for Denver Actors Fund – suggested donation $20) Friday, April 14, 2023 – 7:30pm Saturday, April 15, 2023 – 2:00pm Saturday, April 15, 2023 – 7:30pm
Who:Starjammer featuring Kuf Knotz When: Thursday, 04.25, 4 p.m. – ? Where: 3 Kings Tavern Why: Starjammer, the avant-garde dub reggae one-man/device band, will be playing two sets tonight in phases like a rocket launch. The Launch Pad Prep runs from 4-7 and the Late Night Lift Off starts at 9 and runs until the musical equivalent of escape velocity is reached. Or at least until you have to leave whether you want to or not.
Who:Bowshock and El Tigr3 When: Thursday, 04.25, 6:30 p.m. Where: Hooked On Colfax Why: This week’s Speakeasy Series presented by Glasss Records includes Bowshock, the experimental improv psych jazz reggae band.
Who:The Yawpers release of Human Question w/In the Whale and Fast Eddie When: Friday, 04.26, 8 p.m. Where: Gothic Theatre Why: The Yawpers have been writing solid, rough around the edges, southern fried punk rock and roll for years. While earlier releases honestly cataloged singer Nate Cook’s headlong dive into desperation and self-destruction, Human Question, with the image of an immolating figure walking out of the fields into the forest on the cover, is more introspective and taking into consideration a subject as the title suggests—what is the purpose and significance of living in the world as a creature fully capable of being self-aware, reflective and capable of extremes of behavior and of consciously choosing a path other than the most immediate and obvious. The record is a collection of rockers but, especially with the single “Carry Me,” The Yawpers prove that they are capable of more than rocking and that even at the root of that is a raw and nuanced cauldron of emotion and now more an ability to write from a place beyond primal urges with a finely tuned discernment as articulated with fiery displays of musical and poetic catharsis.
Who:Superorganism w/Simpson When: Friday, 04.26, 8 p.m. Where: Gothic Theatre Why: Originating in London, Superorganism is an international, multi-ethnic indie pop band whose members met through various internet channels and mutual friends. Its sound might be described as electronic music pitched to sound like something made using unorthodox, highly tactile instruments. In some ways the group’s 2018 self-titled debut is reminiscent of Kala-period M.I.A. with its fusion of styles and sounds and strong visual element to its performances.
What:PRF BBQ Day 1 When: Friday, 04.26, 8 p.m. Where: Black Sky Brewery Why: This is a three day music festival featuring some of the better Denver underground bands. On this night you can catch Dead Characters, New Standards Men, Modern Goon and Clutch Plague.
Who:Lotus When: Friday, 04.26, 8 p.m. Where: Summit Music Hall Why: Certainly Lotus’ fan base is largely comprised of those with a love of all things jam band. And Lotus’ free flowing groove and sprawling improvisations fit in that pocket as well. But there’s something more experimental to the band’s music slightly beneath the surface. Its 2018 album Frames Per Second showcases this well with unusual jazz structures and dynamics, moody bass lines, vocal processing, playful and colorful synth work. Like the inevitable musical offspring of Steely Dan and Jean-Michel Jarre, Lotus sounds like a band with chops playing fairly straightforward yet intricate grooves but there is a layer of subversiveness to keep it interesting beyond technical flourishes.
What:Lotus w/Ghostland Observatory, Jade Cicada and Magic Beans When: Saturday, 04.27, 5 p.m. Where: Red Rocks Why: If Lotus wasn’t responsible for this line-up directly, someone somewhere put together a great bill of bands who share a similar sensibility in adventurous electronic music suited to a large stage format. What:DMX w/DJ Chonz When: Saturday, 04.27, 7 p.m. Where: Summit Music Hall
What:Weird Touch When: Saturday, 04.27, 9 p.m. Where: Syntax Physic Opera Why: It’s one of many hip DJ nights probably more focused on indie releases than average that we’re fortunate to have in Denver.
What:The North Ensemble When: Saturday, 04.27, 7:30 p.m. Where: Trident Why: An avant-garde improvisational show in the back room/outdoors area in the back of Trident. Boulder likes to act like it’s weird but stuff like this is the rare occasion when it is in a productive way.
What:PRF BBQ Day 2 When: Saturday, 04.27, 4:30 p.m. Where: The Bakery Why: Simulators will rip your face off with their angular noise rock and when Moon Pussy finishes the process with its cybernetic psychedelic post-punk you will be glad you went unless you’re into safe, boring music. The other bands are probably worth it too. Schedule below.
Who:La Dispute w/Gouge Away and Slow Mass When: Sunday, 04.28, 6:30 p.m. Where: Summit Music Hall Why: Maybe it’s because Jordan Dreyer was a writer before ever making music. Maybe it’s because La Dispute’s take on post-hardcore and emo isn’t tied to the usual sounds and progressions. Sure you can hear bits of the influence of At The Drive-In and Refused but on another level the band’s music sounds like a heavier Bright Eyes or even Slint—that sense of desolation and desperation. Also on this bill/tour are two other bands within the realm of punk that are a bit different yet share some of the same sensibilities with Gouge Away, a band that combines an atmospheric heaviness with eruptive energy and an unexpectedly forceful frontperson in Christina Michelle. Slow Mass is one of the better bands out there that has fused emotionally taut math rock with fluid post-hardcore.
What:Shibui Denver #2 – Victoria Lundy and Blank Human When: Sunday, 04.28, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: Denver avant-garde veteran Victoria Lundy may play some of her classical material on Theremin or some of her spookier faire with the same as well as synth. Blank Human is a drone/ambient project from Dan Coleman also of Luxury Hearse.
What:PRF BBQ Day 3 When: Sunday, 04.28, 4 p.m. Where: The Bakery Why: Final evening of PRF BBQ including a performance from glam/psych post-punk stars Teacup Gorilla.
400 – 430 – Flowlines
445 – 515 – 50 Miles of Elbow Room
530 – 600 – Little Beards
615 – 645 – Falsetto Boy
Food break
745 -815 – Church Van
830 – 900 – Teacup Gorilla
915 – 945 – Purple Honey
1000 – The Gary
What:Sabroso Taco Fest: The Offspring, Bad Religion, The Vandals, Black Flag, Strung Out, Dwarves When: Sunday, 04.28, 12 p.m. Where: Fiddler’s Green Why: Kind of a craft beer and taco event with some of the more well-known names in punk. One of the few chances to see Greg Ginn perform with the new version of Black Flag. No matter one’s opinion on that matter, Ginn is always startlingly impressive with the material.
Monday | April 29
Beach Fossils, photo by Evan Tetreault
Who:Beach Fossils w/George Clanton When: Monday, 04.29, 7 p.m. Where: Oriental Theater Why: Beach Fossils is from Brooklyn but capture a more West Coast breeziness in its melancholic surf pop confections. Unlike artists mining similar territory, Beach Fossils’ songwriting in its emotional colorings. That Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell contributed to the group’s 2017 album Somersault gives the direction Beach Fossils have been going some cachet by lending some of her low key yet evocatively powerful vocals to the record. George Clanton brings his lush, IDM-esque, deeply atmospheric electronic pop along for this leg of the tour as well.
Tuesday | April 30
Bayonne, photo by Jackie Lee Young
Who:Bayonne and Palm Daze When: Tuesday, 04.30, 7 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: Roger Sellers as Bayonne uses minimalist layers of texture-as-percussion and simple melodies to craft atmospheric pop that recalls late 2000s chillwave and its capacity to seemingly dispel anxiety and angst. His latest record, 2019’s Drastic Measures, should be on anyone’s short list for summer listening and to save for the winter months when it seems like warmer times are a distant memory.
What:Sage Francis & B. Dolan: Epic Beard Men and Vockah Redu and Wheelchair Sports Camp When: Tuesday, 04.30, 7 p.m. Where: Cervantes’ Other Side Why: Sage Francis and B. Dolan, two giants alternative hip-hop and superb lyricists, are touring in their collaborative alternate personas Epic Beard Men. The masterful phrasing won’t be in short supply tonight with Denver’s Wheelchair Sports Camp and its jazz and beats rooted offerings.
Who:Interpol w/Car Seat Headrest, Japanese Breakfast and Sunflower Bean When: Wednesday, 05.01, 5:30 p.m. Where: Red Rocks Why: Interpol could just tour on the strength of its fan base and pick some weird music industry management openers (and maybe that is part of this booking) but instead the post-punk stars are having three of the best indie rock bands opening the show. Between Car Seat Headrest’s lo-fi, emotionally raw math rock, Sunflower Bean’s driving, brooding post-punk and Japanese Breakfast’s highly imaginative and powerful guitar rock soundscaping the opening sets alone are worth the price of admission but then you get to see Interpol whose back catalog has held up better than that of many of its peers from the late 90s and early 2000s.
What:Lil Pump w/Lil Skies When: Wednesday, 05.01, 6 p.m. Where: Fillmore Auditorium Why: Lil Pump turned 18 last August so expecting wisdom and thoughtfulness even on his 2019 album Haverd Dropout might be a bit much. He’s got a long way to go before his mumble trap is in the same league as Migos or his raps and performance in the same realm as Vince Staples or anyone in the A$AP crew or Odd Future. But it’s obvious he’s borrowed a lot from all of them. Nevertheless, Lil Pump is likeable enough despite his deficits and as he grows as an artist and as a human hopefully he’ll grow in more interesting and original directions so that the implicit faith that collaborators like Kanye West, Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz put in his sophomore album. It’s clear Pump is a weirdo so with any luck he’ll embrace that side of himself and give us a third album on which he truly lets his freak flag fly.
What:Weird Wednesday: Orbiting Olympia, Elk Minister, Tears to Light When: Wednesday, 05.01, 9 p.m. Where: 3 Kings Tavern Why: Weird Wednesday this month features Orbiting Olympia which is a grand alchemy of Eve Orenstein’s opera training and Sean Faling’s mastery of synthesizers both analog and otherwise. Elk Minister is a multi-instrumentalist, self-styled mystic and songwriter who has been sitting on his material for years. His visual presentation on his social media accounts look like he’s come back from some junkyard holy site with the appropriate twenty-third century raiment.
Lizzo, photo by Luke Gilford
What:Lizzo w/Tayla Parx When: Wednesday, 05.01, 7 p.m. Where: Ogden Theatre Why: The show is sold out but if you can get in you can catch rising hip-hop/pop star Lizzo before she starts playing much larger venues (like her October date in Denver at the Fillmore) from now on. Her 2019 album Cuz I Love You has the kind of frisson that sounds, at times and certainly the “Juice” single, like something that might have come out of a late 70s-period Studio 54 playlist. Except not dated. And across the record Lizzo shows off her chops as a vocalist of great emotional power and a songwriter with a keen ear for dynamics. Fans of Prince are well-advised to give Lizzo’s new album a deep listen because it’s worth it.
Who:I Heart Monkey Mania: Mr. Pacman, Robot Peanut Butter & The Shooting Stars, Cyclo-Sonic and Moon Pussy, visuals by Chris Bagley When: Thursday, 07.26, 8 p.m. Where: Syntax Physic Opera Why: Mr. Pacman is not a band that should be dismissed as mere gimmick. Yes, the band dresses up like characters from a cosplay of some weird, ancient Japanese video game. But it’s live drums, keytar, electronic drums and other instrumentation with, indeed, fairly silly songs but performed with a disorienting intensity and earnestness. At times it’s fun but moderately scary. Which is what any good band should be at least once in a while. Mr. Pacman is that pretty much every time. Robot Peanut Butter & The Shooting Stars is a more out downtempo band and Cyclo-Sonic includes former members of Denver punk legends The Rok Tots, Choosey Mothers and The Frantix. Chris Bagley, one of the filmmakers of the 2008 documentary Wesley Willis’ Joyrides, will provide visuals and make it even more of a trip.
Who:Glasss Presents: The Speakeasy Series Season 2 Finale w/Brother Saturn, Equine, VAHCO, MYTHirst, Bowshock When: Thursday, 07.26, 7 p.m. Where: Hooked On Colfax Why: This is the final show of the second season of Glasss Records’ The Speakeasy Series. It’ll be more of an ambient show with Brother Saturn’s soothing and abstract guitar and synth collages, Equine’s avant-guitar drone and beats, VAHCO’s beat-driven soul,. MYTHirst’s bright soundscapes and ukulele and whatever it is one might call Bowshock’s mixture of influences from space rock, reggae and improvisational composition.
Who:Har Mar Superstar sings Sam Cooke When: Thursday, 07.26, 7 p.m. Where: The Bluebird Theater Why: Har Mar Superstar cleaned up but good for this series of shows in which he dresses up in a suit and tie (which may or may not come off before the set is over in the weather Denver has been experiencing as of late). Sean Tillman (Har Mar Superstar) and his band will perform several of Sam Cooke’s classic R&B hits and maybe even some deep cuts. Seeing as Har Mar’s usual schtick is singing R&B and soul and making a spectacle of himself but pulling off the singing like he was born to it, this is not a huge leap for the performer. And at this time, the socially conscious end of Cooke’s music seems more relevant than ever.
Friday | July 27, 2018
Red Baraat, photo by Mark Jaworski
Who:Red Baraat When: Friday, 07.27, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Where: Clyfford Still Museum Why: Red Baraat’s syncretic pop spans South Asian musical styles, Western funk, Afrobeat and Caribbean pop to create something that’s celebratory, immediately accessible and deep. The sprawling band is playing this free concert at Clyfford Still Museum in central Denver in the wake of the release of its latest record, 2018’s Sound The People. With its cultural scope and implicit message of human unity, Red Baraat’s music is an international call of all people to come together to resist the rising wave of aggressive authoritarianism plaguing the world today. Beyond the heady messaging, Red Baraat is a reminder that sprawling, seemingly improvisational compositions needn’t be the pure realm of jam bands and that it is a component of popular musical styles across the world.
Who:SUPER PARTY Day 1: Presented by Remixed Gifts and Hot Sauce the Dog
When: Friday, 07.27,7 p.m.
Where: Remixed Gifts 70 S. Broadway
Why: This parallel event to the UMS amidst the dense and varied offerings there is out on by the boutique Remixed Gifts and the Denver culture-centered comic ‘zine Hot Sauce the Dog written and drawn by the gifted singer-songwriter Rachael Pollard whose new band DEN |V|OTHER will kick off the event at 7 p.m. followed by Joe Sampson at 8 and R A R E B Y R D $ at 9. Simply some of the best people from Denver you can see at any time. The event runs two days picking up again on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. with Bonnie Weimer.
Who:Larians, Real Gongs, Jumanjuhad When: Friday, 07.27, 8:30 p.m. Where: Denver Bicycle Café Beer Hall Why: Larians is Male Blonding frontman Noah Simons’ IDM/experimental electronic project and Real Gongs is that of Male Blonding guitarist Bryce Navin. If the UMS is too much or not of interest for whatever reason or if you have some time Friday night, highly recommended. Who: Denver Broncos UK, Echo Beds, Simulators and Shadows Tranquil When: Friday, 07.27, 9 p.m. Where: Syntax Physic Opera Why: Denver Broncos UK is sort of a post-punk side project of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club so a good fit with math-y post punk duo Simulators (think like Shellac but stripped down to even more of the bare essentials) and Echo Beds whose forthcoming album Buried Language (due out August 18 on The Flenser) pushes their harsh organic-industrial soundscape further than previous boundaries.
Saturday | July 28, 2018
Car Seat Headrest, photo by Mikael Beland
Who:SUPER PARTY Day 2: Presented by Remixed Gifts and Hot Sauce the Dog When: Saturday, 07.28, 2 p.m. Where: Remixed Gifts 70 S. Broadway Why: Day 2 of SUPER PARTY, a free event amidst the UMS. The following is today’s schedule: 2 – Bonnie Weimer, 3 – Jen Korte, 3:45 Ted Thacker of The Red Tack, 4:30 Andy Thomas solo, 5:30 Kissing Party, 6:30 Teacup Gorilla
Who:Car Seat Headrest w/Naked Giants When: Saturday, 07.28, 8 p.m. Where:The Gothic Theatre Why: Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest is one of the most prolific and interesting songwriters of his generation. Having put out nine albums independently before signing to Matador in 2015, Toledo clearly didn’t need a label but the distribution and marketing arm of one helped to get his music to a wider audience. The new Car Seat Headrest album, 2018’s Twin Fantasy (Face to Face), is brimming with what has made the band impossible to dismiss with lazy genre designations. Vocals that sometimes soar with an upsweep of deeply felt emotion, sometimes speak quietly about the concerns of the moment that flood your mind and won’t let go. Lo-fi guitar composition in the vein of maybe a Pavement or Sebadoh but informed more by underground rock of the 2000s like Jay Reatard’s more sublimely ethereal moments and more modern lo-fi stars like No Age, Times New Viking and artists from the Siltbreeze imprint. Beyond just the sonics, though, the new record is an exploration of the concerns, anxieties and self-image of a young person in an era when destructive, and self-destructive messages, have been repackaged and made to seem like a viable option. Car Seat Headrest’s new album is a compassionte and vibrant rejection of much of that as well as a suggestion of a path of discovery/rediscovery of what’s truly important in one’s life.
Tuesday | July 31, 2018
Weezer, photo by Brendan Walter
Who:Weezer and the Pixies w/Sleigh Bells When: Tuesday, 07.31, 5 p.m. Where: Fiddler’s Green Why: Weezer got to be in on the tail end of the legitimate wave of alternative rock in the early 90s. Its 1994 self-titled album, “The Blue Album,” yielded a couple of hits with “Buddy Holly” and “Undone – The Sweater Song.” The crunchy melodies and quiet-loud dynamics pioneered by groups like Mission of Burma and Pixies, who had then recently split, continued the tradition of nerdy punk rockers making music that took that spirit of punk to different places. Weezer could have been another fuzzy, alternative rock/pop punk band with that kind of sunny Southern California flavor. But Weezer’s songs, even when it’s indulging in some fun-loving goofiness, had at its core an impulse to resist being pigeonholed or musically fitting into a specific trend.
After its first record, singer Rivers Cuomo wanted to change gears dramatically and nearly made a science fiction-themed concept album but what came out instead is what could be argued is the band’s most artistically interesting record to date, 1996’s Pinkerton and its darkly conflicted lyrics. Cuomo has since all but disavowed the album as a reminder of a painful time. And to Weezer’s credit, the group has not spent its time as a band trying to recapture past glory. Its most recent full-length album, 2017’s Pacific Daydream, reflects not only Cuomo’s personal alienation but the anomy of our time when many people feel a disconnect with the lives they might want, however modest the aspiration, and the reality we face with diminished expectations. A melancholy set of songs? Maybe not obviously so but despite the title, a song like “Beach Boys” sounds like something that, psychologically speaking, was written in a vast room lit only by small windows on a cloudy day reminiscing about what once brought one joy. Like a less dire but no less impactful musical version of William Friedkin’s depiction of life in the City of Angels.
That Weezer is co-headlining with Pixies seems fitting. Both bands find themselves perhaps having to reinvent themselves for the current era even as their back catalog speaks for itself. Pixies are obviously the influential alternative rock band from Boston, darlings of college radio in the late 80s and early 90s and breaking up with its legacy intact. The band’s humor, unhinged energy, idiosyncratic songwriting filled with seething emotion, delicacy of feeling, have kept its music fresh decades onward. Like any band worth its salt, Pixies also produced new music post 2003 reunion once its internal dynamics leveled out. The group’s first album with former touring, now permanent, bassist Paz Lenchantin, 2016’s Head Carrier, isn’t generally as immediately cathartic and as vital as the group’s 80s and 90s output, it proved Pixies can still write material worth a listen and highlights the band’s ability to clue in to unusual sounds and rhythm and texture ideas that other established artists often don’t.
Who:Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks w/Soccer Mommy When: Tuesday, 07.31, 7 p.m. Where: The Gothic Theatre Why: Stephen Malkmus is obviously the singer and one of the guitarists in lo-fi slacker psyche legends Pavement. But his songs under his own name and with The Jicks are as worthy as anything he did with Pavement. Free to explore unusual melodies, self-indulge a wide range of guitar styles and fusing noise, jangle rock, improvisational instincts, 70s rock, psychedelia and prog, Stephen Malkmus with the Jicks is capable of coming up with refreshingly unusual songs even if they all have the stamp of eccentricity and imagination that Malkmus has brought to all his projects. The group’s 2018 record Sparkle Hard reflects Malkmus examination of the modern world and his place in it as a white man, and father, in his fifties who is still engaged in doing the thing he’s best at—writing unusual rock music—when the world seems to be falling apart and changing at a rapid pace. In typical fashion, Malkmus has a worthwhile and interesting take on all of it.
Opener for this tour, Soccer Mommy, is an interesting pairing because Sophie Allison’s songs have a layered and emotionally rich, compositional style with a sound collage quality that isn’t at first obvious. Her 2018 debut studio album Clean is a solid 10-song collection of sophisticated pop. Unlike many young songwriters, Allison, now 21, doesn’t sound like she’s tapping into a particular era of the 90s or the 2000s except for maybe Mitski and Japanese Breakfast. But, really, those are exceptionally respectable touchstones. What is also noteworthy is Allison’s range of dynamics, command of what, in a film score, might be called sound design, materfully orchestrating textural and atmospheric elements to augment her storytelling. With a debut so strong, one can only hope we’ve not yet seen Allison at her peak.
Who:ModPods w/R A R E B Y R D $ When: Tuesday, 07.31, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: ModPods from Los Angeles with its mixture of electronic post-punk and dance music sounds more like some kind of band from Baltimore in the 2000s or the kind of band that would have played The Smell in its heyday with an eclectic spirit not trapped in adherence to a stylistic subgenre. Either way its beat-driven songs have an edge and an 8-bit melodic fringe on its minimal synth melodies. Fronted by Myriad Slits, the trio, including Mindee Jorgensen and Daniel Guzman who switch up instruments regularly so that the musical duties never really become rote, is like an intentionally lo-fi synth pop/dance band.
Also on this bill is R A R E B Y R D $, the hip-hop trio that keeps pushing boundaries, including its own, in terms of beatmaking and Key Lady’s and KoKo La’s alchemical vocal interplay. The way some guitarists create interesting shapes for chords, the members of this group creates interesting synergy of sounds between vocals, beats and Michael Blomquist’s organic percussion. It’s a deeply emotional experience that you share with the band. It’s like alternative hip-hop if made by people who take great joy in seeing exactly what you can do with a synthesizer and a sampler to make something entrancing and meaningful. Hypnagogic post-disco, endorphin releasing, gangsta dub.
Wednesday | August 1, 2018
Who:Shocker Mom, Spargob and R A R E B Y R D $ When: Wednesday, 08.1, 8-11 p.m. Where: Fort Greene Why: It’s a free show and you get to see some of Denver’s best producers of electronic music in the underground. For R A R E B Y R D $, see above. Shocker Mom is Robin Walker who to the big wide world outside of Colorado is not known at all. But for those that have been able to witness her talents as a solo artist, member of lo-fi pop phenoms Cougarpants or one half of the hip-hop duo Nighttimeschoolbus, Walker is a singular talent. As Shocker Mom, Walker taps into her broad musical experience to produce tracks that blur the line between hip-hop, trap, IDM, ambient, dubtechno and indie pop. Aleeya Wilson is perhaps most well-known for her avant-garde guitar/noise project Death In Space. But now the Girls Rock Denver alumn is writing music as Spargob, her production project so expect something refreshingly weird and imaginative.
Who: Weird Wednesday: Universal Devils, Limber Wolf, The Far Stairs facebook.com/events/509245982828786
When: Wednesday, 08.1, 9 p.m.
Where: 3 Kings Tavern
Why: This edition of Weird Wednesday, Claudia Woodman’s monthly at 3 Kings Tavern, will include Rick Layton’s solo experimental metal project Universal Devils. Layton is a talented multi-instrumentalist who spent several years as the drummer for weirdo punk band Little Fyodor & Babushka Band. The Far Stairs is fronted by former Hindershot keyboard player Jesse Livingston. Imagine a manic New Wave/New Romantics/power pop band influenced by They Might Be Giants. But not just good, but great.
Melkbelly performs with Bully on Monday, March 5, 2018. ,Photo by Lenny Gilmore
Thursday | March 1, 2018
Oryx, photo by Alvino Salcedo
Who:EyeHateGod w/Oryx, Tricoma and Blighter When: Thursday, 03.01, 7 p.m. Where: The Marquis Theater Why: Oryx was a nearly ubiquitous name you’d see on the heaviest bills around Denver for a while. But the band seems to have hunkered down to write, refine and record its new album, 2018’s Stolen Absolution. Maybe “refine” is the wrong word as the record is a raw blast of rage and disgust with the bleak state of the world from the impending collapse of the natural environment as we used to know it and the utter shabbiness in the ways too many of us humans treat one another. It doesn’t sound despairing, it sounds more like a cry for humanity to get its collective shit together before we make one mistake too many. The crust/grind/black metal duo is releasing the album at this show in which its sharing the bill with like-minded, New Orleans sludge legends EyeHateGod, Denver purveyors of death doom Tricoma and Blighter, Colorado Springs’ titans of bridging the gap between crust punk and the heaviest of metal.
Friday | March 2, 2018
Briffaut, photo by Kitty Colvin
Who:Briffaut album release w/Down Time and In/Planes When: Friday, 03.02, 8 p.m. Where: Syntax Physic Opera Why: Briffaut’s new album, Helsinki, has a hazy lushness and freeform yet structured songwriting style that suggests jazz underpinnings. But mostly its soft tones and beats, its Mellotron-tinged and drifty atmospheres and idiosyncratic storytelling evoke imagery both surreal and all-too-real in the offhand everyday detail style employed by director Mike Mills. Musically it’s reminiscent of early The Helio Sequence and Animal Collective or even mid-2000s of Montreal—gorgeous melodies intertwined with noise and sound experiments to create a kind of pop music that pushes boundaries and has more long term durability as something you can listen to twenty or more years from now and still get something out of it that isn’t tied purely to nostalgia for one’s youth. In/Planes is apparently rooted in classic American pop meaning the duo has researched songwriters and music that has long fallen out of style but which never lost a certain emotional resonance and sophistication of craft that transcends time. The band’s refreshingly uncluttered songs are warm and soulful while not seeming to have done more than borrowed touches of doo wop and Brill Building-era pop. All of this can be heard on the band’s excellent 2017 EP Everything. Down Time reinvented indie pop in its brilliantly idiosyncratic style as heard on its debut 2017 full-length Good Luck!. Live the group has a striking freshness and inventive soundscaping that’s undeniably compelling.
Who:Jane/Eyre – Grapefruit Lab and Teacup Gorilla w/Dameon Merkl on vocals When: Friday, 03.023, 7 p.m. Where: The Bakery Why: As we mentioned last week this is a queer adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic 1847 coming-of-age novel. So it’ll be storytelling and songs provided by the Grapefruit Lab collective and Teacup Gorilla who are bringing in noted local frontman and raconteur extraordinaire, Dameon Merkl who some may know as one of the vocalists in Lost Walks as well as his turns in 90s punk band Random Victim and noir rock phenoms Bad Luck City. Because it’s Teacup Gorilla, a band that has long developed a relationship with theater and writing experimental rock music that can only loosely be defined as post-punk or glam rock because its imaginative songwriting and musicianship is much broader than a single genre. The run of this production concludes this weekend with shows on Friday evening March 2 ( and will include a performance from Ersatz Robots), Saturday evening March 3 with a surprise musical guest, and Sunday for a matinee performance at 2 p.m.
Catch this one before it ends because as far as adaptations of classic novels go it’s irreverence and faithfulness to the spirit of the book is rivaled by, if not in budget, sheer spectacle huge cast and production values, Peter Jackson’s Tolkien films and Game of Thrones. But none of the sword and sorcery though with plenty of high drama and the supernatural. The live soundtracking and Merkl as the sound of troubled and tortured spirits helps to enhance the brilliant three cast-member presentation.
Who:Velvet Acid Christ at Purgatory 3-2 w/Offerings to Odin, DJ Mudwulf, DJ Bloodline, DJ Julian Black When: Friday, 03.02, 9 p.m. Where: Bar Standard Why: Although in recent years Velvet Acid Christ has more than doubled the number of shows that he played in Denver in the first twenty years of the band’s existence, it’s not like he plays every week, every few months or even really every year. VAC began in the early 90s and became an influential and popular EBM act in its own right with a knack for surrealistic imagery and darkly humorous storytelling. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen any original releases from VAC so maybe in 2018 perhaps Bryan Erickson, the band’s sole full-time member, will put deliver a new set of dystopian future dance songs.
Who:R A R E B Y R D $, EVP, Bianca Mikahn, Giraft When: Friday, 03.02, 9 p.m. Where: Denver Bicycle Café Why: This is a Glasss Presents show three of the imprint’s best acts are on the bill. R A R E B Y R D $ is making the kind of hip-hop that is beyond conscious, beyond merely experimental but always human and thoughtful in its exploration of the impact of society and our own minds in how we navigate life. EVP is difficult to describe in simple genre terms. Part punk, part industrial, part pop, part noise. Bianca Mikahn…does she make hip-hop or super experimental, poetry driven R&B? Whatever it is, Mikahn’s insightful words weaves together her personal vision of a more loving and inclusive future. Giraft is Julianna Beckert and Chris White who make a kind of post-IDM downtempo. White some may remember for his masterful bass work in Alan Alda and Voices Underwater.
Who:Modern Leisure (album preview party) w/Kissing Party and Bark Wilson When: Friday, 03.02, 8 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: Modern Leisure is previewing its forthcoming debut full-length album (set for a summer release). Good thing the band is joined by another that brings some dignity to the term pop when applied to a modern indie rock band. That being Bark Wilson. Layered atmospheres and rhythms that you don’t often hear in a pop band are Bark Wilson’s noteworthy hallmark. Kissing Party has a whole catalog of heartbreaking/heartwarming songs about love and disappointment. Don’t let the band’s sometimes irreverent and sardonic stage persona fool you, they mean those songs and that’s what saves them from being quaintly romantic because despite any flaws, the group performs the songs with a sincerity to match the sentiments.
Who:Adult Swim Presents: Mr. Pickles’ Trash-tacular featuring Exodus, Municipal Waste and Call of the Void When: Friday, 03.02, 7 p.m. Where: Summit Music Hall Why: The nerd and metalhead world has a lot of overlap. Did Mr. Pickles exert his demonic powers to influence the choice of line-up? If so, he certainly has good taste. Exodus is the influential Bay Area thrash band that helped to establish the genre. After all, Kirk Hammett left Exodus to join Metallica so the thrash pedigree is undeniable. But it’s Gary Holt’s crunchy and driving, expressive, guitar style and his tasteful solo as lead is oft imitated by rarely equaled. Virginia’s Municipal Waste, though coming along in the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, has exerted influence of its own inspired by 80s crossover groups. Its guitars sound like the perfect blend of thrash and late-era first wave hardcore. But its rhythm, particularly the drums, sound borderline grindcore. But Municipal Waste is perhaps best known for its irreverent sense of humor. A band that calls one of its videos “Thrashin’s My Business…and Business is Good has to get some points for iconoclasm. Call of the Void you wouldn’t call a crossover band even though its grind and hardcore amalgam might give that impression. Its sound is more savage than the typical crossover band but its articulation of pushing the sound of despair and desperation to the extreme as a form of catharsis is often just what you need.
Saturday | March 3, 2018
Paperbark, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Centered Vol. 2: {arsonist}, C. Reider, Paperbark, Luxury Hearse When: Saturday, 03.03, 8:30 p.m. Where: The Ubisububi Room Why: This is going to be a kind of ambient/modular synth show in the basement of The Thin Man. With Paperbark, John Mulville uses his modular synth to make abstract sounds that capture textures and the feeling of being in the natural world even as it is completely unnatural, as it were, in generating his soundscapes. C. Reider’s vast catalog of fascinating sound experiments and compositions can be found most readily on his Bandcamp page. With releases going back to the late 80s, Reider is something like Colorado’s Aphex Twin except less on the glitch end and more on the avant-garde and ambient end of electronic music. Pittsburgh’s {arsonist} employs layered atmospheres, textures and strings to create otherworldly compositions reminiscent of The Future Sound of London side project Amorphous Androgynous. Luxury Hearse has a pretty diverse set of sounds but some of its best work sounds like a super chill, secret dance club for minimal synth heads.
Who:KGNU and Lion’s Lair Quarterly Showcase: Simulators, Mirror Fears, Joseph Lamar, Rich Jones and CRL CRRLL (DJ set after Rich Jones) When: Saturday, 03.03, 8 p.m. Where: Lion’s Lair Why: KGNU is one of the few legit radio stations taking real chances with its programming these days (having a community sponsored format probably helps). So every quarter the station has been working with Lion’s Lair to book a showcase of some of the more forward thinking and experimental music in various spectrums of the local music world. This particular event is also a Fasor Records mini-showcase. The label started by CRL CRRLL will probably include like-minded artists who push the boundaries of where electronic dance music and hip-hop production intersect. As indicated above, CRRLL will do a DJ set. Also on hand for this show are raw and spare post-punk duo Simulators, maximalist, deeply emotional and socially critical electronic artist Mirror Fears and Joseph Lamar who has found a sweet spot with his solid songwriting based in indie rock, jazz, experimental electronic music and a theatrical performance style.
Who:Pretty Mouth, The Patient Zeros and Kitty Crimes When: Saturday, 03.03, 9 p.m. Where: Streets of London Why: This is going to be a different kind of show. Pretty Mouth is Marie Litton’s more Americana side of her songwriting. That said, there is a spiritual quality to Litton’s songs and performance even though she seems to be writing from a life that hasn’t been short on struggle, heartache and a deep love for people and of living like you mean it. The Patient Zeros are in a similar realm of songcraft but more in a rock and roll vein. Too many bands have tried to be “rock and roll” but The Patient Zeros’ songs don’t sound like they learned about Jack White a few years ago but have none of the poetry or genuine swagger. The Patient Zeros never come off like the second-rate Kings of Leon. Kitty Crimes…Maria Kohler has always been up to some noteworthy music including Science Partner and Mercuria and the Gem Stars. Kitty Crimes has been sort of a dirty rap project but in Kohler’s hands there’s an elegance and transformative quality that renders that sort of thing into something fun and worth your time above and beyond the appeal of anything transgressive but not inherently harmful.
Monday | March 5, 2018
Bully, photo by Alysse Gafkjen
Who: Bully w/Melkbelly When: Monday, 03.05, 7 p.m. Where: Larimer Lounge Why: Bully’s first album, 2015’s Feels Like, polarized critics. Oh, sure, the band sounds like it was beyond influenced by early 90s alternative rock. When you grow up with some kind of music it’s bound to creep in there sometime. But the founder of the band, Alicia Bognanno got a degree in recording and did an internship at Electrical Audio—Steve Albini’s Chicago-based studios—before going on to working as a recording and live sound engineer and then establishing her own studio to record her own music. That’s a lot more dedication to craft than many musicians bother with learning or enduring. It doesn’t necessarily make for better music but deserves better consideration than outright dismissal. The follow-up record, 2017’s Losing, refines the jagged, angst-driven melodies that made the debut album worthwhile. In the past decade or so there has been a lot of safely celebratory music or the kind of music that hides raw feelings and outrage in palatable constructions. Any darkness and frustration you hear in Bognanno’s songs doesn’t feel manufactured or couched in some identity stereotype. Even if you feel like her music is a retread of 90s rock you have to give her credit for sincerity.
On the bill tonight as well is Chicago’s Melkbelly is roughly an exact contemporary of Bully and based in Chicago, where Bully recorded both of its full-length albums. Melkbelly’s music has often been referred to as noise rock, which fits well enough. But Miranda Winders’ voice is a consistently melodic focus amid the urgency of the beat and the pulsing, splintered sounds and sense that the song could fragment into burning chaos. Melkbelly has the spirit and energy of a punk band but its sounds are more experimental and more wide-ranging. More Live Skull and Melt Banana than Shellac or Daughters. The group’s 2017 album Nothing Valley is an auspicious debut full-length that signals throughout that Melkbelly isn’t going for just one or two sounds and dynamics. Also, a band that calls a song “Twin Lookin’ Motherfucker” has to be a bunch of glorious weirdos and cherished in a time when the music industry too often rewards easy marketability over outright quality and uniqueness.
Who:Alex Cameron and Molly Burch When: Monday, 03.05, 7 p.m. Where: Globe Hall Why: Alex Cameron’s 2017 album Forced Witness sounds like it could have come out in the mid-80s and hit big alongside the likes of post-Squeeze Paul Carrack or Paul Young—new wave-y, well-crafted pop songs mixed with blue eyed soul. When a lot of other artists now are still tapping the classic rock sound or Laurel Canyon pop, Alex Cameron’s update on Icehouse sounds pretty fresh.
Molly Burch may be an artist whose sonic antecedents rest in Brill Building pop and soul singers but her smoky, hushed yet warm and resonant vocals and vulnerability have a mysterious quality that draw you in like Julee Cruise or Angel Olsen. Burch’s music has a familiar quality that waxes timeless rather than derivative. Her 2017 debut full length Please Be Mine sounds, track for track, like Godard’s 1960s films look—vivid yet dreamlike, emotionally tumultuous yet refined, a lyrical economy of style that uses space and silence to convey much more and much more effectively than clumsily spelling it all out.
Wednesday | March 7, 2018
Brother Saturn, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Weird Wednesday: Brother Saturn, Hello Darkness and Full Bleed When: Wednesday, 03.07, 9 p.m. Where: 3 Kings
Why: The current edition of Weird Wednesday features a pretty broad mix of sounds. Hello Darkness is sort of a folk punk band without the de riguer labor struggle era folk covers. Rather, its use of various acoustic instruments in the mix makes Hello Darkness the folk pop equivalent of a chamber pop band. Except with more political content than most bands that can be described as “chamber” anything. Considering two thirds of the band used to be in Reality Show it should come as no surprise there’s some lively emotionalism on stage. Brother Saturn’s melodic soundscapes are reminiscent of the 90s period of guitar and beat driven instrumental ambient/abstract rock acts like Bowery Electric, Seefeel, Magnog and Stars of the Lid. Maybe even Flying Saucer Attack. There is an innocence and elegance to the composition that suggests Drew Miller has carved out a space in his heart and imagination for a pure and universal expression of the kind of transcendently tranquil energy he articulates in his music in general. Brother Saturn is just the more shoegaze-ish end of that.
Who: James Blood Ulmer
When: Wednesday, 03.07 (store.dazzledenver.com/EventTicket/EventDetail/3229/id0/james-blood-ulmer) and Thursday, 3.08 (store.dazzledenver.com/EventTicket/EventDetail/3230/id0/james-blood-ulmer), 7 p.m.
Where: Dazzle
Why: James Blood Ulmer was one of the guitarists who was steeped in jazz but also helped to define fusion with his imaginative, textured guitar work with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers as the first electric guitarist to record and perform live with free jazz genius Ornette Coleman and his long time collaborations with Pharoah Sanders. Ulmer’s solo material tends to be a blend of styles with a rich mix of jazz, blues and brooding funk. Whatever Umer’s specific music alchemy of the moment, he brings more than dazzling technique and soul, he brings something otherworldly and riveting. The guitarist performs two shows in Denver. As indicated above, the evenings of March 7 and 8 at Dazzle.
The Kinky Fingers release Garbage Plate on Friday, 2/23/18 at Tooey’s on Colfax, photo by Alexandra Brexa Hooson
Friday | February 23, 2018
Image from Jane Eyre, photo courtesy Grapefruit Lab
What:Jane/Eyre – Grapefruit Lab and Teacup Gorilla w/Dameon Merkl on vocals When: Friday, 02.23, 7 p.m. Where: The Bakery Why: This is a queer adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic 1847 coming-of-age novel. So it’ll be storytelling and songs provided by the Grapefruit Lab collective and Teacup Gorilla who are bringing in noted local frontman and raconteur extraordinaire, Dameon Merkl who some may know as one of the vocalists in Lost Walks as well as his turns in 90s punk band Random Victim and noir rock phenoms Bad Luck City. Because it’s Teacup Gorilla, a band that has long developed a relationship with theater and writing experimental rock music that can only loosely be defined as post-punk or glam rock because its imaginative songwriting and musicianship is much broader than a single genre. The run of this production spans six performances starting Friday and Saturday evening of February 23 and 24 with a 2 p.m. matinee show on Sundays. On February 23, the opening band is Denver’s dream pop duo Plume Varia. February 24 has indie pop group The Green Typewriters on board. March 2 will include a performance from Ersatz Robots and the final evening show will have a surprise guest on March 3.
Who:The Kinky Fingers album release w/Don Chicharron and Godchild When: Friday, 02.23, 7 p.m. Where: Tooey’s Off Colfax Why: The Kinky Fingers have always been a band that made a virtue of simple, clean melodies. At a time when it seemed there was entire too much surf rock and neo-psychedelic rock, The Kinky Fingers shined with the strength of its songwriting. With its new album, Garbage Plate, the band has expanded its sound and boosted its emotional range. The album has been a long time coming. Recorded in the summer of 2016 in Rochester, New York, Garbage Plate is a surprisingly thoughtful set of songs that sound like party anthems. Regarding the meaning of the album title, the band says “[a] Garbage Plate is a plate of fried potatoes, baked beans, hot dogs, onions, mustard, and a chili-like meat sauce. Intense. As the name suggests, the music rings through so many genres, textures and tastes it feels a perfect fit for the deteriorating American dream, which once tasted so sweet and now feels more like a bellyache.” Expect the usual sharply observant songs about the vicissitudes of life with some poignant, and creatively rendered, social commentary mixed in. The Kinky Fingers will also play at the Treefort Music Festival in Boise, Idaho on Friday, March 23 at Ha Penny at 11:20 p.m.
Who:Slow Caves 7” release w/Gleemer and Panther Martin When: Friday, 02.23, 8 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: On its new 7”, Fort Collins’ Slow Caves seems to have evolved well beyond the more languid pace and sound of its earlier pop songs. “Poser” has some of the structure and dynamics of the band’s surf rock leanings but there is more grit and drive to its winningly polished melodies. Joining Slow Caves for the occasion of releasing its new record are noisy math rockers Gleemer and Panther Martin, a band that may have started out in the realm of garage and psych rock but its intricate yet uncluttered musicianship reveals a knack for writing songs of often surprising emotional complexity.
Who:Ben UFO w/Gerd Janson, Mozhgan When: Friday, 02.23, 9 p.m. Where: Club Vinyl Why: Ben Thomson (Ben UFO), made a name for himself purely as a DJ rather than as a producer and his mixes of some of the most cutting edge, modern electronic dance music have made him an in-demand curator of that music. The discography of Hessle Audio, the imprint he co-owns with David Kennedy of Pearson Sound and Pangaea’s Kevin McAuley would be a solid introduction to some of the best underground electronic music going today.
Saturday | February 24, 2018
Necropanther, photo by David Novin
Who:Necropanther CD release w/The Munsens, and Abrams When: Saturday, 02.24, 8:30 p.m. Where: Hi-Dive Why: Denver death thrashers Necropanther are releasing a new album tonight with Eyes Of Blue Light. Imagine what it would sound like if a melodic death metal band Gothenburg style wrote a Dune-themed record inspired in part by Municipal Waste and Thrash Zone-period D.R.I.. Well, Necropanther recorded the album in Denver but got it mastered in Gothenburg, Sweden with Fredrik Nordström who has put his sonic fingerprints on the broad spectrum of that city’s melodic death metal scene. Also on stage this night are sludgy doom-sters The Munsens and the equally menacing Abrams whose own version of sludge/doom is energetically dynamic and otherworldly in the vein of bands like Neurosis and Isis.
What:Textures featuring Cpt. Howdy, Brother Saturn, MYTHirst When: Sunday, 02.25, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: This is the latest edition of the Textures ambient showcase. This time the return of heavy synth duo (trio), Cpt. Howdy, the super chill, abstract ambient of Drew Miller (of Chromadrift) as Brother Saturn (he calls it a shoegaze band and yeah, if you’re thinking more like Seefeel rather than the more rock-oriented stuff) and MYTHist’s electro-acoustic take on IDM.
Monday | February 26, 2018
Myrkur, photo by Daria Endresen
What:Decibel Magazine Tour: Enslaved, Wolves in the Throne Room, Myrkur and Khemmis When: Monday, 02.26, 6 p.m. Where: The Gothic Theatre Why: Decibel Magazine, one of the major magazines that focuses on metal and heavy music in general, has been on this tour for several years now and this time out the even is headlined by Norway’s Enslaved. The band has always had melodic elements to its brutally majestic sound. But with it’s 2017 album E, the group seems to have written the music with a cinematic presentation in mind like they were composing a soundtrack for the next Thor movie. In a similar vein of invoking indigenous spirits and associated imagery in the music are the opening bands on this leg of the tour. Denver’s Khemmis is often described as a doom band but its songs far more melodic than such designations suggest. The hanging chords and sludgy flourishes are there but so is an apparent dedication to fairly traditional songcraft giving the band an appeal beyond what one might assume to be its audience. Myrkur, from Denmark, is the black metal project of Amalie Bruun. Her expansive, lush songs bring together the gritty and the sublime and transcendent matched by her seemingly effortless transition between. Mareidt, the project’s 2017 release, included a guest vocal from the like-minded Chelsea Wolfe on the track “Funeral.” Wolves in the Throne Room from Olympia, Washington all but retired from any active touring several years back so this is a rare chance to catch the band’s Cascadian black metal in Denver. The group performed in Colorado Springs in October 2017 in the wake of the release of its most recent album, 2017’s Thrice Woven. A WITTR show is fairly tribal in presentation with visuals invoking meeting at a communal fire to share stories and to participate in a collective ritual and the music is a manifestation of that spirit.
Who:Palm w/Spirit of the Beehive and Plague Survivor When: Monday, 02.26, 8 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: Palm was originally from Philadelphia but calls New York City it’s home base these days. It’s flavor of neo-math rock is less focused on actual technique and more on what you can do with technique and dynamics if you inject some imagination into the playing and writing. If you’re a fan of groups like US Weekly, Laddio Bolocko, Don Caballero and A Minor Forest you’ll probably appreciate what Palm is doing. Its new album, 2018’s Rock Island, expands on the band’s previous, beautifully claustrophobic structures without losing its masterful ability to create tension and release at the perfect moments.
Who:Haunted Summer w/Tyto Alba, Ghostpulse and Magic Cyclops When: Monday, 02.26, 7 p.m. Where: Globe Hall Why: Haunted Summer could be broadbrushed as a post-chillwave dream pop project reminiscent of Devotion-period Beach House because its entrancing melodies are possessed of a similarly gorgeous emotional afterglow. But its Robin-Guthrie-circa-Mysterious-Skin-soundtrack guitar textures and drifty dynamics akin to those of Former Selves or Candy Claws. Whatever went into inspiring the band’s sound, it’s excellent 2017 album, Spirit Guides has a warmth and intimacy that propels the songs into having an immediacy that isn’t always the purvey of bands attempting a similar style of music. Tyto Alba, like Haunted Summer, is a band that is great at working in the realm of the edges of your memory to invoke something that isn’t nostalgia but has an emotional resonance that stimulates the feelings that normally coalesce into comforting reverie.
Who:Eraserhead Fuckers, Juniordeer, Ultraviolet, Morlox and Brkn Jwbne Tape Manipulator When: Monday, 02.26, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: Just reading the list of band names should give you some idea of the strangeness you’re in for if you make it to this show. Morlox should be a well-known artist in Denver because his influence on the local industrial and noise scene is undeniable but he has also had an impact on experimental pop band Church Fire and their facility in weaving together industrial music and hip-hop production ideas into their own songwriting. He rarely performs live so if that’s your thing, be there. Also, Eraserhead Fuckers is technically hip-hop but so confrontational, abrasive and surreal that most hip-hop fans aren’t going to be into it unless maybe they didn’t have a difficult time getting into something like Death Grips, .clipping, Earl Sweatshirt or Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.
Tuesday | February 27, 2018
Talib Kweli ciurca 2015, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Talib Kweli w/Niko Is, DJ Spintelect and Time When: Tuesday, 02.27, 8:30 p.m. Where: Fox Theatre Why: Talib Kweli Greene would have secured his place in hip-hop history with Black Star, his collaborative project with Mos Def. But Kweli’s talent, intellect and curiosity has brought him to various efforts as a rapper, producer and activist. Rather than make more than a brief list of the people he’s worked with like Dave Chappelle, Kanye West and Dead Prez, it would be more worthwhile to note how Kweli’s albums have long been filled with thoughtful and creative social critiques alongside solid beats and music so that his albums never come off feeling didactic or preachy even as he minces no words—because his stories and words are also not short on humanity. Kweli can be pointed but he clearly takes in the bigger picture beyond any topical content. Along on the tour is Niko Is, a likeminded artist whose own imaginative wordplay sketches vivid images of aspirational daydreams and everyday life rendered into poetry. Opening the show is Denver’s Time, a rapper whose literary lyrics display a gift for surreal stories and political analysis grounded in his own experiences growing up in “the nutty.” Meaning North Denver, of course. Sometime in 2018 it’s anticipated that we’ll see a new album from Calm., Time’s hip-hop duo with longtime collaborator, the producer Awareness.
Wednesday | February 28, 2018
Why? photo by Josiah Wolf
Who:Why? w/The Florist When: Wednesday, 02.28, 7 p.m. Where: Bluebird Theater Why: Yoni Wolf aka Why? was once in influential, experimental hip hop group Clouddead but when that outfit split in 2004 he formed an indie rock band called Why? with his brother Josiah and friends. And yet calling Why? indie rock is a bit imprecise because the band is far more experimental with its use of sound, the poetry of its lyrics and the the visual presentation of the music as well. At times Why? can be a multimedia experience with interaction between performers and video as well as making a theater sized show seem like something more suited to a stadium. Whatever the experience of the show might be it’s something the group has evolved for years and rooted in a music that is pushing and challenging the kind of complacency of being so in love with one’s established sound by making music that can never rest easy in a staid formula. The latest Why? record, 2017’s Moh Lhean, is typically impossible to adequately characterize and yet has all the unique wordplay and imagery that has made Why? a consistently interesting project from the beginning.
Who:Rachael Yamagata w/Hemming When: Tuesday, 02.27, 7 p.m. Where: Globe Hall Why: Rachael Yamagata has been at her solo career since 2001. Likely often broadbrushed as a singer-songwriter, Yamagata’s music transcends stereotypes that have crept up about singer-songwriter artists even though, obviously, artists like Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and plenty of others are good examples of singer-writers. Like Ray LaMontagne (with whom Yamagata has worked) and Greg Laswell, Yamagata writes songs about life that provides a unique insight and illumination into subjects well-worn by artists since time immemorial. Yamagata’s voice is calming yet not short on evoking peak emotional moments with a gift for articulating complexity of feeling. Her music, richly detailed and textured, provide the perfect backdrop to her honest storytelling. Her 2016 album Tightrope Walker in particular minced few words about life challenges but did so in a lushly poetic fashion.
St. Vincent at Bluebird Theater, February 13, 2010. Photo by Tom Murphy
Thursday | January 11, 2018
Rachael Pollard, Bonnie Weimer on left, Johnny Sherry behind. Photo by Tom Murphy, May 2008
Who:Erica Brown w/The Movers & Shakers When: Thursday, 01.11, 2 shows doors 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Where: Dazzle Why: Powerhouse blues singer Erica Brown has been a staple of Denver music for decades at this point. Sure, she has shared the stage with numerous noteworthy blues and R&B musicians including Al Green, B.B. King and the like and that’s cool. But more importantly, Brown’s powerful voice has been present not just in her own bands and solo efforts but also in Denver music in general. She has done vocals for Dan Treanor’s Afrosippi Band and weird funk group Cherry Bomb Club (which later meant joining Warlock Pinchers on stage for their 2010 reunion shows). She has contributed to albums from Slim Cessna’s Auto Club and Xiren. Erica Brown is a multifaceted talent who has done things on her own terms and established a reputation for excellence that is all but unique in Denver.
Who:Infernal Coil, Inoculated Life, Augur and Heathen Burial When: Thursday, 01.11, 7:30 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: Could be described as the industrial grind show since it involves Boise, Idaho’s Infernal Coil, Colorado’s own Heathen Burial, the hanging buzzsaw atmospherics of Denver’s Inoculated Life and the ritualistic vibe of black metal band Augur from Denver as well. It’ll be at Mutiny so it’ll be intimate in the back area for such a show with such abrasively gloomy music. Perfect.
Who:Musical Mayhem: Bonnie Weimer, FULL BLEED, Lepidoptera When: Thursday, 01.11, 9 p.m. Where: Skylark Lounge Why: It’s Musical Mayhem, the monthly (or is it bi-monthly?) showcase hosted by Claudia Woodman and simulcast by Hypnotic Turtle Radio. You never quite know what you’re going to get except that it’ll be a little different, as it were, and worthwhile. Full Bleed says “Droney psychedelic stoner metal shoegaze instrumental improv RöCK from Denver.” Lepidoptera is meditative guitar, field recording and keyboard-y soundscapes. Bonnie Weimer, though, has been in various projects in Denver over the years including her solo project. “Banjo Bonnie” may play some traditional banjo stuff in her set but mostly its originals that take a familiar sound in unfamiliar directions.
Friday | January 12, 2018
I’m A Boy, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Ice Troll, New Standards Men, Paperbark, Venereal Crush and visuals by Orchidz3ro When: Friday, 01.12, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café Why: Ice Troll is a sprawling psychedelic, doom prog band. Paperbark uses modular synths to create deeply textured ambient drones. Venereal Crush from Dubuque, Iowa is probably well within the realm of noise but its compositions feel like ambient music or composed sound environments using organic/live instruments alongside incredibly minimal synths. Is New Standards Men post-rock? Maybe so but it is also reminiscent of a doomier, more melodic Laddio Bolocko or Dazzling Killmen. Fortunately bands like this and some others playing venues up and down South Broadway are helping to keep the neighborhood a little weird in the face of Nü Denver tourist culture.
Who:Deer Creek w/Still Valley, Piojos and Drune When: Friday, 01.12, 7 p.m. Where: Moon Room at Summit Music Hall Why: The doom/sludge rock thing kinda died off in Colorado around a decade ago but mutated and turned into something maybe even better. Deer Creek has its roots back to the older sludge scene and remains one of the heaviest bands in Denver. Piojos includes former members of various heavy acts from Denver and Pueblo including Black Lamb. But pedigree aside, the sharply irreverent humor of Piojos can be heard all over its excellent 2016 album Fuck Everyone in Pueblo. Need it be mentioned they’re based in Pueblo and some people didn’t get the humor? Still Valley from Colorado Springs is classic sludge doom in the vein of Sleep, Acid Bath and Grief.
Who:Surrender Signal, Laurium and Old Sport When: Friday, 01.12, 9 p.m. Where: BarFly (Alamo Drafthouse, West 4255 W. Colfax location) Why: Surrender Signal’s gritty melodies and fluid dynamics are reminiscent of Lungfish and East Coast post-punk/post-hardcore bands of the early 90s. Maybe a little Jawbox, Slint and Quicksand are in there too. Old Sport blurs the line between post-hardcore and melodic math rock and doesn’t skimp on the raw energy and passion in its performance.
Who: I’m A Boy, Grammar School and Teacup Gorilla facebook.com/events/136041710495512 When: Friday, 01.12, 9 p.m. Where: Lion’s Lair Why: I’m A Boy is one of the few straight ahead rock and roll bands that doesn’t seem like it’s trying too hard to tap into the realm of classic rock. That’s because singer/guitarist Jimmi Nasi is a gifted songwriter in his own right who has a knack for knowing when a song works rather than lean on someone else’s music as a prop. Bassist Whitney Reher and drummer Jeffrey Mince provide a simple but dynamic jumping board for Nasi’s melodic gyrations, Nasi and Rehr striking poses because it’s more fun for them and more enjoyable as someone there for the show. Teacup Gorilla manages to write glam rock with inventive atmospheres and a theatrical flair of their own. Apparently Grammar School is bringing ragtime back.
Saturday | January 13, 2018
Sgt. D’s List, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Choosey Mothers When: Saturday, 01.13, 7 p.m. Where: Mutiny Information Café
Why: The Choosey Mothers came out of Denver’s 80s punk scene with former members of bands that are even difficult to find online like the Trontils and Malice in Wonderland. But the Mothers established themselves as a raw punk band of note in the 90s at a time when the Dead Silence, Burnt Fase and, of course, The Fluid were exerting a strong influence on Colorado punk generally. This reunion show is to celebrate the 50th birthday of Sam Grampsas of The Mothers so it’s only fitting the show, which is free, is happening at Mutiny Information Café which is run by other smart, old school Denver punkers.
Who:Mr. Atomic, Television Generation and Meet the Giant When: Saturday, 01.13, 9 p.m. Where: Skylark Lounge Why: When a lot of 90s fuzz rock gets co-opted by a new generation of wannabes a watering down of what made that older music worthwhile is inevitable. Fortunately, these bands pushed that kind of rock and roll into more interesting territories and actually rock rather than playing AT it. Television Generation, sure, sounds like they got put into a deep freeze in 1993 Seattle and woken up in recent years. But its songwriting is strong and they’ve absorbed influences that have come along since grunge imploded in the mid-90s. Meet the Giant sounds like what happens when people who may have tried to make sludge rock got bored and wanted to write dynamic songs that would be fun to play instead of living up to a stoner rock cliché in their garage.
Who:Sgt. D’s List (S.O.D. Tribute), Hallowed Screams (Slayer tribute) and FUBAR When: Saturday, 01.13, 9 p.m. Where: Black Sky Brewery Why: Normally tribute bands are kinda wack. But Sgt. D’s List is comprised of veterans of Denver’s grind, death metal and thrash scenes who bring to life the music of a S.O.D., one of the early crossover bands and tongue in cheek in a way that no one would do these days for obvious reasons. That band included members of Anthrax and Nuclear Assault and became an influence on metal and hardcore from its 1985 inception.
Who:Hot Rize 40th Anniversary When: Saturday, 01.13, 7 p.m. Where: Boulder Theater Why: A gala celebration of one of Colorado’s most influential bands, Hot Rize, who helped to make modern bluegrass accessible to a wide audience without watering down the virtues of the music through attaching it directly to other genres of music. Even if you don’t consider yourself a fan of bluegrass, go check out Hot Rize and see an engaging live act whose musicianship and songwriting speaks for itself beyond genre. For this event, the band will bring in friends/guests Del McCoury, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas and more
Who:Shattered Mirrors – GSTV, Ritual, Julian Black and guest DJ Bryan Erickson of Velvet Acid Christ When: Saturday, 01.13, 9 p.m. Where: Black Box Why: This is the newest music night hosted by DJ Ritual. This edition including a guest DJ set from Bryan Erickson of Velvet Acid Christ. Given Erickson’s dry yet surreal sense of humor, he may end up playing a bunch of dance-worthy stuff that isn’t in what one might presume to be his musical bailiwick.
Monday | January 15, 2018
St. Vincent at Bluebird Theater, February 13, 2010. Photo by Tom Murphy
Who: St. Vincent: Fear the Future Tour When: Monday, 01.15, 7 p.m. Where: The Fillmore Auditorium Why: Annie Clark was once a member of Polyphonic Spree but as St. Vincent she has long since distinguished herself as one of the most interesting songwriters and musicians of the past decade with a string of albums that explore the nature of identity, the complexities of dreams and aspirations and the way unexamined social norms warp our natural growth. Her latest album, 2017’s Masseduction, seemed more personal than previous offerings and hit with the emotional nuance and finely crafted dramatics of a J.G. Ballard novel.
Tuesday and Wednesday | January 16 and 17, 2018
DIane Schuur. photo courtesy dianeschuur.com
Who: Diane Schuur
When: Tuesday, 01.16 and Wednesday 01.17, two shows each night, doors 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Where: Dazzle
Why: Diane Schuur is cooler than most of us because her mentors include Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra. She has collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Quincy Joes, Dizzy Gillespie and BB King. Among others. Her emotive vocals and expressive pianowork has garnered the admiration of her peers and a fanbase appreciative of an artist that doesn’t just have chops but the soul and poetic, lyrical sensibility to guide her songcraft. She’s playing four shows in Denver, early and mid-evening shows, on both Tuesday 1/16 and Wednesday 1/17.
Maria Bamford at Paramount Theatre on Friday, December 1. Photo by Natalie Brasington
Thursday: November 30, 2017
Charlie Parr, photo by Nate Ryan
Who:Charlie Parr w/Them Coulee Boys When: Thursday, 11.30, 7 p.m. Where: Bluebird Theater Why: Charlie’s stage banter is pretty much worth the price of admission. But his take on country and blues is so personal and individual that he leaps over expectations of the genre performed by modern musicians. You can start anywhere in his discography and it’ll be worth a listen. His latest record, 2017’s Dog, seems to capture this moment in American history where a lot of people are experiencing depression and despair and a need to catch a break from that wearying state of mind. In articulating that mood so well, Dog is actually a therapeutic record that actually finds a way to explore dark places without getting stuck in them.
Who:To Be Astronauts album release w/The Patient Zeros, Dead Pay Rent and Flahoola When: Thursday, 11.30, 7 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: To Be Astronauts is a psychedelic hard rock band that sounds like the main songwriter might listen to a whole lot of the Misfits and Clutch. Fortunately, on the band’s new album, indifferentstates, these tendencies are morphed into something more original and the songs seem to be about something substantive as in the songs “This Is Not Normal” and “Discontent.” The Patient Zeros are the kind of blues rock band that there should be more of instead those more easy to mock. Probably because CJ Kjolhede, younger brother of former Cutthroat Drifters frontman Nicolas Kjolhede, and Joe Schramm and Michael Raymond aren’t trying to be the next Dead Weather or whatever. Their songs sound more like they’re rooted in some kind of folk and country sensibility with a spooky edge. Add some grit, fuzzy melodies and excellent use of space and that’s a bit of what you get with The Patient Zeros.
Friday: December 1, 2017
SPELLS, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Maria Bamford When: Friday, 12.01, 6:30 p.m. Where: Paramount Theatre Why: Maria Bamford spent the 90s honing her comedic craft and flew almost completely under the radar of everyone but fans of underground comedy. She got her start in stand-up in the late 80s at age 19 and by the mid-90s she had spots on various television comedy showcases getting a few minutes on screen here and there. But those sports were memorable and you could tell there was more going on with her comedy than the usual faire. During that time Bamford obviously made connections with other comedians and be her 30s she started to become known for her surreal, intelligent, thoughtful, brilliant comedy to wider audiences. Bamford has voiced various animated TV shows and films such as Stuart Little 2 and Barnyard because of her sheer versatility as a voice actor, her gift for tone, inflection and vocal texture, all features of her stand-up, a real asset for character acting. Her appearances on Arrested Development, Louie, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Kroll Show and numerous others have been standouts, taking all of those shows in more temporarily unusual direction than was already the case.
The Bammer now has her own comedy skit show called Lady Dynamite. As funny as the show might be, like George Carlin, who had a short-lived comedy series on Fox from 1993-1995, Bamford shines brightest in her stand-up where she can exercise her genius for free association storytelling, her illumination of ridiculous moments in all our lives, her sensitivity to the vicissitudes of the traumatized psyche and some of the most incisive social and political commentary of our time. Many don’t “get” Bamford but one might suggest these people take too much too seriously and handle all situations in the world with a shocking lack of nuance and subtlety. Bamford expertly treats subjects with the right stresses, the right pressures, the proper intensity, the appropriate tone and with a true appreciation for the humor inherent to almost every experience without unduly diminishing what really is important by, even in joking about it, not trivializing the truly weighty on the social and especially the personal level.
Who:SPELLS, Colfax Speed Queen, Cheap Perfume and Simulators When: Friday, 12.01, 8 p.m. Where: Larimer Lounge Why: All four bands on this bill could be considered punk but also a step or more in a different realm of music from that. Cheap Perfume is a raw yet melodic punk band that minces no words about sexism, Nazis and El Presidente Cheeto. Stephanie Antillon is an electrifying and commanding front person and that is something not common enough in music. SPELLS has a motto. Something about “80% is good enough.” And sure they live up to that on average in that sometimes you see an unhinged show because Ben Roy is a madman singer and everyone else in the band doesn’t exactly hold back even in hook-driven, pop-oriented punk (though not pop punk, per se). Other times, it’s just a fun, energetic show. Sometimes you don’t need unhinged and thus, yes, 80% is indeed good enough. Stop going for broke all the time or telling yourself you need to do that with all things in life, America. It burns you out. SPELLS teaches us by example that something can be good even if you’re not giving it your all. Colfax Speed Queen didn’t get that memo, apparently, because the psyche garage act seems to play like they’re trying to set a new bar for what that music can sound and look like on stage. Simulators is a noise-punk duo that came about, in part, from wanting to get away from the ideas and sounds of the bands Bryon Parker and Brian Polk are in and have been in. But it still reminds one of Shellac as did Parker’s old band Accordion Crimes—truly no bad thing.
Who:Kacy & Clayton w/Many Mountains and Patrick Dethlefs When: Friday, 12.01, 8 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: Kacy & Clayton are kind of a vocal and acoustic guitar duo and while that can be one of the most boring things in the world, Kacy & Clayton are drawing upon the great British folk-rock tradition embodied by the likes of Fairport Convention. Resonant tones, spare arrangements that feel full. The duo’s latest record is 2017’s Siren’s Song, for which it is touring in support. Opening the show is Patrick Dethlefs whose own folk music is so richly developed, mastetrfully written and emotionally powerful yet finely nuanced that when you see him you kind of assume he should be the headliner.
What:Rubedo Album Release Popup Shop and Local Music Record Store Debut When: Friday, 12.01, 8 p.m.
Where: Understudy (890 C 14th Street) Why: Rubedo’s full blown album release show for Vaca is scheduled for January 6 at The Bluebird Theater with iZCALLi, Wes Watkins and El Cro. But you can pick up the band’s latest record, a tribute to and meditation on the impact of friends and community on our lives. Over the weekend there will be a showcase celebrating the opening of a popup local record store at Understudy. Friday will celebrate the release of the record, Saturday there will be performances from Rubedo, Holophrase, Entrancer and many others. Sunday will continue live music performances with artists to be announced. For more information and more up-to-date schedules, please visit the link above or here.
Saturday: December 2, 2017
Alex Lahey, photo by Giulia McGauran
Who:Pink Hawks When: Saturday, 12.02, 11 a.m. Where: Children’s Library at Denver Public Library Central Branch Why: The sprawling afrobeat band from Denver finds a way to mix humanistic radical politics with high energy performances. And this time you’ll be able to catch the band in the Children’s Library at the Central Branch of the Denver Public Library in the morning. Yes, the content doesn’t mince words but it’s also safe for kids because Yuzo Nieto and his bandmates are brilliant that way in making accessible music with deep content designed to bring you in rather than alienate you.
Who:Alex Lahey w/Dude York and Porlolo When: Saturday, 12.02, 8 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: Alex Lahey hails from Melbourne, Australia and over the last couple of years she’s garnered some attention for her spirited, fuzzy, pop songs. Lahey’s lyrics are tender, self-deprecating, often humorous tales of desire, angst, seemingly thwarted aspirations, and everyday struggle and misfortune. Lahey’s songs are usually upbeat but she seems to honor the downbeat emotions even as she transforms the experience into something with real fire and energy behind the delivery. Her debut full-length, 2017’s I Love You Like a Brother is brash yet sensitive and bluntly yet somehow thoughtfully honest.
Who:Rocky Mountain Low 2: United Mutation, Vile Gash, Cadaver Dog, The Pollution and Combat Force When: Saturday, 12.02, 7:30 p.m. Where: Hi-Dive Why: The second edition of Rocky Mountain Low, a mini-festival put together by Reed Bruemmer of Poison Rites and Heavy Dose Records head Brian Castillo. This time it’s mostly punk and hardcore including a rare appearance from United Mutation from Washington D.C.–a band that existed in the 80s alongside the bands on the Dischord imprint of that day. U.M. had incorporated psychedelic rock sounds into its songwriting so that it still has the bite and energy of hardcore while seeming to have learned a thing or two from Chrome and Hawkwind. Similar ethos, different side of the D.C. punk scene of the 80s. Jay Fox of United Mutation has lived in Denver for several years and his more overtly psychedelic punk band The Pollution will perform as well.
Who:Jed Kopp’s Birthday Bash: Pretty Mouth and The Sleep Escape When: Saturday, 12.02, 8 p.m. Where: Gary Lee’s Why: Jed Kopp has been lending his drumming talents to several bands in Denver over the years and his clear musical talent plus his affable nature has made him a real fixture in Denver underground music. One band he plays with these days is the alt-country/punk band Pretty Mouth whose singer Marie Litton has an otherworldly presence as a front person, giving the songs and the performances an elevated and elegant quality.
Who:Sour Boy, Bitter Girl, Savage Blush, Modern Leisure and Down Time When: Saturday, 12.02, 8 p.m. Where: 3 Kings Tavern Why: Must be the top notch all local bill weekend in Denver. For this show Sour Boy, Bitter Girl, formerly from Fort Collins, will bring its literate yet gritty folk rock. The Savage Blush’s deeply reverby psychedelic pop will illuminate the stage. Modern Leisure’s superbly crafted pop songs graced with Casey Banker’s insightful lyrics and ability to truly capture a moment in time and tell a story will be on display. And Down Time is an indie rock band but it will demonstrate, as it always does, how you can work with familiar sounds and tools and by being willing to experiment with all elements make something incredibly compelling and original. The band’s use of percussion in a way that is very tied to the vocals and the use of synths in the mix brightens the sound and augments all the melodies in a way you don’t often hear.
Who:The Lollygags, Hot Apostles, Jonny Barber and The Ghost-Towners When: Saturday, 12.02, 8:30 p.m. Where: Moe’s Original BBQ Englewood Why: Very mixed bill but no filler. The Lollygags is a power pop band that sounds like it’s listened to a lot of The Wedding Present and Elvis Costello. Hot Apostles is a hard rock band that sounds like its members worked all the obvious influences out of its sound. Like maybe the members were into 70s classic rock and glam rock of the 80s but ditched the gross trappings and held onto the solid songwriting and passion. The Ghost-Towners describe themselves as an outlaw country band, which could be more retro-mundane rip-off of better material but the band includes Dario Rosa formerly of Cabaret Diosa, his former Cabaret Diosa bandmate Kimmy Franco, Zack Littlefield who spent time playing with Supercollider, Greyhounds and Sonnenblume, Bobby Genser and Chuck Cuthill both of Slakjaw and Mark Aubie of The Jaguars. Not a supergroup, per se but the outlaw country claim is no idle boast because of that lineage.
Who:Blackcell with Solypsis, The Psybrid, DJ Hepster Pat When: Saturday, 12.02, 9 p.m. Where: Tennyson’s Tap Why: This will be a bit of a different show with Denver’s longest-running industrial/experimental electronic band Blackcell as the duo collaborates with ambient and industrial artist Solypsis. Whatever the exact nature of the set it’ll be an entrancing, enveloping sonic experience.
Sunday: December 3, 2017
Chella And The Charm, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Chella and The Charm, Bryan McPherson and Sputnik Slovenia When: Sunday, 12.03, 5 p.m. Where: Goosetown Tavern Why: Two of Denver’s great storytellers will be playing this show. Michelle Caponigro of Chella and The Charm, can write a song about situations and experiences pretty much anyone can relate to but in the telling take aim at larger issues and while thoughtfully unpacking what are often complicated subjects. Anyone can write a trite song about relationships for the gendered fist bump of solidarity. Caponigro gives us something much more profound and anything but rote. Jim Yelenick will perform his more or less solo material as Sputnik Slovenia but you may remember him for being the frontman of Nuns of Brixton, Pitch Invasion and Jet Black Joy. Among others. There’s a very self-conscious and irreverent humor in his show and in many of his songs. Amid that, and because of that, there’s an unexpected sincerity that you get when a natural born smartass gets real even using irony as an element in the art.
Who:Punk For Positive Change—Benefit for Northern Colorado AIDS Project: Discount Price, Equine, Smashy Claw, Plasma Canvas, Teacup Gorilla, Sinister Pig When: Sunday, 12.03, 7 p.m. Where: Surfside 7 Why: Obviously a benefit show for the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, not so obvious is how, thank goodness, broad the sense of punk might be for this show. Kevin Richards, who is Equine, was once in experimental post-hardcore band Motheater even though his current project is more like an avant-garde guitar solo project that wends toward the realm of ambient. Teacup Gorilla is more like a post-punk-oriented glam band that doesn’t seem to be looking to any era or scene for inspiration and what’s more punk than that, really. If you mixed Weird Al with Dead Milkmen you might get something like Smashy Claw. Who knows what instruments they’ll use in the songs? Live, the band is probably more stripped down and will still probably confuse people who don’t get bands that don’t fit into a narrow genre. The irreverent, fuzz-fueled melodies of Plasma Canvas’s post-sludge-doom garage punk has more in common with Kyuss and Mudhoney than King Tuff. Not that this duo isn’t into King Tuff.
Who:Whitney w/Julie Byrne When: Sunday, 12.03, 7 p.m. Where: Bluebird Theater Why: Max Kakacek and Julien Ehrlich were once members of one of the most promising bands of the last several years, Smith Westerns. The breezy psychedelia of Smith Westerns resulted in a handful of releases and the group had garnered a large enough audience to tour playing mid-sized theaters across North America. But in 2014 Smith Westerns called it quits. Kakacek and Ehrlich wrote the early Whitney songs while living in Chicago. Two years later, after already a fairly busy touring schedule, the then full band released Light Upon The Lake, recorded with Jonathan Rado of Foxygen. The record sounds like Kakacek and Ehrlich spent a lot of time in Laurel Canyon or listening to records from the heyday of the musicians who lived and wrote their own classic material in that part of Los Angeles. An immediate comparison could be made with Joni Mitchel’s 1974 classic, Court and Spark. Partly because the vocals are intentionally in a different tone and pitch than you’d expect from even a 60s-and-70s-worshipping indie rock band from today a well as Mitchell’s genius for turning unusual, even experimental, guitar tunings into accessible riffs. Whitney, in making interesting musical choices, makes familiar-sounding music interesting because it is so well-crafted and sonically imaginative despite hearkening back to an older aesthetic. The band puts its own stamp on that sound making Whitney a band to watch rather than merely culture vulturing on an already established musical style.
Monday: December 4, 2017
Whitney, photo by Sandy Kim
Who:Whitney w/Julie Byrne When: Monday, 12.04, 7 p.m. Where: Bluebird Theater Why: Max Kakacek and Julien Ehrlich were once members of one of the most promising bands of the last several years, Smith Westerns. The breezy psychedelia of Smith Westerns resulted in a handful of releases and the group had garnered a large enough audience to tour playing mid-sized theaters across North America. But in 2014 Smith Westerns called it quits. Kakacek and Ehrlich wrote the early Whitney songs while living in Chicago. Two years later, after already a fairly busy touring schedule, the then full band released Light Upon The Lake, recorded with Jonathan Rado of Foxygen. The record sounds like Kakacek and Ehrlich spent a lot of time in Laurel Canyon or listening to records from the heyday of the musicians who lived and wrote their own classic material in that part of Los Angeles. An immediate comparison could be made with Joni Mitchell’s 1974 classic, Court and Spark. Partly because the vocals are intentionally in a different tone and pitch than you’d expect from even a 60s-and-70s-worshipping indie rock band from today a well as Mitchell’s genius for turning unusual, even experimental, guitar tunings into accessible riffs. Whitney, in making interesting musical choices, makes familiar-sounding music interesting because it is so well-crafted and sonically imaginative despite hearkening back to an older aesthetic. The band puts its own stamp on that sound making Whitney a band to watch rather than merely culture vulturing on an already established musical style.
Who:Grizzly Bear w/serpentwithfeet When: Monday, 12.02, 7 p.m. Where: Ogden Theatre Why: Grizzly Bear’s 2017 album Painted Ruins sounds like it’s tapping into the same emotional states of fantasy, yearning, uncertainty, nostalgia and self-examination that Joe Walsh expressed in his 1978 album But Seriously, Folks… and the wistful, deeply atmospheric soundscaping conjured by Supertramp for the songs on 1977’s Even In the Quietest Moments and 1979’s Breakfast in America. The melody is there, even the pretense of upbeat tempos and gestures of hope. But all are about anxiety in an age of fake plenty expressed with a sublime irony and compassion for all of us living through this moment. All those albums were written by relatively successful artists who may have fully indulged in the “good life,” to varying degrees, that music made possible for them but all of whom also saw the limitations of the hubris that commercial success and the privilege it provides engenders in many people and wrote existential songs to that effect. That’s not to say Grizzly Bear is “important” or that Painted Ruins is a masterpiece, certainly the other three records mentioned aren’t necessarily so for those respective artists, it’s just refreshing to hear a solid, thoughtful album that doesn’t give the impression that nothing’s wrong but also doesn’t try to offer shallow, pat advice.
Tuesday: December 5, 2017
Overcoats, photo by Anna Azarov
Who:Overcoats w/Sarah Jaffe When: Tuesday, 12.05, 7 p.m. Where: Globe Hall Why: Electronic pop duo Overcoats released its debut full-length YOUNG in 2017. It has the kind of sonically rich production you would hope for from a band of its kind but where Overcoats truly distinguishes itself is in its willingness to incorporate fairly unconventional sounds and rhythms in its songs and the subject matter of the lyrics sound more like a worthwhile country or folk artist. The vulnerability and startling frankness may not be obvious amid ghostly atmospheres and lushly smooth low end pulses but if you take some time with the songs it’s striking. And who better to tour with Overcoats than Sarah Jaffe’s whose own 2017 album Bad Baby swims in bright yet melancholic synth tones and sweeping rhythms as well as thought-provoking words that unwind some of the complexity of mixed emotions everyone seems to navigate in modern life these days. Definitely for fans of St. Vincent and EMA.
Who:Supersuckers, The Bellrays, Bombpops When: Tuesday, 12.05, 7 p.m. Where: Lost Lake Why: Supersuckers have tried on various sounds over the course of the last thirty or so years. But initially the band was kind of a garage punk band with an irreverent and ironic sense of humor. Probably too many people took their song “I Say Fuck” too much at face value, totally missing the significance of Daniel Clowes having done the artwork to The Smoke of Hell and Clowes’ own views on the lunkheads of the world. Whatever your takeaway from the band, its shows are energetic and celebratory even after it wisely progressed away from its roots a bit and became more of a gritty country rock band in recent years. Bellrays are a soulful revolution rock band fronted by the incomparable Lisa Kekaula. For its 1998 album Let It Blast, the band wrote a song called “Blues For Godzilla” and actually lived up to the title. That image should give you some idea about the live show.
Wednesday: December 6, 2017
Sheet Metal Skingraft, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Weird Wednesday: Sheet Metal Skingraft, Robot Peanut Butter & The Shooting Stars, Universal Devils When: Wednesday, 12.06, 9p.m. Where: 3 Kings Why: For this edition of Weird Wednesday you get to witness the noise-driven beatmaking of Sheet Metal Skingraft, the sinister one-man band folk-metal of Universal Devils as performed by Tricky Dick Wickett of Little Fyodor and Babushka Band and Robot Peanut Butter & The Shooting Stars which answers the question “What do you get when a noisy, experimental funk band makes music that J. Dilla might have wanted to sample while making a song that sounds like a lo-fi version of J. Dilla’s more out there beats?” Very meta. Thus, Weird Wednesday delivers another night of some of the most interesting and unusual music in Denver.
James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, who play at 1stBank Center on Saturday, November 11, photo by Ruvan Wijesooriya
Thursday: November 9, 2017
Guantanamo Baywatch, photo by Todd Walberg
Who:Guantanamo Baywatch w/Cheap Perfume and Vic ‘n’ The Narwhals When: Thursday, 11.09, 8 p.m. Where: Hi-Dive Why: By now surf rock is a style of music that’s been beaten into the ground over the last 7-8 years, all the possibilities of the music beaten out of it, leeched of vitality and iterations of it meditating ad nauseum upon well-worn paths. But it happens. Some band is doing it in a way that brings genuine creativity to a form of music that seems to hold no more surprises. Thus is Guantanamo Beach’s 2017 album Desert Center which has plenty of the usual tricks but even amid those are beautiful leads and melodic turns of phrase that elevate the band’s music beyond tropes and styles into the realm of originality even while employing the sounds and rhythms of an established musical genre. That Guantanamo Baywatch is a compelling live band seals that impression. Opening the show are Cheap Perfume, as thrillingly sassy punk band, and Vic n’ The Narhwals, a psychedelic garage rock band that sounds like it crawled out of Venice Beach in the late 60s, got on a plane that traveled through the Bermuda Triangle and dropped them off in Denver circa 2015. Who knows, really, but they don’t sound like they’re trying to jump on any trendy bandwagons.
Who:PterrorFractyl w/Mirror Fears, Sid Madrid and Terminals When: Thursday, 11.09, 6 p.m. Where: Syntax Physic Opera Why: Mirror Fears’ 2017 album Eaten should be on the Year End Best lists of every music journalist but probably won’t because Kate Warner is from Denver and few journalists outside the Mile High City are aware of her beautifully sculpted, experimental music infused, electro pop songs informed by heightened feelings about so many of the things plaguing our world today. Plus the songs have a depth of atmosphere and a catchiness that’s undeniable. PterrorFractyl is what you might get if an electronic dance outfit got into ambient and the abstract end of dubtechno. Reminiscent of Gonjasufi and maybe showing the influence of Flying Lotus in the mixture of organic sounds and pure electronics in the beats.
Who:Musical Mayhem w/Claudzilla, The Far Stairs as Destination Moon covering TMBG, A Box of Stars and Jacob McKelvie When: Thursday, 11.09, 9 p.m. Where: The Skylark Lounge Why: “Mayhem” is the appropriate word for this edition of the event. Okay, not pure mayhem (or pure fucking Armageddon for that matter), but it will be a contrast between Claudzilla’s keytar-driven weirdo pop songs and those of The Far Stairs covering They Might Be Giants and touring Americana bands A Box of Stars from Vermont and Jacob McKelvie from Massachusetts. But at least the touring bands aren’t the usual sort of beards and mandolins variety we get coming to Colorado looking to get their big break following in the path of The Lumineers.
Friday: November 10, 2017
Voight, photo by Tom Murphy
Who:Vase Vide and Had I Known dual album release w/Katey Sleeveless When: Friday, 11.10, 8 p.m. Where: Zodiac Venue/Bar Why: The Colorado Springs music scene is probably a bit of a dismissed enigma to anyone outside of that city unless they know a band or two. But the Springs has been home to some of the most interesting musical projects Colorado has yet produced. And if not interesting per se to many, at least respectable. Against Tomorrow’s Sky, Eyes Caught Fire, Dear Rabbit, El Toro De La Muerte, Abracastabya, Blighter, 908, Black Pegasus, Be Thou My Vision, Cocordion, The Mansfields and Nicotine Fits at a minimum. Tonight experimental pop band Vase Vide releases its latest album, Hello Moon, Good Night. Fans of Yo La Tengo and Mercury Rev will appreciate the deep, hazy atmospheres and unfurling whorls of compound time in the rhythms. That latter gives it an open-ended and expansive feeling. A more contemporary comparison could be made with the rock/psychedelia and electronica of The Helio Sequence.
Had I Known is releasing the Pedestrians EP. Singer/guitarist Brian Eastin has been around in bands for years, relatively recently in War Parts. Had I Known is a more spiky, glittery indie rock band than War Parts but with Eastin’s usual sincerity and intensity. Think more like a lo-fi and noisy The Life and Times and you’ll have some idea of what you’re in for.
Katey Sleeveless also has a new EP but it won’t be released at this show. Like Had I Known, Katey Sleeveless is a trio but rather than three men, it’s three women: Kate Perdoni many may know as a singer and guitarist in Eros & The Eschaton; Emily Gould as the drummer in country band Plain As Day; Kellie Palmblad as vocalist/guitarist in Eyes Caught Fire, Waterbear and Constellation of Cars. Among others. Their band together some may want to characterize as dream pop because there is a gritty yet ethereal quality to the guitar sounds but as with the members’ other bands, there is an expressive emotionality to the music that doesn’t release all at once. It doesn’t unfold in one or multiple bursts. It has the rare quality of being cathartic, soothing, nuanced and introspective.
Who:Gone Full Heathen album release w/Married a Dead Man, Teacup Gorilla, Vexing and guests When: Friday, 11.10, 7 p.m. Where: 7th Circle Music Collective Why: Gone Full Heathen is release its self-titled album tonight with a show with deathrock band Married to a Dead Man, glam/psych band Teacup Gorilla and Vexing. Gone Full Heathen sounds like a combination of hardcore, transcendental metal and screamo. Meaning it’s heavy, it has moments where singer Ryanne Brooks wails in an unhinged way reminiscent of Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland.
Who:Fathers w/Wild Call, Poolside At The Flamingo and Voight When: Friday, 11.10, 8:30 p.m. Where: Hi-Dive Why: Heavy music supergroup Fathers (which includes Oscar Ross of Lords of Fuzz, Eddie Maestas of Native Daughters and Mhyk Monroe of Cult of the Lost Cause) is releasing its self-titled debut at this show. Calling it metal is a bit of a misnomer because it’s more like the kind of metal and hardcore that came out on Hydra Head—more experimental, usually more extreme. One of these kids is not like the others and industrial post-punkers Voight are opening this show with its second to last show before it goes on an extended period of not playing live. You never know, singer Nick Salmon might break something in a burst of exuberance but that’s long been one of his charms.
Who:Death From Above w/The Beaches When: Friday, 11.10, 8 p.m. Where: Gothic Theatre Why: In 2017 Death From Above seems to have been able to go back to using that name without the comma and the “1979” afterward. Combining post-punk’s rhythm driven songwriting, hard rock’s exuberant bombast and electronic dance music, Death From Above quickly became one of the most popular of the “dance punk” bands in the first decade of the 21st century before taking a five year hiatus in 2006. Its latest album, Outrage! Is Now is not the acidic barn burner that is 2004’s You’re A Woman, I’m a Machine or the sophisticated take on the same as 2014’s The Physical World but it’s a worthwhile listen even if it doesn’t much push the band’s existing envelope and its seemingly meta social commentary can be a tad oblique. The live show, though still seems as exuberant as ever. Opening band The Beaches, also from Toronto, is a pretty straight forward rock and roll band with a harder edge than many of the bands mining the overworked classic rock mold. But there’s more of a power pop melodicism to The Beaches that lifts it from the tired blues based hard rock that’s been pedaled ad infinitum over the past half decade and more.
Saturday: November 11, 2017
James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, photo by Ruvan Wijesooriya
Who:LCD Soundsystem w/Traxx When: Saturday, 11.11, 7 p.m. Where: 1stBank Center Why: Too much pop music is concerned with an adolescent view of love and relationships and the world in general. Which is the appeal for many people who either are there in their lives or who are, somewhere in their heads, trapped in yearning for that time in their lives where they put adolescence and youth on a pedestal as the best time in life. But anyone who gets past 27, and especially into or past your 30s knows the best years of your life are rarely your teens and early 20s. Besides, you can’t go back and a lot of popular art and music isn’t aimed toward you and your life experience and perspectives. Fortunately, when LCD Soundsystem came back, the band gave us a record like American Dream which has all the liveliness and innovation of the band’s earlier records as well as words that speak honestly to concerns, feelings and thoughts that come to you if you’re an especially sensitive, perceptive and introspective younger person and definitely when you’re well into adulthood. No dumbing down or pandering required or given and all sarcasm and sardonic humor hitting exactly where it needs to be.
Who:Franksgiving w/Little Fyodor & Babushka, Ralph Gean and Esmerelda Strange When: Saturday, 11.11, 9 p.m. Where: Lion’s Lair Why: This is an annual event thrown by Franklin Bell to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. As usual, the fantastic punk rock band Little Fyodor & Babushka will perform and outweird and frankly outpunk most other bands at the same time with surprisingly catchy songs about anxiety and our strange world. Ralph Gean, Denver’s O.G. still living rock star will perform as well as Esmerelda Strange whose performance moniker is no mere clever stage name.
Who:HorrorHouse Pinball Tournament of Death When: Saturday, 11.11, 6 p.m. Where: Vision Comics & Oddities (3958 S. Federal) Why: This will be a combination haunted house and pinball tournament. It’s $15 to enter with pinball machines provided and maintained by Bloodshed Deathbath’s Ryan Policky who also designed the haunt. His band A Shoreline Dream has been releasing some of the most beautiful shoegaze singles over the past year in preparation for an eventual full length release sometime next year. On this night, however, music will be provided in part by DJ Fernando Altonaga of industrial band eHpH.
Who:Screwtape tour kickoff w/Remain & Sustain, King Kaleb, Victim Culture, Discount Price, Lovely Gang When: Saturday, 11.11, 6:30 p.m. Where: 7th Circle Music Collective Why: If you were to name, oh, the top three best punk bands out of Denver right now, Screwtape would have to be on that list because the hardcore outfit because its shows are an explosion of energy and it has something to say rather than resort to being mere entertainment.
Who:cEvin Key, Djoto, Mudwulf and VJ Dizypixl When: Saturday, 11.11, 9 p.m. Where: Ophelia’s Why: cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy and Download fame will do a DJ set this night with some local noise/industrial luminaries including Cozmos Mudwulf. VJ Dizypixl does visuals for all kinds of artists across the country but is based in Denver metro and will provide her usual array of arresting visuals.
Who:Jean-Baptiste Le Cessna When: Saturday, 11.11, 9 p.m. Where: Hi-Dive Why: Slim Cessna (of the Auto Club, of course) doesn’t often perform a solo show so who can say exactly what he’ll perform. But it’ll be with his usual warm yet haunting voice and expressive guitar work.
Who:Porlolo w/Jeff Beam, Turvy Organ and Cocordion When: Tuesday, 11.14, 8 p.m. Where: Hi-Dive Why: Porlolo has various part time members but it’s all the songwriting of Erin Roberts who has kept the project going for more than a decade. In the beginning it might have been described as a side project of her band with Joe Sampson, A Dog Paloma, but the latter has long since gone the way of all things. Is it folk? Maybe grounded there in some senses. Singer-songwriter? What does that even mean when such can be said of Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Joni Mitchell and Greg Laswell? Indie rock? It’s all clumsy labeling for Roberts whose songs combine keen insight into human behavior, poignant observations about everyday experiences and a existential sense of humor that can wax to the absurd and silly. Cocordion is the experimental indie rock band from Colorado Springs that just released its debut full length record, Expectations, also not short on insightful words about the world we live in and our individual navigations of uncertainty, despair and how, yes, expectations (our own, that of others) shape our perceptions. Turvy Organ is the secret great band more people should know about because its orchestral pop songs are dark, moody, expansive and thought-provoking.
Who:Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Landon Wordswell, Tope, Reason the Citizen, Kruza Kid When: Tuesday, 11.14, 8 p.m. Where: Larimer Lounge Why: Gift of Gab (born Timothy Parker) is one of the most talented MCs in all of hip-hop and his fast, literate, profane, profound, pointed delivery is one of the things that made Blackalicious one of the most popular and influential acts in underground hip-hop since the 90s. In 2017, Gab released his latest EP, Rejoice! Rappers are Rapping Again!! And it’s no mere boast because the EP is the rapper in high form.
Wednesday: November 15, 2017
Who:Cut Copy w/Palmbomen II When: Wednesday, 11.15, 7 p.m. Where: Ogden Theatre Why: Cut Copy was one of the few bands that got a good deal of buzz in the 2000s that was better than the buzz would suggest. They early on melded together 80s synth pop sensibilities with shoegaze guitars. And live those guitars were fiery and atmospheric at once. Following 2008’s In Ghost Colours, Cut Copy increasingly experimented with electronic sounds and production techniques for both its records and its live shows. In 2011, Zonoscope probably confused some fans of the band’s early music with its complete adoption of an electronic dance aesthetic which, honestly, was where the band seemed to be going from the beginning. 2013’s Free Your Mind brought the band into a more electrosoul direction that it continued with on 2017’s Haiku from Zero. However, in September 2016, Cut Copy released a limited edition cassette called January Tape. It’s a mostly ambient and minimal synth affair and fans of Popol Vuh, Panabrite and Sinoia Caves will find a lot to like there but it’s a safe bet you won’t see it live. However, Cut Copy won’t skimp on the energy and bright, enveloping atmospheres and dance-worthy rock songs that have made it a noteworthy band from early on.
Who:Samvega w/Medusa’s Disco and Today’s Paramount When: Wednesday, 11.15, 8 p.m. Where: Flux Capacitor Why: Samvega from Napa Valley, California doesn’t fit in a simple box: Its music is heavy, it’s psychedelic, it’s avant-garde and bluesy. Melissa and Mercedes Baker are unconventionally charismatic singers who sound like and come off like they spent a couple of decades touring with Heart and went on to do something weirder. The band’s 2016 album The King is Asleep was one of that year’s most interesting rock albums for its diversity and obvious care for making it a unique from the songwriting to the painting for the cover art. Also on the bill is experimental rock band Today’s Paramount. They look like they might be in a ska band, and maybe on the side some of them are, but their weirdo take on prog, jazz and psych is not like much of anything going on in Denver.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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