Hit Pick

As one of Denver's longest-running local outfits, Jux County has more than earned the right to perform during the LoDo Music Festival on Saturday, July 14: Guitarist/vocalist Andy Monley, drummer Ron Smith and bassist Chris Pearson (an ever-present local fixture who splits time between Jux, the Czars and Sarina Simoom) were developing their sound back when downtown Denver had more warehouses and open fields than cultural facilities. The band has become more refined over time, though they still contain the baroque elements that make them a hard one to figure -- which is, naturally, what makes them so interesting. Monley's guitars and vocals are suited to both brooding, volcanic melodicism and crunchy, cinematic pop, while Smith's drumming is a steady, sometimes sinister force. Subtle and electric, Jux County is getting ready for the September release of a new album -- its fourth -- an effort that reconfirms the band's status as one of the city's more creative and consistent acts.