Matson Jones

A look back at past Best New Band winners

Best of Denver 2013: A look back at the Best New Band winners from the past decade

Our annual Best of Denver issue hits stands today. It's a painstaking issue to put together each year, and one that everybody looks forward to. This edition in particular, though, is even more significant as it's the thirtieth edition. It's also a minor milestone for Backbeat, as it marks the tenth ... More >>

The Gathering of the Clouds at the Walnut Room, 3/8/13 (review and photos)

GATHERING OF THE CLOUDS @ WALNUT ROOM |3/8/13 Despite Victoria Cecilia's illness, Gliss managed to put in a solid performance at Gathering of the Clouds last night at the Walnut Room. If she indeed needed the cough drop she had half-jokingly solicited from the audience, you couldn't tell from her s ... More >>

Using old faces and a new project, Land Lines created a space of its own

Joy Subtraction? Its members just enjoy screwing with Joy Division.

#WMS 2012 recap: Bar Standard

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Tom Murphy host ... More >>

Our complete guide to the June 23 Westword Music Showcase

See also: Twelve types of Denver musicians

Mile Highlights: Shows announced/on sale this week, local radio playlists and top local sellers

​ Here's what's good in the Mile High City this week. On the concert front: Peter Gabriel and Widespread Panic are coming to Red Rocks in June, while Sade is due at the Pepsi Center in August. Meanwhile on local radio, My Body Sings Electric, Pacific Pride, the Sunshine House and String Chees ... More >>

Snake Rattle Rattle Snake rings in the New Year with one of the best posters of the year

​We see a lot of posters throughout the year, and many of them are stellar. This usually all comes to a head on New Years Eve, when venues pull out all the stops and unleash a ton of kickass posters. We haven't seen many, however, that have come even close to this absolutely incredible Snake R ... More >>

Gathering of the Clouds, 10/21/10 - 10/23/10

GATHERING OF THE CLOUDS Overcasters • Swayback • Buckingham Squares • Gangcharger Achille Lauro • Light Travels Faster • Glass Homes • Juliet Mission Action Packed Thrill Ride • Hearts In Space • Anna.Martina.Ross 10.21.10 - 10.23.10 | The Weather Center, Denver, CO Overcasters ... More >>

Day Job: Martina Grbac's eyeLAB makes glasses affordable for everyone

​There's not much that Martina Grbac can't do. Previously gracing Denver stages with her cello and vocals in the now defunct indie rock group Matson Jones, Grbac's career has taken a rather surprising turn -- operating eyeLAB, her own self proclaimed garage optical shop. The mission of eyeLA ... More >>

Spin Art

Meet Wire Faces, one of the bands birthed from the Jimi Austin

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows including, Radio 1190's Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only, The Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broadcast all over Colorado, ... More >>

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows, including Radio 1190's Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only*, 99.5 the Mountain's Homegrown Show*, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC ... More >>

Gangcharger creates beauty from harsh noise

Q&A with Ethan Ward of Gangcharger

Tom MurphyGangcharger's Ethan Ward at the Meadowlark​Gangcharger started out as something of a side-project Ethan Ward did with a few friends. Few probably saw or remember the earliest incarnation of the band, but when it started up full force at the end of 2008, even if you didn't like the ac ... More >>

Hearsay bits: DJ Chonz available for your sweet 16, Overcasters and A Shoreline Dream lineup changes and more

​Sixteen Candles: Are you about to turn sixteen, or do you know somebody who is? Then pay close attention to this next item: Evidently, the one and only KS-107.5 drive time mixmaster extraordinaire DJ Chonz is willing to get behind the decks for you or your loved one's sweet 16 bash. You read that ... More >>

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows, including Radio 1190's Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only, 99.5 the Mountain's Homegrown Show*, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and i ... More >>

MP3 Freeloader: Joy Subtraction

Abe Brennan during his Wretch Like Me Days​Colorado might not necessarily need another supergroup, but it's hard to argue with a lineup like that of Joy Subtraction. The new trio comprises singer/guitarist Abe Brennan (formerly of Wretch Like Me and The Things They Carry), bassist Matt Regan (form ... More >>

Missed connection: Discount Cinema and Joy Subtraction

​Even the lowliest of local bands are used to getting a little groupie action now and then. But it turns out Denver-area musicians don't need to sift through their adoring audiences for a shot at romance; sometimes it's right there onstage. Emily Carter, bassist of Lakewood electro-rock outfit Dis ... More >>

Dialed in: This week's local music radio playlists

Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows, including Radio 1190's long-running Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only (except for this week: Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, Alf ended up ... More >>

Dialed in: This week's local-music radio playlists

Here's this week's playlists from the other local-centric music shows around your radio dial, including Radio 1190's long running Local Shakedown, KTCL's Local's Only and the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is rebroadcast all over Colorado. If there are any others you'd like to see ... More >>

Live Review: Porlolo, Bad Weather California, Wentworth Kersey, Team Firefox and Sorelina at hi-dive

Matson Jones Returns for Pair of Shows In Denver and Ft. Collins

Slow Crash

Slow Crash

Larimer Lounge

Westword Music Showcase 2007

Saturday, June 16

Westword Music Showcase 2006

Be there or be square!

Matson Jones

The Albatross Mates for Life...but Only After a Courtship That Can Take Up to Four Years (Sympathy for the Record Industry)

Goin' South

Denver bands make tracks to Austin.

Feeling the Flo

More chefs equal more flavor for the Flobots.

The FlashBangs

Viva La Blah Blah Blah (Self-released)

The Beatdown

The Golden Triangle was really golden during the Westword Music Showcase.

Mystery Machine

In the face of impending fame, Matson Jones holds close to its secrets.

Westword Music Showcase 2005

The Beatdown

If everything works out, Maris the Great will Bury Your Dead at Ozzfest.

Best New Band

Matson Jones

Critic's Choice

Monofog

The Beatdown

Mark Obermeyer is the man with a plan at Rudy's Studio.

Moovers and Shakers

In 2004, Mootown's best and brightest gave us something to write home about.

The Beatdown

Putting Denver on the musical map.

The Beatdown

Taking a ride on the Melo side.

The Beatdown

In the final tally, Avril is far less Complicated than Britney.

Letters to the Editor

From the week of November 18, 2004

Critic's Choice

Hobbs NM

Matson Jones

Matson Jones (Self-released)

The Beatdown

Westword Music Showcase: Be there or be square.

Westword Music Showcase 2004

Fifty bands. Ten stages. Five bucks. Be there.

The Beatdown

“Nothing Else Matters,” especially when it comes to local music.