Last year was a good year for the Knew. In addition to garnering a slot at last fall’s Monolith, the players also jetted to New York, where they performed at CMJ. And now, with an impending trip to Austin for this year’s South by Southwest festival and the release of…
I remember banging around the streets of South Nashville, shirtless, in a pair of Umbros and some beat-up Air Jordans with my head shaved and a fucking rat tail down the middle of my back,” recalls Justin Townes Earle of his less than glamorous childhood. “I don’t ever want to…
Valentines Day is awful if you’re single. There is no other holiday that makes you examine why you are alone and contemplate how many shots of whiskey it’s going to take to forget that you’re alone. If you’re in the midst of mourning and rumination as we speak, you can…
Combining hip-hop and heavy music can prove disastrous (Limp Bizkit, anyone?). Minneapolis rapper P.O.S. (aka Stefon Alexander), however, proves that when a punk discovers hip-hop, the results can be amazing. Combining four-on-the-floor-style house beats with the exuberance of his punk-rock past, P.O.S. exists in a world where it’s okay to…
Upon first listen, it may be tough to discern folk singer A.A. Bondy from contemporaries like Ryan Adams or Jeff Tweedy. A.A., also known as Scott Bondy, stays above water in the overcrowded ocean of singer-songwriters by, simply enough, writing good songs and singing them well. It was this formula…
When you’re ready to start a different part of your life, you have to leave old things behind. That wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted to lead anymore,” says Adriana Aguilar, sitting at a table inside Melita’s Greek Cafe & Market, the restaurant that she and her mother, Maria Gibson, took…
Snake Rattle Rattle Snake With Treeverb, Cannons Friday, January 22, 2010 hi-dive Better than: Avatar. Seriously, that movie sucks. Cannons opened up the show with a sound reminiscent of Fugazi, Archers of Loaf or any number of early post-punk bands. Bassist Eric Fuller, who also holds down the low end…
You haven’t lived until you’ve huffed paint fumes on the front lawn of an old folks’ home. Good times. Just ask the Still City’s Brian Knab. Relax. This was no COPS episode. Knab and his bandmates were on tour in Minnesota and stopped to visit Knab’s grandpa just outside of…
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Munly & the Lupercalians Thursday, December 31, 2009 Bluebird Theater Better Than: Any number of lame New Year’s parties occurring around Denver. A wooden pier constructed outside of the Bluebird Theatre seemed odd and out of place. It would prove to be a premonition setting the…
I have to stress,” Patrick McGuire offers, “that I have great Christian friends, and the last thing I want to do is say that their faith is invalid. But I think sometimes in this country we take Christianity in like we buy new cars.” This sentiment is something the Flashbulb…
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Wheel Variety ShowSaturday, December 12, 2009Bluebird TheaterBetter Than: The V Ultimate Variety show featuring Wally Eastwood. An estimated 48 musicians took part in the third annual Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel variety show on Saturday night. All of them played brilliantly, some of them played for…
When Josh Friedman’s old band, Sleeperhorse, broke up, he figured it was time for a change. So a few months ago, he moved to Prague to teach English, travel and to move his life forward in a positive direction after having a “pretty shitty first half of the year.” Unfortunately,…
Three vocal mikes. Three D.I. boxes. A condenser mike, a bass mike, a melodica vocal mike and a percussion mike. Two acoustic guitars. Two amplifiers for a pair of synths. Two drum kits. Moonspeed, which at times boasts an eleven-piece roster, strives to ensure that every note is played exactly…
The Blackout Pact’s demise was a highly scrutinized one. A fellow touring band’s laptop went missing, and a quick search found it nestled among the Pact’s personal possessions. Blame was placed, and the band fell apart. More than two years after that fateful day in Las Vegas, the Pact is…
With a slip of the tongue, the name CunninLynguists can change from a description of one of the most respected hip-hop acts in the game to an act that, if performed without discretion, could get you kicked out of most places. CunninLynguists’ Kno and Deacon the Villain have, with very…
At first glance, people may have a hard time distinguishing Vancouver’s Japandroids from Brooklyn’s Japanther. Both are stripped-down, two-piece, lo-fi garage-rock bands whose members share vocal duties, and both have a certain kinship with the Land of the Rising Sun. Musically, though, Japandroids offer more depth and passion, making them…
Although tagged by some as “this generation’s Black Flag,” Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon is a long way off from becoming Henry Rollins — off stage anyway. Onstage, Bannon is a whirling dervish of emotion, complete with violent fist pumps and blood curdling screams. Offstage, however, the singer is quiet, introspective…
Christmas is still a couple of months away, but one of its biggest supporters will be coming to Denver early. David Bazan, formerly of Pedro the Lion and Headphones, may seem an unlikely St. Nick, but he’s taken the Christmas spirit by the reigns and just released his sixth installment…
Dethklok, Mastodon, Converge and High on Fire Saturday, October 10, 2009 Fillmore Auditorium Better than: Seeing the Archies, Alvin and the Chipmunks or any other cartoon rock band “There sure are a lot of nerds here for a heavy metal show,” said a friend while overlooking the sea of fist-pumping,…
After one look at Strike Anywhere’s logo, it’s clear that this is a band with a heavily political stance. The logo, comprising three downward pointing arrows, is a nod to the Antifascist Circle, which was first designed to cover up Nazi swastikas. Strike Anywhere’s politically biting lyrics touch on such…
Everyone in the audience was armed,” says Paper Bird’s Esme Patterson, recalling making that horrifying discovery on stage at a recent show. “It was like that scene in The Blues Brothers, where they play at the country bar and no one knows what to think.” While you can picture such…
The term “emo” didn’t always have a negative stigma attached to it. What was once shorthand for music that was emotional and heartfelt has since been marginalized and applied to mainstream acts like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. Seattle’s Sunny Day Real Estate was at the vanguard of…
