If Mark Darling’s name conjures visions of a Jane Austen romantic lead, the association is artistically befitting. The music made by Darling and his drumming kid brother, David, is swooningly romantic, sweepingly dramatic and stunningly poetic. Like a delirious, forbidden encounter between Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley in the afterlife,…

Mike Marchant is trying to get his head straight. About a month ago, the Widowers frontman was mugged while walking to his home near City Park. The assault happened in the middle of the day, but Marchant’s recollection of the incident is as black as night. “Apparently, when you have…

Australia’s Dukes of Windsor — heralded as the best thing to come from Down Under since the Minogues — finally brings its dance-crazed international noise conspiracy to the States. You’ve heard the nasal vocals, twitchy guitars, caffeine-fueled beats and stinging synths before, but this quintet brings a fresh brattiness and…

Love is a funny thing. It can open your eyes to beauty, truth and all the joy the world has to offer, and it can shield you from the all the ugliness and negativity. When love is fresh, thoughts of your beloved can also take over your every waking thought…

Husband-and-wife duo Sean Antanaitis and Katrina Ford have made music together for well over a decade, dabbling in artsy hardcore with Jaks, nearly gothic drama rock in Love Life, and organ-driven Latin lounge in Birdland. In 2005, however, the pair enlisted Love Life drummer David Bergander and emerged as Celebration,…

The best way to understand Witchcraft is to listen to “Remembered,” one of the seven meaty tracks on the Swedish group’s latest release, The Alchemist. In just over five minutes, the quartet moves from happy-go-lucky hoedown to sludgy metal to Disraeli Gears-era Cream. While Witchcraft is frequently associated with the…

While their name might sound like that of a shopping-mall religious cult, the 29th Street Disciples (due at Monkey Mania this Friday, November 16) are actually one of Denver’s fastest, hardest and loudest punk bands. With righteous indignation and seething disdain, vocalist Ben Roy — who, oddly enough, can also…

Though Tim Pourbaix’s solo debut includes contributions from his Killfix bandmates Andrew Solanyk and Peter Glenn, the personality present on A Pony Craig, Not Greg is all his. The EP contains its share of the inevitable weeping-white-man angst, but its gravity is leavened with gentle humor, sparkling melodies and plenty…

For all capitals, change is very good. Originally salvaged from Broken Down Autos in 2004, the group has since switched bassists and dropped a singer/songwriter/guitarist. From the sound of the group’s latest effort, a self-titled EP, all the personnel changes have yielded some much-needed artistic growth. In the past, the…

I should get the dictionary out,” says Nathaniel Rateliff, “and look up the word I’m trying to say.” It’s rare for a prolific songwriter like Rateliff to be at a loss for words. But right now he is. Sitting in the living room of his home in the Baker neighborhood,…

Being in an acclaimed indie-pop band might seem very different from being a desk jockey, but for Office, the order and structure of the working world is one of the keys to success. The Chicago band started as a freewheeling solo performance-art and songwriting project for Scott Masson, but its…

New Orleans-based Mute Math has traveled a long road to reach the seemingly sudden success of its major-label debut. Vocalist/keytarist Paul Meany, drummer Darren King and bassist Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas have played together for more than seven years. After the demise of their Christian rock group, Earth Suit, King and Meany…

Although hefty art-rock outfit Qui (pronounced ‘kwee’) has been around since 2000, the Los Angelenos got a turbo-boost late last year when the legendary David Yow joined them for a few songs. After a few one-off gigs, Yow began to contribute ideas to founding duo Paul Christensen and Matt Cronk,…

Though the Soda Pop Kids technically make their home in Portland, Oregon, these days, it’s still tempting to lay claim to them as a Denver band. Before their relocation to the same rock-and-roll mecca that stole Strangers Die Everyday from us, vocalist Jonny P. Jewels and guitarist-vocalist Diet D made…

Take three Long Island-bred white girls, send them to Vassar, Oberlin and NYU, then bring them back together in New York to make some hip-hop tracks. Sounds like a recipe for precious, pretentious and potentially offensive disaster, right? Well, Northern State has been pulling this off since 2000 with mostly…

History is full of characters who were too beautiful, too intelligent or too delicate for this world. Ireland’s Guggenheim Grotto appears ready to join those ranks. Kevin May, Mick Lynch and Shane Power — all versatile multi-instrumentalists — create soul-shuddering tunes that grip the heart with cold comfort and worldly…

We Americans tragically underestimate the importance of time off to revitalize our cheap, weary souls, working more hours than the people of any other country and letting our paid vacation time gather dust. The Rentals, led by singer-songwriter Matt Sharp, understand the value of getting some rest. After a seven-year…

Growing up is hard to do. Between its lauded 2003 debut, Charm School, and this year’s followup, The Broken String, Bishop Allen went through a very public adolescence. Throughout 2006, the Brooklyn quartet released an EP every month, logging nearly sixty songs for the year. This twelve-EP project generated plenty…

For songwriters, breakups usually yield the best music. But in-band separations can be touchy — unless, of course, you’re Fleetwood Mac and you’ve got enough cocaine to cover all the tension in a thick, dusty layer. For the Lovemakers, the split between primary songwriter/vocalists Lisa Light and Scott Blonde kicked…

If the phrase “experimental rock” brings to mind visions of black-turtleneck-clad art-school graduates or another flannel-flocked Sonic Spoof, the Slats are about to blow your taurine-addled mind. When it comes to experiments, these three Minneapolis-based hooligans would rather see what happens when you spray Binaca into a Bunsen burner than…

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter crashed onto the electronic-music scene in the early ’90s with a love for Chicago house music on their sleeves and indie-rock pedigrees in their back pockets. This mixed background came through in subtle ways on early singles like “Da Funk” and “The New Wave,”…

The life of a touring band has got to be glamorous and decadent. Luxurious buses, packed to the gills with liquor, drugs and acquiescent groupies, shuttle you from one glittering city to the next. At each destination, flashing cameras and screaming fans greet you as you make your way to…