Wobbling on antique Schwinns and dressed in vintage shades and button-up shirts, Michael Daboll and Matt Hunt are riding down Broadway looking like extras from the set of an old B-movie. It’s a humid afternoon in early July, and the two members of the Omens are arriving at the Irish…

Mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, ice ages and laptops? Though named after a primordial era of Earth’s past, the massive avant-garde act Pleistocene is one of Denver’s most forward-looking and highly evolved ensembles. Drawing inspiration from such experimental entities as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Ros, the ten-piece troupe incorporates guitar,…

How do you deal with asshole hecklers? Drew Danburry has his own unique solution. After failing to silence a loudmouth member of the audience during a recent show in Illinois, the Utah-based songwriter led the crowd out of the venue and into the street for an acoustic sing-along of “I…

Queen used to put disclaimers in its records proudly stating that “no synthesizers were used on this record.” Of course, that was before the ’80s enslaved the world — Freddie Mercury and crew included — in a Tron-like dystopia of silicon chips and squiggly blips. Delaware’s Mixel Pixel still lives…

There are lots of albums you love despite yourself, and plenty that just plain blow. But Vee Device’s sophomore full-length, Autobiography of a Dying Band, is that rare breed of record: one you try hard as hell to like, but can’t. After all, the skeleton of this disc is more…

There’s a girl sitting across from you in class, chewing on her eraser, chestnut hair draped across carved-soap cheekbones as she fidgets and squints at the math exam on her desk. Smartest kid in the class, and the cutest, but still sweet enough to glance up, catch you staring and…

While the freak-folk explosion led by Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsome has turned quite a few heads, there are kindred artists of soul and purity who aren’t quite as spotlight-happy. Brooklyn’s Diane Cluck, an exponent of New York’s tightly knit antifolk scene, has been performing her crystalline acoustic songs for…

Lots of bands have gotten their big break by having their music appear in movies. But seeing the Willowz live, it’s obvious that — regardless of the group’s inclusion on the soundtrack to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — the quartet doesn’t need visions of Kirsten Dunst in her…

On Sunday evenings, Jefferson Holland is known as Uncle Jeff, purveyor of all things rustic and Americana on Radio 1190’s popular show, Route 78 West. But his obsessions run farther afield, as evidenced by Bahian Coastal Hwy, the second full-length by his project, Multicast. A collaboration with fellow members of…

It’s way too easy to psychoanalyze musicians through their records. Still, rarely have two albums sounded so reflective of their creators’ souls as The Future Embrace by Billy Corgan and Pajo by David Pajo. Both songwriters have illustrious resumes: Corgan, of course, as the Smashing Pumpkins’ front man, and Pajo…

Blood isn’t supposed to be pink. But it was that night as it dripped down, thinned by soapy water, and flowed into a bathtub drain. Aside from a bit of shock, I was okay. After all, the blood wasn’t even mine. It belonged to Zach Brooks, singer/guitarist of Call Sign…

What’s in a name? A whole hell of a lot, if yours sucks. After starting life in 2003 with the awkward moniker Tobias Jupiter, The FlashBangs adopted their current tag a few months ago — and picked up a Best of Denver award for Best Band Name Change in the…

The ratio of bands that play emo to the ones that have any clue about the genre’s rich tradition is pathetically small. But the Forecast serves up more than a history lesson. With its debut album, Late Night Conversations, this coed quartet from Illinois resurrects the taut, melodic urgency of…

Some of the original British punk bands of the 1970s went on to stardom, critical acclaim, even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Clash. Even less successful ones like the Damned and the Undertones are still cited as influences and revered. Then there…

The idea of a two-person, retro-roots combo is about as played out as Stooges T-shirts at American Outfitters. There are only a couple of ways to convincingly pull off such a project in the age of the White Stripes and the Black Keys: Do it over the top and larger…

You wouldn’t think a band could do a lot of damage in the span of just five songs, but with its eponymous debut EP, the Autokinoton packs enough corrosive force to make most hardcore bands in town whimper in envy. Still, it isn’t all bloodletting: Rather than rely on the…

In 1975, Brian Eno proved himself a polarized figure with the release of Discreet Music, an early ambient opus, and Another Green World, a masterpiece of avant-garde pop. With Another Day on Earth, an ostensible sequel to Green World, Eno manages to evoke the least compelling traits of both sides…

Some bands grow up as they grow older; others are born ancient and simply erode. Over the course of the past fifteen years, Baltimore’s Lungfish has built an edifice of epic, imposing post-hardcore that resounds far beyond the small world that birthed it — and Feral Hymns is another chip…