It’s hard to say if Darren Keen, this band’s sole member for most of its existence, is more of a standup comedian/performance artist or a musician. His well-documented barbs directed at (and pseudo-rivalry with) Conor Oberst aside, Keen is one of the hardest-touring performers in the country, and his act,…
Initially, the Nod probably seems like yet another stoner-rock band. The name alone suggests someone in the band has read William Burroughs deeply, and the clever wordplay present in each song reveals a thoughtful sense of humor rare among bands with a clear grounding in metal and hard rock. Rather…
The Prids, Overcasters, Gangcharger Monday, March 30, 2009Larimer Lounge, DenverBetter Than: A show featuring genre-specific, nostalgia acts.Gangcharger set the pace for the show opening with a grittily atmospheric instrumental piece shot through with pulses of pure energy, followed by what sounded like a Confusion is Sex-era Sonic Youth song. At…
With a furious brevity that makes even Jodie Foster’s Army seem self-indulgent by comparison, Dethbox’s debut seven-inch boasts an unlikely nineteen tracks, most clocking in at under thirty seconds. Largely a skate-punk/hardcore litany of misanthropic sentiments, Oofda!! is not without its moments of obvious humor and inspired angsty extravagance. “Hatexedgexonxthexstraightxedge”…
Often compared to reverb-savvy pop acts of the ’60s with a healthy dose of the drone-heavy noise rock pioneered by the Velvet Underground, Calgary’s Women go beyond that well-worn template. A casual listen to the group’s self-titled debut places it firmly in line with the aesthetic of ambitious, retro, lo-fi…
Cut Copy, with DJ Knightlife and Matt & KimSunday, March 15, 2009Bluebird TheaterBetter Than: Most shows I’ve seen in the last 12 months.The lights lowered in the house as Matt & Kim took stage and then came back up as the pair launched into what sounded like a weird cover…
Often compared to synth-pop bands of the ’80s like New Order and Depeche Mode, Melbourne, Australia’s Cut Copy writes music that is equally inspired by unexpected sources. When they started out earlier this decade, none of the group’s members had ever played the instruments they currently employ to create their…
Given the fairly lo-fi recording here, it seems the Silver Cord was going for a more live sound. And while that approach has its drawbacks — namely sacrificing robust low end — it also highlights the stark tonal contrasts inherent in the songwriting. Dane Bernhardt’s spooky keyboard work is far…
Musically speaking, Oklahoma City is best known for the Flaming Lips, the Starlight Mints and Colour Music. Soon it will also be known as the home of Stardeath and White Dwarfs. Fronted by Dennis Coyne, the band owes an artistic debt to his famous Uncle Wayne’s long-running project. Mysterious, otherworldly…
Although traditionally playing very few shows, Pacific Pride (due at the hi-dive on Saturday, March 14) seems to make every performance count. The outfit’s rich blend of lo-fi pop with frayed sonic edges is reminiscent of the golden age of New Zealand’s Flying Nun label when legendary bands like the…
The Cut Copy profile in this week’s issue contains only excerpts of our recent chat with Dan Whitford and merely scratches the surface of our exchange. Needless to say, Whitford had much much more to say about the act’s sound, he and his bandmates’ progression as musicians, recording the album,…
Cut Off Your Hands Sunday, March 8, 2009 Hi-Dive, Denver Better Than: Not seeing this band before they’re playing bigger venues. Cut Off Your Hands plays pretty straightforward pop rock. Just the same, frontman Nick Johnston displayed considerable amount of vigor, leaning into the mike and gyrating as though he…
This debut album from Loveland’s Mourned by Flies is clearly a mélange of thrash, death metal and grindcore. However, the band’s decision to infuse songs like “Eviscerate” and “Dying Circuit” with moody atmospherics using tasteful synth lines sets it apart from so much other heavy music. Sure, the guitarists shred…
New Zealand has been home to some of the greatest pop bands of the last few decades. Lately, bands like Die! Die! Die! and Cut Off Your Hands have been touring internationally and reminding us that Kiwi acts always seem to bring an impressive degree of imagination and creativity to…
When you first hear this duo — if you’re old enough to remember this — you might think someone took the music that HBO used to introduce movies in the 1980s, increased the BPMs, filled out the low end and added lyrics to the results. As it turns out, that’s…
Taking their odd name from a bit by Mitch Hedberg, the Missing DuFrenes write good old-fashioned rock and roll with a dash of tomfoolery. While many bands mining similar territory opt for some kind of blues thing, Jonathan Snyder and Peter Higgins crib from the shambolic rock of the Replacements,…
This EP opens with “Deep Hole on a Gold Throne,” which sounds a bit like Dio if Michael Schenker had been his guitarist and the fantasy-fiction imagery didn’t come off as melodramatic and adolescent. Inevitably this band and this release will invite the term “stoner rock,” but there’s nothing sludgy…
Hailing from Albuquerque’s avant-garde noise scene, Sabertooth Cavity takes the stage and looks like any other noise-rock band you see making the rounds of the underground music circuit. As soon as the group gets going, however, any such notions are immediately dismissed. Like Expo ’70 and the Late Severa Wires,…
We don’t know if the members of this quartet were imagining what it must have been like to be inside Noah’s head as he built the Ark, or if they were having a private giggle at the cosmic joke of the journeys of Odysseus following the Trojan War. Whatever inspired…
Two Cow Garage w/Colder Than Fargo, Raleigh, Six Months to Live and Jon SnodgrassFriday, February 20th, 20093 Kings Tavern, DenverBetter Than: A five band bill has any right to be.Colder Than Fargo opened this show on a snowy, icy night with its brand of warm, sentimentally-tinged music, part Americana, part…
Extra Kool has been rapping since the late ’90s, most notably as part of the duo Optik Fusion Embrace, with Satyr. Since 2005, he’s performed as a solo act, releasing a string of albums, including Tickled Pink and his latest effort, The Creature From the Whack Lagoon, on the Dirty…
These songs sound like they’ve been percolating in the imaginations of Julian Thomas and Jon Shockness for years in terms of what would make for killer hip-hop songs. “Nevermind the Bollocks…” clearly references the Sex Pistols, but the music is reminiscent of the type of jazz-lounge appropriation employed by Protection-era…
