Best Hard Rock Label 2024 | Sailor Records | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Hard Rock Label

Sailor Records

Oscar Russ founded Sailor Records in 2011 to release the debut album of his band Lords of Fuzz, but as his studio began to help out other bands, he realized he was on to something (as well as a tax write-off). Now the label lists fifteen bands that it represents, and locals know it's a big deal to be signed. With the tagline "Music We Believe In and Live By," Sailor Records focuses on quality over quantity, only signing bands that put in serious effort. For proof, take a listen to the release from local band Ipecac that the label put out last year.

sailorrecords.com

Best New Label

Mean World Records

An example of how the city's tight-knit music scene only begets more creativity, Mean World Records launched in September 2023 after Hunter Bates moved to Denver and joined the band Magnolia Grove, where he met his fellow label co-founders, Jason Kaplan and Jake DeMarco. The three created the label in 2023, and it now represents Shady Oaks, the Losers Club, In Plain Air, the Study Abroad, Death Rali, Tarantula Bill and more. Mean World Records is committed to serving the DIY community, and we see that community growing with its help.

meanworldrecords.com

Best Punk Label

Convulse Records

Convulse Records has grown a lot in just a little over five years. Founder Adam Croft began the label in 2018 when he was living in Laramie, Wyoming, as a way to help fellow musicians and friends there. After he moved to Denver the next year, the music community readily welcomed him into the fold, and Convulse now has 26 bands on its roster from Denver and beyond. Convulse makes vinyls, cassettes and T-shirts, too, reflecting the DIY culture it helps to foster.

convulserecords.com

Best DIY Label

Unit-E Records

We chose Unit-E Records, champions of the growing art community, as Denver's Best DIY Venue back in 2012, when it was just a rented-out space in the Art District on Santa Fe. It was the best place to go during First Friday Art Walks, because you always knew there would be art worth seeing and music worth hearing. Now, over a decade later, that DIY ethos is being channeled into a record label designed to provide opportunities for local artists and encourage supporters through its record subscription program. The label might be relatively new, but it's already started bolstering its roster with rising stars such as Cherokee Social and Machete Mouth alongside Denver mainstays RAREBYRD$ and Wheelchair Sports Camp, among others.

unitedenver.org

Best Debut Album

Okay Grandma, Your Turn
May Be Fern

May Be Fern has been rocking Denver since 2022, but the band really captured our attention this year. With a unique, intentional and well-curated sound, the four-piece describes its music as "queer funk rock," and yes, that's just as amazing as it seems. Take a listen to the group's debut album, Okay Grandma, Your Turn, which showcases May Be Fern's breadth of talent, from funky licks on each instrument to clever lyricism delivered through powerful, melodic vocals. We only anticipate more greatness to come from Kate Fern (vocals/bass), Hannah May (vocals/keys), Madi Spillman (guitar) and Evan Jeffers (drums/vocals).

maybefernband.co

Best Rock Band/ Concerts

Ipecac

Sheer talent dedicated to pure, raw hard rock — that's Ipecac. The band delivers unbridled performances that hurtle audiences to the golden ages of the genre with a healthy dose of punk and grunge, too, evoking such greats as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Hole. The members are natural-born rock stars: Vocalist Isabella Osborne is a powerhouse, whipping across the stage with mic in hand, while founding member/guitarist Ariadnee Ziady tantalizes the audience with heavy, crushing chords and solos alongside fast-and-furious drumming from Kanyon Dickerson, all of it held down by Tayte Eubanks's masterful bass. The band's self-titled EP was released in September 2023 and has kept us hooked while we check Ipecac's socials and website for upcoming shows.

ipecacrocks.com

Best Revival of Classic Rock

Velvet Daydream

The ’70s are alive and well in Velvet Daydream, the new psychedelic rock-and-roll band from Broomfield that wowed us with its self-titled debut album, released in October 2023. Reminiscent of such greats as Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and the Rolling Stones, the four-piece has also won our hearts with its live shows, which include plenty of headbanging and top-tier musicianship from members Nick Schwartz (drums/keys/vocals), Ryder King (guitar/vocals), Jude Pfanstiel (bass/vocals) and Kaeden Keys (guitar/vocals). If you've ever wished you'd been at Woodstock, put these guys on your list of bands to see.

thevelvetdaydream.com

Best Out-of-Pocket Lyrics

Horse Bitch

If you're an underground music fan and tend to frequent shows at the hi-dive or Skylark, you've probably seen Horse Bitch perform and thought, "What the fuck are they saying?" Take the lyrics "I'm gonna start a Harry Styles stan account that gets so big that I can't go out in public," for example, in "a song about fuck," from the 2021 album RIP Pistachio, or "Getting fucked up on cough syrup the night we slept inside your car," on "a song about cough syrup." You might not know what they mean, but once you learn the words, the live shows will have you banging your head and screaming every syllable. After listening to pretty much any music afterward, you'll come to realize that no one writes lyrics like Horse Bitch.

horsebitchbandcamp.com

Best Soul-Shaking Stage Presence

Rootbeer Richie & the Reveille

A reveille (from the French for "wake up") is the morning bugle signal used in the military, and this Reveille knows just how to arouse your body and stir your spirits. The rhythm-and-blues swamp-pop crew might sound like it was born on the bayou, but that's only true of the band's frontman. Hailing from Cajun country (aka Louisiana), "Rootbeer" Richie Richardson spent time rambling from town to town and soaking up new sounds before eventually landing in the Mile High City. That odyssey resulted in a formidable eight-piece Denver supergroup of experienced rockers who always bring their best soul-shaking chops to the table.

rootbeerrichie.com

Best Band of Activists

Los Mocochetes

If giving a shit is hot, then consider Los Mocochetes an active Colorado volcano. Not only is each and every bandmember a multi-disciplined artist, but they are all extremely dedicated to community activism. The charming Chicano funk outfit has often been described as making "protest music you can dance to," and its socio-politically charged lyrics accomplish that task with wit as sharp as a machete. The ever-evolving, intoxicating sound helps set the stage for these hardworking hometown heroes and their like-minded comrades to create and hold space for all that need it.

losmocochetes.wixsite.com/mocoso

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