Concerts

If you’re seeking Nirvana, you shall find it. It’s all there. From the dark, diary-style lyrics to the tortured-growl delivery to the loud-quiet-loud dynamic, you can hear the influence Kurt Cobain has had on Andy Hull as you listen to the super-serious, 22-year-old Manchester Orchestra frontman howling about such heavy…

I really wanted to play the sax when I was a kid, but ended up with the trombone, since a family friend let me borrow one. I got pretty good at it, and my folks finally bought me my own trombone — but once I was old enough to drive,…

Plenty of bands have overmined the new wave of British heavy metal and mixed it with a bit of glam rock and thrash. Sonically, Gritt Hitter (due at the hi-dive on Thursday, October 8) comes from that milieu, but instead of limiting itself to creating music in the shadow of…

If you like your militantly vegetarian metal fast, loud and brutal — splattered with specks of blood, shards of entrails and other bodily fluids — you owe it to yourself to catch Cattle Decapitation when the band stampedes into town with Soulfly and Prong. Earlier this year, after more than…

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…

Like a Brillo pad stuffed with a gooey cream filling, Nebraska’s Box Elders smuggle sweet and luscious pop songs inside a raw, scratchy-as-hell shell. It’s not a new recipe, but Box Elders know how to make it their own; brothers Clayton and Jeremiah McIntyre, along with drummer/organist Dave Goldberg, ooze…

After his noise-rock band Calvin Krime broke up in the late ’90s, Sean Tillman performed as Sean Na Na before that project ultimately transformed into his current persona. Before it became something of a trend, Tillman performed profane and sexually oriented R&B as a solo act called Har Mar Superstar…

Few artists have explored the theme of paranoia as thoroughly as Time does on this latest release. In “Naked Brunch,” conspiracy-theory icon William Cooper is woven into that story about Paul McCartney being dead and Billy Shears acting as his stand-in for one of the most deft lyrical and conceptual…

Although it’s labeled as a mere demo, this three-song, self-titled disc from Science Partner — formerly the Tyler Despres band — is far from a sketch or work in progress. Tightly controlled and clean as a whistle, it offers a quick dose of acoustic-based indie pop that, while sugary and…

The distinction between indelible hip-hop and the dismissible kind is so narrow that artists can straddle the line without realizing it — which pretty much tells the story of Tr3CooH’s latest. He’s got a strong voice — gritty, light and nimble — but his prose can be inconsistent even when…

Onetime Westword contributor Marty Jones knows a few things about boozing and singing, so it’s no surprise that he’d dub his new five-song EP Drink & Song. While fronting his previous band, the Pork Boilin’ Poor Boys, he penned quite a few tunes about imbibing, and he also booked bands…

In 2008, Westword named Boostwell the best hip-hop crew in Denver. Headed by SP Double, Boostwell consisted of local MCs and producers Flawless, Fo Chief, ManDaMyth, Catch Lungs, EMB, Purpose, Procise, Kontrast and a few others. Shortly after the recognition, a number of members left and launched the Fresh Breath…

These days, a real punk band (sorry, Green Day) can almost never find its way onto the pop charts. But back in the day (see: mid-’80s), England’s New Model Army released political punk that sold to more than just left-wing extremists. Nearly thirty years ago, frontman/mastermind Justin Sullivan, who has…

Mark Knight is on an upward trajectory in the DJ world. Last year, he broke the top half of the DJ Magazine top 100. As head of the Toolroom label, he’s put plenty of records in DJ’s boxes from artists such as David Guetta, Deadmau5 and Audiofly. His own hits…

Moments ago, KBPI announced the finalist for its annual Best Band in Denver competition. According to Matt Need, who just revealed the contenders on the air, 17,000 people weighed in, with the top nominee receiving more than 2,000 votes. The top fifteen contenders, which are slated to face off each…

Must suck to be a rock star, eh? Getting paid to do something you’d do for free anyway, not to mention all the food, all the fans, all the chicks (unless, ahem, you’re married, of course) and all the other random perks — you know, like joy riding in race…

Those wanting to get to know the Colorado hip-hop scene a bit more intimately should check out the latest offering from DJ Ktone. His latest mixtape, We the West Vol. 6, features a collection of Colorado MCs such as Young Doe, Kajmir Royale, Innerstate Ike and Hawkman, mixed with classic…

Juliette Lewis, the Ettes, American BangFox TheatreTuesday, October 6, 2009Better than: Lewis’ show with the Pretenders and Cat Power this past August. I wasn’t expecting much before seeing Juliette Lewis open for the Pretenders and Cat Power during a ninety-degree afternoon last August at the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield. Sure,…

German industrial-dance darlings KMFDM are coming to FashioNation Friday, October 9, for a two-hour, in-store CD signing and fan meet and greet. We have a special place in our once black heart for these scowling Germans — in a roundabout way, they paved the way for us to become dance…

​Daedelus, Musa and CacheFlowe Bluebird Theater Monday October 5, 2009 Better than: The rest of my Monday — by a long damn shot. Today, I had a bad case of the Mondays. As a result, I approached this show with a heavy heart — I would much rather have been…