nervesandgel at Rhinoceropolis

With a broad sonic brush, Johnny Wohlfahrt creates music that blurs the line between pop and the avant-garde with a rare daring and openness of spirit. Writing and performing under the moniker nervesandgel (due on Tuesday, October 20, at Rhinoceropolis), Wohlfahrt has been a prolific songwriter whose work, while clearly...

By Tom Murphy

October 15, 2009

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

With a broad sonic brush, Johnny Wohlfahrt creates music that blurs the line between pop and the avant-garde with a rare daring and openness of spirit. Writing and performing under the moniker nervesandgel (due on Tuesday, October 20, at Rhinoceropolis), Wohlfahrt has been a prolific songwriter whose work, while clearly the product of a cohesive artistic vision, doesn't lend itself well to categorization. He does indie pop the way Dalí did painting. His experimental albums are accessible, if not conventionally so: If you can imagine a combination of 1960s Bee Gees and the Legendary Pink Dots, you'd come up with something close. Wohlfahrt excels in fearlessly stripping down his own psyche and baring his soul for his art, and it is precisely this quality that has always made his performances and albums, despite any flaws, exciting and revelatory.

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.

Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

Follow:

Twitter: @simianthinker