Put It on Your Playlist: New Music Released From Denver and Beyond

New music being released in Denver this week includes a marriage of shoegaze and hip-hop, noisy blues rock, a 1981 live set of post punk, lo-fi indie instrumentals, and soul-infused rock and roll. Keep reading to discover some of the best new releases from Denver and beyond. Unless otherwise noted, all of it is available on major streaming platforms.



Yonnas
FÉVEN
The prolific Yonnas Abraham, aka Yonnas, has performed and produced with the Pirate Signal, FOE, Karma, Catch Lungs, Haven and BLKHRTS. He says he’s felt “pigeonholed into rap by the expectations of the music industry’s white gatekeepers,” and FÉVEN serves as his effort to decolonize rock music. FÉVEN, released through Obliterati Records, offers nine tracks of shoegazing and dream-pop sounds coupled with hip-hop-adjacent rhythms. But he’s not just sampling My Bloody Valentine and throwing it over a Skull Snaps loop. The music is really a genre unto itself, with seemingly disparate musical traditions gelling seamlessly. In the past, Yonnas has sourced unorthodox samples from Joy Division and the film Eraserhead, so this record marks a logical progression for him. “I Hate the Sun” is the album's highlight, and while ethereal, it's meant to be played loud. FÉVEN is definitely unique, but it bears a spiritual connection to Camu Tao’s genre-disregarding posthumous record King of Hearts. Nick Bassett, of Deafheaven, Whirr and Nothing, contributed to the compositions.



Tongue Hammer
“Billy Bill”
This new Denver rock-and-roll four-piece includes members of Thievery Corporation and Andy Frasco & the UN. Its debut single, “Billy Bill,” available through Denver’s Color Red Music record label, is a distorted blues-rock slab that evokes punk-blues bands such as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Zen Guerrilla, but its slowed-down pace helps to highlight the joyful sleaziness of its groove. The song's lyrics tell the story of a band that breaks up after a gig because the guitarist has been sticking it to the lead singer’s lady. It brings to mind a quote from the defunct alt-weekly L.A. Reader’s take on Link Wray: "If you're looking for background music for fightin', fuckin' or carryin' on, start here.” The band has eight tracks recorded, so expect a stream of singles over the next year.



Savage Republic
Africa Corps Live at the Whisky A Go Go 30th December 1981
Savage Republic came through Denver at least once in 1986, playing a venue called the Fun House and releasing a song through short-lived Denver label We Never Sleep. This still-extant California post-punk outfit was calling itself Africa Corps when it recorded this ten-song set at the famed Whiskey A Go Go in 1981. It’s noisy, minimalist, and percussive as hell. The guitar melodies are reminiscent of East Bay Ray’s spacey surf-music contributions to records such as Dead Kennedys’ Plastic Surgery Disasters, and the band’s strategic use of repetition imparts a hypnotic vibe to the songs. The album, available through Independent Project Records, offers a look into the post-punk of the early 1980s. It should appeal to people who want to expand their palate beyond Joy Division and the Cure.



Yugs
“Sweet Dreams (חלומות פז)”
Denver producer Yugs’s instrumental music could easily be relegated to a “Lo-Fi Music to Study To” playlist on YouTube. But to do that would ignore intricacies present in his compositions. On his latest single, “Sweet Dreams,” jazzy, chorus-laden guitar hooks swap places with a descending synthesizer line that conjures daydreams — it’s perfect for your afternoon smoke. The parenthetical title reads “sweet dreams” in Hebrew, and the accompanying video pays homage to Yugs’s Jewish upbringing as he attempts to score a Reuben sandwich at the Bagel Deli. Slide on over to his Spotify page and check out his other offerings, some of which include vocalists and rappers.



Musketeer Gripweed
Long Past Time
Musketeer Gripweed’s latest record delivers eight tracks of soul-tinged blues rock that, like a lot of the Fort Collins band’s output, is reminiscent of music from the 1989 film Road House. And that’s a good thing, because the movie, while being a big ball of cheese, has a great score that stands the test of time. Musketeer Gripweed likes to continue tinkering with its recorded output when it hits the stage, so it’s definitely an act to check out live: You never know what you might hear from one show to the next.

Are you a Colorado musician with new music? Send submissions to [email protected].