Tag: Denver CO

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Denver’s Kissing Party Focuses on Small Town Daily Life

Currently comprised of founding member Gregg Dolan (vocals, guitar), Deidre Sage (vocals), Joe Hansen (guitar), Lee Evans (bass) and Shane Reid (drums), the Denver-based indie rock act Kissing Party can trace its origins to when Dolan prematurely booked the band’s first show — without actually having a band to play it. With only thirty days to pull together the slop-pop band he had been dreaming about ever since he had turned eight and saw Purple Rain for the first time. Initially, the band wound up being comprised of a then-rag tap group of strangers that Dolan says he met “by fate:” Dolan recruited Sage to join the band on the basis that “her name sounded cool,” their first guitarist was a guy who worked at a local bank because he actually owned a guitar and Reid reluctantly joined, despite having never having heard any of Dolan’s songs.

Hansen replaced the band’s first guitarist, and Evans joined the band to complete the band’s lineup. Within their first year of being a band within Denver’s DIY scene, the band quickly became a local staple as a result of their described “slop pop” sound; in fact, their full-length debut Rediscover Lovers landed at #3 on The Denver Post‘s Best Albums of 2007. Building upon a growing profile, their sophomore album, The Hate Album received attention from Three Imaginary Girls, Filter Magazine, Skope Magazine and a number of other national outlets. The Denver-based quintet signed to local label Hot Congress, who released their third full-length album Wasters Wall, Looking Back it was Romantic, which also received a limited cassette tape release from Austin, TX-based Fleeting Youth Records.

Hot Congress also released their Christmas album, 2017’s Winter in the Pub and their most recent effort, a split EP with labelmates Bleak Plaza. The band’s fourth album Mom & Dad, which is slated for a May 17, 2019 release will be the inaugural release from the band’s own label BBYV, a Kickstarter effort that pooled over $5,000 from some of their most dedicated and devoted fans. And interestingly, the album as the band’s Dolan says in press notes isa 31 minute opus, featuring “everything [he’s] wanted to say in a record.” Thematically, the material reportedly portrays moments of small town life — the attempt to find yourself and your place, the attempt to find like-minded souls and desperately trying to make it through yet another dull, repetitive day, as well as debt, regret and heartbreak.

Mom & Dad‘s latest single, the 120 Minutes–like “A Little Star” is centered around jangling and distorted guitars, a soaring hook featuring boy-girl harmonies and while the song is generally hopeful, there’s a subtly bittersweet air to the proceedings. And while generally capturing the at times ambivalent and vacillating feelings of young lover — hell, of most love, really — the band does so with a much-needed earnestness.

The recently released video follows a young couple killing time and goofing off at a small town hotel complex — and while initially wholesome and sweet, the video takes a dark turn with the couple attempting to rob their local pizza guy. Much like the song, the video captures the day-to-day life of being young and in a small town without much to do.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Perhaps best known as the frontwoman of defunct, Denver, CO-based indie rock/synth-wave/chill-wave act Ending People, Fort Collins, CO-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Erin Roberts’ current project Porolo can trace its origins back to when Roberts started it as a solo recording project back in 2002. Over the next decade and a half, the solo recording project evolved into a collaborative project featuring a rotating cast of friends and associates, influenced by the dramatic landscapes of her home state and the even more dramatic personalities she has encountered.

Last year, I wrote about “Wasting Time” off the band’s James Barone-produced Awards EP and building upon the attention that the EP received, the band’s first single of 2019 is the anthemic 60s jangling pop “I Quit,” a track inspired by Roberts quitting her full-time career earlier this year. Reminiscent of Johnny Paycheck‘s classic, smash hit “Take This Job and Shove It,” the track captures the shimmering resentment of someone, who has finally reached their breaking point with dead-end, soul-crushing and demoralizing jobs with dehumanizing and offensive bosses, class ceilings, blind eyed-HR departments, asshole coworkers, pointless and endless meetings, casual racism and casual sexism and low pay — and out of the blue decides to quit, surprising themselves and everyone around them. As Roberts says of the song, “Singing this song puts power back in my hands when the going gets rough. I’ve used it as [a] mantra to sing repeatedly to myself when faced with tough situations. Dehumanizing bosses, turgid gatekeepers, class ceilings, blind eyes. Sometimes when there’s nothing nice left to say, you can just say “I quit.'”

The band is currently in the studio with James Barone, working on their latest full-length, which is slated for an October 2019 release.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Avery Henderson is a Denver, CO-based multi-instrumentalist, electronic music producer, electronic music artist and DJ, best known as Falcon Punch. Over the bulk of the past decade, Henderson has received attention across the blogosphere and this site for specializing in a a sultry, funk and disco-influenced electro pop sound centered by lush keys, guitars and bass that he has dubbed “Dark Island Funk.”

Now, it’s been some time since I’ve personally written about him but throughout that time, he’s been busy producing tracks with a wide array of collaborators across a diverse range of genres. Currently, the Denver-based electronic music producer, electronic music artist, DJ and multi-instrumentalist is gearing up for a string of monthly releases over the next few months to further refine and dial in his sound. Building upon the momentum of  his recent tour across Japan and Taiwan, Henderson’s latest single “Close Enough” is a collaboration with vocalist Megana. Sonically, the song is centered around a breezy late 80s – early 90s production — wobbling synths, twinkling keys, tweeter and woofer rocking beats, a sinuous bass line and Megana’s sultry vocals and hook. And while being a summery club banger, the song is a confessional to the listener (and others)  in which the song’s narrator admits she hasn’t gotten over a previous lover, and that she’s using others to fill the time and the loneliness she’s feeling. It’s a  warning that says with bedroom eyes “come hither” — but careful, you might get burned.

Henderson says in press notes about the track, “I wrote the bones of the instrumental of this track early in the summer of 2018 while I was working on my first single with Megana, titled “Amour“. After recording “Amour” I knew that Megana’s voice would work perfectly on this song as well. Megana then took the first stab at writing the lyrics and root vocal melody. She wrote the lyrics of “close enough” as a confession to a new relationship. The story stands in as a warning coming from a person still in love with someone else, while using others to fill the loneliness in the meantime.

After recording, we knew we loved what we had but the song wasn’t quite right. It took nearly 5 months of fine-tuning and tweaking to get a final product we were both extremely happy about. It was a lengthy labor of love but we’re both super pleased with “Close Enough” and hope you feel the same.”

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Moody Sounds and Visuals for Blake Brown and The American Dust Choir’s “Up in Arms”

Blake Brown is a Denver, CO-based singer/songwriter, who after participating in a number of collaborative projects, founded Blake Brown and The American Dust Choir in 2013 with the idea that it’d give him the flexibility of playing solo while collaborating with a revolving cast of friends, who could play whenever they were able to do so; in fact, the revolving cast behind The American Dust Choir has featured members of The Fray, The Films and Tennis. However, after three EPs and countless live shows, the band has settled on a permanent lineup featuring Brown, his wife Tiffany Brown, and longtime friends Jason Legler, Adam Blake, and Trent Nelson.  

The Joe Richmond-produced Long Way Home, Blake Brown and The American Dust Choir’s full-length debut was released earlier this year and the album while further cementing the band’s reputation for a sound that meshes indie rock with folk/Americana paired with complex melodies and heartfelt lyrics based around experiences within Brown’s personal life — in particular, heartbreak, deception, reflection, growing up and becoming adult and so on. Adding to a growing profile, the band kicked off the release of their debut with an official SXSW showcase, in which they opened for Keith Urban. 

“Up in Arms,” Long Way Home’s latest single is a twangy bit of indie rock that nods at Fleetwood Mac and 70s AM rock, complete with a rousingly anthemic hook and some impressive guitar work and while being unhurried, the track manages to be tinged with the bittersweet memories and experiences within a relationship; in fact, the recently released video is shot with superimposed double exposures, meant to evoke the duality between the inner and outer worlds of its protagonists. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: A Shadow of Jaguar Performing “Too Many Knots” on a Random Tuesday

Comprised of Brian Hubbert (vocals, guitar) and Andrew Oakley (drums), the New York-based indie rock duo A Shadow of  Jaguar can trace their origins to when the duo of Hubbert and Oakley met in Boulder, CO and quickly bonded over their mutual desire to write and play the sort of music they felt was sorely missing from their local scene. And as the story goes, within a few short weeks, Hubbert and Oakley began writing and recording original material while honing their sound and live set playing shows both locally and throughout the country; in fact, with the release of their first two singles, “Mama Needs the Bottle,” and its follow up “Keep On Knocking” the band received praise from the likes of AXS and Live for Live Music.

Since then, the duo have released their full-length debut RAW, which was recorded, mixed and mastered in Denver, CO, by Todd Divel and Justin Peacock at Silo Sound. And as the duo explains in press notes, the album, which is slated for release later this month, was made “to stick a big middle finger up at all the fears and doubts that plague us. The goal was to force upon people the uncontrollable urge to scrunch their faces and nod their heads.” Now, if you had been frequenting this site towards the last few months of 2017, you may recall that I wrote about album single “Don’t Want to Die Here,” an explosive, arena-friendly blues rock tune that reminded me of The Black Keys but with a boozy swagger. 
“Too Many Knots,” the second and latest single from the duo’s debut effort RAW will further cement their growing reputation for gritty, bluesy rock with arena friendly hooks    but while their preceding single reminded me of The Black Keys, their latest single reminds me of The Hunted Crows and Royal Blood among others — thanks in part to a swaggering, self-assuredness. 

Filmed by Aaron Springston, the recently released video for “Too Many Knots” was shot live in one continuous take on a random Tuesday in Brooklyn, and it captures the band in their element — live. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

Featuring the Pacheco Brothers and one of several local session bassists, the Los Angeles, CA-based band Thee Commons formed in 2012 and since their formation, the trio have developed a reputation for a sound that meshes psych rock, punk rock and cumbia; in fact, the trio landed at #15 on LA Weekly’s “LA’s 20 Best Live Shows of 2016,” thanks in part to a live show in which they frequently go off-script at a moment’s inspiration. Adding to a growing regional profile, the band have played at several of the region’s most prestigious venues and festivals, including Echo Park Rising, Desert Daze, Viva Pomona, The Echoplex, The Regent Theatre, The Glass House, The Roxy and The Observatory, as well as a weekly burlesque dancer-based residency dubbed Cumbia Psicodelica Cabaret — and they’ve opened for the likes of Chicano Batman, Bomba Estero and Thee Midniters.

Along with that, the band has managed to be remarkably prolific: 2013 saw the release of their 7 inch vinyl EP, Sunburn at Midnight; an 8 volume, limited edition EP series Rock is Dead: Long Live Paper and Scissors released the following year, an effort that since 2015 has been released through Burger Records as a full-length 20 song CD; 2016 saw the release of their sophomore effort Loteria Tribal, which was released through Burger Records, as well as two 7 inch vinyl albums — one that included a cover of Los Saico’s “Demolicion,” which was releaed through Denver‘s Heavy Dose Records and a single featuring “La Fiesta,” an obscure Mexican track with a cover of Selena‘s “La Carcacha” released through San Pedro,CA-based label, Steady Beat Records.  Earlier this year saw the release of their third full-length effort Paleta Sonora, an ambitious 18 song effort that saw the band expanding upon their sound, as well as their live sound. Interestingly, the Southern California-based band end 2017 with the release of a double single — “El Jale, Vol. 1: Alitas/Dr. John.” 
“Alitas” is as shimmering and propulsive track that will further cement the trio’s reputation for a sound that clearly draws from 60s psych rock, garage rock and surfer rock and cumbia — and in a way that seems loose, effortless and mischievously anachronistic as though the song should have been included in a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack.  The second single “Dr. John” continues in a similar vein but with a loose jam band meets punk rock vibe, complete with some blistering guitar work. And while being an impressive way to end a year for the up-and-coming band, it’s also a revealing look into one of the more unique sounds I’ve personally heard this year.
Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Psychedelic Visuals and Arena Rock Blues Rock Sounds of Shadow of Jaguar’s “Don’t Want to Die Here”

Comprised of Brian Hubbert (vocals, guitar) and Andrew Oakley (drums), the New York-based indie rock duo A Shadow of a Jaguar formed in early 2015 in Boulder, CO — and as the story goes, the duo of Hubbert and Oakley bonded over their mutual desire to write and make the kind of music they felt was sorely missing from their local scene. Within a few weeks, the duo began writing and recording original material while honing their sound and live set playing shows locally and throughout the country; in fact, their debut single “Mama Needs the Bottle,” and its follow up “Keep On Knocking” were received to praise from the likes of AXS and Live for Live Music. 

Since then, the duo have been touring and writing and recording the material that comprises their soon-to-be released album RAW, recorded, mixed and mastered in Denver, CO, by Todd Divel and Justin Peacock at Silo Sound. And as the duo explains in press notes, the album, which is slated for release later this month, was made “to stick a big middle finger up at all the fears and doubts that plague us. The goal was to force upon people the uncontrollable urge to scrunch their faces and nod their heads. ” RAW’s latest single, “Don’t Want to Die Here,” will further cement the duo’s growing reputation for explosive, arena rock-friendly blues rock, along the lines of The Black Keys and others, but complete with a swaggering and boozy vibe. 

Directed and produced by Wondering Works and the members of A Shadow oF a Jaguar, the recently released video for “Don’t Want to Die here” features dancer Cara Diaz expressively dancing to the song in front of projections of country roads, explosions, billowing smoke, and other psychedelic splashes of color. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Griffith Synder (vocals), Charles Kern (guitar, programming) and multi-instrumentalist Julia Mendiolea, the Denver, CO-bassed indie electro pop/dream pop trio Inner Oceans formed back in 2013 over a mutual desire by each of the band’s three members to create music that’s personal while embodying a spiritual mystery and elegance that’s just out of touch. And with the release of their early singles “8 Cousins” and “Everything’s Alright,” the Denver-based trio received both national and international attention as both singles landed on several high-profile Spotify playlists, and have opened for the likes Tennis, Wild Nothing, Hundred Waters, Big Data, Moses Sumney, On an On, Holy Fuck and Shigeto among others. And of course, since the release of those singles, the trio have received quite a bit of attention from major media outlets and the blogosphere alike including Westword, who named the trio 2014’s “Best New Band,” Idolator and No Fear Of Pop and others.

Earlier this summer, the duo released two singles “Wild” and “Apparition,” which revealed that the trio has increasingly moved towards an aesthetic that’s difficult to pigeonhole or tie down. Interestingly, the trio’s latest single “Call Through The Wire” is a slow-burning bit of synth pop in which Snyder’s plaintive and tender falsetto floats over atmospheric and shimmering synths and a simple yet propulsive rhythm — and in some way, the song nods at Quiet Storm-era R&B and Tame Impala‘s psych-leaning pop.

The recently released music video employs a fairly simple concept –the trio’s frontman Synder singing the song in front of a psychedelic background and in some way, it nods at Michael Jackson‘s “Rock With You.”

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of founding member and frontman Jon Wirtz (keys),  Eric Imbrosciano (drums), Taylor Scott (guitar) and Todd Edmunds (bass), both of whom have worked with Otis Taylor, Gabriel Mervine (trumpet) and The Motet‘s Matt Pitts (tenor sax), the Denver, CO-based psychedelic funk sextet Space Orphan can trace their origins to early 2015 the act’s founding member had been hitting creative roadblocks with various solo projects when he was reminded of what made him excited about music and creating music — deep funky grooves. After writing a few compositions, he rushed into the studio with the aforementioned group of collaborators and dear friends to finish the songs and record them before Wirtz could overanalyze them.

As a result of the Denver-based sextet’s growing profile, they’ve opened for the likes of legendary bassist George Porter, Jr. and Jans Ingber’s Funk Fellowship — and adding to that, the band will be releasing their full-length debut Shut Up About The Sun is slated for September 30, 2016 release. “Free Swag,” the album’s first single is a strutting and swaggering bit of futuristic funk that owes a sonic debt to Mothership Connection-era Parliament, Expensive Shit/He Miss Road-era Fela and contemporary acts such as Lettuce and Soulive as the song possesses a trippy yet funky groove — but with a drum ‘n’ bass-leaning bridge. It’s the beloved old school funk sound but with a modern take.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Primarily comprised of its creative masterminds and founding members Daniel and Jenna Watters, Austin, TX-based indie soul act The Watters can trace their origins to when the band’s founding members met as children. As the story goes, they first met while playing on the same pee wee football team in Sedona, AZ that Jenna’s father coached — although they did attend rival grade schools. The duo eventually went to high school together and at that point, began a collaboration that can trace its origins to when the duo performed together at their high school graduation and then fell in love; in fact, they’ve performed together for over 12 years, written together for over 8 and have recorded 6 albums together while in the Denver, CO then Nashville, TN-based nationally touring act The Oak Creek Band.

Now writing and performing together as The Watters, the duo’s forthcoming debut effort Great Unknown was influenced by Daniel and Jenna’s own personal experience. As Daniel Watters explains in press notes: “The concept of the Great Unknown came to us while we were in transition between Nashville and Austin. We were living in Sedona, AZ with my folks for three months having left Nashville and had no idea where we were moving to. Our bassist was going to move to California and so were we, but we happened to stop in Austin on our way back and fell in love. We were so torn on what to do, but we trusted our instincts and made the hard decision to leave our musical brother and start a new life in Austin. The Great Unknown is [about] the power of intuition and the beauty in uncertainty. Instead of finding fear in the unknown, I find it easier to see the beauty and opportunity in the unknown. Our move to Austin was a complete leap of faith, but a year later we are very happy here and feel an overwhelming support system here.”

Recorded at Cacophony Recorders, Great Unknown features some of the Austin, TX area’s best and most renowned musicians including Band of Heathens‘ Trevor Nealon, Golden Dawn Arkestra‘s Joe Woullard and Zumbi Richards and Erik Hokkanan and was recorded live to tape to best capture the band’s live sound.  Album title track and first single “Great Unknown” has the band pairing Muscle Shoals soul with 70s AM rock — a soulful horn arrangement and Jenna Watters’ effortlessly soulful vocals are paired with jangling guitars and gently propulsive drumming, along with a careful and deliberate attention to craft. Lyrically, the song focuses on two very different things -taking a big chance on your dreams with the hope that things will come out in your favor but also on something that people often forget, sometimes you can’t fight the tide; things will sort themselves out in their own time and in their own way even your own dreams.

 

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Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Towering and Cinematic Sounds of Denver-based Shoegaze Quartet, A Shoreline Dream

  Comprised of Ryan Policky, Erik Jeffries, Adam Edwards, Kevin Keim, the Denver, CO-based quartet A Shoreline Dream are pioneers of a subgenre  described as melodipsych, which pairs lush sampled textures, layered vocals and a […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Kyle Miller (vocals and lead guitar), Jake Supple (vocals, bass and drums), and Ty Baron (guitar and keys) Denver, CODenver, CO-based psych rock trio Plum have specialized in the beloved psych rock sound of the late 1960s and early 1970s –in other words power chord heavy songs with blistering, mind-melting solos, thundering drumming and soulful vocals and harmonies. But interestingly enough, it’s a sound that also nods towards the grunge rock sounds of Pearl Jam (think of “Evenflow“), Soundgarden and others without being being carbon copy mimicry; in fact, the members of Plum push a familiar sound to a subtly modern context without scrubbing away what listeners love about the sound — power chords and anthemic hooks as you’ll hear on their latest single “Light Years, Dark Years.”

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Giraffes’ Behind-the-Scenes Video for “Blood Will Run”

Although they’ve gone through a number of lineup changes over the years, the NYC-based quartet The Giraffes have a long-held reputation for a brutally intense live show since their formation back in 1996. And as […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Giraffes’ Ass-Kicking and Sneeringly Ironic, New Single “Product Placement Song”

If you’ve been covering and following music as long as I have, the NYC-based quartet The Giraffes are a band that you’ve likely encountered in one way or another over the years — mainly for […]