DIRTY FEW @ 3 KINGS TAVERN |1/17/13 Earlier in the night, you wouldn’t have guessed that so many people would have shown up so enthusiastic for a local band, many of them knowing the words to all the songs. But Dirty Few from the beginning hyped people up with antics…

From the opening track — “Never Know We’re Coming” — forward, it’s obvious that Il Cattivo has gotten to where it needed to go. Cohesive songwriting has emerged from the original inspired chaos and forcefulness of the band, as though it had harnessed and directed Matt Bellinger’s free-flowing and eruptive…

If you’ve been around underground punk and rock shows in Denver in the past two years, chances are you’ve run into twin brothers Seth and Spencer Stone. You could have seen them in the crowd or performing with their bands — Wombmates, a defunct group made up of two sets…

Ben Folds is probably most vividly remembered for his work in the ’90s, when he seemed to come out of nowhere with his impassioned piano-based pop and a string of hits including “Brick.” But by then, Folds was a veteran musician who had honed his skills as a multi-instrumentalist before…

Whether it’s surrealistic horror movies and literature, esoteric knowledge or atmospheric music and death rock, God Module’s output reflects a certain fascination with the dark side of the psyche — a mosaic of interests, perhaps even obsessions, held by founding member Jasyn Bangert. The act is rooted in edgier EBM…

Jacob DeRaadt has been the sole constant member of Sterile Garden (due Tuesday, January 22, at Seventh Circle Music Collective). To file the project, which originated in Fort Collins, under “noise” simply doesn’t take into account the preparation and conceptualization involved in its performances. DeRaadt and his collaborators make extensive…

QUICKSAND @ BLUEBIRD THEATER |1/15/12 In the moments before Quicksand took the stage last night at the Bluebird, the room lights dimmed and floor lights on stage came on to the sound of Basil Poledouris’s theme from Conan the Barbarian. Quicksand frontman Walter Schreifels looked pleasantly surprised at the enthusiastic…

There’s a notable ’60s influence in Ash Reiter’s laid-back California style and sunny, well-crafted pop songs. And while that sort of thing has been trendy lately, Reiter and her band also play music that is bright but has a social conscience — one that delves into a refreshingly open exploration…

Quicksand formed in New York City in 1990, when Walter Schreifels’s band Moondog broke up. Schreifels, however, may be better known for his part in the hardcore bands Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits. Quicksand was a different type of entity altogether: The band’s dynamic flow wasn’t made up of…

Alex Pelissero was one of the people behind the Danger Zone, a short-lived DIY venue in Boulder. In addition to helping maintain welcoming places for people to play, Pelissero, as Jack’s Smirking Revenge (due Tuesday, January 15, at Seventh Circle Music Collective, 2935 West Seventh Avenue), also writes wonderfully profane,…

John Gorka got his start performing live as a musician through Godfrey Daniels, the venerable coffee shop in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, while he was attending Moravian College as a student of philosophy. It was there that he honed his craft as one of the preeminent folk songwriters of his generation. Gorka’s…

Although Impending Doom is a Christian death-metal band — normally a contradiction in terms — the act isn’t some cartoonish, mutant purveyor of death grind. Singer Brook Reeves sounds like he’s listened to more than his fair share of ’90s-era Napalm Death, as the music he and his bandmates produce…

Most bands pillaging the coffers of ’70s rock pull from the rich if over-tapped urns of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and AC/DC on the hard-rock side, and ELO, the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac on the softer end of the spectrum. Twin Peaks (due this Friday, January 4, at the Larimer…

The first album I got was Punk in Drublic,” recalls Dead Ringer guitarist and vocalist Joel Rossi of his introduction to punk rock. “It changed my life. I think it changed everyone’s life as far as punk rock goes. Honestly, before that, I was listening to Stone Temple Pilots and…

FIVE IRON FRENZY @ CASSELMAN’S BAR AND VENUE |12/31/12 From the very beginning of its New Year’s Eve set at Casselman’s Bar & Venue in Denver, Five Iron Frenzy brought an enormous amount of energy, fueled by a clear sense of joy in performing. The old fans were incredibly happy…

THE BLACK ANGELS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER |12/30/12 One of the best moments of the Black Angels’ show at the Bluebird Theater last night came in the middle of the set when the band — playing the first of its two night New Year’s Eve run — played “Phosphene Dream,” the…

DIVINE FITS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER |12/14/12 Picking a high point of a show as thoroughly enjoyable as this one would be tough, but when Alex Fischel started playing the synth intro to “You Got Lucky” by Tom Petty — which could have gone either way, kitschy or funny — and…