On this three-song EP, the Getdown! — made up of singer/bassist Dustin Lawlor and drummer Tom Nelson — literally wears its influences on its sleeves with two covers by bands that helped inspire the duo’s fuzz-drenched garage sound. Lawlor and Nelson take Thee Milkshakes’ “For She,” strip out the original’s…
This is the eleventh release of the year for Alphabets, aka Colin Ward. With a release corresponding to each month, Ward explored whatever musical ideas came to mind, with varying results. Nov09 is among the strongest of the 2009 releases. Hashing together white noise, abused electronic noisemakers, melodic synth lines…
Take a guitar part that sounds so clean it might as well be a synth. No need for the actual thing, though, because next you dab on some aching piano tinkling, written by someone not just classically trained, but classically inspired. Stick those in the plateaus between walls made of…
More than three years after releasing their self-titled debut, the Trampolines return with Between the Lines, a solid album that finds the band completely reinvigorated. The seamless vocals of Chris Stakes and Mark Sundermeier again take center stage, but this time around, the Tramps inject a little more jangle into…
Shortly after Suzanne Magnuson and Olivia Quintana formed Malas Semillas (“Bad Seeds” in Spanish) three years ago, they brought in Cyrus Greene, a naturally good blues guitarist who used to play in the punk band PBR Street Gang, and Curtis Wallach, who’d played drums in the Taints. When the group…
Starting out as the musical equivalent of an interlude from the Boulder-based noise-rock band Mansfield Ghost, Gangcharger is helmed by its lyricist and primary songwriter, Ethan Ward. Upon first hearing the band, comparisons to Sonic Youth, Mission of Burma and Set and Setting-era Bardo Pond might seem obvious. Even as…
New Orleans-born, L.A.-based DJ/producer Trent Cantrelle is a bit of a chameleon. His work generally leans toward the big, peak-hour style of progressive, as heard on tracks such as his recent release “Siren Says,” but he’s also fully capable of going deep and dirty for a late-night set as well…
To some, indie rock is an aesthetic, something between Sonic Youth and Pavement that’s played by people with in mop-tops and ringer t-shirts with cans of Pabst atop their amplifiers. Others, meanwhile, might define indie rock literally as music recorded and performed by musicians not signed or affiliated with major…
The Twittervese has become one of the most entertaining and insightful places to catch a glimpse inside the lives of some of the most outspoken members of our local music community — 140 characters at a time, of course. We never ceased to be entertained by the tweets of various…
As music critics — and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music — the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, “What are you listening to right now?” The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy…
We found a whale of a poster for you this week. Yeah, yeah, we know that was a pretty stupid joke, but we couldn’t resist. Just like we couldn’t resist the simple charms of this illustration. From its curlicue framing effect to its central whale-eats-boat motif, there’s nothing not to…
The power of suggestion? Nah. We’re no where near deluded enough to think that we wield that kind of power — well, not when we’re sober anyway. Remember last week when we bemoaned the fact that there hasn’t been any new holiday songs of note? Obviously, we spoke a little…
There have been billions of songs written in the last decade but sometimes it’s not the new ones that matter, it’s the reimaginings. Some people argue a great cover song is decided by it’s accuracy to the original, others want something new to be brought into the mix. The collection…
Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane grabbed the top spot at Independent Records with his latest effort, The State vs. Radric Davis, released last week on Asylum. Snoop Dogg claimed the second slot with Malice in Wonderland, released last week on Priority, while Lady Gaga’s Fame Monster nabbed third place, and Clipse’s…
As with every year since 2001, the music industry in 2009 was kept barely alive by a ratag crew of baffling one-offs, mediocre hit makers and a few cameos from the dead. If dollars are votes, we have some weird taste in representation. In backwards order, this year’s 11 saviors…
Update: So much for getting a sneak peek of Vices I Admire’s new album by merely sampling a single track. This morning, the band posted the entire album for free download on its site. Better get while the gettin’s good, though. It’s only going to be up for grabs for…
Suspicions confirmed: From the looks of this tour video shot by the Pretty Lights crew on a FLIP graciously furnished by Spin Earth, Derek Vincent Smith and Cory Eberhard are enjoying the, um, pretty side of life on the road. From performing in front of stupidly packed auditoriums full of…
Perhaps inspired by the fact that we’re in the process of putting together our annual year-end lists and thus reflecting on our favorite releases from the past twelve months, we’ve been going through all the albums we reviewed in 2009 in an effort to stir our memories just in case…
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re all about local music. Surely, that’s no huge revelation to anyone. After all, we do spend the bulk of our lives immersed in the sounds and vibrations being created here, absorbing the music and offering up our take — good and bad. Beyond the…
Susan Boyle is the top seller at not one, but two independent record stores this week. Let that sink in for a moment. Susan fucking Boyle. No offense to Ms. Boyle; I’m sure she’s a lovely person. But she’s a middle-aged woman who got famous singing fucking show tunes on…
Christmas songs really ought to be up little tunes — hope, faith, charity, love and all that. But some songs have apparently snuck through the back door, drunk up all the rum, made a clumsy pass on pretty much everyone but the family dog, and are now holding court in…
England-based alt-rock band Muse, who’s touring in support of its latest effort, The Resistance, is slated to visit Odeum Colorado (formerly the Broomfield Event Center) with Silversun Pickups on Tuesday, April 6. Tickets, which are $39.50 to $49.50, go on sale Saturday, December 19, at 10 a.m. Yeasayer, who’s sophomore…
