The music video for Shasta’s “Roaming Hearts” looks like something that might have come out of the late 80s with the washed out colors, collage style visual elements and a bit of stop motion effects. Something you might have seen in a Bangles or They Might Be Giants video of that time. Glistening synths casting an uplifting sheen, the mix of live drums and drum machines, the alternately jagged and introspectively atmospheric guitar and melodic bass in which Micayla Grace’s seems to dance about in reverie combine to make for a song that seems rooted in styles across decades. At the same time there is an emotional immediacy and intimacy to the song as though it had originally been written on an acoustic guitar to work out the melodies, the structure and the use of space. The pedigree of the group might suggest a different set of musical expecations as Grace was once a member of Bleached and Albert Hammond Jr.’s band, drummer Jon Sortland is in The Shins and guitarist Cecilia Della Perruti is a multi-instrumentalist who has been a touring member of Beck’s live band as well as that of Charlie XCX not to mention her own group Gothic Tropic. The band started when Grace met synth player Jennifer Duardo in an alley in the Mission district of San Francisco and found in each other kindred creative spirits. “Roaming Hearts” has a freshness of spirit that makes its tale of heartbreak and heartache not just more palatable but transformative in working through the complex emotions and not getting lost in bitterness and resentment, which is a much more original take on an age old subject than we often hear in a pop song.
Tag: Albert Hammond Jr.
Best Shows in Denver 2/28/19 – 3/6/19
Thursday | February 28
Who: Endless, Nameless tour kickoff w/Soulless Maneater, Lightstory, Giardia and Sliver
When: Thursday, 02.28, 7 p.m.
Where: Seventh Circle Music Collective
Why: Math rock band Endless, Nameless is headed to SXSW and to launch the group on its way some of its friends and peers are playing this show including gloom and angst festooned post-punk band Soulless Maneater, psych jazz abstract metal trio Giardia as well as post-grunge poseurs Diet Nirvana. But, really, Sliver is a great band inspired by grunge-era bands, Wipers and DC punk.
Who: Starjammer w/Joshua Trinidad
When: Thursday, 02.28, 9 p.m.
Where: 3 Kings Tavern
Why: Squidds Madden has been bringing his gift for improvisation to various funk, rock, jazz and ska bands over the past two decades. But Starjammer is his one man avant-garde dub reggae project in which he pilots an integrated multi-instrumental vehicle. Lately he’s been crafting stories to go along with performances and this is one of a handful of events where he’s trying that out while bringing in some of the greatest players in Denver to round out the bill. Tonight it’s trumpet player extraordinaire Joshua Trinidad who some may know for his masterful turns in Wheelchair Sports Camp and GoStar.
Friday | March 1
What: Decibel Tour: Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Necrot and Blood Incantation
When: Friday, 03.01, 6 p.m.
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: Cannibal Corpse is known for having some of the most cartoonishly brutal and horrifying lyrics in metal. But it’s all in fun and if one can’t appreciate the absurd, even in bad taste, maybe you take yourself too seriously. The death metal legends share the stage tonight with one of the pioneers of death metal from, where else, Tampa, Florida (where Cannibal Corpse is now based): Morbid Angel. Opening the night is Blood Incantation, a Colorado band with a cult following in the death metal realm. While clearly self-aware, Blood Incantation is a powerful live act whose songs push the genre in interesting directions rather than get stuck like it’s 1985.
Who: Venus305 physical album release w/Gold Trash, EVP, Düll Haus and Techno Allah
When: Friday, 03.01, 9 p.m.
Where: Thought//Forms
Why: Molly McGrath is perhaps better known for her rock band Surf Mom. But for Venus305 she’s left behind the guitar and punk-esque vocals for electronic dance tracks and a vocal style more fitting for the type of downtempo and what one might call progressive lounge that is the music of Venus305. Also on the bill for this release show of the project’s physical album is screamy electroclash Gold Trash, industrial punk/dance duo EVP, the glitchcore for the dancefloor sounds of Techno Allah and Düll Haus, a band that seems to navigate the sonic territory traversing minimal synth dance and IDM.
Who: The Scientist w/Dr. Israel and DJ Imeh
When: Friday, 03.01, 8 p.m.
Where: Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox
Why: The Scientist learned his craft partly under the tutelage of dub legend King Dubby and went on to contribute greatly to the genre himself—which is reason enough to go if you’re into the roots of sound sculpting production.
Who: eHpH, TetraKroma, Redwing Blackbird
When: Friday, 03.01, 9 p.m.
Where: The Skylark Lounge
Why: None more synth on this night. eHpH makes a good case for why EBM and industrial rock isn’t essentially dead these days because the duo brings an emotional resonance to the music that isn’t just trying to be as angsty and nihilistic as possible. TetraKroma, that’s a lot of analog synths for making dark dance music but the depth of sound makes it obvious having the layers in hardware are worth it. Redwing Blackbird mixes samples and low-end heavy tracks to make some gritty EBM like early Front 242 but darker.
Saturday | March 2
Who: Teenage Fanclub w/The Love Language
When: Saturday, 03.02, 8 p.m.
Where: The Bluebird Theater
Why: Teenage Fanclub came out of the fertile musical ground of C86 influenced by the bands that influenced the jangle, twee and garage rock of that era. Its second album, 1991’s The King, came out on Creation Records, the imprint better known for being home to shoegaze giants of that period like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. But Creation also nurtured the cooler end of power pop (later Creation signed Oasis but that’s a whole other story). In the USA, Teenage Fanclub hit the college radio charts in a big way with its later 1991 album Bandwagonesque. At the time there was a revival in the interest in power pop pioneers Big Star and its soulful and melancholic catalog—a band that somehow sounded mournful and sad even when it rocked in a celebratory fashion on its songs. Bandwagonesque evoked Big Star powerfully on songs like “What You Do To Me” and “The Concept.” But Teenage Fanclub had its own voice and its sophisticated songwriting evolved over its now long career. 1993’s Thirteen sounded like the band had absorbed a bit too much of grunge or grebo or whatever and yet its delicate psychedelia and emotionally vibrant vocals remained part of the sound. 1995’s Grand Prix dispensed with the grunge affectations going forward. Teenage Fanclub doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being an important band in the development of Britpop but probably because there’s too much rock and roll in its songwriting and not enough of the dance music/Madchester element. It is precisely because of that disconnect with that 90s trend that the group’s music has aged well.
Who: GoStar
When: Saturday, 03.02, 9:30 p.m.
Where: Dazzle
Why: If a trumpet-guitar-and-percussion-driven jazz fusion band of the early 70s (Bitches Brew period Miles, Mahavishnu Orchestra) adopted mind-altering psychedelic flourishes and then traveled forward in time to hang with Arrested Development and A Tribe Called Quest in the early 90s before hopping again and landing in the 2010’s, that band would sound like GoStar.
Who: Lords of Acid w/Orgy, Genitorturers and Little Miss Nasty
When: Saturday, 03.02, 6 p.m.
Where: The Gothic Theatre
Why: There will be a lot of ridiculous antics and NSFW stuff at this show. Including from headliner Lords of Acid. The band’s songs are all about hedonistic activities and aspirations up to the line of self-parody. Its industrial dance music and live show is also good fun and maybe vocalist and band leader Praga Khan will push someone off stage into the audience for an impromptu and unexpected stage dive. But even if he doesn’t, Khan is a charismatic and entertaining frontman who draws you into the playful chaos of the band’s music.
What: Nightshift
When: Saturday, 03.02, 9 p.m.
Where: The Meadowlark Bar
Why: Nightshift is an all vinyl dance party on first Saturdays curated by Meghan Meehan and Laura Conway, focused on synth pop, disco and new wave.
Who: Duos From The Abyss: Gort Vs. Goom, The Swamp Rats, Triplip, Still Frames
When: Saturday, 03.02, 6 p.m.
Where: Tennyson’s Tap
Why: None of these bands are particularly from the abyss unless you’re only into punk that doesn’t color widely outside the musical lines. Gort Vs. Goom is the They Might Be Giants of Blue Oyster Cult tribute bands. Triplip is the Daikaiju of prog. Gort is not a tribute band but that’s the sort of mashup that comes to mind, among other things, seeing one of the duo’s sets.
Monday | March 4
Who: Hunter Dragon album release of Universal Basic Income w/Lazarus Horse and Shockermom
When: Monday, 03.04, 8:08 p.m.
Where: Syntax Physic Opera
Why: Hunter Dragon’s catalog is vast and widely varied in his methods and songwriting styles. But it’s unified by an imagination focused on a future that could or should exist now. Whether that’s a desolate post-disaster setting or, as the title of his new album suggests, a future where everyone can use the time they would normally expend on scrambling to survive on whatever suits their natural interests and talents. The new songs have a meditative, spacious folk quality. For the occasion of this release show Hunter has brought on board Lazarus Horse (a band that sounds like it realized that even the cooler weirdo psychedelic rock of the 2000s and 2010s would be and is played out and injected a lot more imagination and unusual rhythmic and tonal ideas into the mix) and Shockermom. The latter has been writing the soundtrack to everyone’s emotional return to peace and tranquility during the collective long dark night of the soul that’s been coursing through the world like a psychic cognate of the collapse of the global ecosystem. Essential listening.
Tuesday | March 5
Who: Daughters w/Gouge Away and HIDE
When: Tuesday, 03.05, 7 p.m.
Where: The Gothic Theatre
Why: Daughters are the legendary post-hardcore noise rock band whose mournful and abrasive music sounds like the purging of the world’s anguish. Except Daughters make it darkly beautiful. Gouge Away is a forceful, cathartic hardcore band that isn’t trapped in early 80s SSD worship. HIDE is a performance art-oriented industrial duo from Chicago whose visceral, ritualistic live show will probably confuse punk purists but which will fit right in with everyone on the bill.
Who: Albert Hammond Jr. w/In The Valley Below
When: Tuesday, 03.05, 7 p.m.
Where: The Bluebird Theater
Why: Albert Hammond Jr. is best known for his membership in The Strokes. But his solo career has yielded better songs than The Strokes have in years. There’s a bright and fresh quality to his upbeat pop songs and his performances that are likeable even when it sometimes sounds like he’s leaning on past creative laurels. Opening the show is synth pop band In the Valley Below from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Its bass and melody-driven songs differentiate it from what one would assume are its peers in bands like CHVRCHES, Phantogram and Poliça while sharing a sense of elevating moods and positive energy.
Wednesday | March 6
What: Weird Wednesday: Acidbat, Satin Spar, Ruehlen/Seward
When: Wednesday, 03.06, 9 p.m.
Where: 3 Kings Tavern
Why: Acidbat doesn’t play many shows in general much less outside of some super underground show. His ambient yet beat driven, glitchy IDM is more imaginative than a lot of music out of that milieu. Also on this night’s Weird Wednesday is avant-garde improvisational/spontaneous composition duo Ruehlen/Seward.
Best Shows in Denver 02/05/18 – 02/07/18
Monday | February 5, 2018
Who: The Killers w/Albert Hammond Jr. and Amanda Brown
When: Monday, 02.05, 6:30 p.m.
Where: 1stBank Center
Why: The Killers seemed to have attained commercial success out of the gates in 2004 in a way not enjoyed by most other bands out of the post-punk revival. It’s incredibly catchy songs weren’t dark and brooding or steeped in the kind of No Wave dub and funk that was often associated with much of the post-punk music coming out around the turn of the century. Yet, it’s low-end heavy pop songs brightened by Brandon Flowers’ keyboard and synth work ensured that The Killers were always going to be different from some mainstream commercial band. In 2017, The Killers released Wonderful Wonderful which revealed a bit of a change of direction for a band that has consistently had changes of direction because Flowers and his bandmates have always more or less followed their own instincts in writing the music and pulling together subject matter for the songs. With Wonderful Wonderful, Flowers questions and explores the foibles and limitations of what many might consider the traditional view of masculinity. In the era we’re in, a famous pop band saying that sensitivity to one’s fellow humans and compassion is more useful, practical and necessary than an outmoded tough guy, know-everything persona is a step in the right direction.
Who: Destroyer w/Mega Bog
When: Monday, 02.05, 7 p.m.
Where: The Bluebird Theater
Why: Dan Bejar has been at Destroyer for over two decades now. And true to his aim with the project, each of his albums sounds different from the others. Sure, not necessarily drastic changes but from the lo-fi indie pop style of 1996’s We’ll Build Them a Golden Bridge to the foggy dark folk of Kaputt and to the fascinating combination of moody electronics and intimate songwriting of 2017’s ken, Bejar’s diversity as an artist is impressive. That sheer range and excellence of his output, as well as his willingness to experiment so freely with his sounds, is reminiscent of Robyn Hitchcock’s impossible to pigeonhole musical career.
Opening for this tour is Mega Bog, the now New York City-based band fronted by main songwriter Erin Birgy. Mega Bog began in Seattle from which Birgy toured extensively on the DIY circuit for several years bringing her imaginative and innovative pop songs and sound experiments. Locally, Mega Bog earned a bit of a following for her memorable shows at Rhinoceropolis and Yellow Feather Coffee. In 2017, Mega Bog released its second album, Happy Together, an album that reflects a bit of Birgy’s having moved to NYC and working on ideas and songs in the four years since her first full-length, 2013’s Gone Banana. Whatever specifically went into the album it sounds like little else going on at the moment except for maybe it could be compared to Aldous Harding’s Party while sounding nothing like it. Just that uniqueness of sound and songwriting vision. It’s eleven tracks weave together a free jazz sensibility with indie folk delicacy, ambient soundscapes and uncommon personal insight.
To Be Continued…
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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