Something Like Sound

Patrick Beseda // Photo By Tim Weilert

Welcome back to school! If you’re reading this there’s a good possibility that you’re at the lovely (and notorious) Colorado School of Mines. While you were off drilling for oil or designing yet another SolidWorks model, we were busy going to concerts, conducting interviews, and reviewing the best new music that Denver has to offer. Here’s some of the highlights from the 2009 Denver summer music season.

• Interviews! We got tons of them: everybody from Bad Religion, Lucero, and Big Head Todd & The Monsters to local favorites such as Danielle Ate The Sandwich, Paper Bird, Rob Drabkin, The Heyday, and Dualistics. Also, most of our interviews are in video form for your entertainment.
• Festivals! With access to the summer’s hottest festivals, be sure to read up on the Westword Music Showcase, Mile High Music Festival, The Underground Music Showcase, and Warped Tour.
• Reviews! Just scroll through a couple pages to see all the records we listened to this summer. Most of our favorites were local acts, sure to make it big soon.
• A compilation! Just when you thought there wasn’t anything else, we’re dropping this on you. Coming soon (hopefully September 4, to coincide with the Celebration of Mines), we will be releasing our first compilation of local acts on the newly formed OrediggeRecords.
• A contest! Be our 200th follower on Twitter and win!

Tim Weilert // Photo By Patrick Beseda

So consider joining the team and check out one of The Oredigger‘s informational sessions.

This is not a country music blog, trust me here. However, I found myself listening to a recording of Lucero’s show at the Bluebird, from back in May, and I got a chance to really appreciate the set. Toward the end of the night Ben Nichols played a Townes Van Zandt cover called “Colorado Girl.” It’s probably one of my new favorite songs, you can find the original version in the playlist widget.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s post about punk/folk singer Chuck Ragan, we’ve got a local group along the same vein. Arliss Nancy is a Fort Collins-based band with a hard-hitting guitar section and raw vocals that have drawn comparisons to groups like Lucero. Furthermore, they’ve got just enough residual “twang” to earn some country cred, while still keeping things very rock-oriented.

Dance To Forget follows the age-old formula for punk-rock-country records. Start out a few hot burner (“Wrong or Right”) and slowly mellow things out. Along the way throw in some vaguely Springsteen-esque lyrics and delivery (“With a rusted Chevy and a broken heart” are literally some of the lyrics on “Blessings I Ain’t Never Had”). What country album would be complete without a slow-dance number? Fortunately “The Shootout” does a good job of balancing sheer blues with a marching beat that conjures up images of a bar before closing time.

Overall this is a pretty good record. Although some of the lyrics, especially the references to the Tennessee River, would definitely make you think you’re listening to a group from Memphis, not a band from Colorado. All of that said, don’t expect anything too original, but do expect a decent listen.

Stream the entire record right here (via Lala) and download it for the low low price of $5 (or free if you’re a cheap bastard) with this link.

We sat down with Brian and John from Memphis-based rock band Lucero to talk about everything from their connections with Denver to their new album (to be released some time later this year). Sorry about the background noise, Chuck Ragan was soundchecking during the first part of the interview.

“Denver was our first home away from home” explained Lucero guitarist Brian Venable in our interview before the band took the stage at the Bluebird on a gorgeous Colorado Friday night. From the start, I could tell this was going to be an interesting night. First of all, we weren’t the only press/bloggers there (also folks from AmericanIndie.net, Colorado Tapers, Suburban Home Records, and the Westword Street Team, to name a few).The interesting thing about Lucero is that they’re never made it big, yet they play shows to sold out crowds of screaming fans just like any band you’d hear on mainstream radio. Well, it was one of those nights, a roudy, ramblin’ Memphis rock show made specially for the homegrown Denver fans.

Up first was Chuck Ragan, singer for punk outlet Hot Water Music. Ragan’s raspy vocals and intense demeanor got the crowd warmed up as Lucero’s Ben Nichols would occasionally wander on to the stage to sing along with Chuck. I think the best way to describe the set would be to call it a mix of oldschool Johnny Cash and the shear bad-ass-ery of Eastwood’s Dirty Harry. Ragan, along with various backups (including pedal steel, fiddle, and accordian), played through a handful of songs with dynamics changing from rousing, upbeat numbers to more contemplative slow songs.

As Lucero took the stage they didn’t immediately rip in to one of their more popular songs, but instead began slowly with a cut from their early days. “This was the third song I ever wrote for this band,” remarked Nichols. However, the slow start didn’t stop the crowd. Even after the first song, deafening applause and cheering erupted, allowing the band to segway into another song. The set really began to pick up when they played their cover version of Jawbreaker’s “Kiss the Bottle,” and from there on out it was like a runaway train. I think they started playing sometime around 11 pm, and definitely did not finish until 12:30 am.

Throughout the night Lucero played songs from their newest, recently recorded, yet-to-be-released album (which is still technically untitled). However, they remained true to their fans and played some of their all time greats, including “Sixteen,” “That Much Further West,” and my personal favorites “Here At The Starlight” and “Slow Dancing.” During the evening, Jon Snodgrass, of Drag The River, showed up to support Lucero. Most notably, Snodgrass sang along toward the end of the set during “Tears Don’t Matter Much,” wherein he and Nichols argued about who was going to play guitar.

Well, this has been a rather long review, but then again, this was one of the longest shows I’ve been to (in recent memory). After over a decade on the road, Lucero still knows how to put on a world-class show. Check back within the coming days (hopefully not weeks), to watch our interview with John and Brian from Lucero.

Words by Tim Weilert, Photos by Bengsoon Chuah

Earlier we posted about some great upcoming shows, here’s the second installment. Also note that none of these concerts cost more than $20.

The Photo Atlas & 1090 Club – April 26, Hi-Dive, $8: Denver’s own Photo Atlas recently recorded a new EP as a followup to their 2006 full length No, Not Me, Never. 1090 Club also recently released Natural Selection, an album that we got the chance to review. Both bands are excellent live. Also playing: The Forecast

Manchester Orchestra – May 12, Marquis, $12: We already covered this one, but it deserves another highlight. MO’s new album Mean Everything To Nothing is excellent and they put on a great show.

Adrian Orange, Young Coyotes & Bad Weather California – May 13, Rhinoceropolis, $5 suggested donation: Adrian Orange, a Seattle based singer-songwriter will be on tour and stopping by Denver in May. Young Coyotes and Bad Weather California will also be there to represent the best in local DIY.

Kevin Devine – May 24, Marquis, $12: Kevin Devine is one of those singers whose songs have substance. He’s toured with Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, and a plethora of some of the hottest acts out there. His new album Brother’s Blood comes out at the end of April.

Lucero – May 29, Bluebird, $17: Part country, part punk, Lucero has been writing markedly beautiful and provoking music about life in the American west for the better part of the last decade. With songs that will break your heart and give you something to drink to, Lucero will certainly put on a great show.

Hot IQs – June 19, Bluebird, $10: Another Denver based group, Hot IQs recently released a single titled Houndstooth. They’ve been working hard on new material for their next full length, and will likely be playing new tunes when they play the Bluebird in June.

In other music news, SideCho Records has signed The Silent Years, a DIY band from Detriot. They’ve got a new EP, titled Let Go, coming out July 14. They also have an album already out called The Globe, which received positive reviews from The Onion and NPR. Keep an eye out for these guys and remember where you heard about them first.