Once a beacon of progress and success, Detroit has become the standard modern example of what can go wrong in an American city. There’s poverty, crime, corruption–the myth of the city itself has transformed from the quintessential American Dream, to a less affluent Gotham swathed in a brutal struggle for its own soul. Art that emerges from Detroit is expected and often possesses a certain tint of nihilism, but most interesting are those artists who manage to both own the new myth of their city and transcend it. Hip-hop artists like Eminem and Danny Brown have done it, and now Protomartyr emerges almost fully formed with Under Color of Official Right.
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Album Review: Musketeer Gripweed – Floods and Fires
It’s difficult to liken comparisons to Musketeer Gripweed. Maybe hints of Zakk Wylde vocalization and Black Keys catchiness can be sought, though such associations only apply sporadically—Musketeer Gripweed is ferociously singular in their style and genre, whatever that specifically may be. Either the band doesn’t know either or they don’t care, given that their official Facebook page refers to their genre as “American Revival Stomp Ass Shake Holla!” The description is fitting: Floods and Fires is a rip-roaring album with very few moments of weakness.
Continue readingAlbum Review: Pandas & People – Pandas & People
It’s always exciting when an existing band branches off to explore a new sound and style. Members of the alt-rock (and generally pretty decent) band Five Day Rhetoric, in their downtime, decided to start experimenting with folk rock–a decision that eventually spawned their new project, Pandas & People. The name is catchy, and the music is nice and catchy. However, the product doesn’t break much new ground in terms of the genre, despite the clear presence of passion and potential.
Continue readingSan Francisco Based k.flay Is a Strong Female Voice in a Genre Driven by Men
With a string of solid EPs and some serious chops, her rap is intelligent (a degree in psychology and sociology from Stanford helps with that), frankly speaking to the things that make the average hip hop fan normal. She doesn’t boast about street cred or display an image of a rich kid roughing it, she simply tells her story. Oh and she’s fast.
Continue readingAlbum Review: Giants and Pilgrims – Almanac No. 1
Tim Coons represents a new generation of musicians who are coming into a world of over saturation and perpetually chased website clicks. For Coons (35), he’s seen it from the beginning. Consistently recording albums since his time as a music student at the University of Northern Colorado, Coons watched on the outside as the Internet and the music industry decentralized the local musician’s support structure.
Continue readingCover Story: The Chain Gang of 1974 is Not Just ‘Sleepwalking’
No, Kamtin Mohager, the brains and the brawn behind The Chain Gang of 1974 is not a DJ. Although he may do a DJ set from time to time, the synth heavy dance rock sound that has dominated their music since their conception is electro in nature, the sounds you hear are band driven.
Continue readingAlbum Review: Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Transgender Dysphoria Blues is an album inherently bound to its context. Against Me! have cemented a reputation as a rock band that balance old-school punk energy with brutally honest lyrics and this album in itself does little to alter this legacy. By now, even most casual alternative music fans have probably heard of lead singer Laura Jane Grace’s coming out as a transgendered woman.
Continue readingLove and Theft – From the Opry to UNC’s Spring Concert
For Greeley-area fans, the duo’s show March 29th at the University of Northern Colorado’s Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion stands to be memorable for them. It’s the only stop on Love And Theft’s tour this year that will be in Colorado. Liles said that he and Gunderson love the state, except for possibly the horse at DIA.
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