Gabe Allen Writer
4 stories
FeaturesxDeadBeatx Ignites a Hardcore Punk Resurgence in Fort Collins“When I moved to Fort Collins, I didn’t want to have to drive to Denver to go to hardcore shows,” Billy Fabrocini tells BandWagon. “Now people will drive up here to go to shows. That’s what DeadBeat was always about. DeadBeat was about showing people, ‘yeah, we can do it ourselves. We can do it here.’” In addition to being a hardcore band, xDeadBeatx is “straight edge,” a label that arose from the hardcore scene in 1981, after the seminal band Minor Threat released a 46-second track by the same name that disparaged drug and alcohol abuse. Since then, straight edge has evolved, morphed and splintered into its own genre and subgenres. A strict set of ethical guidelines come along with the musical characteristics — no drinking, smoking, drugs, promiscuous sex or addictive behaviors of any kind for life. Each member of xDeadBeatx has his own reason for embracing the straight edge ethos. Each of those reasons can be traced back to long before the band was founded in 2019.Gabe Allen · Jan 31, 2023
FeaturesWreckno: B-Queen Drops it Like a BossAn unlikely icon has burst onto the EDM scene. Brandon Wisniski, known eponymously as Wreckno, creates earth-shaking bass drops, raps about pulling up on your dad and refers to himself as a “FULL TIME BUSSY BOPPER” on Twitter. He may be the biggest, loudest, gayest producer the bass scene has ever seen, and he’s just getting started. Wisniski’s music melds together the aggression of old-school gangster rap with the manic energy of bass music and the glamour of a drag show. It’s a perfect fit, but it has never really been done before.Gabe Allen · Oct 14, 2021
MusicSingle Review: Cole ScheifeleCole Scheifele writers heartbreaking music and delivers a soaring melody with unrestrained emotion. Behind his voice, an ambient brew of siren-like drones creates texture while he keeps time on an acoustic guitar.Gabe Allen · May 10, 2021
MusicAlbum Review: Ellsworth – EllsworthDenver’s Ellsworth has struck a vein with her eponymous 11-song LP, traversing anxiety, self-doubt and lost love in gorgeously graceful strides. Soft but with immense conviction, her quiet tone conveys intimacy, like an earnest conversation meant for one person’s ears in a crowded room. “When we push away our feelings of sadness or anxiety, we are in fact pushing away a part of ourselves,” says Ellsworth. In just a handful of masterfully crafted folk songs, she taps into the shared trauma of a generation.Gabe Allen · Apr 7, 2021