rock

31 stories · Page 2 of 2

MusicTop Tunes Thursday: Khruangbin — The Universe Smiles Upon YouWhile I find the majority of instrumentals have a regional style, not always glaring, but almost always present. L.A. jazz, Delta Blues, the sample heavy style of production prevalent in the East coast, generally speaking there’s something you can grab on to. Khruangbin plays like a musical atlas, sending fiery frets to Japan, then Brazil, and back over to Africa. The eighth track, cheekily titled “The Man Who Took My Sunglasses,” almost creates the illusion of needing them. Blinding sun beams reflect off polished surfboards and sparkling fret boards, cutting through swirling cigarette smoke on its way. Four tracks earlier, guitarist Mark Speer cools the jets to a low roar, infusing in its exhaust at first a wiff of the Far East, then an utterly American crashing collapse of guitar, amp, and kit.Clark Lamson · Nov 19, 2015MusicTop Tunes Thursday: Fuzz — IITy Segal’s Fuzz looks to dustier paragons of noise like Sabbath, Wolfmother, The Hives and The Eagles of Death Metal and says “we’ll take it from here.” The sounds born within the mildewed and crawling horror swamp that is Segal’s musical brain can only be truly appreciated in the context of honestly curious rock exploration. When you’re talking about pushing the guitar to its structural and audial limits, about reaching to the very corners of our musical expectations and poking a finger over the line, Ty Segall is the only one we millennials can claim for our own. Like the artful goofballs of old (Bowie, Reed) Segall is relentlessly catapulting himself from project to project, with no love lost in between.Clark Lamson · Oct 29, 2015MusicTop Tunes Thursday: Beirut — No No NoWhen I find a new artist (whether it be a new single, a new album, or by recommendation) if I can, I like to start at the beginning of their discography.Clark Lamson · Sep 17, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Teen Men — Teen MenSet against the 90 degree days and the blood orange sunsets of Colorado summer, Teen Men are a tall glass of cool, dry water. The debut record is out now on most major music services, and look out for the vinyl on shelves July 14.Clark Lamson · Jun 22, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Mac Demarco — “The Way You’d Love Her”“The Way You’d Love Her” is the lead single from Another One, the mini-LP scheduled for an August 7th release. The track doesn’t do much to push outside Demarco’s wobbly-kneed stoner yodels, but I’m not sure anyone wanted him to. I know I didn’t. “The Way You’d Love Her” features the same smiley strumming and light keyboard work we have come to expect, though the vocal ventures closer to earlier works from Rock and Rock Night Club. Demarco creates a lazy river with his melodies, which the listeners glide abidingly down. The author has an unusual knack for writing melodies that feel upbeat, while creating a sneaking feeling that the content doesn’t echo the sentiment.Clark Lamson · May 18, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Mumford & Sons — Wilder MindMumford may have gained their fame riding (some say starting) the wave of popularity for pop-folk music, but Wilder Mind finds the band ditching almost all of their familiarly twangy tunes for a fairly straight laced alternative rock sound. In place of fever pitched banjos come shining, sometimes dry guitars. The resulting sound places them closer to War on Drugs, Ryan Adams, or Ben Howard than any of their pop-folk contemporaries.Clark Lamson · May 11, 2015MusicNew Music Monday: Alabama Shakes — Sound & ColorIf fans were worried about the band resting on laurels on their second time around, they need not be. Sound & Color is a noticeably more challenging collection of tunes. What made B&G so great was its immediacy. The second you put in the headphones, it was as if the songs coming through had been on your “most listened to” for years. Sound & Color finds the band leaving one foot in their Southern rock roots, and planting the other in soul and blues. While the lead singles, “Gimme All Your Love,” “Don’t Wanna Fight,” and “Future People,” highlighted the electric Brittany Howard’s ability to send hooks screaming into your long term memory, the majority of the tracks require a little more patience.Clark Lamson · Apr 27, 2015Concert PhotosIn the Whale W/ Reno Divorce at The Moxi 4/9/15BandWagon Magazine · Apr 13, 2015MusicAlbum Review: Full Nelson — In The WhaleFormer Greeley band, now Denver favorite hit the ground running with their latest EP Full Nelson.Jed Murphy · Apr 6, 2015FeaturesBattle of The Bands 2014 Is Getting HeatedFinalist Competing For $1,000 and Eternal Glory:BandWagon Magazine · Dec 5, 2014Riot Fest, Day 3BandWagon Magazine · Sep 24, 2014