Denver's music scene has a new face. The newest darlings of the local indie scene are definitely making a splash with their own personal brand of lo-fi surf rock. No coast is indeed growing to be the best coast.
Tennis, the husband and wife duo that is Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore, has been gaining buzz exponentially ever since their track 'Marathon' received some attention from hipster music blog leviathan, Pitchfork, political and cultural staple the New York Times, respectively earlier this summer. That combined with a few strategic shows across the country have ensured that come fall, Tennis has succesfully netted a contract with respected indie label Fat Possum (who's line up includes Wavves, the Walkmen, Sonny and the Sunsets, Andrew Bird, and the Black Keys).
For the next two months, Tennis will be doing it big, touring most of the United States. Be sure to catch their home show midway through their tour on November 24th at the Bluebird Theater and watch this awesome video for their song South Carolina below.
Halloween! Is it too early to start thinking about it? I think not. Halloween is one of those holidays on par with St. Patrick's Day, New Year's, and for those of us in the Regis Community, Ranger Day. So obviously it needs to be treated with the utmost respect. Unless you diligently plan, you're debauched holiday could turn out to be a bust. The right costume and the right party both need to be found STAT.
Meadowlark Bar, one of Denver's premier venues in up-and-coming music, is hosting their annual Halloween party, dubbed Voodoo Ball 2010. The line-up is prime, featuring one of my favorite local acts, Gauntlet Hair. It's seven bucks to get in and is sure to be a thriller. Peep tha poster below.
'Tis Blob behind the keyboard once more. I'm back and with some great stuff for you all to check out! The KRCX Team is whole once more (we just hired a few new n00bs) and ready to get rolling for a really solid year. Last Saturday, September 25th, we had the great pleasure of hosting a very awesome up and coming band straight outta Montreal.
Suuns is made up of Ben Shemie, Liam O'Neill, Max Henry, and Joe Yarmush. The guys received some minimal coverage earlier in the year when they signed to powerhouse label Secretly Canadian. Since then they've been quietly building up their arsenal, preparing for an all out attack on our ears. This past Monday, their video for Up Past the Nursery premeired on Pitchfork and is currently a featured video on the homepage (dope right?!). Their first album with their new label, Zeroes QC, is a gem. The album starts off starts off "like a robot breaking down in a hot desert; the mechanic beat plods like iron-shoed footsteps as the melody of a wheezing synth mirrors the crackling sound of old transistors and circuitry being cooked in the sun." Couldn't have said it better myself. Unfortunately for you though, the album doesn't drop until October 12th. Once you hear the basement session tracks though, you won't be able to wait. But if you pre-order that bad boy, you can get some instant downloads to hold you over.
Suuns came through Denver as a supporting act for Land of Talk. Not only that, the guys have been playing back up for the band. So before heading down to the legendary Larimer Lounge, the Ben, Max, Liam, and Joe stopped by the ol' KRCX dungeon to lay down some beautiful tracks for us. It was the best Saturday I've had in a long time (and the perfect hangover cure).
Before we got down to business, we destroyed a couple of Jack 'n Grill's famous seven pound burritos. Well-fed, awesome music and killer convos followed. Listening to the brief jam session as well as the recordings, someone made a mention that this stuff is real good babymaking music. Thizz faces on, we listened in awe of the sexy sound of these fellows.
Below you can hear the basement session tracks for "Up Past the Nursery" as well as "Pie IX" for a limited time. Additionally the interview will air next Monday, October 4 at 12 pm mountain time. Peep the pics below, listen to the Suuns, and then go tell all your friends about them.
KRCX is all about bringing you the best new music out there, especially when its free. Sub Pop just released a free single from Beach House's latest album Teen Dream. It's pretty catchy. If you enjoy airy guitar with tons of reverb, your in for a treat. Look for this album as the album spotlight in January, as the release date is 1/26/10. Happy listening!
It's no secret that the Denver music scene is in a transitional phase. But despite the breakups of well-loved bands (i.e., Hot IQs, Everything Absent...), there are still some rays of sunshine in the mix.
One such ray of sunshine is Widowers. Started by Mike Marchant as a solo project, Widowers has grown to a five piece with Marchant doing vocals, guitar, synths, programming, Mark Shusterman on piano and synth vocals, Mark Weaver slappin da bass, Cory Brown taking care of drums, percussion, programming, synth and production, Brian Marcus playing guitar and Crawford Philleo on vibraphone and vocals. The band cites current bands such as Wilco, Animal Collective, and the Flaming Lips as well as older greats like Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys.
Widowers' sound is distinctive, with properties that offer a sound of lucidity that only the combo of sleepy rock and dreamy pop could provide. Lead singer Mike Marchant's vocal stylings are often likened to that of Julian Casablancas of the Strokes fame. Ms Angora Holly Polo of the Donnybrook Writing Academy made such a comparison while adding in that the sound is "way more earnest - like somebody smacked that jaded smirk off Julian Casablancas' face and made him go hop trains and live off the land for a year."
Great stuff. At the moment, I'm hard pressed to find any decent recordings of this awesome bands live. So in the meantime, head over the band's myspace page and give em a listen.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 03:55PM 
