Eyehategod at Bluebird Theater, 1/26/14

EYEHATEGOD at BLUEBIRD THEATER | 1/26/14 A couple of people tried to heckle Eyehategod, but Mike Williams was took the flak deftly and turned it into comedy; you had to hand it to him. Someone yelled out, “I’m bored.” Williams told the guy to come down front where there was…

Birthday Candles

There’s a bit of pop punk’s upbeat, defiant, hopeful energy coming off the songs on Letters From Home, the latest from Birthday Candles. But there’s also more sonic detail in the melodies than is often encountered in a lot of that music. “Otherside” and “Without a Trace” begin with a…

Murder by Death at the Stanley Hotel, 1/18/14

MURDER BY DEATH at THE STANLEY HOTEL | 1/18/14 Most shows in Colorado are easy to get to, even if you head up to the Belly Up in Aspen. But with the flood-damaged highways leading up to Estes Park, with one particular stretch narrowed to just one lane with each…

Weapönizer

On “Spitfire,” which opens this eponymous effort, Weapönizer sounds like some kind of early thrash band fresh from hearing Venom for the first time — or like Darkthrone, if that band had drawn even more inspiration than it did from the first wave of grindcore. But while on the surface…

Entropic Advance

With layers of sound over heavy beats and rhythm, like washes of color streaming with eddies of evolving hues hanging prominently as a compositional piece, the songs on Entropic Advance’s Industrial Noise Control recall the darker moments of Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II. “Nothing Comes of It,” meanwhile,…

Atomga on its new EP and the power of Afrobeat

Atomga (due this Saturday, January 18, at Cervantes’ Other Side) was founded by three friends who shared a mutual love of Afrobeat. Early on, Atomga expanded to its current size of eleven members, and although the outfit has released live recordings in the past, it is finally releasing its debut…

Mosey West

The psychedelia-tinged Americana and expensive spirit of Mosey West’s Bermuda evoke Green on Red’s 1985 opus Gas Food Lodging, except that these songs have an atmospheric quality that contrasts with the earthy honky-tonk vibe of that record. “The King and Queen of L.A.” offers a gritty Memphis-via-California feel without mixing…

The best DIY shows in Denver in January

SUN | KID MASK at SEVENTH CIRCLE MUSIC COLLECTIVE | 1/12/14 Back in 2011 and 2012, Pete Bell was the guy with the camera whom you’d always see shooting footage of shows at Rhinoceropolis. Bell was in high school then, and making a documentary about the long-running DIY venue for…

The best punk shows in Denver in January

FRI | NAKED RAYGUN at SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 1/31/14 In the annals of Chicago punk, Naked Raygun was one of the longest-running and most beloved of bands. But while sharing stages with the hardcore bands of the day, Naked Raygun was always just a bit more experimental than most…

Review: Sleep at Gothic Theatre, 1/3/14

SLEEP at THE GOTHIC THEATRE | 1/3/14 Cannabis is legalized here in the same week Sleep comes back to Colorado to play a show. Coincidence? Whatever the case, this show surpassed the last time the outfit played at the Gothic in September 2010. Something just seemed more coherent and focused…

The A-OKs: “We’re a ska punk band, and we’re here to throw down”

The A-OKs met on the Internet. As frontman Mark Swan notes, “We’re pretty much the billboard band for the success of finding people on Craigslist.” But while the players linked up essentially sight unseen, you’d hardly know it, watching the natural chemistry and sense of camaraderie among them. The initial…