Judging from the bio in their latest press kit, Flashbulb Fires is awfully proud of their new record GASCONADER. Words like “vivid”, “glowing”, “triumphant”, and “unique” are bandied about in a manner that some might consider boastful. So it is somewhat ironic that the album’s title (which means “boastful”) was chosen to disparage the self-righteous “narrator” (presumably a representation of singer/keyboardist Patrick McGuire’s staunchly religious father) of this semi-conceptual collection of songs.

This is not to suggest that Flashbulb Fires is overplaying their hand. They have definitely created something special with GASCONADER. But, they have also taken a big risk. Whereas their 2009 album Glory had a sound that could truly be called unique and the songs on that record varied in styles and tempos, GASCONADER feels less diverse and will likely evoke comparisons to better-known bands. Fortunately, that’s not a negative for me. There’s something very comforting about a record that creates a specific and familiar mood and then proceeds to slither around in that groove while tempting the edge every so often – such as with the Motown-esqe “Dark Ghost (I’ve Got Arms)”. McGuire’s voice has much more character on this record and he sings with assuredness. You would be hard-pressed not to hear Ben Gibbard’s influence in it, but he’s not doing an Owl City-like cribbing of Gibbard’s style. The glorious “oooh” and “aaah” harmonies that pepper most of the tracks are similar to those found in Coldplay songs and, as such, they beg to be sung out loud by the listener. This is most evident in the standout track “Serious Way”, which I could easily imagine my iPod’s Genius feature playing right after “Don’t Panic” (I’m not so hip that I can’t admit to being a pretty big Coldplay fan). The instrumentation has taken on a lush, richly-textured form, and the band doesn’t rush the songs to completion. Take the track “The Whale”, for example – it is 2 minutes and 15 seconds of traditional pop song structure followed by 2 minutes and 45 seconds of dreamy Radiohead a la “Treefingers” instrumental. The lyrics paint a dark and conflicted landscape. While they are meant to be somewhat satrical, they are not overtly so when compared to some songs (like “Pyramid Scheme”) from their last album.

GASCONADER is probably not an album you will be listening to while on the treadmill, getting ready for work, or pumping yourself up for a night on the town. But, it does make an excellent “evening chill-out with a glass of whiskey” record, or any time you are in the mood to listen to something beautiful.

Flashbulb Fires will be celebrating the release of GASCONADER on May 12th at Hi-Dive with Princess Music and Shirley.

SXSW

Wednesday, March 14th

Sarah, Susie, and I began our trek down to Austin in my car. Take to the Oars left in their SUV with a trailer in tow. Although we left at the same time towards the same destination, we didn’t worry about following each other. Ryan Gombeski’s parents live in Georgetown, TX – about 30 minutes outside of Austin. We stopped their for a quick visit and a nice meal of homemade pizza, soup, and marinated asparagus. Ryan’s mother, Sarah, prepared a cooler full of individual servings of lasagna, turkey tetrazzini, and hummus. It turned out that the only time we were around to eat these entrees was in the morning, but they made for some yummy breakfasts. From there, we headed to downtown Austin. Take to the Oars had a gig that night at Touche’ as part of the Red Gorilla Music Showcase at 11 PM. I had heard discouraging stories about the traffic and parking during SXSW, but we rolled right up to a parking garage on 7th Street at Congress and paid $20 to park – the going rate to park anywhere within 6 blocks of the primary mile-and-a-half stretch of 6th Street. But, in general, as long as we stayed north of 6th street and west of Trinity, the traffic was manageable. SXSW consists of hundreds of “official showcases” – events where paid attendees get in for free with priority entrance and the general public may be able to get in with a cover charge and a long line – and even more “unofficial showcases” that are unaffiliated with SXSW (and can get in trouble if they use the word SXSW in any of their marketing) and are open to the public. Artists playing at unofficial showcases are forced to find parking wherever they can, then lug their guitars, pedalboards, cymbals, and snare drum through the crowds and up to the front door of the venue, where they babysit their equipment until their set time. Ryan, Susie, Sarah, and I carried most of TTTO’s equipment to the front door of Touche’. 6th Street was already packed full of people, lasers over our heads, and live music blasting out of every nook and cranny. Virtually every business on 6th between Brazos and Red River is a bar or restaurant and they all host live music during SXSW. I went inside Touche’ and was pleased to see a familiar face. Denver’s Rachel James was in the middle of a solo set. Rachel is a talented singer songwriter with a great voice, but singer-songwriters are a tough sell at SXSW where the noise of 6th street can easily drown out a subtle performance like hers. Take to the Oars played a blistering set at 11 PM, highlighted by Ryan Gombeski climbing precariously stacked PA speakers and then promptly jumping into a spinning ceiling fan while knocking a water bottle over onto Mike Trujillo’s pedalboard. J.P. Manza also hopped from an amplifier and bumped Mikey T’s head with the headstock of his bass. The only thing that would have made it more rock and roll would have been someone bleeding from the head/face Andrew WK-style.

Take to the Oars

This Will Destroy You

University of Texas

This was the day that Josh Lee was arriving in Austin to meet up with his Eldren bandmates to play a set at Whiskey and Ink at 10 PM. I decided to hit the festival in the early afternoon by myself, since Sarah had some seminars and meetings she wanted to attend and Susie went to meet up with her bandmates. The first performance I planned to see was by Scotland’s We Were Promised Jetpacks. I discovered early on that some of the larger venues had multiple stages (also, it was very easy to miss your intended venue by one door and end up with a completely different experience). WWPJ was rocking away under a tent behind The Stage on Sixth Street, but I was standing in front of a stage inside the bar for ten minutes before I realized that the band setting up was not the droids I was looking for. I found my way outside and the place was packed. This was easily the hottest, sunniest day of the weekend and there was no room under the tent. So, I hung back along a wall that provided a sliver of shade and just listened to the heavy riffs and thick Scottish accent, occasionally catching a glimpse of their red-cheeked singer. 

We Were Promised Jetpacks

My Body Sings Electric

Eldren

Kaiser Chiefs

The day started out with Susie and I going over to Inca House SXSW, where The Epilogues were sharing a rental house with Cobraconda, Will, Donny, and anybody else that wanted to throw down some cash. Donny and I hadn’t practiced together for a week, so we decided to bring our acoustic guitars and play a little between seeing other bands. But before that, we went to Stubb’s BBQ for some smoked meats and tequila. My first musical destination of the day was Molotov Lounge to see my friends The Melismatics. We’ve kept in touch since they played last year’s UMS in Denver and they are great people who play fun power-pop-rock.

Melismatics

Cobraconda

Take to the Oars

Epilogues

In The Whale

This was not just my last day at SXSW, but St. Patrick’s Day as well. I had already made up my mind to leave Austin at the end of the day since I had to work on Monday, and Eldren eventually reached that same conclusion, so I was determined to not let my partying get out of hand on this day. But, that was hours from when my day started at the Reverb party. It was EARLY!!! 11:00 AM to be exact. But, I was determined to catch Mr. Right play since both Ultra 5280′s Robert Castro and Moe’s BBQ/Gothic Theater talent buyer Danny Sax had recommended them so highly to me. They were serving complimentary Sailor Jerry’s mixed drinks an Breckenridge Brewery beers on tap, so I partook of the party favors to wash down an ill-advised (but free nonetheless!) breakfast burrito. I hung around to talk to the band, Castro, and Will (who was coordinating the event) and caught most of The Swayback‘s set before going back to the house to shower and eat.

Mr Right

Josh Lee and Violin Monster

Shiny Toy Guns

The Yawpers

In The Whale

Despite my life-long addiction to music, I’ve never travelled out of state for a music festival with the lone exception of 2008′s Voodoo Experience in New Orleans. I’ve never been to Coachella or Bonnarroo, never been to Lollapalooza since it stopped travelling around the country, and never before made the trek to Austin’s mega-indie-music festival SXSW. But, since so many local bands were committed to attending in 2012, I decided to go see what it was all about. Eldren , who had three scheduled tour stops on the way to Austin, offered to give me a ride. But their offer – genuine as it was – was unrealistic. After all, they were taking Sam Lee’s three-row-seating van on tour with 5 members of Eldren (violinst Josh Lee would meet us later in Austin), Sam Lee, Sarah Slaton, and myself – and all eight of us planned to bring instruments plus a duffel bag of clothes. Sam, a seasoned tourer, was rightfully concerned. As much as I wanted to have the “full experience” of being on the road in a band van, I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone So, I made the decision to drive my own car and provide some overflow relief for the van.

Thursday, March 8th

We all met up at Eldren’s practice facility near Santa Fe and Evans. The first step was to load all of the equipment in the van. Sam took charge of loading the van – a game of Band Gear Tetris that was nearly “Game Over” when Tyler Imbrogno’s massive Yamaha S90 keyboard started scrolling down the screen. Since it was Sam’s van, a place where he slept most nights on this and previous tours, he took control of almost everything van-related. This was Eldren’s first tour. Loathe as they might be to admit it, having Sam and Sarah around was beneficial. I took a couple duffel bags and guitar cases in my trunk, along with Sarah Slaton and Susie Quinn. We gassed up and hit the road to Salina, Kansas. In Burlington, Colorado, we made a stop for gas, a 30-banger of Natural Ice, and a bottle of Jameson’s. None of us knew anything about Kansas liquor laws, and didn’t want to risk arriving late at night to find all of the liquor stores closed. We got to the hotel at around 11 PM, finished off half of the Natty Ice and all of the Jameson’s, jammed a little bit on our acoustic guitars, and hit the sack.

Friday, March 9th

As would be customary, we slept right up to check-out time. The van’s gas cap broke and Sam and I managed to get it off. A quick trip to the auto parts store and we were on our way to the first gig at Blackthorn Pizza Pub in Joplin, Missouri. Sarah made it a point to warn the band before we left that not all states in the mid-west are as marijuana-friendly as Colorado and advised that the band refrain from “holding”. But, bands will be bands. As we approached Wichita, there was a solar sign board on the highway advising that there was a “DRUG DOG CHECK LANE AHEAD”. It turned out to be a smoke-screen, but damned if they didn’t almost eat the weed before we realized it. We drove through Joplin towards the hotel and saw some of the aftermath caused by last year’s EF5 multiple-vertex tornado that took the lives of 160 people and racked up over $2 million in damages. We checked in, unpacked our clothes, and headed to the gig. Blackthorne Pizza Pub is a cool little place with video games, a pool table, and great pizza. The stage was pretty small for a 5-piece band, but Eldren is used to playing small places with even more people on stage (the band sometimes performs as an 8-piece with The Heyday’s Pete Wynn and Air Dubai’s Wesley Watkins on brass as well as missing member Josh Lee). Sarah warmed up the place with a short acoustic set – joined by Sam for a couple tracks. Sam performed a few acoustic numbers by himself, then was joined onstage by Rick Walker and myself. I had no idea that I would be playing with Sam until that afternoon when he asked me, but I was thrilled to have the opportunity. By the time Eldren hit the stage, there were roughly 30 people in attendance. After the show, we headed back to the hotel, finished off the beer from the day before, and sang acousting renditions of music from the video game series “Legend of Zelda” before the hotel manager came to shut us up at around 3 AM. There were 8 of us in one room – five sharing the two double beds and three on the floor. Touring at this level is far from glamorous.

Saturday, March 10th

From Joplin, it was just a two hour drive to the next gig in Springfield, MO. Because there were 8 of us in the room at Joplin, not all of us were lucky enough to secure shower time. So, we checked into the hotel and got cleaned up. Not long after we arrived, we were met by the boys of Take to the Oars who had driven in overnight from Denver. Most of us walked over to the Waffle House next door, which was a difficult decision because A) it’s Waffle House and B) “Anchorman” was on TV. We headed to the downtown area in the van while watching Wayne’s World (“I like to play”). When we arrived, Eldren started walking down the street with a couple acoustic guitars to drum up business for the show. Nathan P. Murphy’s is a legendary jazz/blues club, having hosted Buddy Rich, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and more. Its owner “Dr.” Bob Murphy hosts a popular radio show in town. Murphy, a non-smoker, nearly lost his life several years ago due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease caused by second-hand smoke in his own club. Murphy is a man who is clearly glad to be alive and simply loves being around live music and musicians. After equipment load-in, Murphy and his staff treated the bands and crew to a homemade meal of roasted turkey, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, gravy, salad, and rolls. After a couple days of junk food, this was a welcome treat that really lifted our spirits (club owners take note!). There was a good sized crowd for the show which, in addition to TTTO and Eldren, featured Antenna’s Up from Kansas City (who are playing the Hi-Dive this Friday night) and an inspired performance by Heypenny from Nashville.

Sunday, March 11th

Take To The Oars left early to go play a show in Oklahoma City, OK with Lovedrug – a popular band from Ohio. The show was expected to be a sell out. However, they were leaving pretty early (especially when you consider that we just lost an hour thanks to daylight savings), so I opted to stay in Springfield with Eldren and Sam for a day off. Before checking out of the hotel, the band tried to find a cheaper room in town using Priceline. They found one right across the street. We checked out of the other hotel, got our mack on at Golden Corral, went to Wal-Mart for some free entertainment in the Toys and Games department, and headed over to the new hotel. If you’ve never booked a hotel through Priceline before, you really don’t get to specify much about your needs other than the geographic area. The room that Eldren got was at a chain hotel called Microtel. MICROtel? Not a good sign. We checked in and the lady behind the counter eyed us as our large group headed to our room. We opened the door to the smallest hotel room you’ve ever seen. One bed and no other furniture. Not nearly big enough for 7 people. I had slept on the floor once already, and wasn’t really interested in doing it again. I went back down to the desk and got a room with double beds. This one actually looked like a proper hotel room and I offered to let the band sleep in there while Sam an I took the micro room. There really wasn’t any money to go out on the town. Plus it was Sunday in Springfield – not much to do. The band decided to go to sleep – at 3 PM. Sam an I watched episodes of “Archer” and the 1980 comedy “Airplane!” on Netflix. The band woke up at 10 PM and we got some 24 oz cans of Bud Light at the gas station. Sam and I went to sleep at a responsible hour – the band stayed awake until 5 AM.

Monday, March 12th

Just before check-out time, I went to wake up the band. Yesterday’s day off was a bit of a drag. Without a show or discretionary income to do stuff with, a day off can just make you homesick or make you question your decision to live life as a starving artist. Before she left, Sarah told us that Springfield had a pretty nice zoo. I thought it might just be goofy enough to lift our spirits, so I offered to spring for admission. The highlight was the giraffe exhibit, where you walk up a ramp to a deck that puts you face to face with the giraffes. You can buy crackers and feed the giraffes by hand – they’ve got some pretty impressive tongues! They can also get pretty agressive if you’re not actively stuffing crackers into their mouths. One of them would snort at you and the power of the exhalation was startling. Another headbutted Tyler when he wasn’t looking (I missed capturing it on camera by milliseconds). The monkeys and black bears were cool too. But, as is the case in most zoos, too many animals sleeping or hiding. We took off and enjoyed a nice lunch at Backyard Burgers before driving to Springdale, Arkansas – just outside of Fayetteville. Sarah’s father lives in Springdale and invited us over for dinner and a place to stay for the night. This was even better than the zoo. As soon as we drove up, which was perfectly synced with Take to the Oars’ and Sarah’s arrival from OKC, we were treated to grilled chicken and the best crawfish busque any of us ever had. Tyler, Rick Walker, and Ryan Gombeski tried to outdo each other on a trampoline that was sitting all alone in the acre-plus backyard. A basketball game broke out in the driveway. Later in the evening, everybody got together to perform in the living room which included a stunning performance by Allie Lauren – a singer-songwriter-keyboardist with a voice every bit as good as Rhianna – whom Take to the Oars and Sarah overheard performing in the hotel lobby while checking out that morning. The longer we played, the more collaborative and fun it got. Afterwards, Eldren spent a couple hours hand-cutting CD sleeves and burning copies of their 4th EP Yankee Stargazer using iTunes on two MacBooks. I entertained them with a Shatner-esque poetic recital of one of their songs with my shirt off. I hope that video never sees the light of day.

Tuesday, March 13th

The caravan left for Tulsa, Oklahoma where we would meet up with Boulder’s The Yawpers at a place called The Hunt Club Grub and Pub. We arrived in the business district of downtown Tulsa at around 5:30 PM and the place was like a scene out of the twilight zone – almost completely deserted. We went looking for a place to eat, and just about every restaurant was closed – even the Arby’s! Not “out of business” closed – but “ain’t nobody downtown to sell food to after 5 PM” closed. We finally found a Subway that was open ’til “late night” (6 PM). When we arrived at the venue, the staff was trying to hang a canoe from the rafters of the outdoor stage. There was one guy on a tall ladder attaching that blue-vinyl covered thick bicycle chain to the ceiling, under the canoe, and back up to the ceiling. I was sure the dude on the ladder was gonna eat it – so much so that I kept videotaping him (which, in retrospect, was pretty annoying). But, alas, the canoe was secured without incident adding to the otherwise nautical-free theme of the place. I don’t know if the place was under new ownership or what, but they didn’t have a PA system. Sarah was traveling with a 4-input PA and a couple of mics. The Yawpers managed to make it work – there are only three of them and they only use acoustic guitars. Take to the Oars only uses two mics, but the PA just wasn’t powerful enough to cut through their heavier out. Eldren needed three mics – one each for Nasir, Tyler, and Susie. They all sing and Susie plays the flute into the mic. Susie and Tyler were forced to share a mic and it was really awkward because Tyler sings while playing keyboards and Susie sings and plays flute into the mic. You could tell that they were frustrated and it exacerbated tensions that had already begun to arise as a result of being bound together on the road for the first time. Also, there was nobody there. Just the bands, the staff, and a few of their friends. Earlier in the day when we remarked how dead downtown seemed, the owner told us “you’d be surprised how many people will come out to see a band from out of town”. We were surprised, alright. The Eldren boys got a hotel, and TTTO, Sarah, Susie and I stayed at a friend of Sarah’s.

Wednesday, March 14th

The drive from Tulsa to Austin takes 8 hours and we planned to stop 30 minutes outside of Austin to have dinner at Ryan Gombeski’s (TTTO) parent’s house. If we were lucky, we’d get to SXSW in time to see a few bands.

END OF PART 1

On the other hand, the lyrics of the closing track “NWO”, which stands for “Nuclear Winter Olympics”, are cut and dry: the world leaders are taking us down a path of destruction and we must compete to take it back. Because Eldren is rich with vocalists, they have a knack for writing gang vocals that the listener is compelled to sing out loud. And “NWO” offers up a real doozy for the Occupy Wall Street era:

“Grab your guns, grab your ammunition, grab your pitchforks, people! Let’s go, people, let’s go!”

The musical style of Yankee Stargazer is similar to Volume I and Volume II. The moods created by the songs range from spacey (“Yankee Stargazer”) to bouncy (“Sleepy Walker”), from pre-disco pop-rock (“Hug Rabbit”) to bass-synth neo-psychedelica (“NWO”). The songs flow together better than on their previous releases, and the production shows growth as a band. Hopefully, as their name implies, Eldren can continue along this trajectory of maturity while retaining the childlike wonderment that makes them so special.

On February 27th, Denver indie rock band The Foot. will release their 2nd EP called The Crowd Control EP. On the same day, they will also release their 3rd EP called The Cloud Control EP. You may be asking yourself (as I did), why release two 3-song EPs on the same day instead of one EP with all six songs. Of course, the answer is that in these days of music streaming services and a la carte digital purchases, it doesn’t really matter how you package your songs together. Besides, The Foot. is a band that is not very interested in the conventional. Take the unnecessary punctuation at the end of their name, for example. Or, how singer, bassist, keyboardist Jeff McCollister does a dead-on impression of Lenny Kravitz over music that you can easily imagine hearing at Shotgun Willy’s without it sounding like an embarrassing parody.

Silly as it may sound to release 2 EP’s on the same day, the band did something pretty clever by designing album art that, when joined vertically with last year’s The Hangman EP , creates a single image (see picture at right). They also bookend the songs on the similarly named Crowd and Cloud EPs with “blast from the past” sound effects, signalling that the collections are meant to really be played together.

The Crowd Control EP starts off with the track “The Day We Danced Around Gold”. With its funky, effect-driven Muse-inspired bassline and shifting dynamics and tempos, it is a song that shows a lot of maturity for the band which, since The Hangman EP has added producer Drew Sowell as the fourth official member (toe?). If a hot girl strutting down the street had her own soundtrack, it would be the song “Dark Dark Ways”. The Foot.’s Facebook page describes their main influence as “brazen sexual energy”, and few songs in their catalog (except “Seeing Red” from 2010′s Primary Colors) lives up to that claim as much as this song. Then, as if to remind you how unconventional they are, the band follows “Dark Dark Ways” and concludes the Crowd EP with a ballad about a dying kid. “A Parting Lesson” is a beautiful song featuring Phil Barrett’s acoustic guitar behind McCollister’s emotional and earnest falsetto. Still, it is jarring to hear this song right after “Dark Dark Ways” as if the band is saying “shame on you for daydreaming about hot girls when there is a kid dying of cancer somewhere in the world right now!”.

It was no trouble finding talent to perform at the event. Not only is Slaton a talented singer/songwriter in her own right, but has managed to remain unjaded despite her position as a booking agent for the Vinefield Agency and as a production assistant for AEG Live and Live Nation. She’s a fan who sings along at live shows just like everybody else. Everybody I asked to perform accepted with sincerity and enthusiasm, and Slaton was clearly touched by the turnout.

The first artist to hit the stage was Mike Trujillo of Take to the Oars. Trujillo kicked off the mostly-acoustic evening with two original numbers – the latter lovingly dedicated to his wife (the couple is expecting their first child in the Summer). His set concluded with the TTTO song “Monster Eats Pilot”. Slaton, who occasionally performs the vocal that Kyle Simmons contributed to the album, joined Trujillo on stage. About 30 seconds into the song, Simmons herself arrived and was urged to join the two on stage surprising Slaton with a friendly hug. It was just the first of several unscripted collaborations to emerge from the evening’s mutual admiration club.

Simmons, Slaton, and Trujillo

Up next was Nasir Malik and Josh Lee of Eldren. Sam Lee, who along with Malik and Josh Lee made up three-fifths of the now defunct Death Hickey Blues, joined them for part of the performance.

Malik, J. Lee, S. Lee

Malik and Josh Lee would return the favor later in the evening when Sam Lee performed a set of his own. Josh Lee’s violin was in high demand. It seemed like he sat in for at least one song of every set.

Sam Lee

Attic Attack and Jen Korte w/ Jess DeNicola played sets before Slaton’s scheduled time slot. There were so many musicians in the audience, that Slaton donated part of her time to allow them to pay tribute. Kate Moreland and Rob Drabkin (who covered Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” with, who else, Josh Lee) each performed short sets before Slaton took the stage. Malik and the two Lees performed Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” with Slaton, and her set concluded with a Kyle Simmons duet, after which Simmons held onto the guitar for a song of her own.

Drabkin

Lee, Lee, Slaton

Slaton, Simmons

Simmons

A piano sat in the center of the room away from the performance area. It was not intended to be used in the performances, but Caleb Slade was determined to use it – and it was an unforgettable, communal experience. As he was performing “Always On My Mind” from his EP Victory in Defeat, Josh Lee slid up behind him to play violin and Wesley Watkins’ trumpet wafted softly from the kitchen. Slade later played Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and everybody standing around him hummed the bass line in between Slade’s vocal. Slade and Simmons harmonized on the outro.

Slade

Lee, Slade, Watkins

Slade’s performance might have been an intimidating act to follow for many performers. But, Steve Varney and Jess Parsons of Glowing House sure didn’t show any signs of that. Varney and Parson’s vocal harmonies commanded attention. The energetic chatter that was present for most of the evening ceased completely as the crowd stood frozen and leaned in to listen to their heartfelt set. In this stripped down setting, as friends sat around holding each other, Glowing House cast a warm glow to close out a very special evening.

Glowing House

Glowing House

Lee, Watkins, Varney

After the scheduled performances had ended, attendees were reluctant to allow the evening to end. Josh Lee and Brad Berryman (also formerly of Death Hickey Blues) performed a couple of songs and Caleb Slade continued to amuse himself on the piano before heading out for a late night cocktail.

Special thanks to Alec Winter for graciously donating his home for the event. Best wishes Sara and Paskel. Don’t you dare be strangers…

Thursday, February 9th

It’s only Thursday, but you can still go to CHRCH with King F.O.E, Yonnas Abraham, and Karma The Voice tonight at the Meadowlark. Guests include FoCo-post-punk-rockers Wire Faces.

The Soiled Dove Underground has amazing acoustics, so don’t be surprised if you leave with your eardrums bleeding after In The Whale tears that shit up.

The NYC ska pioneers share a stage with two of Colorado’s best party bands.

Friday, February 10th

Baby – talk nerdy to me. Come re-live your most awkward high school moments with Bop Skizzum and an amazing lineup of local acts.

Celebrate the release of Achille Lauro’s new album “Fight or Flight”.

The first night of a 2-night event features Flashbulb Fires, The Yawpers, The Don’ts and Be Carefuls, and Sauna.

The boys are sure to play at least a few tracks from their upcoming, as yet un-named release.

The new album is really good and features the awesome brass of Trombone Shorty.

Saturday, February 11th

For the 2nd night, Vinefield offers up Kyle James Hauser, Post Paradise, Antennas Up, In The Whale, and Caleb Slade for your entertainment.

SRRS hasn’t played in town since Thanksgiving, so come check them out along with electro-dance band ManCub and Men In Burka.

Just because Monroe Monroe had to cancel doesn’t mean that Novus Folium, Fierce Bad Rabbit, and Sam Lee aren’t gonna totally throw down.

A fantastic trio of local folk-rock acts hit the Walnut Room. Get some pizza – I hear good things about the pizza.

Sunday, February 12th

If you didn’t get tickets yet, it’s too late.

Friday, February 3rd

Face Man will officially release their new EP Feeding Time in the 2nd annual installment of “FaceMan’s Waltz”. Expect guest performances from dozens of local bands.

The “Hoodies and Heels” party will feature an appearance by Dirty Rotten Rhymers, so you KNOW it’s eXXXclusive!

Tell Jen Korte I said hello! She’s a sweetie!

I’m kicking myself for not getting tickets to this before it sold out.

That cover of “Mrs. Robinson” was pretty rad.

Saturday, February 4th

Pretty stoked about seing Le Divorce for the first time! The Don’ts and Be Carefuls had a great set at last year’s Yelpapalooza. Should be a fun night!

Tough call tonight. But, I’ve seen both Hearts In Space and The Centennial before, and although they are both great, I’ve gotta give away my Le Divorce virginity.

Sunday, February 5th

Ain’t nothing going on but the Super Bowl. Seriously. Go Patriots, I guess!