The Cult

Choice of Weapon

Cooking Vinyl Records

4 out of 5 stars

I have always been a bit split on The Cult’s musical output. On one hand when the band is in high gear and rocking out, they kick major ass. On the other hand — for me, at least — when the band slows the tempo they often throw off a symphonic, want-to-be The Doors vibe (Ian Astbury was a perfect fit for re-Formed Doors, no doubt) that makes me lose interest, the same way hearing more than one or two Rush songs in a row does.

But Choice of Weapon shows the band returning with an effort on par with their platinum 1989 release Sonic Temple.

The opening track “Honey From a Knife,” is difficult for any fan of a good beat to deny. The middle of the track features a tongue-in-cheek chant, “We got the drugs, we got the drugs in here,” that is as catchy as it is shocking. The next few tracks take on that mellow vibe I mentioned above, but it somehow feels much more contemporary. The album picks up considerably with “Lucifer,” a track I could see Glen Danzig doing on a future tribute album, and “A Pale Horse” also has a nice kick to it.

This album is, for the most part, brilliant and a must-have for any longtime fan.               — DJ Hippie

:: Ogden Theater :: May 30 ::

Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s

Rot Gut, Domestic

Mariel Recording Company

4.5 out of 5 stars

Since shedding their only female member a few years back, Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s have taken on a darker, fuzzier façade, and with Rot Gut, Domestic they have truly found the balance between indie rawness and guitar-centric rock — a balance that they call “panic pop.”

Singer/songwriter Richard Edwards wrote the album in less than a month,  right after the band wrapped up their tour for their previous release Buzzard. Like past releases, the album is a view right into the notebook of a deeply introspective thinker, but Edwards isn’t one to lay his problems on listeners, and even the most personal tracks come off like laughable stories told to a shrink.

It’s magical and powerful, once again.         — BFJ

:: Larimer Lounge :: May 15 ::

:: hi-dive :: May 25 ::

:: Mishawaka Amphitheatre :: May 26 ::

Mosey West

Merica

Independent

4 out of 5 stars

They may still be a relatively new band, but the writing prowess of Fort Collins-based Mosey West makes it feel like they’ve been doing this for eons.

It also feels like they’re doing all of this writing in another time. With nods to country-rock legends like Uncle Tupelo, Gram Parsons and Neil Young, the band has a sound that is relaxed and perfect for a front porch. Lots of other acts have that sound too, but Mosey West’s magic is their phrasing, which keeps the material engaging throughout and eschews the chance of the album becoming background music. Phrasing comes in the form of poetic lines like, “Don’t get me wrong, my dear, plenty men round here would like to call your name,” off the track “Gone.” And it shows up again on the EP’s strongest track, “Bad Actors,” which has a direct Neil Young vibe.

Merica is Mosey West’s second EP in as many years and with that relatively modest output they’ve already landed a spot at the Wakarusa Music Festival. Not bad, gents. Keep it up.    — BFJ

:: Hodi’s Half Note :: May 11 :: (CD release)

:: hi-dive :: May 25 ::

:: Mishawaka Amphitheatre :: May 26 ::

Signal Path

MixTaEP

Independent

3.5 out of 5 stars

Denver live-tronic  dance music afficionados  Signal Path released five albums of entirely original music between 2010 and 2011, but for their 2012 offerings, the band has put together a studio project unlike anything they’ve ever done.

MixTaEP is a collection of remixes by famous artists mashed up with Signal Path’s live instrumentation. In a press release about the EP, the band said that they took songs by their favorite current artists and “sliced and diced them into a musical collage.” They’ve re-worked tracks by everyone from Skrillex, Zola Jesus, The Roots, Active Child, Sleighbells, and Cults, among many others. While the remix, by its very nature, highlights the artists they’re tackling, MixTaEP also showcases the talent of Signal Path’s producers, and the massive ears that they posses, which allows them to so seamlessly turn these tracks into their own body of work. You never forget that the tracks were originally someone else’s, but you certainly never lose touch with what Signal Path has brought to the table to re-make those songs and have them shine in a different way.                                         — BFJ

:: Bluebird Theater :: May 25 ::

:: Dickens Opera House :: May 25 ::

:: Campout for the Cause @ Statebridge ::

:: May 27 ::

The Congress

Whatever You Want

Independent

4 out of 5 stars

Anyone who has seen The Congress play live knows that they can play the hell out of a Grateful Dead cover. But for their first full-length album, the band comes out of the gate with a lead and title track that is a almost sludgy and grungy sounding.

That sound continues through much of the album — fuzzed out blues chord progressions held together by the absolutely massive sound from the two-piece rhythm section. That power trio feel is what they were searching for, and each member’s playing is tight enough to keep that sound dialed in. Bassist and vocalist Scott Lane delivers a growl that’s as powerful as his big-ass beard. Guitarist Jonathan Meadows shows some major shredding capabilities, and Mark Levy holds all of that together on drums. It’s a solid piece of work.  — BFJ

:: Bluebird Theater :: May 4 :: (CD release)

:: Dickens Opera House :: May 25 ::

:: Campout for the Cause @ Statebridge ::

:: May 27 ::

By Brian Turk

Denver has a well established folk music scene, and The Denver Folklore Center, Swallow Hill Music Association and the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival are all examples of its strong foundation.

It’s a foundation that continues to grow and this month the first annual Northwest Denver Folk Festival will add another element of support to the already solid base. With ten bands spanned over nearly as many hours, this inaugural event was designed to capture a snapshot of Front Range folk, and the lineup reflects the diversity of the scene.

This festival is not simply made up of singer/songwriters and their guitars, but instead showcases the full artistic breadth of modern day folk in Denver.

:: Dustin Reid :: 3:10pm ::

Singer/songwriter Dustin Reid will be the first to take the stage, and he is the only solo act of the event. He has shared the stage with local folk acts like Nathaniel Rateliff and Danielle Ate the Sandwich, as well as other artists on this bill.

:: Chimney Choir :: 3:50pm ::

When Chimney Choir rattles off some of their implements of percussion, one might think they are showing off what they bought during a day of yard sale hopping. They have been known to bang on a ladder, the keys of a typewriter, or a Samsonite suitcase to relay a rhythm; and their live performances are just as eclectic as the items on the stage. The three members of this experimental folk syndicate switch instruments with each other on stage, use synthesized psychedelic sounds, and also incorporate performance art into their set. The folk element is anchored by mandolin, guitar, banjo, accordion, harmonica, flute, and three part harmonies.

:: Laura Goldhammer :: 4:30 pm ::

Laura Goldhammer creates art in many forms, and when she is on stage she displays them all. Her musical ideas are expressed in a dramatically simple way on a banjo, and self-composed animated short films light up a screen behind her. Stories come together as Goldhammer percussively guides audiences through an audio visual display of her thoughts, a unique approach that won her Westword’s 2010 Mastermind Award.

:: Clouds and Mountains :: 5:20 pm ::

Paper Bird’s Mason Terry lives near a place called Lair O’ the Bear Park, and his sound is a result of hibernating at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Terry stood his bass in a corner and grabbed a guitar and notebook for this solo project, but his performances are filled out by the presence of an accompanying musician on drums. Airy, spacious and melodic, the subtly detailed picking merges with the subdued rhythms, passes through jagged canyons and ends up on the banks of a mountain stream.

:: The Clam Daddys :: 6:10 pm ::

Looking like ZZ Top and sounding like voodoo blues troubadours, The Clam Daddys fit right into the non-existent boundaries of this newly formed festival. Tommy Knox and Moses Walker have been playing their folk/blues fusion for over of a decade, and gruff and guttural vocals are their most distinguishing characteristic — well, that and their crazy beards.

:: Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore :: 7:50 pm ::

Mollie O’Brien is a vocalist that can handle any genre of music. Jazz, Appalachian traditional, gospel, blues and folk voices are all sung in a fluent tone. She first began performing in the coffeehouses and churches of Wheeling, West Virginia with her brother Tim, of Hot Rize fame. Nowadays, Mollie’s husband Rich Moore is her chosen stage partner. The musical matrimony of O’Brien and Moore brings together two veteran musicians and has created a duo with great chemistry on the stage. Since O’Brien and Moore tap into a more traditional sounding repertoire, this will most likely be the most straight forward folk set of the event, reminiscent of the simple sounds from the early Newport Folk festivals.

:: Porlolo :: 8:40 pm ::

The artsy awesomeness of the blog Denversyntax.com once wrote that “Porlolo is the closest thing you will get to a murder between lovers. And while none of it has to do with anything physical, Erin Roberts’ dark folk infusion can be violent in its exploration of emotions and everything murky, watery and mysterious. On the surface Roberts’ work sounds like an incurable pessimist lamenting about anything feeling. But no, Erin Roberts is not so much an enigma. Sure, Porlolo is feeling and dark, watery and mysterious. But Roberts’ songs are also about a world of possibility.”

:: The Legendary River Drifters :: 9:30 pm ::

The Legendary River Drifters play barroom style folk with a hint of country metal growl. The sound is seriously steeped in tradition, both with instruments and lyrical themes. The songs are filled with religious undertones, and this band seems to want to make its audiences dance with the devil and ask Jesus for forgiveness the next day.

:: Reverend Deadeye :: 10:20 pm ::

If The Legendary River Drifters don’t put the fear of God into the room, Reverend Deadeye will. His youth was filled with religious snake handling, Pentecostal tent revivals, and the musical fervor that was the soundtrack to both. The Reverend is not looking to save souls, but rather to own them. He achieves that ownership by charming his audience with Delta blues played in a punk fashion, and singing his spells into a beer-can microphone.

:: Paper Bird :: 11:15pm ::

Paper Bird recorded their first album five years ago, but they really began to soar in 2011. Last year found them at Red Rocks in front of over 8,000 people. Their uplifting sound is haunting, joyful, transcendental and free. There are no confines to their creations, but well-crafted songs and stellar musicianship do establish the ground rules.

The seven musicians that make up the band take paper dyed with folk, bluegrass, R&B and jazz and fold in some authenticity to form the animal known as Paper Bird.

Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires

There Is A Bomb In Gilead

Alive Natural Sound Records

4 out of 5 stars

Lee Bains III is from central Alabama — Birmingham, to be exact — but the sound on his debut album with The Glory Fires is 110% Muscle Shoals, Ala. territory. At least it sounds that way. Despite the unfortunate fact that the album was actually recorded over the state line in Water Valley, Miss., the power, soul and vintage sound of There Is A Bomb In Gilead is indicative of recordings that have come out of Muscle Shoals Fame Studio by bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers and more recently, Drive-By Truckers.

There Is a Bomb is a righteous ruckus that sits at the vanguard of the vernacular. The first 15 seconds of the album starts with a somewhat tacet guitar piece, before exploding into rock and soul for the next 38 minutes. Part of that explosion is no doubt due to the environs. Recorded in the south, but mixed in Detroit, the album straddles the Appalachian Mountains, with one foot in the Confederacy and one in the Motor City — or as the band’s label said, the album is where “Mississippi grease and Detroit grit” meet.

Each track is chock full of southern storytelling, but choruses give way to great anthematic singalongs. The track “Everything You Took” most perfectly shows the blending of styles. With a nostalgic, soulful verse, Bains sings about a failed relationship with mentions of lost Ramones t-shirts and Walker Percy books, before a blistering guitar solo gives way to a chorus as catchy as they come, with heavy background vocals and an optimistic sense of “everything is going to be okay.”

There Is A Bomb In Gilead is an awesomely solid debut, and I wish I had the chance to hear it in its native form — blasting from a Ford truck stereo rolling down Highway 72, through the South.                         — BFJ

Musketeer Gripweed

Straight Razor Revival

Independent

4 out of 5 stars

Musketeer Gripweed certainly made the most of an opening spot for North Mississippi Allstars last November. The group was able to befriend NMA and Black Crowes guitarist Luther Dickinson and head to Backbone Studios in Fort Collins for a late-night recording session with the man. The result is Dickinson’s appearance on two songs from the band’s latest offering Straight Razor Revival. But, as cool as it is to have the monstrous playing of Dickinson on the album, the truth is, Musketeer Gripweed didn’t really need the bump. The two tracks that Dickinson lends a hand on are already great and the other five songs on the album are even stronger than Gripweed’s stellar 2010 release Dyin’ Day.

Gripweed frontman Jason Downing should definitely be on the list of great frontmen for Colorado bands. With a spirit that is as much southern preacher as it is rocker, Downing and company plow through some of the headiest freak and roll this side of the Crowes, and Straight Razor Revival shows the band at its strongest, whether they’re singing about catching catfish, or deep social change.                          — BFJ

:: Aggie Theatre (CD Release) :: April 7 ::

Grant Farm

Grant Farm

Grant Central Records

3.5 out of 5 stars

It’s not shocking that Tyler Grant’s resume includes a stint in the Drew Emmitt Band and The Emmitt-Nershi band. The opening track off Grant Farm’s new eponymous CD, “I Come From The Country,” sounds a lot like an Emmitt creation and “Engineer” two tracks later has a decidely Emmitt flavor as well. It’s pretty clear  why Grant was part of Emmitt’s non-Leftover Salmon projects — the guys play a lot alike. But when Grant lets loose on his Telecaster midway through “Engineer” it’s clear that there are some obvious differences as well.

Grant, who first formed the Farm with fellow ENB alumni Andy Thorn, and the help of String Cheese bassist Keith Moseley, brings a tight honky-tonk feel to the disc — a feeling that the band calls country-disco or “Crisco.” Simply put, it’s country enough for cowboy boots, but still danceable and hippie enough for some patchouli as well, and the track “Funky Boulder” is a perfect example of that.                                   — BFJ

:: Quixote’s True Blue (CD Release) :: March 30 ::

:: Boulder Theater :: April 27 ::

The Swayback

Double Four Time

LGL Records

3.5 out of 5 stars

There are elements of The Swayback’s Double Four Time that (had they been around back then) seem as if the band should have been included on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack in the 1980s, or at a minimum, some tracks that would have ended up on Morrisey’s cutting room floor for being too energetic.

But just when listeners think they have the sound and style locked in, the Denver band throws out a song like “Gonna Walk,” overflowing with fuzz, soaring vocals by bassist/vocalist Eri Halborg, and a driving beat that would not have fit with any John Huges movie, ever. In fact, the magic of Swayback, which they do a solid job highlighting here, is that their songs range from the aforementioned Morrissey-esque to a title track that sounds like it’s from The Black Keys, to the album closer “What A Pity Now,” that’s a rocking, fist-pumping singalong.

The Denver group has already garnered massive attention and this album should help to keep that coming.

— BFJ

:: Larimer Lounge :: April 2 ::

:: A.F. Rays (Greeley) :: April 3 ::

:: Fox Theatre :: April 20 ::