Band of Randos feat PBR can opens for Oliver Bravado and Pretty Mouth at the Meadowlark. More to come, probably.
SOD: R.L. Cole “Salvation”
We had the awesome pleasure of being able to sit in on this taping and what a fucking rad experience it was. This was the last Denver show for R.L Cole and what a great time it was, we wish him the best. Thanks to the guys at Deer Pile for giving us this oppurtunity and to Mountain to Sound for sharing the video.
Forget that friend of a friend’s bar crawl you promised to make an appearance at, we just found you something MUCH more worthy for your Friday night.
This Friday, Feb 1st, 2013, Mike Clark & the Sugar Sounds are releasing their new album, Round and Round. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but seriously, this band and this album is too good to pass up.
Not only does this band from Colorado Springs play a clean-cut set, they can turn even the most stubborn of wallflowers into a downright part-time rug-cutter. On that note, Mike Clark, also has the ability to slow it down a notch and touch a listener’s soul. Sounds creepy, it’s not.
I was first introduced to his music from the popular Fuel for Friends blog (based out of Colorado Springs also, coincidence? Conspiracy?!) and have wanted to see him perform live ever since. The song, “Smooth Sailing,” will get stuck in your head and refuse to leave until a time it sees fit, or you turn on the radio and you catch a riff of this gem(Link to hall & oates – you make my dreams come true).
So, it’s settled, tell your little sister you could care less about her half-birthday party on Friday night, it’s superfluous as hell anyway, and we will see you at Deer Pile (located above City O’ City, 13th and Sherman) at 8:30.
Deal?
Deal.
Lion’s Lair, your $10 and under school-night shows cease to amaze us at Bearcules. Cheap beers, bitchin’ jukebox and always a wide variety of new talented bands on the marquee, what’s not to love?
The Billy Goats, a band still in its first year from Fort Collins, have a simple attack plan. Drums and guitar combined to form some hard hitting blues-rock. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, “Sounds like the Black Keys or early White Stripes!” I know and I agree, you see this combination a lot nowadays, but it’s a timeless combination and the Billy Goats really own it. The gritty two-some are off to a solid start and should do well in the Colorado, especially based in the blossoming music scene that is Fort Collins.
The shocker of the night was Denver’s own, The Dirty Few. Twin brothers Seth and Spencer Stone, transplants from Nashville play drum and guitar. Justin Trujillo accompanies the brothers on bass. These guys are the real deal embodiment of modern day punk. The Dirty Few are a group of sweaty rockers, jumping up on bars and doing stage dives in a venue where I approximate the ceiling is about 9 feet. If you haven’t yet, go see these guys, they’ve got spunk .
Also, it’s nice to see a band pay homage to some of their influences, including a cover of Harlem’s “Someday Soon” and the Aquabat’s “Super Rad.”
The Rich Hands put on a commendable show for the already preheated and raucous crowd. The Texas group, passing through town, brought a 60’s pop garage rock vibe that isn’t as prevalent in Denver as some (I) would hope. The Rich Hands hit hard and seemed to turn up the punk knob on their set a few notches to match the raw tenacity of The Dirty Few. The three-piece band played a tightly tuned set and had the majority of the crowd wanting more, within reason of course, I mean; it was a school night after all.
Chris Barker
*Click the banner image for the picture set
SOD: Mike Clark & The Sugar Sounds
Billy Goats on Tuesday night were a fucking blast. That show review will be up later tonight. However this Friday we will be covering the fabulous band that opened for Eye and the Arrow last Saturday. They are having a CD Release this Friday at Deer Pile. Cmon on down and check em out.
Denver’s Hi-Dive hosted a stellar line-up this past Saturday for Eye and the Arrow’s release of their “If by Fire” EP. If you haven’t heard of Eye and the Arrow yet, do not fret because chances are you might have heard of Paper Bird. Haven’t heard of Paper Bird? Sweet Jesus, if you haven’t Googled these bands yet you might just be hopeless. Two of the three members of Eye and the Arrow are also moonlight in Paper Bird, Mark Anderson on drums and Paul DeHaven on guitar.
Kicking off the show were a couple other impressive acts, all Google-worthy of course.
For starters we have Mike Clark and the Sugar Sounds, a band haling from Denver’s pigeon-holed neighbor to the south, Colorado Springs. Mike Clark’s retro rockabilly soul sound is something you won’t soon forget. These guys are good, so good in fact and they have THEIR VERY OWN album release show on Friday, February 1st, 2013 at Deerpile, located right above City O’ City on 13th and Sherman Street. More on that in a few days though.
Batting second was Bad Weather California, who has taken on kind of a cult following and for good reason. Like a less strung-out version of the Black Lips, Bad Weather California utilizes poppy surf guitar riffs, straight forward and occasionally angsty lyrics, and top it off with a dash of funk. By taking their love of punk, with the sporadic accompaniment of hip-hop stylings, Bad Weather California has created a sincerely matchless musical experience.
SOD: Eye and the Arrow “Honey Wine”
Haven’t done one of these in awhile but these fine gents are gonna be at the Hi Dive this Saturday and Bearcules will be there to see to it they have an awesome show. The music has an Eagles type of feel for some fucking reason but don’t ask us why we just fucking love it and the video is sublime.
Happy New Year everyone and welcome back. We are all mostly sobered up and are getting back to telling you what to listen to. We are starting things off right with some random questions with the Fort Collins duo The Billy Goats. A great two piece band in the vein of The Black Keys but with a grittier surfer rock vibe. We asked them some random questions and they were happy to oblige us with some humorous answers. We will be catching their upcoming show on the 29th at the Lions Lair and whole heartedly suggest you do the same.
Which Spice Girl is most inspirational to you and why?
Scary Spice. Look up the definition of the word scary and you’ll see our inspiration.
Ideal mode of transportation?
Motorcycle and sidecar. Being a two piece helps with this mode of transportation.
You encounter a jukebox with one leftover credit. You got your choice of the whole litter, only issue is, this jukebox plays exclusively Elton John songs. What song do you pick?
Elton John song: Honky Cat. The title alone is reason.
What song, continuously, when you play it, reminds you most of home?
Well, since we’re both from different parts of the country (Chicago and Virginia) this is a tough one. But we’d say “the education.”
Alcoholic or non, what is your go to drink?
Whiskey.
What record, or entire artists catalogue, would you most like to destroy in an open field (office space style)?
Elton John…kidding of course…Toby Keith. Hands down. Show us the way to the field.
What mythical creature most influences you on a daily basis?
Is the Whiskeyasaurus an animal? But Jackalopes are pretty inspirational.
Annnnnnnnd, fuck, favorite curse word?
I said shit, goddamn.
Now you get to ask us, at Bearcules.com, one question, shoot!
You’re locked in a room with one person and one object. Who is the person and what is the object?
Chad Kroeger or any member of Nickelback and a hammer.
The Billy Goats Upcoming Shows:
Jan 15th at Hodi’s –Fort Collins.
Jan 24th at Surfside 7 - Fort Collins
Jan 29th at Lions Lair - Denver.
Radon Reviews: Total Brick “Don’t Stare”
My dad went through a big country music phase when I was growing up. Our house was in the middle of the city, and so as I grew up bathed in urban culture, I always looked at it as one of the many obvious differences between us. Even today, my tastes hardly extend into the genre at all, so when I’m up for an adventure I still like to float on the fringes of alt-country’s more watered down approaches. When I listened to the debut EP Don’t Stare from Los Angeles’ Total Brick, I felt a little out of my comfort zone, but still the gap was being bridged enough to bring me back for a third, a fourth, and further listening. What this quartet does is take their Texas Country Mouse roots and teach the City Mice of L.A. a thing or two about sincerity.
What speaks to me about alt-country is a sort of tongue-in-cheek angle to the typical heartbreak and loneliness that creates the stereotype of western music. Take a look at the band’s video for “Baby Come Back(I Don’t Care)” with its cans of PBR, Super Nintendo, and general silliness that rests comfortably like a defense mechanism for the wishy-washy breakup anthem and it becomes obvious how easily it can fit in the life soundtrack of anybody in a similar situation. While lead-off track “On Your Side” is a perfect sing-along anthem of support, “Goodnight Rain” is a heart-wrenching farewell ballad. And then like life so often likes to do after we try to get a poignant last word in, the album ends on “Mama Got Drunk,” a song that you almost can’t help but laugh at and move on after because there’s no other choice.
This was a case of a true underdog event, where the openers come prepared with some real artistic expression up their sleeves and “headliners” show up with a flock of local groupies and a fleet of lackluster songs. The drinks were slightly more expensive and the girls were slightly hotter than expected. Atmosphere set, moving forward…
Up first was I Am the Wolf, who brought some serious folk/electric strange to the Larimer Lounge this fateful Tuesday evening. I Am the Wolf, the one-man-band, consisted of Arin Silverstein, his new-fangled looping device, electric guitar and some bleeding-heart dance moves to captivate a timid audience. Silverstein’s arrangement of songs is much like a collage that got thrown into a blender on high. A tapestry consisting of folk, hip-hop, electronic and surf, that rounds out to be a freakishly awesome, sincere, live performance.
Next on the line-up was Nick Llobet, the pocket-sized straight-up rock star of the night.
“You don’t get much more rock n’ roll than that kid,” remarked Silverstein, which was spot on.
