Month: December 2009

Melt Banana @ the Bluebird Theater – 12/07/09 – Reverb
December 10, 2009 Off

Melt Banana @ the Bluebird Theater – 12/07/09 – Reverb

By Billy Thieme

For the first 25 minutes of their set at the Bluebird Theater Monday night,Melt Banana blasted the crowd with a melange of noise and darkness — pierced only by the members’ head-mounted lights — that felt like my imagination of shock therapy, without the benefit of that thick piece of rubber they shove in your mouth to keep you from biting through your tongue. Never have I been so impressed by the venue’s sound system, nor have I ever felt the need to don earplugs so badly. And yet I, along with the smallish, half-capacity (at best) crowd, loved every ear drum piercing minute of it. So much so that when the four piece settled into more accessible, 30- to 90-second pieces with recognizable rhythms and chords for the remainder of their set, we all seemed to miss the cacophony.

Threading the Scene: An Interview with The Dont’s and Be Carefuls
December 3, 2009 Off

Threading the Scene: An Interview with The Dont’s and Be Carefuls

By Billy Thieme

Officially a band for just under two years (and a significant part of that time was spent finishing school up in Greeley), Denver’s The Don’ts and Be Carefuls are quickly racking up a live history that many local bands would die for. In that short time, they’ve shared the stage with bands like Hot IQs, Tapes ‘N Tapes, Mumiy Troll and HEALTH, to name a few, and they’re already throwing an EP Release party Friday night, December 4, at Meadowlark.

Not to say they sound alike – well, maybe a little (I wouldn’t be surprised to find that their sheet music shared similar coffee stains) – but Hot IQs corpse has barely quit steaming, and with The DBCs, Denver’s already faced with a suitor more than capable of helping us to move out of mourning, and back on to the dance floor. This band’s catchy thrash-while-you-stomp-and-giggle style is bound to prick up more than a few dozen ears after Friday night, and should be well on its way into the local scene’s psyche by the time the weekend’s over.