Tell us about your local favorites

**Josh** · 18 Jul 2010, 09:46 PM

Go to shows or shut the fuck up, imo.

**Thief Silver** · 18 Jul 2010, 11:21 PM

There are bands here I like in Denver, I go to see them, they play with other local bands, if I like these bands, I will go see them. It works well.

The Dovekins
Folky, Bluegrass, but puts on a great live show too.

Widow's Bane
Coined by one of my friends quotes in the local newspapers as "Zombie Pirate Polka"

The Gristle Gals
Like the Widow's bane but female

**Josh** · 19 Jul 2010, 10:30 PM

Check out a band called Guantanamo Baywatch from Portland Oregon. They're pretty awesome! They're ruling the Sidebar, and I think there are five people here to see it.

Totally radical. For real...

**PaCrappa** · 21 Jul 2010, 02:50 PM

I knew if I waited him out he'd wander off to some other 'point' that needed to be made. I'd like to thank both Mel Gibson and buttcheeks for providing him the opportunity to get his needlessly argumentative ass out of this thread.

Thanks Josh and Thief for new bands to listen to

This band called The Coloffs is really good and they just made a budget video!

Also I'm going to take this opportunity to give it up for The Badlands. I saw them when they were still The Valkyries and absolutely hated it. This new incarnation is about a thousand per cent better. I personally still don't like the singing but that doesn't mean they're a weak band or anything.

**Shakey** · 22 Jul 2010, 12:48 PM

Okay, I was avoiding this because I knew it would take so damn long but I've got a minute so:

Helms Alee: My favorite Seattle band right now. Ben Verellen of Harkonnen creates an intriguingly seamless blend of chugging riffs and beautiful indie anthems all while navigating angular times signatures and keeping the implied mathiness that would usually create at bay. I've been describing it to people as the Melvins crashing head first into the Pixies, but that hardly does it justice. Their only full-length to date, Night Terror, is a masterpiece. According to their myspace they're goin on a national tour sometime in September. I highly recommend catching them if you can.

Akimbo: An institution around these parts: Karp disciples, Akimbo, have been dishing out their brand of flailing, manic, heavy rock for something like 10 years. Their drummer is one of the best in town and also a damn good designer.

Android Hero: By design or by accident, Android Hero has come up with somewhat of a new take on the hardcore/metal crossover bands of the early 80s.

Black Breath: I'm relatively new to modern metal and thus have no idea which of it's million subcategories to describe these guys as. All I can say for certain is that they are badass. Meticulously crafted songs and stellar musicianship kept entirely in check for a gritty sound that doesn't give way to a shit ton of guitar solos or overdone vocals. In short it's most things I like about metal without seeming overly derivative. These guys recently signed to Southern Lord and seem to be making their way around the country regularly.

Sandrider: Two of the guys from Akimbo and one guy from another local heavy band, The Ruby Doe. I've only caught these guys once and they don't seem to play very often. Interesting music and different enough from their respective main projects to keep my attention.

Black Elk: From Portland I beleive but they play up here regularly. Black Elk are often compared to The Jesus Lizard. Angular, noise-rock riffs and whiplash inducing transitions with one of the flat out most perpetually irritated frontmen I've seen. Great band.

Madraso: More mathy noise rock. Crazy riffs, crazy transitions, super tight throughout. Their bass player makes pedals (and maybe amps) and has one of the most interesting bass sounds around.

The Intelligence: Lo-fi, noisy garage pop. Awesome songwriting, great live show. They started out as more of a bedroom project with fuzzy, reverb/delay drenched reel to reel recordings. Lately they've been making the transition to more of a straight ahead In the Red garage band. I prefer the earlier work (first two albums) but they're still great.

Police Teeth: Shouty clean art punk (a la Hot Snakes/ Obits) with enough killer hooks to sing along to the whole damn set whilst avoiding being overly saccharine.

The Whore Moans: Loud, screaming, over the top garage punk (I guess). Their latest effort, Hello From the Radio Wasteland, is a solid release with some great songs. Killer live set. They just changed their name to something weird that I can't remember (which sucks because The Whore Moans is a fantastic name) but are still around and should be playing for a while.

Also all of the stuff that Pa already mentioned.

**FirstBlood** · 22 Jul 2010, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by Shakey

Helms Alee

Fuck yes. Best new band on Hydrahead. They're coming to philly in a few months with Young Widows. Very, very excited.

Fuck yes x2 on Black Breath and Akimbo

**PaCrappa** · 22 Jul 2010, 03:17 PM

I knew Shakey's inevitable post would be a good one. He gets out alot more than I do and is better about being open to new stuff as well

**magnifiedplaid** · 23 Jul 2010, 12:24 AM

Rumspringer - Not really a band that is local to my area, but they have released one of the best pop-punk albums this year....just slightly behind The Dopamines new album for an early "album of the year" candidate. The song, "The May I Help You Riff" is one of the catchiest fucking things I've heard all year.

I also second Josh's recommendation of Dead Mechanical still...