9 pm, $7, 21+
Twinsmith
Alligator Years expands upon the charming surfy haze of Twinsmith’s 2013 eponymous album and “Honestly” single, with the band pushing themselves musically while moving toward a more dynamic pop sound. Each diverse track is imbued with an individual voice and style, and ranges from propulsive, melodic rock (“Seventeen”) to buoyantly playful pop (“Alligator Years”) from soaring, sing-along retro pop (“Is It Me”) to sumptuous, evocative new wave (“Constant Love”); from shimmery, summery pop (“Said and Done”, “Haunts”) to moody, slowburning ballads (“Dust”, “Carry On”). There’s a youthful sense of longing and exploration that permeates the album, which reflects on the highs and lows, advantages and disadvantages, hopes and fears of 20-something life with crafty, unassuming depth. Not just any band can examine anxiety, uncertainty, and commitment through tales of homicidal girlfriends and zombie apocalypses with such aplomb.
Written throughout 2014, Alligator Years was recorded in Omaha, NE and Des Moines, IA, with the production team of The Envy Corps’ Luke Pettipoole and Brandon Darner, who’s also worked with Imagine Dragons, as well as Micah Natera. A full track listing and cover art are below.
Twinsmith is: Jordan Smith (vocals, guitar), Oliver Morgan (drums), Matt Regner (guitar, synths), and Bill Sharp (bass).
The Yawpers (Denver, CO)
A stripped down, brazen rock and roll band from Colorado, accompanied by overdriven acoustic guitars and a trap kit. Inspired by Whitman’s promise to “sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world,” the Yawpers have created a sound that is equal parts frenetic, earnest, and menacing, all while bringing together disparate pieces of the American musical lexicon. Though less than three years old, the Yawpers have played over 350 shows on both coasts, and everywhere in between, and have shared the stage with: the Reverend Horton Heat the Heartless Bastards, the Black Angels, Cracker, the Nadas, the Supersuckers, the Delta Spirit, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, the Stone Foxes, Joe Buck and many others. Following the release of an EP in 2011, their critcally well received LP, “Capon Crusade”, released in late 2012, debuted at #1 on the Colorado Music Charts, and is now in its second printing.
