The most intriguing musical acts of 2010

In a very short time, 2010 will be but a memory. Before that happens, the staff music writers of The A.V. Club wanted to recognize some of our state’s most intriguing musical acts. All of these caught our attention for different reasons—their promise, their outsized personalities, their achievements—but all of them had us thinking and talking about them throughout the year.

Pictureplane
Anyone who followed Pictureplane/Travis Egedy this year on Twitter was subject to a steady stream of life-affirming observations and crazy travel stories from his stateside and overseas tours. Tweets like “im on this fucking beach right now not giving a fuck ready to live life” to “Just cracked my screen on my phone after running with a stolen pumpkin outside of home depot” to “Last night a naked dude pinched my nipples and slapped my body with his dick while I played. My shirt was also torn off” made for a particularly candid glimpse into Egedy’s everyday life. The year definitely made an impression on him, and vice versa.

Fingers Of The Sun 
Everyone who saw singer-gutiarist Nathan Brasil and singer-bassist Suzi Allegra’s previous band, The Pseudo Dates knows, the pair have songwriting chemistry. Team that chemistry up with a six-member band, joyfully retro ’60s paisley pop, and three- and four-part harmonies, and Fingers Of The Sun is easily one of the best bands to make its debut in 2010.

Air Dubai 
With live instrumentation and a pair of MCs spitting lyrics, Air Dubai’s sound draws comparisons, albeit lazy ones, to The Roots. While the act’s seven-member lineup brings a fluidity to the stage few DJs can match, Air Dubai’s already a notable installation in Denver’s hip-hop community. With some members in the group who are still teenagers, there’s still a lot of room to grow, too: By the time these dudes are legally buying beer, they could be dominating.

Danielle Ate The Sandwich
Danielle Anderson plays indie-centered folk rock and makes silly little videos to feature on YouTube. Neither is remotely uncommon in 2010, but the Fort Collins songstress puts them together to form the foundation of a tiny DIY empire that’s just strong enough to give us hope that artists don’t need to be a previously established name like Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead to make the Internet work for them.

Hot White
The recurring joke around Hot White is that its three members are way underage. They’re not, of course—porn and cigarettes are both well within their reaches, as is serving their country. But the noise-rock trio certainly does embody a jejune recklessness, and the jail-bait quips are probably less about how youthful they look than how old they make the rest of us feel. This year Hot White burned bright, transcending social circles with fervent, caustic live shows and a give-a-fuck attitude. The band is everything raw and good about blown-out amps and thrashed guitars, and, for that, Hot White remains an endlessly fascinating reminder of what it truly means to be young.

Tennis 
What’s more fascinating, Tennis’ ’60s girl-group inspired lo-fi, or the fact that a few hyperbolic bloggers’ recommendations could lay the foundation for a contract with Fat Possum and turn the mysterious Denver duo into the talk of the town for the past six months?

Munly
Whether he’s singing the praises of an angry, jealous Savior as co-frontman in Slim Cessna’s Auto Club or worshipping his own twisted blend of freakish folklore, Jay Munly’s literate charisma and grim artistic sensibilities make him one of Denver’s most singular artists—even when he’s not at the top of his game, as with this year’s Petr And The Wulf.

Porlolo 
Although all people with acoustic guitars and a few chord diagrams think they’re qualified to be folk-pop performers, Erin Roberts is one of the rare few who gets it right. Armed with a peculiar and beguiling mix of playful innocence and old-soul sorrow, Porlolo is one of Denver’s gems that’s too frequently overlooked.

3OH!3
3OH!3 has drawn out its 15 minutes of fame about two years longer than most critics would have predicted. And though 2010’s headlines may not have been nearly as grabbing as 2009’s (platinum singles! VMA nominations! music videos with Katy Perry!), it was still a fairly eventful year for the Boulder duo: collabs with KE$HA and Lil Jon, appearances on LIVE! With Regis & Kelly and Lopez Tonight, and, of course, the release of the group’s Billboard-charting, sophomore record Streets Of Gold. It’s hard to break through to the mainstream, and even harder just to stay afloat in it—3OH!3 proved this year that it could do both.