Weekly Agenda: Spring forward, don’t look back
Spring is in the air, and so is new music: After a long hibernation huddled in studios and warehouses and basements, it’s coming up album releases. The city doesn’t sleep much at all this weekend, nor does it for the rest of the month. We’re teeming with budding bands and newfound friends, and everyone has a record to show off.
Tonight, Fort Collins’ Paean releases its new Songs For Us To Sing at the Hi-Dive. The album is triumphantly emotive, layered densely with buoyant drums and stripped-down guitars, symphonic violins and the occasional trumpet. It’s an expansive sound that doesn’t overwhelm, which really is a huge feat to undertake.
Kind of like scheduling three album-release shows in one night: Denver-based acts Lion Sized, The Pirate Signal, and Oblio’s Arrow are all releasing new records this Saturday—too bad not all at the same venue. Lion Sized will be at the Hi-Dive, pushing gruff post-punk and its latest EP, Cough Up Your Teeth; hip-hop duo The Pirate Signal launches its newest, the long-anticipated No Weak Heart Shall Prosper at the Marquis Theater (see our interview with MC Yonnas Abraham); and Oblio’s Arrow, formerly known as Oblio’s Duo, offers up its new, adamantly “not alt-country” album Plain Old American Mess at the Larimer Lounge. Each band (and show) can certainly hold its own—there’s no doubt about that.
The next few weeks are looking pretty full as well. We’ve already penciled in release shows for Elephant Revival, Kinetix, Ego vs. Id, and Identity Pusher, to name a few—and that’s just for May. Local music is in full swing right now. With summer fast approaching and festival season right around the bend, we’ll be working hard to expand our coverage of it online, as well as continue pushing for even more city-life commentary and blogs from our writers. Bookmark us to stay updated. Maybe it’s just the time of year, or all the ice cream sandwiches we’ve been eating for lunch, but this May feels like it’s going to be a good one. The new year for us starts right now.
