Endless Fest
If you weren’t able to attend Endless Fest this year, fret not, as I’ve got the highlights for you. The festival was created with Northern Colorado’s psychedelic-rock music scene in mind, but the artists that performed reached out farther than just that. Every artist who performed was incredible, highlighting the endless nature of talent and skill within Northern Colorado. But, four artists stood out to me the most, ones that created a space for themselves within the niche of Endless Fest and grew past what I was expecting.
Spoon Benders
The Spoon Benders are swaggering punk meets face-melting psychedelic. They were the act of the night to see, combining the chaos and experimental edge of psychedelia with the raw power and grit of punk. Their ability to balance the angst and playfulness makes them stand out to me the most. The exploration outside of their comfort zone lets them capture an essence of punk so often overlooked by all-male bands: snarling authenticity. The sound embraces the swaggering darkness of goth music like Siouxie, kisses right up to the crumbling metal sounds of bands like Black Sabbath, and then you hear something quirky and whimsical and it heightens the music to something uniquely theirs.
Ducki
A dream pop duo performed, leaning into the indie girl essential vibes for any Northern Colorado music festival. Comfortable on stage and well-loved by the crowd, they tease me by only having one song available on Spotify. Despite their elusive presence, I am keeping a keen eye out for the next chance I am able to listen to them again.
King Crawdad
Formed in 2005, King Crawdad is a rock band dripping with sincerity. Vocalist Miles Mercer is the main flavor to the band’s sound with switches between silky smooth crooning and crisp growls setting the mood for their modern take on garage rock. The new addition of bass is exactly what the band needed, thickening out their sound. They lean into slimy, slow territory without losing control of their groove, and have managed to get stuck in my brain. Join them for their album release party on September 29th with Los Toms and Jesus Christ Taxi Driver at the Lyric.
Shady Oaks
This band from Denver mixes alt-blues and garage rock, creating music that is dreamy and rugged. Their debut album MAD offers eclectic guitar riffs and crescendoing choruses. Inspired by Black Keys and Jack White, they have a solid grasp on the twang and snap of blues rock.