Frail Talk Hosts LP Release Party With Slow Caves and Sound of Honey at the Aggie

In the alternative indie music world, new bands with distinct sounds are described in ever-more inventive ways. Frail Talk, an intriguing duo out of Fort Collins, may be the first band whose sound has been described as “squiggly.” Yet the longer you listen to this innovative group, the more the term makes sense.

“Squiggly can mean so many things,” says Frail Talk's Alex Woodchek. “But we like that word for how we are as we explore sounds, not shying away from authenticity and our values, and just following whatever squiggly spirit is running through our instruments.” The result is a self-described “weird blend” of acoustic and synthetic sounds, honoring folk roots while discovering new melodic variations.

“A sine wave is sort of a squiggly symbol used in synth music as a technical way of understanding how a note is generated," adds bandmate Cor Wright. "That squiggly-ness is not sharp but smooth.” And technically, it's acoustically pure.

The squiggly quality carries over to the creative ways fans receive Frail Talk's music. “It’s interesting to hear the fun ways people describe our sound," says Woodchek, adding that one of the more fascinating descriptors came from “a fan who told me after a show that we write lullaby bangers.”

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The Dirty Turkeys Are Bringing New Life to Acid Rock

What kind of band walks into the studio for the first time and records two albums of 28 songs in just two days? The Dirty Turkeys, that's who.

The Madchester movement that gave the world acid-rock royalty the Stone Roses has a distant heir in a groovy new band on the Colorado music scene. The Dirty Turkeys are a Boulder-based act that’s been making a name for itself with a funky new sound and a reputation for raucous live shows. The Turkeys fuse classic rock, rockabilly, acid rock, psychedelia and even a bit of surf punk to create a whimsical style it's deemed “Acid Cowpunk.”

With the April release of the single “Benny,” a sardonically soulful acid-rock groove that evokes the genre’s classic-rock roots with a bluesy guitar riff, the band launched an ambitious return to the scene with a tour and planned LP drop in the fall. The Dirty Turkeys recently unveiled a second single, “Undercover Billionaire,” from the upcoming album Cowboy Caravan, and its first full-length music video for the song premiered on August 19. With those two singles, the Turkeys are charting a new musical direction that will expand their audience while also pleasing longtime fans.

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Local Band Radio Fluke Plays Red Rocks for the First Time

Denver alt-rock band Radio Fluke has been rocking the Front Range since 2018, but its members feel like they’ve finally arrived with the dream Colorado gig: playing Red Rocks. After winning the Sundown Throwdown, sponsored by Colorado Native beer, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Denver Film, the band will bring its funky, eclectic, blues-influenced rock and roll to Red Rocks on Monday, August 19, as the opener for the popular Film on the Rocks series, featuring 2015's post-apocalyptic classic Mad Max: Fury Road.On August 14, the band dropped its second of three singles this summer, leading up to an LP release in November. “Fade Away” follows the June release of “Blue Light,” and if these tunes are any indication, Radio Fluke’s fourth studio album is not to be missed.

“Fade Away” played a key role in securing the Red Rocks gig. Radio Fluke's initial submission was a live version of the song from a February show at the Oriental Theater, for local band Tireshoe’s EP-release party. It’s not surprising the song won Radio Fluke a chance to play in the Throwdown: The band's live show is a groove, and "Fade Away" has a broad range, starting on a pensive guitar hook that pulls you in, then throttles up with power guitar chords. The single’s revved-up, slowed-down tempo is both engaging and thoughtful.

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Australian Indie-Pop Band Sheppard to Kick Off Tour in Denver

In the fall of 2023, the Australian indie-pop band Sheppard took a leap of faith and moved across the world, relocating to Nashville from its lifelong home in Brisbane. That positive adventurous spirit aligns perfectly with the philosophy behind the band’s biggest hit, “Geronimo,” which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. 

Following the move and release of Sheppard's fourth studio album, Zora, the Aussie sibling trio is hitting the road for the West Coast run of its “Say Geronimo Tour,” kicking off in the Moon Room at Summit on Tuesday, August 20.The band completed an East Coast run in the spring, and “seeing the fans come back out after we didn’t tour our last album was really gratifying," says bassist Emma Sheppard. "This is one of the most important and special tours we’ve done.”

The trio put together the tour as a true DIY project. “Now that we’re in America, it’s just the band and our partners,” Emma says. Like the act itself, “the tour is a real family affair," she adds. "There's no crew, we’re driving ourselves, selling the merch, carrying the gear. Plus, we’re getting to see a lot of the States, which we haven’t done before.”

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Country's Largest Juried Sculpture Show Celebrates Fortieth Anniversary in Loveland

Just how did the small town of Loveland, Colorado, amass one of the largest collections of contemporary public sculpture in the United States?
Forty years ago, a group of five Loveland artists sat down over beers and decided the town needed an art show. The resulting event, now known as Sculpture in the Park, is the largest outdoor juried sculpture show in the country, and it returns this weekend for its fortieth anniversary at Benson Sculpture Garden in downtown Loveland.

Dennis Sohocki, a contemporary abstract sculptor from Sedona, has participated from the beginning. “In 1984, Loveland had well-known fine-art casting foundries, and artists came from across the country to cast work there," he recalls. "The town thought it’d be nice to retain some of the art for the city. So five artists — George Lundeen, Dan Ostermiller, George Walbye, Fritz White and Hollis Williford — said, 'We’ll put on a show to earn money and buy art for the town.”

The artists connected with city leaders to develop a show whose proceeds would go toward purchasing a monument-sized sculpture for the city of Loveland. “Everyone from the mayor on down was in favor,” Walbye recalls. “Not a negative comment or hesitation. To this day, it just amazes me how many people come from everywhere to enjoy the park.”

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Guster Discusses Its Milestone Concert at Red Rocks With the Colorado Symphony

The Colorado music landscape is rich and varied, and what could be a better celebration of the area’s musical diversity than a collaboration between orchestral symphonic music and ’90s alternative rock? That’s what awaits fans at Red Rocks on Thursday, August 1, for Guster’s 25th anniversary show of the band’s breakthrough album Lost & Gone Forever in collaboration with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and special guest Kevin Morby.

Formed in 1991 in the dorms of Tufts University, Guster has been a mainstay of the alt-rock music scene for more than thirty years, with a loyal fan following and an ever-evolving catalogue of new music. Known for its unique instrumentation, including eclectic variations on percussion, Guster is a model of musical innovation, and for a decade now it has been part of the band circuit fusing rock music with classical compositions. In a community of vast musical subcultures, this collaboration is exactly what a music scene like Colorado's appreciates.

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