Colder weather will be here eventually, y’all, and frankly, we’re getting excited. As you trade in those bikinis and swim trunks for peacoats and comically large scarves, you might find yourself looking for tunes to listen to on a lazy rainy day inside, a quiet walk through campus, or to help you get through that unexpected break-up you just went through. In this month’s 3 Songs column, our place to showcase great new music, we’ve branched out a little from our normal Denton-centric content and pulled together several tracks that’ll scare the summer right out of Texas, so plug in your headphones and get ready for some alt-country from Space Mountain, Pablo Maeda and Moonbeamer.
Read More3 SONGS: JULY 2016
Summer have you searching for new music perfect for driving on these long sunny days? The kind of songs which pair well with splitting a six pack of Armadillo Ale on the courthouse lawn with a good friend, or laying out, feet up, shades on, poolside at an apartment complex where none of your friends live, but there’s always someone swimming who knows your name? This month’s 3 Songs column brings you a trio of fresh, local tracks from Mah Kee Oh, Exit Glaciers and Pageantry which we’re confident will fill those summer cravings.
Read More3 SONGS: MAY 2016 HIP HOP EDITION
Denton has a great rap scene that often goes unnoticed and under-appreciated by the majority of show-goers. You probably already know some of the larger hip-hop artists in town, like AV the Great, Ritchy Flo, Wild Bill, Stu Brootal or Elijah Heaps. A few of them might be referred to as OG's of the Lil d rap scene, but there's another younger group of kids creating drug-addled beats with nerd-centric, indie rap lyrics who deserve to get some attention. So, this month we're talking about a few of these artists, specifically J3's Journal, Lil Durt and Xanni.
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3 SONGS: FEBRUARY 2016
So you like shoegaze, maybe you understand the noise scene, and you occasionally like long, ambient, drone or doom metal pieces. Maybe not. Either way, we've got a nice, subtle introduction to the scene for you featuring tracks from three North Texan acts, so spark up your fireplace, sit down in your favorite chair, and prepare for a good stiff drink as we delve into the euphoric soundscapes of Glasir, Michael Barber, and Riftworm.
Read More3 SONGS: JANUARY 2016
3 Songs is a monthly music column where we highlight a few tunes from local bands we're digging at the moment . We don't know about y'all, but with winter dragging on and the cold keeping us from making it out to local shows, we find ourselves longing for sunny days, warm weather, and those sweaty, sweaty house shows. So this month, we're shining the light on a few of our favorite local singer-songwriters: Megan Storie, Brack Cantrell, and Claire Morales.
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3 SONGS: JANUARY
We're chiming in before the month ends with 3 Songs, our monthly column featuring three tunes from local artists that we've been digging lately. Read on to get a quick glimpse into the current Denton music scene. This month, we hear songs from the likes of *~~, Pansy Moon, and Smoke Paint. We dig 'em and we're pretty sure you might, too.
Read MoreDENTON BANDS TO WATCH IN 2015
Denton's music scene ebbs and flows. Some years we pump out great new bands that are quickly embraced and other years go by without too many bands making a splash. 2014 was a little too slow for our tastes. We heard plenty of great local tunes, but none made as big of an impact as some of the bigger Denton bands from the past decade. Heck, Central Track even published an article last year calling the Denton music scene "in need of fixing." Were they actually as far off as we felt they were at the time? Maybe not. Denton is no stranger to the strong, local scene. There are always plenty of awesome, incestuous bands that share members and influence one another to create awesome music. The fact that many of the members of the Denton scene are often college students does present a bit of a problem. People come and go. Influencers move off to Brooklyn, Portland, Oakland, or back into their old bedrooms at their folks' and scenes die. That, or maybe we're just old and out of touch now. We do have heartburn now, after all.
That said, things are looking up. 2015 looks to be a strong year for music in Denton. Last year, saw many interesting new bands in Denton beginning to play shows and release material. Let's take a quick look at what is making us excited about music in Denton in 2015.
Read More3 SONGS: SEPTEMBER
We're chiming in before the month ends with 3 Songs, our monthly column featuring three tunes from local artists that we've been digging lately. Read on to get a quick glimpse into the current Denton music scene. We dig 'em. Hope y'all do, too.
Dome Dweller's song "My Halo" caught us by surprise this month.
The Days - "Loose Knots"
(Editor’s Note: We Denton Do It shares a few members/contributors with The Days, but none of them are writing this, none of them asked for this, and we're diggin' it quite a bit. Conflict of interest be damned. While we’re at it, you wanna buy a couch from us on Craigslist?) If you’ve yet to catch The Days live or hear them in any capacity before, you’ve been missing out. These dudes sound as if The Band was fronted by a younger, less smokey Mark Lanegan. "Loose Knots" is particularly driven single - possibly the first we’ll hear of their upcoming full length. Throughout the track, lead singer, Robby Day, laments in his baritone all that he’d do for a girl which just so happens to be quite a bit - so much so that by the end of the song, we believe him and we want to hear more.
Dome Dwellers - "My Halo"
To be honest, y’all, we had a hard time writing this column this month. Things didn’t come together too easily and we spent easily an hour last night crawling through SoundCloud and Bandcamp, listening to various recent tracks from Denton bands and nothing was sounding good to us (let's leave it at that). We were getting pretty bummed and then we just so happened to stumble across "My Halo" from Dome Dwellers. Everything was immediately right with the world. Seriously, this is great stuff and hopefully a precursor of more that we’ll be seeing from this trio of dudes who have a full length coming in late October. "My Halo," itself, reminds us a bit of the Canadian band, Women, before they imploded a few years back - mathy and disjointed in the best of ways. The guitars are full of 90’s-era chimey-ness and tremolo and the math rock aspect of this tune acts as more of a hook than it does a headache - let’s just say that it’s more Algebra 1 than it is Pre-calculus. Whether they’re aware or not, this slightly epic track harkens back to the days of Denton space rock and we couldn’t be happier to be reminded of that era. Do yourself a favor and give this a listen. Heck, you can even download their entire EP for free from their bandcamp.
Ella Minnow - "We Got Moves"
Longtime Denton rockers, Ella Minnow released a slow-burner of a track this week. This duet, dubbed We Got Moves" (we’re hypothesizing that it’s the “We” part of their new single, “We and Them”), starts off slow with a slight western twang and some reverb-laden guitar before making way into the dueling male/female vocals. Eventually, they lead the way into the rest of the tune that kinda sounds as if an old surf rock record got played at the wrong speed, but in a good way. As the song goes on, it starts to give off a later era Jesse Sykes-vibe and that ain’t a bad thing either.
THREE SONGS: APRIL
Chambers
This month's selection of songs from local bands spans the gamut form homespun-weirdo folk to outright sludge metal. Needless to say, there's probably a little something for everybody in this month's Three Songs.
We ran across a Skagg Philips set this past Saturday evening in the basement of J and J's. You can count us as late to the game on this one, but we were blown away by not only his gentle timeless songs, but his beautiful voice and emphasis on lyrical storytelling. We could very easily start gushing here, so we'll try to get out quick. Jesus Christ, the Philips is the moniker of local skinny guy, Jordan Batson. Batson is currently at work on a new album entitled, "Vice Versa." We'll be sure to let you know when he's got a show coming up in the Den10. You can check out more of Skagg Philips on his Facebook page.
Chambers has been slowly leaking out tracks from their forthcoming album over the past few months. Heck, we even debuted their video our first day back. This particular song that they released at the beginning of April is the most challenging track of the bunch so far. Upon first listen, that synth pulled us out of the song. We were worried that aliens might have abducted Judson Valdez et co. during the recording process. It wasn't until about 2:50 into the song when everything kicks in at full force that we could behold the glory that was the synthesizer and then appreciate the thoughtful lyrics and instrumentation. Check out more of Chambers here.
And on the opposite side of the spectrum, we also have a song from Denton mainstays Terminator 2 this month. Terminator 2 is one of the more masculine and aggressive bands currently operating out of Denton. The only thing this particular song has in common with the Chambers song above it is the acquired taste aspect. If you're not familiar with much doom or sludge metal, this might not be up your alley. Terminator 2 is hot off of having been deemed as having one of the "Top 10 Most Badass Band Names" in DFW. Denton has it's fair share of metal, but only a little bit of it is worth a damn. This is. I Am God sounds as if it was recorded deep underground in a portion of the earth with tectonic plates converging, causing earthquakes on the service. Heck, the bass-lines and barks here were probably the cause of those little earthquakes DFW has been experiencing over the past year or so. While we're on the subject, make sure you see these men live if you ever get the chance. Even if you hate this, it'll be a good talking point for you in the future. Terminator 2 just released a self-titled full length on Handmade Birds. You can purchase their cassette here or stream it via Decibel Magazine for the time being. Also, they have plenty of upcoming dates on their Facebook page, and you can stream their namesake via Netflix at the moment, too.