Centro-matic
Denton, Texas, quartet Centro-matic must be accustomed to mellow crowds by now. Its Sept. 13 set at the Larimer Lounge felt sleepy by that venue’s usually boisterous standards, the mostly male audience swaying slowly to the rumbling alt-country on stage. But it was mellow in the best way, full of swooping keyboards and prickly, distorted guitar leads that get stuck in your head.
Singer and guitarist Will Johnson, who looks far too scrawny to produce his deep, grizzled howl, effortlessly picked his instrument and smiled slyly at his bandmates. That Centro-matic has spent 10 years together was apparent, the other members sounding fresh yet relaxed on songs from their last two albums, “Love You Just the Same” and “Fort Recovery.”
The former’s “Biology Tricks” was the highlight, a mouthwatering melody littered with unexpected dips and curves. Critics decry Centro-matic’s lack of wider success after so many excellent albums, but the band seems to be doing just fine, thank you, without a cadre of screaming teenage fans.|John Wenzel
TV on the Radio
Brooklyn buzz band TV on the Radio played an energetic but overall mild set at Boulder’s sold-out Fox Theatre on Tuesday night, their momentum too weak to conquer a mediocre sound mix and overly excited room. The indie-rock quintet, coming strong off its excellent new album, “Return to Cookie Mountain,” sounded great on songs like “Wolf Like Me,” in which singer Tunde Adebimpe flailed and jumped righteously while exercising his incredible voice. But the vocal-centric approach tended to drag as the night progressed. Avant-garde guitar histrionics from band co-founder David Sitek kept things interesting for a while, but the group’s crushing hype set everyone up for a letdown. The inevitability of it all didn’t seem to dampen the crowd’s lust for an encore, at least.|John Wenzel
Menomena
The funniest thing about going to the Larimer Lounge these days is watching people wander around wondering where the skanky bathrooms have gone (upstairs where they aren’t even skanky anymore!) The funniest thing about Monday night’s show was hearing The Inactivists sing a psychedelic, wailing cover of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” to the xylophone.
The headliner, Menomena, drove 25 hours from Portland, Ore. – one for every face in the sparse but adoring crowd. This endearingly nervous trio is high-tech gadgetry meets experimental indie pop. These gangly, affable boys produce their own records on a self-written computer program, relying heavily on loops and abrupt changes. Their live show comes across as a fun, messy basement rehearsal that’s so bouncy, you half expect Snoopy to burst in and break into dance.
Lanky drummer Danny Seim, electro-pianist Brent Knopf and pinup bassist Justin Harris take turns on lead vocals, each providing squawky harmonies – but it’s most adorable watching twitchy Knopf sing with eyes cast downward and arms folded. This is a fresh-faced band that was maybe never meant to play live but there’s definitely an innovative, Emerson Lake & Palmer opus in its future. It’s almost there now with the intoxicating “Late Great Libido.”|John Moore
