How every band fared
Colorado’s favorite underground bands, as voted by 89 local-music experts and selected citizens who considered 355 bands and, of which, 242 scored points. Judges voted 1 through 20, with 20 points awarded for first place, 19 for second, 18 for third, and so on.
Place Band (Total points)
1 Hearts of Palm 575
2 Ian Cooke 573
3 Paper Bird 548
4 Bela Karoli 529
5 Everything Absent or Distorted 494
6 Monofog 449
7 Bad Weather California 423
8 d.biddle 403
9 The Swayback 379
10 Hot IQs 378
11 Porlolo 361
12 The Wheel 354
13 Ghost Buffalo 302
14 Git Some 299
15 Widowers 287
16 Woven Hand 272
17 Laylights 250
18 Kingdom of Magic 244
19 Cat-A-Tac 242
20 Achille Lauro 241
The next of the rest
Place Band (Total points)
21 American Relay (213 points)
22 Gregory Alan Isakov (209)
23 Bad Luck City (202)
24 The Omens (200)
25 Pee Pee (191)
26 Joshua Novak (181)
26 Hello Kavita (181)
28 The Knew (170)
29 A Dog Paloma / Joe Sampson (162)
30 Red Cloud West (153)
31 Pictureplane (152)
32 Black Lamb (146)
33 Machine Gun Blues (142)
34 The Chain Gang of 1974 (132)
35 George & Caplin (126)
35 Red Orange Yellow (126)
37 Astra Moveo (124)
38 Magic Cyclops (122)
39 Reverend Deadeye (119)
39 Autokinoton (119)
41 We Are! We Are! (115)
41 Hollyfelds (115)
43 The Railbenders (113)
44 Mr. Pacman (108)
45 A Shoreline Dream (105)
46 Cowboy Curse (104)
47 Rabbit Is a Sphere (99)
48 The Overcasters (96)
49 Cephalic Carnage (95)
49 Sleeper Horse (95)
(Results continue below)
The 2007 UMS in photos. This year’s party is Aug. 1 and 2. Go to for details. All photos by John Moore / The Denver Post.
To see dozens more photos from the 2007 UMS by a variety of contributors,
51 Kissing Party (90)
52 Angie Stevens and the Beautiful Wreck (89)
53 Breezy Porticos (85)
54 Frontside Five (83)
54 Lion Sized (83)
56 Love Me Destroyer (79)
57 Ukulele Loki (78)
58 Nightshark (77)
59 Thank God for Astronauts (72)
59 Married in Berdichev (72)
61 Astrophagus (70)
61 Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams (70)
61 Boulder Acoustic Society (70)
64 Moonspeed (69)
65 Hemi Cuda (65)
66 The Autumn Film (62)
67 Oakhurst (61)
67 Mustangs and Madras (61)
69 Jon Snodgrass (60)
69 Roger Green (60)
71 Blue Million Miles (59)
71 Kal Cahoone (59)
73 The Denver Gentlemen (58)
74 Mothership (56)
75 F. Orange (54)
76 John Common (53)
77 Action Packed Thrill Ride (52)
77 Rachael Pollard (52)
79 Oblio Duo (50)
79 Slackjaw (50)
81 Enemy Reign (49)
81 Nicotine Fits (49)
81 Eyes and Ears (49)
84 Dust on the Breakers (48)
84 Milton Melvin Croissant III (48)
84 Only Thunder (48)
87 Laura Goldhamer (46)
88 Soul Merchants (44)
89 George Inai (43)
89 Moccasin (43)
91 Hawks of Paradise (42)
92 Littles Paia (40)
93 Ian O’Dougherty (37)
93 Popwreck (37)
95 Still City (35)
95 Khale (35)
97 Dualistics (34)
97 Lilium (34)
97 Wetlands (34)
100 Killfix (33)
100 Rob Drabkin (33)
102 Jack Redell (32)
102 Jim Yelenick (32)
104 Andrea Ball (31)
104 The Heyday (31)
104 The Outta Controllers (31)
104 Perry Weissman Three (31)
104 Tiny Television (31)
109 Buckwild (30)
109 Redd Foehl (30)
109 Vitamins (30)
112 Alan Alda (29)
112 Carbon Choir (29)
112 Get 3 Coffins Ready (29)
112 The GetDown! (29)
112 Josephine and the Mouse People (29)
112 Spring Creek Bluegrass Band (29)
118 Legendary River Drifters (28)
119 Brain Hammer (27)
119 The Life There Is (27)
121 29th Street Disciples (26)
121 Blusom (26)
121 Dan Craig (26)
121 Dario Rosa (26)
121 Fear Before the March of Flames (26)
121 Raleigh (26)
127 Little Fyodor (25)
127 Mark Darling (25)
127 Team Awesome (25)
130 Danghead (24)
130 The Orangu-Tones (24)
130 Signal to Noise (24)
133 Jessica Sonner (23)
133 Natural Selection (23)
133 Runaway Estates (23)
136 b.sous (22)
136 Ideal Fathers (22)
136 Wentworth Kersey (22)
139 Joseph Pope III (21)
140 Fell (20)
140 Fissure Mystic (20)
140 Forth Yeer Freshman (20)
140 Hot White (20)
140 I Sank Molly Brown (20)
140 Kalamath Brothers (20)
140 Lyin’ B**** and the Restraining Orders (20)
140 Thundersmile (20)
148 Breathe Carolina (19)
148 King Rat (19)
148 Marty Jones (19)
148 Natural Selection (19)
148 Yerkish (19)
153 Aloft in the Sundry (18)
153 Iuengliss (18)
153 Light Travels Faster (18)
153 Pleistocene (18)
157 Andy Monley Triplight (17)
157 L’Elan Vital (17)
157 Outer Neon (17)
157 The Reals (17)
157 Under the Drone (17)
162 The Beebs (16)
162 Eddie Clendening and the Blue Ribbon Boys (16)
162 Handsome Bobby (16)
165 The Archive (15)
165 Buckskin Stallion (15)
165 Hunter Dragon (15)
165 The Informants (15)
169 Blacksmiths (14)
169 Break Mechanics (14)
169 Deadbubbles (14)
169 The Geds (14)
169 I’m a Boy (14)
169 Jen Korte and the Loss (14)
169 Open Road (14)
169 Swanks (14)
169 Ten Cent Redemption (14)
169 Workhorse (14)
179 Aenka (13)
179 The Bronz (13)
179 Sandusky (13)
179 Slight Harp (13)
183 Hamster Theatre (12)
183 Lion Souljahs (12)
183 The Mighty 18 Wheeler (12)
183 Munimula (12)
183 Zebra Junction (12)
188 Ellison Park (11)
188 Walking Into Drawings (11)
190 Demon Funkies (10)
190 (die) Pilot (10)
190 Elin Palmer (10)
190 Nicole Torres (10)
190 Orbit Service (10)
190 The Pseudo-Dates (10)
190 Zack Nichols (10)
197 Aquasonics (9)
197 The Jim Jims (9)
197 Red Stinger (9)
197 Ralph Gean (9)
197 Sweet Tooth Meat Tooth (9)
197 The Trampolines (9)
203 The Agency (8)
203 Bedroom People (bdrmppl) (8)
203 Big Timber (8)
203 Calf Branders (8)
203 Grease Machine (8)
203 Hearts Like Lions (8)
203 The Indulgers (8)
203 Jason Cain (8)
203 The Last Seen (8)
203 Magic Mice (8)
203 Susan Susan (8)
203 Vonnegut (8)
215 The Hush (7)
215 Tijuana Pillbox (7)
215 Tin Tin (7)
215 Victoria Woodworth (7)
219 The Clam Daddys (6)
219 Matt Boyer (6)
219 Potcheen Folk Band (6)
219 Tornado Alley (6)
223 Britt Rodemich (5)
223 Crowboy (5)
223 Jonathan Byerley (5)
223 Three Miles West (5)
223 Whiskey Throttle (5)
228 Set Forth (4)
228 Six Months to Live (4)
230 Animo (3)
230 The Dropskots (3)
230 Katie Herzig (3)
233 The Angry Hand of God (2)
233 Dan Kaufman Superstar Eruption (2)
233 Drag the River (2)
233 Kathryn Ostenberg and Dash Benison (2)
233 My Sister Outlaw (2)
233 Octopus Nebula (2)
239 Bambi Lee Savage (1)
239 Missing Dufrenes (1)
239 Pacific Pride (1)
239 Rattleships (1)
Note: 103 more bands were on the ballot but did not receive votes.
Special appearances at the 2008 UMS
… will Include sets by:
Maraca 5-0
Jeff Suthers of Bright Channel
Nathan Meese
Many more bands will be playing at the UMS than those underscored above. There will also be DJs and comedians, so be sure to check for the complete schedule.
The 2008 invited voting panel of experts
(Note: Any voter with any conflict of interest was not allowed to vote for the band in question)
Jenny A, manager,
Ricardo Baca, Denver Post pop music critic, executive director
Michelle Baldwin,
Josh Baker,
Erin Barnes, /editor,
John Baxter, booker,
Doug Beam, photographer,
Morris Beegle, president,
Michael Behrenhausen, Denver Newspaper Agency
Danny Birch,
Jonathan Bitz, editor,
Mark Bliesener, music consultant
Karen Boodman,
Patrick Brannen, graphic artist
Tyler Broeren, invited citizen’s panel
John Burr, owner,
Chuck Coffey,
Jeff Campbell, co-owner,
Scott Campbell, co-owner, /booker, AEG Live
Linda Ruth Carter, invited citizen’s panel
Tiffany Childs, Yelp and
Nichole Covington,
Paul Custer,
Bart Dahl, manager,
Bree Davies,
Katrin Davis, invited citizen’s panel
Ben Desoto, booker, /co-owner,
Virgil Dickerson,
Amber Eagle, invited citizen’s panel
Alex Edgeworth,
Julio Enriquez, editor, Cause=Time blog,
Eryc Eyl, writer,
Brian Eyster, marketing rep,
Robert Ferbrache, owner/engineer, Absinthe Studios
Bryan Feuchtinger, owner/engineer,
James Freeman, invited citizen’s panel
Tim Garvey, co-owner,
Lisa Gedgaudas, marketing rep,
Nick Groke,
Nathan Gross, invited citizen’s panel
Anne Hack, manager,
and theatres
Mark Hansen,
Jonah Hart, invited citizen’s panel
Ian Hlatky, owner/engineer, Woodshed Studios
Allison Housley, co-owner,
James Irvine, booker, Larimer Lounge
Tyler Jacobson, DJ,
Brian Johnson, editor,
Chris K., host, “The Colorado Sound,”
Scott LaBarbera, owner,
Matt Labarge, co-owner,
Rhett Lee, booker,
Sarah Levin, /Letter R Productions
Julie Lizak, invited citizen’s panel
Chris Maynard, booker,
Bill McConnell, invited citizen’s panel
Cole Mersich, invited citizen’s panel
Dave Meyer, invited citizen’s panel
John Moore, , The Denver Post
Andrew Murphy, owner,
Joe Murphy, online editor,
Shauna Murray, publicist, Boulder’s
Ian Nelson,
Jim Norris, co-owner,
Andrew Novick, invited citizen’s panel
Barry Osborne, librarian, The Denver Post
Peter Ore, vice president,
Jessica Peistrup, booker, and
Katherine Peterson, music director and Local Shakedown host,
Sean Porter,
Ed Post,
Alice Reamy, invited citizen’s panel
Kathleen St. John, The Denver Post
Rose Sanchez, invited citizen’s panel
Laurie Scavo, photographer, and 28deep.com
Steven Schalk, owner, and
Matt Schild, editor, and contributor to
Cassie Schoon, writer,
Nicole Simpson, bartender,
Megan Sforzini, invited citizen’s panel
Alan Stewart, invited citizen’s panel
Andy Stonehouse, freelance writer, The Denver Post
Don Strasburg, booker,
Pamela Strong, invited citizen’s panel
Jennifer Sung, invited citizen’s panel
Billy Thieme,
Rafael Vera, owner/artist,
John Wenzel, Denver Post music writer
Jme White, invited citizen’s panel
Undergound defined
It’s defined here as cutting-edge bands that are most deserving of more mainstream recognition.
Winners by year
Note: Previous winners are not eligible in any subsequent UMS poll survey:
2001 16 Horsepower
2002 DeVotchKa
2003 Planes Mistaken for Stars
2004 Dressy Bessy
2005 Matson Jones
2006 Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots
2007 Born in the Flood
2008 Hearts of Palm
Other ineligible bands
In addition to previous winners, bands that are no longer subjectively determined to be underground, have moved or are now signed to major labels are not eligible for poll consideration. That list includes, but is not limited to:
3OH!3, Flobots, The Fray, Meese, OneRepublic, The Photo Atlas, Single File, Tickle Me Pink.
Keep an eye out for more coverage
We’ll have much more advance coverage on the UMS in the Friday, Aug. 1, Denver Post entertainment section.
We’ll also have extensive UMS coverage on Reverb, Colorado’s most comprehensive concert review site.
And be our friend on MySpace:
