The Jim Jims have no illusions about themselves.
The Denver post-punk act strikes a lean, ominous figure onstage, dispensing with the usual mannerisms of guitar-based pop and aiming straight for the hips.
On record, they hit hard and fast. Seven songs fly by in just over 16 minutes on their new EP, “Bottom of the City,” which the band will release tonight at the Hi-Dive.
It’s not the rote, three-chord punk of the Warped Tour crowd but an exercise in obsidian riffs, propulsive beats and ’80s-informed melodies — smart, yet dense and visceral.
And the band wants to connect with listeners, whatever it takes.
“A lot of times we’re angry people and we fight with each other, and we want to put that out there,” said singer-guitarist Adam Martin, cradling a beer during a break in practice earlier this week. “We’re here in the modern day and we have no way to express how we want to be warriors and be fierce without shooting guns or selling crack or getting arrested. This is our other outlet.”
Indeed, there are few bands in Denver’s thriving music scene that sound anything like the Jim Jims — bands that meld the steely disaffection of Joy Division with the noisy abandon of Sonic Youth. Blasts of molested guitars and keyboard envelop lyrics that summon awkward, angst-ridden adolescence, or alternately, the muddy slog and giddy potential of 20-something life.
“We’re not necessarily doing anything that groundbreaking, but there still seems to be this thing in Denver where people are hesitant to be in your face,” said guitarist- keyboardist Chris Fowke. “Our music has a pop element, but it’s also got this thing where it’s a little uncomfortable.”
Songs like “Land Mine” skip past revivalist fetishes to sound ripped from the early SST catalog. The ultra-catchy “Anti-Suicide” channels “Sister”-era Sonic Youth like an angry, malfunctioning robot. “Strobe Light” is a drunken brawl that imagines a punk-era version of the Doors, thanks in part to the rumbling bass of Trent Brocker and Spencer Alred’s serrated guitar work.
“My benchmark is that someday I want to play a show where people are pulling their hair out, they’re so excited,” said drummer Tony Terrafranca. “I’ve actually jumped off the stage and bitten friends of mine before to get them into it.”
“Bottom of the City,” recorded over three days last August at Uneven Studio with Bryan Feuchtinger (Hot IQs), certainly communicates the Jim Jims’ blunt live energy with songs that average around two minutes.
Now the group is planning an East Coast/ Midwest tour in late June and is already working on its follow-up with Lucas Johannes from Denver’s Action Packed Thrill Ride — a member of the Hot Congress collective, just like the Jim Jims.
“When we started playing we just wanted to get shows, but it’s nice now to be part of Hot Congress,” Martin said of the collective, which includes Achille Lauro, Widowers, Kissing Party, the Psuedo Dates and many more.
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com
The Jim Jims
Post-punk. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway. CD release with Kissing Party, Vitamins. Today. 9 p.m. $6. 720-570-4500 or hi-dive.com
