Git Some plays at Bar Bar (a.k.a. the Carioca Cafe). Reverb file photo by Brian Carney.
Headlining at on Saturday night, proved to a mid-sized crowd that they are one of Denver’s best bands of the moment, at least in the screamo, grunge-core category. And Luke Fairchild has the throat to back up that claim, and then some.
The four piece, including Fairchild on vocals, Andrew Lindstrom on drums, Neil Keener on bass and Chuck French on guitar, thrashed in their noisy metal on Bender’s small stage for just under 45 minutes. It was just enough time to play most of the cuts from their album “Cosmic Rock,” and to add a few tunes I’d never heard before, interspersed with Fairchild’s usual wry, angry one-liners, directed at no one in particular.
Git Some gets a lot of their sound from the now defunct Denver band Planes Mistaken for Stars, once home to both Keener and French (and once voted Denver’s best band in the Denver Post’s Underground Music Poll), but this band’s take on the music is somewhat less dramatic. They’ve kept the weighty metal chords in their sound, but have added a Jesus Lizard-meets-Black Flag song structure, which seems to give the sound some lift. Where PMFS reflected the more traditional, sour sturm und drang behind emo, Git Some offers a faster, more careless attitude.
Saturday night, Fairchild was the perfect spearhead for that sound as he jumped, writhed and spun amid screams, and ended up at the end of most songs simply standing on the stage, stiff, spent, ball cap slung low over his eyes (and more than a few times giving the room the finger).
But itap Keener and French that provide the real heart of this band. They never once left their bent poses and held their instruments consistently below their knees as they spewed out impossibly fast licks and chords, embellished with the occasional background scream (French actually had his mic stand shortened to accommodate his posture). All of this was layered on top of Lindstrom’s tight, fast and explosive drums, and the whole mix resulted in an irresistible urge to bang your head, fists up and pumping non-stop, through the entire set.
Fargo, North Dakota’s , a trio that featured two Brandons — Brandon LaPlante on guitar and Brandon Schiwal on bass — along with Shane Heilman on drums, was up before Git Some. They powered through some truly complex and frantic prog-rock constructions reminiscent of San Francisco’s Mermen with a helping of Sebadoh for 40 minutes, in front of a growing audience that seemed more impressed with each one.
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Billy Thieme is a Denver-based writer, an old-school punk and a huge follower of Denver’s vibrant local music scene. Follow Billy’s explorations at , and his giglist at .
