The Don’ts and Be Carefuls are easily one of Denver’s brightest, tightest new acts. Photo by Brian Carney.
Casey Banker may be one of the busiest musicians in Denver right now. In addition to fronting the local up-and-coming band (DBCs), Banker is also a member of the Outfit, another band currently riding pretty high on the scene. But itap The DBCs popularity that may get a significant boost now, after their EP release party last Friday night at . If their short, super-tight set is and indication of their future, both the band the Denver scene stand to gain from an exciting and loving relationship from here on out.
Besides Banker, the four member lineup includes Luke Hunter James-Erickson on drums, Cody Witskin on bass and vocals and Tom Wallingford on keyboards, and all four of them have melded into an almost seamless union with each other to form a welcome addition to the Denver scene. Their set at the Meadowlark was full of danceable, fun and poppy tunes that were also accomplished and just a bit complex. In a word, itap challenging, and the crowd loved it.
They played most, if not all, of their six song EP in front of tightly packed crowd that had just enjoyed an exciting set from — who, truthfully, most of the crowd was likely there to see. Those that stayed fro DBCs, however, were no doubt pleasantly surprised.
The quartet immediately laid out a tight mix of Television-style guitar riffs and Pixies’ chord progressions, lace with more than a hint of the Elephant Six collective’s sound (Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, etc.). They had the entire place jumping from the feedback-drenched beginning of “Simple Miracles,” also the opening track on the band’s new EP, to the fantastic “Prole Power,” with its unavoidable backing guitar, thick with delay and cotton candy melody, near the end.
Their presence showed off a steel-like grip on pop-punk rhythms and melodies, and while many readers may draw a too-easy comparison to Denver’s now-defunct Hot IQs (Bryan Feuchtinger, bassist for the trio, engineered the DBC’s EP), the reality is that the music DBCs is playing, while similarly complex, inspires a more palpable shock and becomes immediately addictive.
A case in point was “You’ve Been Warned,” easily the coolest song on the EP. They saved that one for the encore, and for good reason. Besides its accomplished race-car guitar riffs and catching rhythms, the song sported a thick resemblance to some of the best Buzzcocks tunes. And with Banker’s “Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-warned!” howls in the chorus, it showed a bit of an Otis Redding hook.
Itap no shock that DBCs are gaining a following, and quickly. As Banker said in a recent interview: “We want to play music that is crazy fun, but also has some substance to it. We want people to have so much fun they shake where they stand.”
With their energy and pop-punk sensibility, that seems like it’ll be an easy task.
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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 .
is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
