Happy Monday, dear readers! Grab a Q-tip and clean out the weekend’s wax, because it’s time for another edition of Steal This Track, your weekly opportunity to gobble up new Colorado music, absolutely free. Today, we’ve got fresh melancholy pop from and dark, progressive instrumental rock from .
When Adam Halferty isn’t touring as the drummer for superstars or collaborating with , and he’s not writing and recording with , he somehow finds time to write and record deliciously wistful pop with , his latest project.
Recorded with Zach Tipton (of and Young Coyotes, Brandon Anamier (of Chain Gang and ), Portland’s Michael Spears, Matt Wilcox (an occasional Coyote) and Sean Foreman (of 3OH!3), as well as Alan Andrews, Bill Threlkeld and Mark Hawkins of , “Contradictions, Generalities and Future Criminals” packs a heart-crushing dose of Halferty’s bilious outlook, bittersweet melodies and nicotine-roughened baritone in less than half an hour. Though the live sets I’ve caught from American Tomahawk haven’t blown me away, the recorded version of the act will have a place on my iPod for a good long time. Make room on yours for “1993,” then click to the next page for an epic instrumental track from I Know You, Rider.
If American Tomahawk got you blissfully bummed out, then I Know You, Rider might just bring your spirits right back up — that’s assuming an improbable collaboration among Morricone, Marillion and Metallica makes you smile. Just a year old, the foursome of guitarist Corey Costello, bassist Wesley Reyna, drummer Blaine Hollander and newcomer Rick Messer on second guitar plays a particularly engaging brand of instrumental rock that had me grinning from ear to ear and banging my nearly hairless head at the recent launch party for the .
Where many instrumental acts with the prefix “post” in front of their genre (e.g. post-rock, post-metal, post-polka) meander off into seemingly structureless displays of technical prowess or somnolent ambience, I Know You, Rider — which takes its name from the traditional folk-blues song made famous by the Grateful Dead — never lets noodling get in the way of straightforward rocking. To make the act’s heavy metal stew even more savory, there’s a heaping helping of dark Americana stirred in — the kind often associated with Denver acts like 16 Horsepower, Munly and Slim Cessna. From the band’s forthcoming debut EP, the nearly 14-minute track, “The Greatest Zealot is a Convert,” begins in that vein, before venturing off into a tour-de-force that shows off all of I Know You, Rider’s tricks. The quartet wants to share that track with Reverb readers before anyone else, so steal it now.
You can catch I Know You, Rider live (and I highly recommend doing so) at in Boulder this Friday, or on Nov. 12 at the , supporting and .
Please note that downloads offered via Steal This Track are intended to whet your appetite, and are NOT CD-quality recordings. If you want those, please support the artists by buying their music and/or seeing them live.
If you’re a band or musician ready to expose your fresh sounds to the readers of Reverb, email your tracks to Eryc Eyl for consideration.
Eryc Eyl is a veteran music journalist, critic and Colorado native who has been neck-deep in local music for many years. Check out every Tuesday for local music you can HEAR, and the every Friday. Against his mother’s advice, Eryc has also been known to . You can also follow Sorry, Mom.
