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“Best Music Scene.” It’s a slightly absurd claim and unprovable to boot. But before you fire off that missive defending [insert your city here] as more vital and creative than Denton, allow me to refine the argument: Denton, Texas, is simply the paradigm of a healthy music community.
Denton is overrun with artists. With 100+ acts and only 62 square miles
inside the city limits, that’s more than one-and-a-half artists per
square mile. The Grand Pooh-Bah of Denton bands, Brave Combo, is in
many ways the template from which all the rest are cut: eclectic and
artistically ambitious, with a high degree of musicianship and a strong
DIY ethic.
Denton is a town where artists can live cheaply and refine their
creative intuitions. Midlake had played together for seven
years—redefining its musical vision many times—before breakthrough
album The Trials of Van Occupanther. And you can hear Record Hop
guitarist Scott Porter’s jagged deconstruction of Jimmy Page riffology
slowly materializing from the straightforward metal punishment of his
former band The Fabulous Badasses to its full, staggering maturity on
his current group’s new Steve Albini-engineered album. Doug Burr’s
masterful On Promenade came after years of soaking up Dylan, Blind
Willie Johnson and Greil Marcus. Denton is a music community that
incubates talent rather than ratcheting up market pressure.
But none of this would be possible without the music enthusiasts
who devote countless hours, often pro bono, promoting gigs, organizing
festivals, putting together house shows, running labels and managing
studios. Thanks to Mwanza Dover’s Melodica Music Festivals, venue
owners like Dan Mojica and Josh Baish, production companies like
Gutterth, venues like J&J’s Pizza and Strawberry Fields record
store, community-minded studios like The Echo Lab—DIY is not just a
hackneyed acronym in Denton—it’s an ethos of community and hard work
that’s been sustained for over two decades.
To help you begin exploring this fertile scene, we’ve compiled the
following list of 10 noteworthy Denton bands and solo artists:
The Baptist Generals
Somewhere in the vicinity of Daniel Johnston’s
bedazzled innocence and Jeff Mangum’s death-haunted poetry lies Chris
Flemmons’ shambolic, surrealist folk.
The Baptist Generals on MySpace
The Drams
Reborn from the remains of Slobberbone, Denton elder
statesman Brent Best’s ensemble pulls cowpunk, power pop and a heavy
dose of Crazy Horse into a paint-peeling wall of sound.
The Drams on MySpace
Record Hop
Ashley Cromeens’ menacing feminine howl creates a subversive
tension with the rhythm section’s low-end ballast. What Joe Carducci
called “The Heavy,” Record Hop has bottled and kept locked in a closet
near its rehearsal space.
Record Hop on MySpace
RTB2
Ryan Thomas Becker drives this duo with slashing, blues-inflected,
post-punk guitar work, propelled by Grady Don Sandlin’s MG’s-redolent
backbeat.
RTB2 on MySpace
Last Men
In a town as DIY as Denton, Ian MacKaye had to make his
musical presence felt somewhere—Last Men carry the Minor Threat/Fugazi
torch with tightly controlled dynamics and larynx-shredding pride.
Fishboy
This band’s smart, winsome, infectious power punk sounds
something like The Ramones fronted by Babe the pig. You heard it here
first.
Fishboy on MySpace
The Heelers
Kansas native Issac Hoskins landed in Denton five years ago
to save “Texas Music” from itself, and he may actually pull it off. The
Heelers’ muscular rhythm section puts a Bob Mould-y edge to Hoskins’
Flatlanders-influenced songwriting.
The Heelers on MySpace
Sarah Jaffe
Like fellow Texan Jolie Holland, Jaffe is blessed with both
a trenchant lyrical pen and a vocal instrument perfectly suited to
mainlining her effortlessly crafted, heartbroken tunes straight to the
soul.
Sarah Jaff on MySpace
Doug Burr
The best track on Burr’s 2007 release On Promenade is always
the one you just listened to, but if you want a chilling experience,
read up on the Graniteville, S.C., train disaster while listening to
Burr’s song about it.
Doug Burr on MySpace
The Master's Sputum: Unfinished Nabokov Novel Now…
Catching Up With... David Rawlings
Ears We Trust: Robert Earl Keen
Salute Your Shorts: The Golden Age of…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
Catching Up With... Sam Rockwell
Josh Ritter - 11/5/07 - Western Realms
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Southeast Engine - Black Gold
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
Headlights - Secrets
The "Grand Pooh-Bah" band Brave Combo also have a MySpace Account: www.myspace.com/bravecombo
For every band on this list, there are at least a dozen more of note. All you have to do is scratch the surface.
@Art
I am curious to hear about them if you'd care to name a few. I moved close to Denton last year but didn't know it was so musically active.
The guy who wrote this article based all of his information on a few shows he attended and on info he got from the Denton Rock City message board, which many of the mentioned bands frequent. He admitted to not knowing much about the Denton scene despite having lived in the town for years and the only reason he sought out any of this music was a column about Denton that he wrote for the Dallas Observer, one of the worst "alternative" weekly papers in the country. This article is laughable and the only bands worth mentioning are Last Men and Marked Men.
He completely ignored several key scenes of Denton, like the noise/underground scene which offers far more creativity and vitality than the tired alternative/rootsy bands that dominate this list. I agree that our town is one of the best music scenes, but you wouldn't know that from this list. Thanks for nothing, Dave.
Mistress - myspace.com/mmistress
Darktown Strutters - myspace.com/darktownstrutters69
Rival Gang - myspace.com/rivalgang
Florene - myspace.com/florenemusic
Street Hassle - myspace.com/blacklung68
Fight Bite - myspace.com/ilyushindove
New Science Projects - myspace.com/newscienceprojects
PVC Street Gang - myspace.com/pvcstreetgang
Mom - myspace.com/qewmusic
Zanzibar Snails - myspace.com/zanzibarsnails
Magnets - myspace.com/magnets
Deep Snapper - myspace.com/mydeepsnapper
There's one set of a dozen. How many more to go? 17? 17x12? We'll have 204 more Denton acts on this page in no time. I wouldn't come close to naming all of the bands in town. Different people know different things around this area.
Eat Avery's Bones - myspace.com/eataverysbones
Delmore Pilcrow - myspace.com/delmorepilcrow
Kaboom - myspace.com/kaboompow
Teenage Cool Kids - myspace.com/teenagecoolkids
For Pete’s Sake - myspace.com/holyistheroad
The Undoing of David Wright - myspace.com/theundoingofdavidwright
The Wax Museums -
myspace.com/thewaxmuseums
The Secret Bangs - myspace.com/thesecretbangs
Tre Orsi - myspace.com/treorsi
DJ Wolf - myspace.com/djwolfmusic
History at Our Disposal - myspace.com/historyatourdisposal
Sabra Laval - myspace.com/sabralaval
Emil Rapstine/ The Angelus - myspace.com/emilabraham
myspace.com/theangelus
Hell yeah, Wax Museums. Read more about them below:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/tag/atlanta_mess-around
Dirty Water Disease - myspace.com/dirtywaterdisease
Violent Squid - myspace.com/violetsquish
Oso Closo - myspace.com/osocloso
Febrifuge - myspace.com/febrifuge
Verülf - myspace.com/verulf
Kaleo Kaualoku - myspace.com/kaleok
Ella Minnow - myspace.com/ellaminnowmusic
The Heartstring Stranglers - myspace.com/theheartstringstranglers
Starhead - myspace.com/starheadtx
Jetscreamer - myspace.com/jetscreamer
The Make Believers - myspace.com/themakebelieversss
Gun Gun - myspace.com/gunsquared
Burntsienna Trio - myspace.com/burntsiennatrio
AM Ramblers - myspace.com/theamramblers
Glen Farris - myspace.com/glenfarris
Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - myspace.com/rodneyparker
Stanton Meadowdale - myspace.com/stantonmeadowdalemusic
White Drugs - myspace.com/whitedrugs
Denton County Revelators - myspace.com/dentoncountyrevelators
Red Faced Laughter - myspace.com/theredfacedlaughter
Nouns Group - nounsgroup.com
Will E. Lee - myspace.com/willelee
Delphi - myspace.com/justdelphi
Congratulations - myspace.com/congratsmusic
It probably wouldn't hurt to check out the friends of these friends, and the venues around the area (clubs/ houses/ alleys).
Eric Keyes - myspace.com/erickeyes
Vortexas - myspace.com/vortexas
Waterpower - myspace.com/waterpowers
The Demigs - myspace.com/thedemigs
Grassfight - myspace.com/grassfight
Raised by Tigers - myspace.com/raisedbytigers
Birth to Burial - myspace.com/birthtoburial
The Daily Beat - myspace.com/thedailybeat
Last of the Interceptors - myspace.com/interceptors
Riverboat Gamblers - myspace.com/theriverboatgamblers
(eh, by way of Denton)
Bangs - myspace.com/bangsrock
Parata - myspace.com/parata
Miss Celia - myspace.com/theblondepretty
Anonymous has a point. Denton's noise/avante garde scene is incredibly vital and deserves attention. The thing is, it's not the kind of community that lends itself or even desires the kind of attention Paste or The Observer could give it. I was told on more than one occasion by relatively reliable sources that a full feature on something like House of Tinnitus (which I planned on doing at one point) would not necessarily be a welcome development.
In any case, I agree that it's an essential component of Denton music and I did what I could to cover it during my tenure at DO.
www.gutterth.com/content/view/444
Enjoy. ;)
Anonymous: As for your accusation that I knew little about Denton music before the DO column, or that I culled all my research from Denton Rock City -- the irony is that not only are you wrong, you yourself seem to have based your entire opinion of me on a single post -- from Denton Rock City.
First, I never said I didn't know much about Denton music. I implied that I wasn't as involved as I would have liked to have been. The fact is, I've been keeping up with the scene for going on 15 years. Anyone who lived with Josh Pearson and Jeff Stanfield in 1995 couldn't help but get a daily ear-full of what's going on at the Argo, house shows, etc. I saw Lift rehearsals while they were still writing TJC. Centromatic at the old Dan's, I followed the Good/Bad and Art Prostitute. Space Rock vs. Roots Rock, Melodica...
Further -- For this piece and my DO column I personally interviewed, conversed with and attended numerous performances of every band on this list, and dozens more that aren't. I don't mind saying that I loved writing the Denton DO column, and I worked my ass off to make sure I was personally involved.
During the time I covered Denton for DO, I was attending 2-3 shows a week, and I went out of my way to cover as much of the new scene as I could. Not just the "old guard DRC" shows at the Silverleaf, but lots of time at Strawberry Fields and J&J's basement. I never made it to a Wisconsin show, but it was on my radar, and I had planned a series of pieces on the house show scene (Panhandle, Fra, etc.).
Maybe we never met at a show. Maybe I wrote something you didn't like about your band. I dunno. But before you throw somebody under the bus in a public forum, maybe you should do some research besides reading a single, 8-month old post at Denton Rock City?
"The thing is, it's not the kind of community that lends itself or even desires the kind of attention Paste or The Observer could give it. I was told on more than one occasion by relatively reliable sources that a full feature on something like House of Tinnitus (which I planned on doing at one point) would not necessarily be a welcome development."
You just hit the nail on the head, Dave. You, Pete and many others have tried repeatedly to give them a forum and kudos outside of Denton. They don't want it and they don't welcome it.
Though they seem to be the squeakiest of wheels, (and granted there is some talent in that scene) the noise scene wouldn't know what to do with the grease anyway...they'd probably implode, because they wouldn't be able to complain anymore...and they might have to actually say, "Thanks for noticing."
Chris-
There's more than a few for ya. If you're interested in learning a little bit about what's going on here in town, try browsing the above lists. Plus, Dave has given you some good leads "to help you begin exploring this fertile scene". Thanks to his efforts over the years, hopefully some of these acts (and practically countless others of note) will get closer to what most of them are wanting: open ears, open minds.
so my bandz are pretty sweet but mostly it is my hair that is totally awesome.
NOW YOU KNOW.
chubis tryinna STEP? ft: my coif
Don't forget about Texas group Eli Young Band and rockers Bowling for Soup.
recordHop, Centro-matic, and the Hicory Street Hellraisers are great bands but the one I think could also do something if given the chance is the band enemies
http://www.myspace.com/enemiesmusic
There is an overwhelmingly large music scene in Denton - which is exactly why I love living here.
Another band to check out, and I absolutely recommend seeing live, is Leatherwood. This is a group of very talented musicians that play with a lot of emotion. I think they have a pretty unique sound, too.
http://www.myspace.com/leatherwoodmusic
Go to http://www.mydentonmusic.com to see a lot more bands on the Artists page plus a calendar of weekly music events updated every week.
Congrats Denton!
Thanks for noticing. And just to clarify, DJ Wolf is not a DJ.
to kody above me
bowling for soup sucks balls
i could care less about eli young
who cares if they came from here...
dont hold your breath to see them play here again
we beat athungs? I thought they were umbeatable.
ha! a mere 978 too many bands than a town should have to denton's 1,078. take that georgia
denton's courthouse reminds me of the kremlin
ALL this talk about the noise scene not welcoming praise and not wanting press or interviews seems bogus.. you say talking to reliable sources leads you to believe blah blah blah have you actually asked H.O.T. for an interview or write up.. i doubt it. or if so maybe its the local press that sucks. They actually have more national coverage/ know about/ hype than local, and maybe theres a reason for that.. there is no source/ publication locally worth two shits, so why bother, no one locally cares anyway (at least the people who read the local blogs and zines)about Noise anyway..But im sure there not that unwelcoming.. and to top it off they are some of the most thankful people around.
I have enjoyed finding out more and more about the Denton music. Some of my favorites are Derrek Hutchings, young promising lead guitarists; Coby, excellent singer/composer, who once worked as a musician in NY; Joel Max, hot lead man-guitar/vocals who plays in several bands including the hot trio--Fell Off the Truck; and Intilusion, are a great bunch of guys, I have enjoyed listening to and jamming with. Greg Altuna is a very talented guy I first met at the Rock Lottery at Dan's. I appreciate J & Js lettting me bring shows in. Natalie's is one of my favorite places to go in Denton with excellent food as well as indoor smoking of all flavors.
What always makes me think of Denton as the best music "scene" is the musicians, not the bands or clubs. Any night of the week, you can get a jam going and usually get pretty good results, often with people you just met that day. You may not win any grammys, but you can always find a good jam.
If you just want to sit back and be entertained, these Dentonites have yet to be mentioned:
Joe Tucker usually gigs as a one man band, but also fronts a three piece, great fun either way - myspace.com/joetuckerblues
Bone Doggy MCs at many a jam, and can really rock that bouzouki - myspace.com/bonedoggiedenton
Mike Miller is a very low key guy, but a prolific writer who also organizes a few shows a year around town - myspace.com/mikemillerband
Mr. Joe is a great entertainer, and gives me hope for the future - oldmisterjoe.com
Yall to check out this guy Mike Miller awsome song writer. http://www.myspace.com/mikemillerband
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How come no one has mentioned sol kitchen? that is the frand finale of denton music-- every wednesday for years.