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Best Punk Music Video

"Bad Indian"
Dead Pioneers

Indigenous activist, visual artist and spoken-word performer Gregg Deal wanted to put a spoken-word piece to music, and that led to his forming a band, Dead Pioneers, which released its eponymous debut album, recorded at the Blasting Room, last September, and grabbed attention with several concerts. One show, at Seventh Circle Music Collective, was recorded for the "Bad Indian" music video, which is interlaced with scenes of Deal confronting Native stereotypes. The music, the scenery and the lyrics are pure punk, and so is the album. The band's already gotten half a million streams, and we see it going far.

deadpioneers.bandcamp.com

Best Sad-Boy Psych-Punk Band

The Sickly Hecks

Raymond Suny and Steve Hartman of the Sickly Hecks have always been DIY punks at heart, but they're not afraid to embrace a potential pop crossover. After all, they've always understood that the foundation of most punk bands is still just a bastardization of pop music. So after they graduated from rowdy house shows to self-producing their work on a DIY label, it was not surprising to find that they had somehow become a boundary-pushing post-punk powerhouse. As the musicians continue to grow, so will the band evolve musically. But the Sickly Hecks will always remain tethered by Suny's melancholic "sad boy" melodies.

thesicklyhecks.com

Best Dream-Pop Band

Little Trips

Formerly known as Whiskey Autumn, the Denver duo of Greg Laut and Jason Paton dissolved that project in 2020 and almost immediately reincarnated as Little Trips. At that point, Laut and Paton had to wait until the world wasn't shut down to record their debut album, but that gave them plenty of time to write new material and recruit a new member in Tiana Thakur. Several years later, the new sound has been polished to a shimmering psychedelic gem. There are plenty of danceable rhythms woven into Little Trips' trippy tapestry of imaginative indie dream pop, and the band welcomes you to the beach party inside your mind.

littletrips.co

Best Indie-Rock Album

3000
The Mañanas

Indie power duo the Mañanas have been releasing music since 2020, dazzling audiences with concerts at venues such as Lost Lake Lounge and festivals like the Underground Music Showcase. Lead vocalist and principal songwriter Brandon Unpingco and bassist/producer Danny Pauta, founder and director of Soundbreaker Records, found common ground in their love of '50s and '60s rock, and took that sound to new heights with the Mañanas. Just take a listen to 3000, the full-length the two released last May, which welds indie sonics with pop rock around positive lyrics. It's the perfect album to cheer you up when you're down or lift your happiness even further, and hearing it live is an experience you won't want to miss.

themananasband.com

Best Shoegaze Album

Kept
Corsicana

There is something so comforting about shoegaze music — slow and melodic, with soft vocals and sometimes sweet, sometimes morose (but realistic) lyricism. You'll find it all on Kept, the latest project from indie dream-pop outfit Corsicana, which released the album single by single. If you're a fan of Death Cab for Cutie or the Shins, Corsicana is the band for you. Ben Pisano started the project in 2015 as a vehicle for his songwriting, and he's joined by bassist and synth player Jordan Leone, drummer Sumner Erhard and guitarist Nicki Walters. The album is soothing and heavenly, perfect for when you're crying your eyes out, feeling nostalgic or living one of the happiest moments of your life. Watch out, Bon Iver.

corsicanamusic.bandcamp.com

Best Soothing Album

Underbelly
Kiltro

Kiltro took its name from quiltro, the Spanish word for street dog, and as founder Chris Bowers-Castillo suggests, the band blends together varied sounds similar to the way street dogs in his native Chile find help from many community members. The local outfit has become known for its Chilean folk sound infused with indie, synth and world music — sonics completely unique to Kiltro. On the band's 2023 album, Underbelly, the lyricism is incredibly poetic, giving the mind no choice but to fuse with iridescent scenery and fall into a dreamy prism of mystical energy. Cascading, layered synth, drums, bass and other unidentifiable, ambient sounds create an otherworldly effect, transporting listeners to an entirely new world.

kiltromusic.com

Best Band to Listen to After a Day on the Slopes

Shady Oaks

The psychedelic blues rock of Shady Oaks is the perfect accompaniment for drinking a beer at a cozy tavern after a day of skiing or snowboarding. The five-piece, complete with a five-string electric violinist, also doesn't shy away from country inflections that, along with rock and Western influences, make the band's sound uniquely Coloradan. It's just what you need after a long day on the slopes...especially if you're sitting in traffic on I-70. The group's latest singles are sure to quell any simmering road rage.

shadyoaksband.com

Best Psychedelic Surf Rock

The Crooked Rugs

The Crooked Rugs have been rocking out of Fort Collins since 2019, and each of the band's releases has shown an ability to dip into varied genre pools while maintaining a cohesive sound. Whereas 2022's Tales of the Great Western Sky added Western elements to its psych rock, the group dabbled in shoegaze and prog rock for Metropolis, which was released last March and takes listeners on a winding psychedelic journey they won't want to end. Crooked Rugs shows are just as amazing: The band plays in Denver often, and will be taking to the road this year to spread its acid-tinged sonics far and wide.

thecrookedrugs.com

Best Music for Mountain Toking

In Plain Air

In Plain Air is a three-piece psychedelic-rock band that began releasing music in 2022. It's just the thing to listen to when you're getting a little high...and you're already up high. The band's 2023 EP, Sunnyside, is a musical blend of dreamy guitar riffs that could easily send you into an alternate dimension (in a good way) when paired with the right strain. When your brain's buzzing, you want to avoid anything that might send you too far over the edge, but Plain Air's sonic sweet spot is sure to keep you in check.

@inplainairband

Best Psychedelic Latin Music

Ritmo Cascabel

Ritmo Cascabel has blown us away with raucous concerts in which every audience member is absolutely immersed in the band's blend of psychedelic rock and cumbia. It's a sound unique to the five-piece, and it came from studying chicha, a Peruvian form of cumbia that began in the '60s and meshes cumbia, Andean music and vals criollo with surf and psych rock. Having formed just before the pandemic, Ritmo Cascabel released its Ritmo EP in 2022, but the band fully realized its sound on its self-titled debut album, released last August. Just one listen and you'll know it's a band you have to see live.

ritmocascabel.bandcamp.com

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