Issuu

PG.12

PG.18

HAND TURKEY

DOWNTOWN SOUND

MUSIC review

PG.5

Replica City

BANDWAGMAG.COM P UBLI SHER

ELY CORLISS

ART DI R EC TOR

CARTER KERNS

E D ITOR

AVA HARRIS CO N TR I BUTO RS

JED MURPHY ZACHARY VISCONTI LANDON UNGERMAN

BANDS AND MUSICIANS Submit your MUSIC for review: BANDWAGON MAGAZINE 802 9TH ST. GREELEY, CO 80631

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Replica City A Better You

Jed Murphy

BandWagon Magazine

Once again, the Mile High City has another solid postpunk album on the shelf. In June of 2026, Replica City, the three-piece rock outfit based out of Denver, released their second full-length album, A Better You. This emotionally charged, raucous affair leans in while tuning out, delivering another one-two punch from the DIY record label, Power Goth Recordings. Almost casual in its angst, A

Better You is unpretentious and intentional, feeling like a group of friends successfully writing music for themselves. With that comes the sense Replica City is not seeking validation in their endeavors but simply pushing themselves to new artistic limits. "Sweethearts" has the band coming out swinging with vocalist and guitarist Corey Furin's raspy lament leading the charge. Accompanied by bassist Matt Dunne and drummer Nathan Rodriguez, Furin takes the album in several surprising directions. Fueled by Midwest emo and the punk and shoegaze legends of the '90s and 2000s, songs like "TV Static" and "Don't Get Cute" scratch a certain itch for fans of the era while keeping the album moving forward. And this album doesn't stop. Somehow, in a sound capturing a certain apathy, the energy stays cranked the whole way through without becoming contrived. Title track "A Better You" stands as a fun interlude before

kicking into the back end and not letting up. Packed with interesting tricks, "The Grift" and "Menace" display a healthy amount of nuance deep listeners will enjoy. "Deadliner" starts to bring us home with an emotional and unforgiving march shifting between post-punk anger and Midwest emo, in one of the best tracks on the album. What might not be obvious to many casual listeners is how easily this album could have fallen apart. The contemptuous disinterest conveyed on A Better You is carried across the finish line by sleek production and dedicated musicianship. If any aspect of that was off, this album

would fall short of the emotional impact it has now. Where many bands choose to settle for the sake of time or resources, Replica City found the sweet spot of knowing their strengths and putting them exactly where they need to be. This takes the things that would normally distract the listener and instead allows them to shine. Power Goth Recordings is a label not to be underestimated. Each release they have put out this year has been impressive and a demonstration on letting musicians fulfill their vision. Where things go next for them will be exciting to see.

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Deth Rali

The Fall of Neon Jed Murphy

BandWagon Magazine

Denver goth outfit Deth Rali's latest full-length album, The Fall of Neon, walks a fine line between scratching the itch for the genre and discomfort. Soaked in the darkwave synths and chorusedout guitar that became iconic in the '80s, while clad in black lipstick and white face paint, Deth Rali checks all the gothic boxes. And while Deth Rali is comfortably couched in a genre packed with tropes and a long history, The Fall of Neon feels like a slight detour off that path and into the arms of a cult. The Fall of Neon is a concept album written by lead vocalist and principal songwriter Jay Maike, telling the story of a billionaire cult leader and his ultimate demise. Maike tells this story across ten tracks rich with subtly warm keys and guitars complementing Maike's commanding voice, while drummer Nathan Rodriguez pumps in the energy.

Even without knowing the concept behind The Fall of Neon, the cult vibes are high across the whole album. Zoomed out, there is a franticness in how the songs move with each other that adds an interesting level of chaos. Zoomed in, the songs are vibrant and intentional, meticulous in their arrangement and production. Songs like "I'm a Believer" and "Coup D'etat" pop with their delicate balance of bright guitars and vibrant synths, reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti's iconic Twin Peaks theme song before Rodriguez's drumming shatters that mold. Then on the other hand, tracks like "The Hollow Hold" and "E.M.C." feed that fanatical feeling with off-putting changes and tonal shifts. What works particularly well for Deth Rali, and what they managed to capture on The Fall of Neon, is a unique blend between heavy electronic elements and the natural tones of Rodriguez's drumming. Where many modern goth bands lean heavily on deep bass kicks and digital drums, Rodriguez's technicality as a drummer shines in a callback to legends of the genre like The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Where Deth Rali could have played it safe, Rodriguez offers an alternative that becomes the glue to the whole album.

Y E K R U HAND T

CHASES A HUMAN-FEELING RECORD ON FRIDGE ART VOL. 2

FOLLOWING THE BAND'S VICTORY IN BANDWAGON'S BATTLE OF THE BANDS IN THE SPRING, HAND TURKEY IS SET TO RELEASE ANOTHER ALBUM THIS MONTH, CELEBRATING WITH A RELEASE SHOW AT OPHELIA'S ELECTRIC SOAPBOX IN DENVER ON AUGUST 15.

unk pop fusion outfit Hand Turkey brings groove-centric, high-energy recordings and performances. The seven-piece ensemble just won BandWagon's Battle of the Bands in the spring, and with a new album set for release later this month, the band aims to continue the hot streak. Hand Turkey recently caught up with BandWagon about its writing and recording process for the upcoming album, dubbed Fridge Art Vol. 2, which is set for independent release on August 15. The band shared its first single from the album, "Tunnel Vision," in July, and vocalist Andy Seracuse tells me

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BY ZACHARY VISCONTI how the band shifted to a more community-oriented, human-centric recording approach for the album. While previous releases Time and Time Again and the Fridge Art Vol. 1 EP were recorded one track at a time, Seracuse says this album was intentionally recorded all together to capture the more human elements of the sound. "We thought a lot about the state of the music industry right now, with AI music, and the way that is a problem for musicians, and the fact that music-making feels like something that should fundamentally be a com-

munity-building experience," Seracuse said. "[We] tried to bring that ideology into this process of recording this record, so that we had all of our favorite musicians in a room together making this, making the stuff once in the same room, so that we could try to capture the feeling of that in the space." Although some of Hand Turkey's earlier releases may have a very polished sound, Fridge Art Vol. 2 aims to make something authentic and raw. Eric Ellis, who is both the band's guitarist and a luthier who makes many of their instruments, says this also calls back to many admirable early records that

were recorded live in a room with the musicians performing together. "All the great records from the 70s are just great people playing in a space, and it sounds kind of sloppy, and it's sick," Ellis said. "Not that our record sounds sloppy, but it doesn't sound like, you know, Dua Lipa." "There's a great Jack Stratton quote where he's like, 'Right now, anyone can make a perfect record, but it takes real musicians to make a human-feeling record,'" Ellis said. Saxophonist Amy Keisling says that while older releases had the band layering horn parts performed by the same few band members on separate tracks, Fridge Art Vol. 2 features an entire horn section recording live together. "For this upcoming album, we had five different horn players in the same room playing an arrangement, like Eric said, doing all that arrangement up front, which was really fun, both to arrange and then to play," Keisling said. "I'd say a lot more fun to record than just doing one line after another." The band also wrote most of the album in smaller groups, each contributing a few initial demos, an approach that likely adds to the human element of the songs on Fridge Art Vol. 2. The band half-jokingly tells me that the only writing rule on Fridge Art Vol. 2 was that the songs contributed couldn't be about a relationship, unlike Time and Time Again, which was made up mostly of songs about relationships and breakups. Ellis said each

smaller writing group brought demos on separate unique themes they related to, and when it all came together a lot of the songs ended up being about transitioning out of school and into the harsh realities of the adult world. "It's not a cohesive concept album, like all the songs sound very different," Ellis said. "And with this one, we sort of extrapolated that into [this approach where] there are seven groups of three that made demos, so you really get the voices and stuff of each of those individual writing groups." The band started in 2020, and they tell me the lineup fluctuated quite a bit early on, starting with Ellis, drummer Nicky Podrez, and bassist Stephen Garrison, who all played different instruments together in a former ska band. The crew would go on to range from a four-piece to a nine-piece with a few different lineups along the way, ultimately settling on the current seven-piece outfit with the addition of Seracuse on vocals, Keisling on sax, trumpeter Jack Derbique, and pianist Tyler Treadway. Hand Turkey's music is a little bit hard to pin down, falling somewhere between powerful, groove-heavy funk and R&B, soulful jazz with melodic pop sensibilities, and animated showtunes. The band says its sound is inspired by a range of influences, though they "don't fit into any of those things remotely well," according to Garrison. When asked directly, they describe their sound as having groove-oriented, Vulfpeck-like songs with Couch-like pop melodies, and horn arrangements that aim somewhere near Cory Wong and Snarky Puppy.

"It's always the hardest question to answer," Treadway said. "Before we play, when we're getting set up, somebody always asks, 'What kind of music do you play?'" "You could go on like you just did, Stephen, for like two minutes, and maybe capture what we do, but it's fun to just try and relegate it to three words." Treadway said he regularly goes with funk, pop, or simply fusion lately, though he admits that it "depends on the day." Still, fitting within certain genre lines seems far from a priority to Hand Turkey, as the band laughs and riffs on the call about how they expect to be described. Instead, the band's true priority lies in the joy of crafting the art itself, a theme that they say is reflected in both Fridge Art Vol. 2 and its predecessor EP, as well as the name "Hand Turkey." Seracuse likens the band's writing approach on Fridge Art Vol. 2 to the casual nature of hanging a piece of art on the fridge. "We like making it. We think it's really cool. We want to show it to you, but it's not the focus. [The focus] is on making something that we enjoy making, and we hope that you would dig what the product is," he said. "The end goal is to put it up on the fridge, so that we can all be happy that we're looking at the thing we made." Hand Turkey is set to release Fridge Art Vol. 2 independently on August 15, and the band will play an album release party the same night at Ophelia's Electric Soapbox in Denver, with support from Stovetop Gemini.

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The Soundtrack of This Little Town

INSIDE THE DOWNTOWN SOUND, GREELEY'S SOLE RECORD SHOP AND THE QUIET HEART OF A GROWING MUSIC SCENE.

BY LANDON UNGERMAN

here is a particular kind of quiet inside a record store. Not silence, exactly. Something softer. The low hum of a turntable warming up, the papery shuffle of fingers walking through a crate, friendly neighborhood chatter between the regulars. At The Downtown Sound, that quiet has a name: community.

The store itself has a longer history. It was originally opened by Ed and Veronica Roth in Loveland around 2013, run as a family operation with their daughter. It changed hands once, briefly merged with an instrument business, then came back around. In 2021, the Roths put out a quiet feeler on Facebook. They were looking for someone to take the shop and care for it.

Tucked into Downtown Greeley, just across the parking lot from the Moxi Theater, The Downtown Sound is the sole record shop serving the town. For a lot of people here, it is more than that. It is a stop on the weekly route. A place to land. Somewhere to be someone among other people who love music in the same way.

The Jankows answered. Ben still remembers the night his parents came down to the basement, where he was playing a game with friends, and casually announced they might own a record store soon. Sure enough, they did.

"It's not just a building with a bunch of wax and metal in it," says Ben Jankow, who runs the shop alongside his family. "It's a collection of community and memories and hopefully all of the good feelings that come with that."

THE FAMILY BUSINESS Records run deep in the Jankow family. Ben's dad, John, has been a music nerd since childhood, the kind of kid who collected film soundtracks and played them over and over until the music carried him somewhere else. His mom, Jennie, grew up loving music too. Both of them were kids of the 80s. A lot of that love landed squarely on Ben.

They ran the Loveland location for a couple of years. Their last day there came a few days before Christmas in 2023. They packed the whole thing up, cleaned it out, and a few weeks later opened fresh in Downtown Greeley. The move brought one more important addition: business partner Dave Chapinski, a collector of more than fifty years who has spent a career restoring equipment and pricing records in shops like this one. Today the shop is John, Jennie, Ben, and Dave, with Ben's cousin Caden Crowet handling much of the behind-the-scenes work and younger siblings popping in to help. "When we go about treating each other and our customers like family," Dave says, "then that's what we are. That's who we are. Family."

THE SOUNDTRACK OF LIFE Ask Ben why people keep coming back to vinyl in the age of streaming, and he answers like someone who has thought about it for years. Because he has. He grew up on the cusp of the digital age, with CDs and DVDs giving way to iPods and endless libraries. Convenient, sure. But something was missing. Dave puts it plainly. "We know why this is important," he says. "That's what a collection is. It's the soundtrack of your life." There is an archival truth in it too. Not everything made it to streaming. Some genuinely great art lives only on physical media, in liner notes and cover art and an artist's intention you can hold in your hands. A record collection, Dave says, is too special to die in a landfill.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Some customers come in with a specific album in mind, a name from a want list they have carried for decades. The best moments, Ben says, are when someone finally finds it. "I have been searching for this for 20 years," they tell him, "and I just found it in your store." Others come in looking for nothing at all. "Sometimes you don't know what you're looking for," Dave says, "and then you find it." They thumb through the crates and let the cover art or a single song lead them somewhere new. What they all find is a place that sits close to the music itself. The shop is a block away from the Moxi Theater, where Friday Fest fills the summer, and just down the street from the Union Colony Civic Center. A dedicated local section carries Greeley artists like The Burroughs and High Lonesome. "Greeley has a real, feasible, tight music scene that is growing more and more," Ben says, "and people will miss out if they aren't checking out the shows and music happening down here."

WHAT YOU’LL FIND AT DOWNTOWN SOUND Vinyl is the heart of it, new and used, every genre they can stock, with rarer collector's pressings for the serious diggers. They also carry CDs, cassettes, and 8-tracks, plus a wall of gear: turntables, speakers, and the occasional cassette or CD player. They repair equipment too, so a beloved setup can keep spinning. Lately the shop has hosted listening parties, often with giveaways and a limited-edition item for one lucky customer, and it serves as a venue for Record Store Day twice a year.

A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE DANCE What you find at The Downtown Sound is not really wax and paper. It is memory, made physical. A record is something you can hold in your hands and something you can connect with. You remember who handed it to you. You remember the store where you found it, the friend who told you that you had to hear it, the season of your life it belongs to. That is what a streaming file cannot hold. No matter how large the library, it cannot tell you where you were when the music first arrived. Ben has spent a lot of time turning this over, and he keeps landing in the same place. Each record pulls in two directions at once. It reaches outward, toward the people and the moments woven into it. And it turns inward, toward a quiet only the listener knows.

Photos by LindyHop & Arely @slainfromthegutter @arelyahidali Special thanks to Arely, LindyHop, Dave, and the Jankow family for their assistance in gathering materials and information for this feature.

"Whenever you listen to these records," he says, "it jogs your memory of these moments of connection that you had with the outside world. And then you can recluse into the music at the same time. It's kind of like a beautiful little dance." Maybe that is the whole thing. A record store is a room where that dance keeps happening, again and again, one needle drop at a time. Visit the Downtown Sound at 819 10th St. Greeley, CO.

BANDWAGON PHOTO OF THE MONTH BY BELA KERSHISNIK @INFOCUSWITHYOU ANGEL DEATH | MOXI THEATER | GREELEY, CO | 6/9/26