The 1990s Denver Sound: Melancholic-Gothic-Gospel-Country-Punk!
''When I'm on stage, I want to rip your throat off with the music, I want to beat you into a pulp with the law. I bring the law, I bring it!''
‘‘I want to rip your throat off with the music, I want to beat you into a pulp with the law. I bring the law, I bring it! So you wanted to live by it? You want to know what’s good and evil? OK, let’s talk about it’’ - David Eugene Edwards (Collier, 2013)
The Economist reports that ‘‘a whopping 36% of the streams of Spotify’s top 50 songs in America have been country songs in 2023; in 2016, it was just 2%’’(The Economist, 2023). Furthermore, they report that the genre is even more popular in America than Hip-Hop and R&B. Country music`s popularity has surged and it is expected to continue to do so. Rick Beato in his video ’’The Top 10 Country Songs on Spotify…I’m Shocked’’ concluded about the Hot Country Top 10 chart on Spotify:
‘‘All in all, a killer top 10 list…none of this weird top 40 stuff…this is actually a pleasure to listen to. Well produced, well-written, well-sung, with mostly natural playing and not programming’’.
Country music has not only increased in popularity in America but generated acclaim. This time I want to talk about what was happening in music in the 90s in Denver, Colorado, where country and goth music became one.
Whilst grunge music from Seattle dominated the 90s mainstream, there were also other scenes developing in other parts of the country. Denver, Colorado for example had their own punk scene with bands like Your Funeral, Twice Wilted, Bum Kon, The Frantix, Rok Tots & Dead Silence. The Fluid with the album Clear Black Paper (1988) was the first non-Seattle band to get signed on the Sub Pop label. However, there was also another scene going on.
Gothic Country, Gothic Americana, Southern Gothic or simply The Denver Sound is ‘‘dark, plainspoken and often morose. Sometimes it’s morbid, yet it’s also often uplifting – and always thoughtful’’(Baca, 2006). You can hear this in the music of Jay Munly, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, DeVotchKa, The Denver Gentlemen, 16 Horsepower, Kalamath Brothers and others. This description could fit a grunge band like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains or Screaming Trees. Likewise, Mark Lanegan with his solo albums Bubblegum (2004) and Blues Funeral (2014) fits the bill.
Gothic Country is a mix of bluegrass, gospel and rock, full of traditional Appalachian instrumentation. Matt Fletcher the creator of South Park Music Festival concludes that American Gothic has been attempted all over the country, but when he moved to Denver he ‘‘finally saw it perfected’’. He truly believes ‘‘that Denver’s American Gothic scene is to Americana and alt-country what Omaha is to indie rock’’(Baca, 2006). However music from Denver is thematically different from grunge. If Soundgarden uses religious themes in their music, it`s often to challenge religious ideas. Chris Cornell sings that holy water is rusting him in ‘‘Holy Water’’ (1991), whilst the music video for ‘‘Jesus Christ Pose’’(1991) adapts John 3:16 - "And God So Loved Soundgarden He Gave Them His Only Song". You can check out these previous posts for more on grunge:
16 Horsepower and Wovenhand
Whilst grunge music is critical of religion, the Denver scene is full of liturgical language and biblical narratives. Bob Ferbrache is the ‘‘patron saint of the Denver sound’’(Baca, 2006), producing most of the bands mentioned earlier. Vocals are the key elements of the Denver sound and he explains :
“I always wanted to make music that made a sound like hallucinogenic liqueur,” Ferbrache explained. “And among all these bands, I hear the static, but to me, it’s about the singing. I personally like where the vocals come from’’(Baca, 2006)
The ‘‘hallucinogenic liqueur’’ sound aka the Denver sound goes back to 1988 with the formation of The Denver Gentlemen. The band was founded by Jeffrey-Paul Norlander and David Eugene Edwards. Later Jen-Yves Tola and Slim Cessna joined. Edwards would later form 16 Horsepower (1992-2005) and Wovenhand. 16 Horsepower`s album Hoarse (2000) was re-issued on Jello Biafra`s label Alternative Tentacles. Edwards writes gothic infused folk music, exploring ideas of Christianity, redemption, conflict and sin. In an interview for Steel for Brains (2014) he explains his relationship with music and Christianity :
‘‘It’s changed a lot. Mainly in the fact that I grew up in the constructs that are around me – the way in which music is presented to you. This is the music of the church, and then it’s presented to you like this. And then, of course, there’s other churches that present it in a completely different way, but the way I was raised, those were the wrong ways… And then there was the big argument of what you could listen to and what you couldn’t listen to and anxiety and worry over music that we were getting in from the outside.
The longer I make music, the more I realize that music is not sacred. My music is not sacred. It’s not sacred to me, and that’s what I mean by the constructs that you grew up. I’ve come out of this sort of alternative country world where I play the banjo or I play the accordion, but I don’t play them the way you’re supposed to play them. So the people that play the banjo or that play the accordion, I am like a heretic. Seriously. It’s not a joke. I’m literally a heretic to these people, and not only them but a heretic to rock ‘n roll people as well. I’m pretty much a heretic to everybody.’’ (Steel for Brains, 2014)
For another interview by Stefan Raduta, Edwards reveals that he didn`t like Christian music outside of the church, like Christian rock. Despite agreeing with what they're singing about, he favoured more aggressive and darker music. About this he comments further:
‘‘I think God used other music, more aggressive, darker music, to storm up my soul. I guess I grew up around a lot of sad things so it was really easy and comfortable for me listen to bands like Joy Division or Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds. What I found beautiful in the music that I listened to was that people were being honest. I felt that Ian Curtis was being very honest to me when he was singing to me. I felt that Bon Scott of AC/DC was very honest with me when he was singing to me, and even though it was stuff I didn't agree with, I thought he was very sincere.’’(Raduta, 2010)
Influencing from Joy Division & Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, gothic themes like mortality, melancholy and surrealism can be identified in his own music. Colin Helms in CMJ New Music Monthly remarked that 16 Horsepower is ‘‘one of the spookiest things you`ve heard in the last two centuries’’ (Helms, 1998,p.11).
When you look through their lyrics, the exploration of sin and human flaws is persistent. ‘‘Dead Run’’(1997) starts by declaring that ‘‘the devil's brand is on my bones’’; ‘‘Black Soul Choir’’(1996) repeats that ‘‘every man is evil, yes, every man's a liar’’; Whilst ‘‘Harm`s Way’’ (1996) asserts ‘‘I am an honest man when I ain't lying, I am a living man when I commence to dying’’
Not only is 16 Horsepower spooky and dark but the same can be said about Wovenhand`s haunting cover of ‘‘Ain`t No Sunshine’’ by Bill Withers and their song ‘‘Swedish Purse’’ (2006).
David Eugene Edwards
Jay Munly: Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots
David Eugene Edwards’ lyrics are abstract. He said it himself that he approaches song writing as if he is putting together a puzzle and he doesn`t try to make a story. Jay Munly`s music on the other hand is all about storytelling. You can hear this in the music of his bands: Denver Broncos UK, Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots, Munly & The Lupercalians, Scott Kelly And The Road Home and Slim Cessna's Auto Club. In regards to songwriting and politics he explains:
“I don’t want to be known for that [political songwriting]. I just never grew up writing that way. I grew up more traditionally. Although sometimes it is a lazy way of writing to be completely inventive and only rely on your imagination and not particularly draw on the real world.”(Baranauskas, 2019)
‘‘The Denver Boot’’(2002) on his solo album Jimmy Carter Syndrome (2002) (which also features David Eugene Edwards) is a great example of his storytelling style. The song tells a dark story about a woman, a ‘‘true love sprawled without breath’’ and the ‘‘new born who caused her death’’.
‘‘He's got the Helling," my preacher say.
He grabbed my elbow, tell me I must take him far away…
And at the water, I took off my boot, placed my son inside,
To ride upon the ocean until they find the truth’’
Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots song ‘‘The Denver Boot Redux’’ (2004) continues the story in which the new born is ‘‘no longer the newborn, lord that's all I know as true, I've returned from the ocean, craddlin' the Denver Boot’’.
‘‘I can't wear the Denver boot
I will bronze my Father's body
Mount it outside my factories
The first will be a see-through glassworks
The other will be a true goat farm
I will blow perfect bottles
I will squeeze the goats myself
I will drown the world of it's helling
I hope my will don't come up hollow’’
His solo album Jimmy Carter Syndrome (2002) was originally supposed to be released on Alternative Tentacles, but as Munly explains they ‘‘were a little nervous about some of the lyrics, and that's why they dragged their feet’’(Splendid, 2002). His music explores dysfunctional relationships, religion and violence. Not only on his solo albums, but for example, Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots ‘‘Goose Walking Over My Grave’’ (2004).
*BTW, Jimmy Carter Syndrome (2002) references the former US president. He explains that Carter is ‘‘an amazing poet. We grew up similarly...he had a nanny who sort of raised him. I was in that situation, more than my parents raising me. So there are some similarities.’’(Splendid, 2002)*
However, Alternative Tentacles did release Munly & The Lupercalians album Petr & The Wulf (2010). Whilst, Slim Cessna's Auto Club had multiple releases on the punk label like Always Say Please And Thank You (2000), The Bloudy Tenent Truth Peace (2004), Cipher (2008) and Unentitled (2011). In July 2006, Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots was ‘‘voted the best band in Colorado by over 100 music experts in the Denver Post Underground Music Poll’’ (Gothic Western, 2020). He has been a significant figure in the development of the Denver Sound.
Over the years, more Gothic Country band`s have come out of other city`s. For example, Those Poor Bastards is based in Madison, Wisconsin. They have covered ‘‘I Walk The Line’’ by Johnny Cash and their song ‘‘Pills I Took’’(2004) was covered by Hank Williams III (the grandson of Hank Williams and son of Hank Williams Jr.) on Straight to Hell (2006).
Likewise, it is worth highlighting Wayfarer who are from Denver, Colorado. They are infusing black metal, gothic country, and americana in their music. Ultimately, ‘‘creating a thunderous and uniquely American genre of metal all to their own’’. Definitely an exciting and unique listening experience.
Epic post!