Colfax Speed Queen took down the Skylark with unparalleled pep last Thursday. Its been a few since the band made their debut, interestingly on the very same stage. Prior to returning to the Skylark, the guys have busied their days playing bars and gigs around town, cranked out a few national tours, and dropped their second LP “Talk To Your Doctor” in November of last year. They also posted an addicting, gluttonous music vid to their FB a couple days ago, so, you know, stop what you’re doing right now, obviously, and check it out. A lotta cheese in that one, I gotta say. Anyway, the Skylark gig was a blowout. Arriving late admittedly wasn’t a fashionable feat, as their set was pretty killer and certainly left me craving more of those bone-shaking bangers. The stage was an organized mess of rogue guitar strings, sweat, and booze with an eerie vibe, as if stapling together the all vices we mess with and paying tribute to the darling of debauchery, Colfax Avenue. We got spooky and pulsed to some spicy sounds as the band played songs from both albums: Way Down Below, Grease Up the Sheets, Bathtub Crank (to name a few), and a HAWT cover of Devo’s Gates of Steel. It was a bit nostalgic grooving to these fuzzy Halloween tunes, especially in such an intimate concert setting. Ghostly vocals coupled with a ferocious guitar, creepy keys, and drums like an adrenaline rush, all amounting to this possessed alter ego that took the stage. Near the end we had some genuine crowd participation on both the keys and guitar which turned into a hyper-energized dance pit, taking the set to its wicked end while we were all delicately crushing each other with elbows and pint glasses. It was all so nice to experience. Colfax Speed Queen is college radio royalty, and I can’t wait to play their vinyl on the air for all of you. Hell, we’ll probably get them in the studio this year and you can see for yourself. Until then, keep going to shows! They will be at 3 Kings Tavern (Denver) on June 23rd. Keep indie music alive, guys! Much love.
By Jamie (Snarklet) Nagode