Press
Two Cow Garage w/Colder Than Fargo, Raleigh, Six Months to Live and Jon Snodgrass
Friday, February 20th, 2009
3 Kings Tavern, Denver
Better Than: A five band bill has any right to be.
Colder Than Fargo opened this show on a snowy, icy night with its brand of warm, sentimentally-tinged music, part Americana, part experimental rock and part power pop. The set was a little loose and yet I’m not sure I’ve seen the band play with such ease and confidence. On this night, the outfit displayed a strong talent for setting a mood as well as building to electrifying and emotionally sweeping passages of song rife with imagery pulled straight from the people and places around us.
Colder Than Fargo is all about the songs.
Not egos, not showing off on their instruments or engaging in “look at me” theatrics, just well written, tightly rehearsed pieces of music. The band’s latest album “Gentlemen Please” is a good example of what the four piece is about — a mix of genre stretching ambition and songwriting skills that work together for an intriguing listen.
“I think everyone in the band brings something different to the table,” said Lawrence Snell, Colder Than Fargo’s drummer. “ We all come from different backgrounds and different places, but we all really like each other as people so that helps us meet in the middle.”
Colder Than Fargo started out as a coffee shop band in 2003 that played painfully slow songs, according to Snell. While the group has significantly evolved since its formation, Snell said the band learned how to utilize space with their instruments and play together during their formative years.
Snell and his band mates pull off the difficult task of stringing together varying influences — British pop, Americana and electronic music — into their self-described “electronica-britacana” sound. Snell said the band’s goal is to create music that utilizes established genres while forming something that sounds unlike anything else around.
“Gentlemen Please,” which was recorded in Denver’s Uneven Studio, is a musical snapshot of America nearing the end of President Bush’s administration. The album urges a cautious optimism, usually in songs that are shrouded in metaphors and emotive singing.
“With the record we wanted to say, ‘It’s not all bad, don’t give up hope,” said Snell. “There’s still a reason to keep your head up.”
WESTWORD REVIEW OF GENTLEMEN PLEASE: 10/17/2008
Colder Than Fargo has never released a less than excellent record, and Gentlemen Please! is no exception. Displaying a notable level of maturity, the album is marked by songs with surprising depth and inventive textures. Deftly sidestepping subgenres, Fargo tastefully borrows from its influences — particularly on tracks such as the movingly earnest “Space,” wherein Andrew Goss’s vocals recall Chronic Town-era Michael Stipe — and builds upon the dynamics and diversity of its older work. This time out, the elements have coalesced into even stronger songs, such as “Fistfight,” “Midnight Blue” and the lushly gorgeous “Spanish Galleons.” Fans of Mercury Rev will appreciate the vivid imagery presented here, while fans of the Czars will appreciate the sheer beauty and emotional power of much of the material.