Nathan & Stephen’s debut release, The Everyone EP, is an energetic mixture of solid rock drums, sandpaper vocals, and punk rock dynamism.
I must admit, I saw this group play live before I heard their recording, and I recall wondering why such a large group of people was required to create such a cacophonous, ear-bleeding mess. But after hearing a cleaned up album release, it has become perfectly clear to me why this group has such a great sound.
This local Denver collective consists of up to nine members playing an orchestrated assortment of strings, brass, and percussion while maintaining a crafted, tight sound. Tracks like “Going Home,” are uplifted with horns and cohesive vocal bridges, creating an effervescent sound, while tracks like “Stand Back Up” embrace a more bittersweet tone with the use of violins and subdued lyrics about getting back up on your feet after getting knocked down.
This group has the innate ability to utilize different genre styles with their broad range of instrumentation, creating songs that are reminiscent of punk, country, rock, and gospel. In the case of the live show that I saw, well let’s just say I was probably standing on the wrong side of the room, in front of one speaker!
Nathan & Steven plays Tuesday, April 17 at the Larimer Lounge with The Little Ones and Killfix.
