Thursdays in June sounds like the name of a shitty emo band

Thursdays in June

Come hang out with us next month at Lost Lake next month. Matt LaBarge is letting us host some of our favorite Denver bands (and play a couple of times) at his new bar on Thursdays. Thanks Matt! We’ll kick things off June 3 with Lion Sized and Ian O’s new band Eolian. The dudes from A Small Print Shop will also be doing some live screen printing on June 24.

June 3 // Lion Sized + Eolian
June 10 // Eyes & Ears + The Taints
June 17 // Gangcharger + Ideal Fathers
June 24 // Lion Sized + Night of Joy + A Small Print Shop

AV Club Review of ‘Cough Up Your Teeth’

Matt Schild // The Onion

Clumsy, conventional wisdom dictates that bad times breed great music, but it’d be a stretch to say Lion Sized wouldn’t be as pissed off—or as musically defiant—if everything in the world was fine and dandy. Mired in the middle of the worst economic climate since the Great Depression, its latest EPCough Up Your Teeth, enjoys an unfortunate affinity for its day and age.

With an emphasis on macroeconomic forces, singer-guitarist Josh Bergstrand leads the Denver punk trio through a five-song set that recalls the desperate alienation of early-’80s West Coast punk. Making not-so-veiled allusions to the theories of Adam Smith and Karl Marx, the album reminds listeners that the genre is at its best when it serves as the nagging conscience that so easily gets ignored.

Although Lion Sized’s lyrical foundation is based on economic theories, the band’s focus is on the harsh realities of them on a human level. “Not War Baby” tackles the link between poverty and enlistment in a way that’d make Gang Of Four proud; bassist Shane Trost and drummer Rob Burleson alternately churn and bludgeon listeners, freeing Bergstrand’s treble-laden guitar to mercilessly flay eardrums. In “Carmel,” a sing-along vocal melody is poised above a grinding guitar arrangement that’s equal parts Agent Orange and Government Issue—all nasty, brutish, and short. “Shadows Of Buildings” and “Hey Proletariat!” tell tales of the debt-ridden and downtrodden with a sympathy that’s less bleeding heart and more hurl-a-brick, as the group is both ideology and humanism in action.

Cough Up Your Teeth cements Lion Sized not only as a serious local contender, but also as a band that has the brains, heart, and chops to endure nearly any climate.

- Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Westword review of ‘Cough Up Your Teeth’

Cory Casciato // Westword

In five short, slashing songs, Lion Sized has created a classic punk-rock release for people who hate punk rock — or hate what it’s become, anyway. It’s tempting to call it post-punk as a nod to its intelligence, but that’s just because we’ve (mostly) forgotten how fucking smart punk can actually be. This is the real deal — raw, emotional and visceral without ever dumbing itself down. Just try to deny either the greatness or intelligence of “Carmel” or “Hey Proletariat!” or, hell, any of it. It’s a throwback to a simpler time, when punk was seen as the last great hope for rock and roll. If that promise had come true, bands like Lion Sized would be the norm. Since it didn’t, cherish these guys all the more.

- Thursday, May 13, 2010