The Broken West, Blind Pilot, the Magic Mice @ the Hi-Dive

By John Wenzel | March 13th, 2009 | No Comments »

Broken West singer-guitarist Ross Flournoy unleashes a flurry of guitar chords at the Hi-Dive on Wednesday. Photos by Denise Chambers.

When L.A. power-pop act the Broken West kicked off their last round of touring at the Hi-Dive in Sept. 2008, they seemed tentative. Debuting songs from new album “Now or Heaven,” leader Ross Flournoy was visibly reserved compared to his band’s last stop in Denver at Bender’s Tavern.

“The feedback I’ve been getting from people is that it’s a lot different than the last one, which in a way is scaring me,” he told me at the time. “We didn’t feel like it was aesthetically different when we were making it, but it is a lot less jangly and ’60s-inspired than the first one.”

What a difference a few months makes. The Broken West’s Wednesday show at the Hi-Dive found Flournoy poised but energetic, his band members practically blinding in their speed and precision. Punchy, undulating numbers such as “Auctioneer,” “Perfect Games” and “Terror for Two” burst from the stage like a flurry of arrows aimed directly at our heads. The rhythm section (where did they get that drummer? Dude is a machine) was the perfect base on which to layer delicate harmony vocals and whiplash guitar strumming.

This is the band I came to see.

The night opened with a set from Denver’s Magic Mice, a rising indie group that bears more than a passing resemblance to Built to Spill in their churning, Technicolor guitar squall. Singer Tyler Wilcox’s melody-drenched vocals are great on Magic Mice’s recordings, but were often lost in the instrumental din. Still, songs like “Dreams of Reason” (which will kick off their forthcoming album — good choice!) provided power-rock high kicks that should connect with fans of Guided by Voices, Pavement and other endearingly loose outfits.

The band also rolled with the punches, as when Wilcox’s guitar strap broke during a song, forcing him to finish the rest of it from a kneeling position center-stage. If note-perfect performances are your thing, you may want to give Magic Mice some time to tighten up and fulfill the promise of their recordings. Otherwise, Denver indie kids, your favorite new ’90s-inspired rock band has arrived.

The crowd swelled for Portland’s Blind Pilot, a band that Flournoy later admitted to me probably should have been headlining. Their lush, acoustic-driven songs chilled the crowd into a pleasant state of head-bobbing, although I was a little less enamored with their admittedly pretty tunes. I’m all for folky, calm sets but was feeling a bit more jumpy that night.

The Broken West delivered with their set, which barely paused between songs for applause and cheers. If you missed their Denver stop last year, no big loss, but Wednesday night proved that a bit of road polish has brought out the shine in their already glossy wares.

Sunglasses, please.

John Wenzel is the co-editor of Reverb and an arts and entertainment writer for The Denver Post. He recently published the book “Mock Stars: Indie Comedy and the Dangerously Funny” and edits the Get Real Denver blog.

Denise Chambers is a Denver freelance photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. See more of her work here.

MORE PHOTOS: Magic Mice