Jim McTurnan and The Kids That Killed The Man
For much of the 2000's Jim McTurnan was co-frontman of the fuzzed-out rock quartet Cat-A-Tac, a band which churned out, "...blissful pop songs that wear a snarl..." according to KEXP, and were championed by Under The Radar magazine as, "...My Bloody Valentine with a few licks of Pete Townshend..."
After Cat-A-Tac fizzled in 2008, McTurnan found himself embracing sunnier, more optimistic sounds. CMJ describes the new songs as "unapologetically upbeat..." Pre-1964 rock-n-roll inspired much of the song structure and mood which found its way onto Joie De Vivre, McTurnan's 2011 full-length debut. However, the new record is not a retro affair. It's infused with a punk demeanor, and borrows from both garage rock and slacker rock, while remaining at its core, a pop album.
McTurnan assembled his new band, The Kids That Killed The Man, in 2009 with an all-star cast of Denver musicians. Bassist Josh Wambeke is also the singer-guitarist of the space rock outfit Fell, which long resided on the roster of the late Australian psych rock label, Camera Obscura. Drummer John Fate grew up touring in the hardcore scene before landing in Denver and joining local indie pop favorites, The Pseudo Dates. Guitarist Nathan Brasil was John Fate's bandmate in The Pseudo Dates and initially joined the Kids as a full-time tambourine player before moving onto guitar.
Jim McTurnan & The Kids That Killed The Man played their first batch of shows in 2009. That first batch included Monolith Festival at Red Rocks alongside the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix, the Walkmen, and others, as well as CMJ Music Marathon, the main stage at the Denver Post Underground Showcase, and local support for Art Brut and Surfer Blood. 2010 found the band in Josh's basement recording Joie De Vivre and playing more shows. 2011 brings the release of Joie De Vivre (a free download via the bandcamp site below) and the hope that you, the media gatekeeper, might like it.
"The singer often resembles Jake Snider of Minus the Bear in tone (though not in anger), and the band finds itself a contemporary of several of the last decade’s most exciting post-punk acts; elements of the aforementioned Minus the Bear meet those of The Strokes, The Dead Weather, Queens of the Stone Age, and Arctic Monkeys. The result is a sound that is hardly without precedent but which can still please and surprise." - Audio Suede
RIYL: Minus The Bear, The Strokes, Cat-A-Tac
TRY: #2, 3, 8
Full Album Available Here:
https://www.piratepirate.com/downloads/
More Info Here:
http://jimmcturnan.com
http://jimmcturnan.bandcamp.com
http://www.myspace.com/jimmcturnan
http://www.facebook.com/thekidsthatkilledtheman
http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2011/03/jim_mcturnan_video_give_up_suffering_free_music.php
http://www.avclub.com/denver/articles/jim-mcturnan-and-the-kids-that-killed-the-man-are,38814/