On it, she switches out the creaking vulnerability of her past songwriting (“I quit my dreaming the moment that I found you / I started dancing just to be around you,” she crumbles on a well-known single) for manic immediacy. In a genre that loves its sub-categories, the band confounds expectation. 12
Sometimes, a cruel wind can blow out of an innocuous place. Too melodic to strictly qualify as death metal, fans have taken to calling them “the California groove machine,” a nickname that’s turned into a mini-movement. Angel Olsen plays two shows this week. See you there, and if you don’t make it out, follow our music musings on Twitter and our selfies on Instagram. 9 and 10
Wounded singer-songwriter, obstinate punk, old soul — there’s a tempest of personas roiling inside Asheville, N.C.’s Angel Olsen. Tickets are $23-$25 via ticketfly.com. Going electric more often than not, Olsen now sounds possessed by life, not subject to it. If you do, mind your jacket. 11. Take Devildriver, for example, a punishing heavy metal band out of the tranquil southern California town of Santa Barbara. 9. But don’t mistake that quirk for mercy: Devildriver, which is named after the bells certain Wiccans use to repel evil, sounds far more damned than delightful. “Everyone I know has got their own ideal / I just want to be alive, make something real,” she sings on “Intern.” The turn has paid off: Her show at the Bluebird Theater has sold out, but you can still catch her at Englewood’s Gothic Theatre on Feb. Angel Olsen — The Gothic Theatre, Feb. Photo via Pitch Perfect PR. Catch them at the Summit Music Hall on Feb. Devildriver — Summit Music Hall, Feb. On “My Woman,” her latest, they come to a head. Angel Olsen and Devildriver are our picks for the best shows around Denver this week. Tickets: $20 via axs.com.