2024 Underground Music Showcase in Denver

The Underground Music Showcase takes over Denver, CO every year to give you a chance to check out a bunch of your undiscovered and local artists, as well as some national acts. Spread across 4 outdoor stages and venues on Broadway, there was a plethora of options for attendees to check out. While we would love to have coverage from every single act/stage, it just wasn’t feasible, BUT we’ve got a good handful for you!

Beach Fossils

Throughout the last fifteen years, Beach Fossils have steadily earned their stature as one of the most definitive and enduring bands of the 2010s New York underground. They consistently reach new listeners as their sound has grown from the DIY solo project of Dustin Payseur to an influential four-piece dream pop band, self-produced and self-released.

Bunny (2023) continues the stunning evolution of Beach Fossils’ sound. Pulling elements from the jangly melancholy of the self-titled debut Beach Fossils (2010) and What a Pleasure (2011), the gritty, post-punk inspired tracks from Clash the Truth (2013), and the lush arrangements of Somersault (2017). Throughout, Payseur is joined by core band members Tommy Davidson (guitar), Jack Doyle Smith (bass), and Anton Hochheim (drums).

Through tone and mood, Beach Fossils communicate a coming-of-age narrative of self-discovery. Payseur’s slice-of-life lyrics reflect on depression, love, adventure, loss, mistakes, New York City, friendships coming and going — a mélange of granular pieces in the process of continuing to find yourself.

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Godly the Ruler

Godly the Ruler is a Nigeria-born, Chicago-raised musician working from curiosity and intuition to push today forward. Their work evades simple classification and easy answers, opting to work from the gut to translate their wild imagination into eclectic, electrifying territory. Since 14 years old, Godly’s pushed boundaries and decibels. From home demos to basements to stages, they’ve learned to channel the dramatic and theatrical elements of their favorites to articulate the urgency of life across identity and genre.

A glance into the latter will show sonic and thematic flashes across the spectrum. Hip-hop, alt-indie punk, EDM to name a few, anchoring Godly the Ruler’s world in a state of consistent unpredictability. They bend only to their whims, synthesizing and repurposing their influences in service of coping with life and liberating themself. Godly the Ruler sings (and screams) about love, war, rage, last night’s events; they take great pleasure in reveling in the extremes. Once these rebellion songs reach their fever pitch, movement becomes irresistible and deliverance imminent. Godly’s frantic world is welcome to all, but tailor-made for the outcasts of this plane, writhing in the unknown and fighting to be counted.

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Grouptherapy

Grouptherapy (stylized as grouptherapy.) is an American hip hop collective from Los Angeles, founded in 2019 by rappers and singers Jadagrace, TJOnline, Coy Stewart, and Rhea. Rhea and TJOnline departed from the group in 2020 and 2024, respectively. The groups debut studio album, I Was Mature For My Age, But I Was Still A Child, was released on June 27, 2023 after a series of EPs and a mixtape.

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Krooked Kings

Krooked Kings aren’t afraid of saying it how it is. Their unpretentious indie rock takes influence from The Strokes, Bon Iver and Peach Pit while their lyrics reflect the constant, churning coming of age that is being a twenty-something in America. “We just want to make music that will move people,” explains drummer Quinn Casper shortly following the release of their album “All Out of Good Days”.

After recently selling out the entirety of their first trip to Europe and most major cities throughout North America, it’s becoming clear that their message is connecting with an audience far and wide. With 70 million album streams and a massive footprint on social media to show for it, the sky is the limit for Krooked Kings. Maybe they’re not out all out of good days after all.

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Neoma

Neoma has captivated fans from all over the world with her “sweet but powerful voice”. The bilingual electro-pop star began her music career in 2017 in her hometown Cuenca, Ecuador and hit the top of the charts with her single “Real.”

Upon moving to Denver in 2019, she released her debut album Real. Her hit single “Young” has amassed millions of streams and established her as one of the city’s top indie talents. She’s been touring her sophomore album Hyperrealsince its release in April 2022.

Neoma carries with her the culture and flag of Ecuador, winning over people of all backgrounds and uniting her crowds in any room she plays. Representing the Latinx community, she was the Spotify RADAR Andinos artist of 2022.

In 2023, Neoma has shared a total of five releases, including two singles that serve as a preview of her upcoming era. Additionally, she has participated in three collaborations, two of them with Ecuadorian artists La Maquina Camaleón and Menino Gutto, and one with an American artist, Mersiv.

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TKay

Zimbabwe-born Australian singer/rapper Tkay Maidza burst onto the electronic music scene in 2014 with her debut EP, Switch Tape. The set introduced her artful pop- and R&B-infused style, drawing well-earned comparisons to established artists like M.I.A.and Banks upon its release, and the singles “Switch Lanes” and “MOB” both made strong impressions on the charts. In 2017, Maidza hit the Top 20 in Australian with her full-length Tkay, and followed with a series of equally vibrant EPs, including Last Year Was Weird, Vols. 1 to 3, the latter of which won the ARIA Award for Best Soul/R&B Release. Collaborating with electronic producers like Flume and Kaytranada, she returned in 2023 with Sweet Justice.

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Vacations

Vacations are an Australian indie rock band who developed a following first at home and then around the world for their smooth-surfaced music built around the interplay of guitar and electronic keyboards and seasoned with the influences of lo-fi indie pop and 1980s alternative sounds. Led by guitarist and principal songwriter Campbell Burns, Vacations’ early work, such as the 2015 Days EP, made an advantage of their low-budget production, with the music having a naturalistic, live feel. It wasn’t long before they became more comfortable with studio craft, and 2018’s Changes and 2020’s Forever in Bloom revealed a greater sophistication. After relocating to Los Angeles, Vacations released their third LP, No Place Like Home, in 2024.

pulled from AllMusic