Sometimes a band captures the very essence of rock 'n' roll - AC/DC's "What Do You Do for Money Honey," for example - and it leaves you feeling like a soccer hooligan after a three-day rampage among the good burghers of Belgium.
Rock 'n' roll should be a mind-bending rush, an experience that leaves you worse for wear and looking over your shoulder. Rock is far from safe, and two bands that released tracks in 2005 understood this with unexpected insight.
Diamond Nights' "Destination Diamonds" is a polished rock jam that makes you squeal, dance and thrust your fist in the air. While that's nice and all, the Giraffes' "Man U." is a song about the dangers, blood and anger of rock - and soccer. The song, whose title references the famed Manchester United football club, is a call to rock 'n' roll arms.
"I'd like to say it came from some big huge life experience but no, not really," singer Aaron Lazar said recently. "It was some riff we had lying around, and I had a friend who's British and a big football fan, and he was telling me about some of the chants for one of the football teams over there. ... It was 'You're going home in a (expletive) ambulance' clap clap clap, and that's one of the songs they sing when they're about to light a motorcycle on fire and throw it down the stairs."
"Man U." is the world of English soccerl - riots, goalies, hooligans and taunts, yes - but this is the Giraffes' game. And no matter the visuals painted by Lazar's lyrics, nothing is more potently representative of this band and its pulverizing, beer-soaked live shows than the song's accompanying video.
Scene: Two men stand across from one another in a narrow hallway. One is Lazar, the other a buddy with beers hanging from his pants. Down the hall sit the rest of the Giraffes, swilling, spilling and flinging beer. While Lazar and the man trade blows, the song rails on. Lazar pulls his punches, but his foe in this middle-school playground game delivers his with all his considerable weight.
It's the perfect video embodiment for the Giraffes, a band that plays so hard and loud that its fans naturally know to hit the auto-destruct button.
The Giraffes play the Larimer Lounge on Saturday with Black Lamb, Half of Zero and Slick Pigs Lie opening. Tickets, $8, at bigmarkstickets.com.
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TH' LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS If Gogol Bordello were tattooed punker rockabilly kids with the stamina and enthusiasm to make roots music translate to the Social Distortion crowd, they would be Th' Legendary Shack Shakers. The band plays tonight at the Fox, Saturday at the Gothic, Sunday in Fort Collins at the Aggie, Monday in Steamboat at Levelz, Wednesday in Breckenridge at Sherpa and Yeti's, Thursday and Feb. 24 at Vail's 8150, Feb. 25 at Loveland's White Buffalo and Feb. 26 at the Belly Up Aspen in Aspen. All dates open for Reverend Horton Heat.
GOGOGO AIRHEART Gogogo Airheart's angular music is the centerpiece of the current GSL Records tour, also featuring Subtitle when the group plays Tuesday at the Larimer Lounge.
RALPH STANLEY The man, the myth, the legend ... Ralph Stanley, the bluegrass pioneer, plays Tuesday at the Boulder Theater.
SIGUR RÓS The beauty of this Icelandic band transcends traditional rock, as its members will show in an epic live show Thursday at the Paramount.
-Ricardo Baca | 
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