4H Royalty

Zach Boddicker of 4H Royalty knows his way around a stage and knows when to let his playing do the talking. You gotta love a band that doesn't bother to ply the crowd with boring small talk and stupid jokes. On that note, 4H Royalty opened with a two-minute blast of Kentucky Fried southern rock that worked like a magnet to draw the crowd from the back of the venue towards the stage.

The band is obviously centered around the guitar athletics of frontman Boddicker, and man, oh man, can this guy play the guitar. Pure American rock and roll. It also helps that the band's songs are tightly structured around something resembling a catchy pop rock formula, which is to say the songs are memorable and easy to sing along with. To top it off, 4H even did a love song dedicated to BMX bikes. - Westword

4H Royalty is back with it’s sophomore release, Where UFOs Go To Die, and it’s so rock solid a six-year-old girl could break out a window with it. Last year I wrote about their debut, Colossalalia, and mentioned how the songs popped into my head days after listening to them. Well the same thing happens with Where UFOs Go To Die, the songs don’t seem catchy but they are. Glossary songs are like that with me as well.

Where UFOs Go To Die is ten songs that run deep. There’s not a single off moment on the album. With this offering 4H Royalty seems to have gotten more patient with their delivery and allow the songs to not rush themselves. It’s a small shift but one that pays large dividends. Good work 4H Royalty.

One of the great things that carries over from Colossalalia to Where UFOs Go To Die is the subject matter in the songs. In “Accordion Bus” the narrator rides the bus daily next to a woman named Oora (I had to check with the band to get the name right) who says she’s a million year old Christian and an alien. I haven’t heard every song ever written but I’ll go out on a limb and say no one else has written a song about that. Also there’s a song about a guy having itchy blood for a girl. I’m not familiar with the term itchy blood but after a Google search it could refer to symptoms of drug withdraw. Over my head but poignant with a pinch. If you’re thinking this might be too much same old alt.alt.country.post.rock.tonk then spend some time with the lyrics. Even on the songs where the subject is one we’ve heard before (girls, teenage disillusionment, etc) 4H Royalty is coming at it with some odd angle or turn of phrase.

We usually pick three songs to share with you and I’m having a damn hard time picking the three. I’ll take this as a sign that Where UFOs Go To Die is Essential Listening. I think Oora would agree. - Nine Bullets

The unusual title of Where UFOs Go To Die did not prepare me for 4H Royalty‘s music. I had reasonably expected some country music from the band name, but the album title threw me for a loop. Was it going to be goofy? Was it all going to be tongue-in-cheek like opener “Accordion Bus”? This band contains the guitarist of post-rock duo Lafayette (one of my favorite IC bands ever), so how does that work out?

But then “Statutes of Limitation” hits, and all the fears clear up quickly. 4H Royalty is a gritty, workingman’s rock’n'roll/country band, creating timeless, powerful tunes that would appeal to fans of The Hold Steady as well as Ryan Adams. 9Bullets once described Glossary as a “no-frills, unabashed rock n’ roll records with just enough elements of classic pop and country to keep me honest.” If you flip the rock’n'roll and country references in that sentence, it’s a perfect description of 4H Royalty. Those guitars don’t twang that often, but the voices kinda do, and all these songs are about ending up back in your rural hometown unexpectedly (that hometown being the titular location).

These aren’t woe-is-me ballads, though: the lyrics here are top-shelf storytelling. I don’t often mention lyrics in an album, because 75% of the time they’re inessential (la’s would suffice) and 15% of the time they’re slightly above average. But that other ten percent is money, and bands with meaningful lyrics are usually tagged as very important music. So be it for 4H Royalty. Here’s a clip conflating women and their namesakes that knocked me out: “Mercy, Sherry, Sage, and Rosemary/Jasmine, Brandy, and Hope/return me to sender when I start to remember/all the virtues, spices and liquors of home.” Or this one: “Brilliant social climbers know to take elevators, and I am neither for taking the stairs.” Both of those come from highlight track “Virtues, Spices and Liquors,” which is going on all my summer mixtapes in that spot where you’re trying to get the mood from “driving songs” to “chill out tunes.” It fits right in there.

It’s hard to explain the scruffy, gritty music that 4H Royalty makes. “Gritty” and “scruffy” in this case don’t mean junky garage rock, but still: their tunes have some dirt and use on them. It’s the difference between a gleaming new truck (a large number of country bands) and one that’s been used, loved and wouldn’t be traded for the world (4H Royalty). “The Black Hornet Rides Again” is a rock instrumental that sounds like the Southern Rock equivalent of a surf jam like “Wipeout!” “Fall Off the Face of the Earth with Me” is a weary love song that starts off with the phrase, “It’s times like this you really the effects the brain drain has had on this town…” “Soon Enough” is a jaded, mid-tempo kiss-off tune; depending on your point of view, “Itchy Blood” is an guardedly optimistic or kinda desperate “I still love you” note to a woman who may or may not still remember the narrator.

And it’s that ambiguity that makes Where UFOs Go to Die such a compelling listen. The band nails everything they go for (with the exception of the aforementioned confusing opener), leaving tons of space for the vocals and lyrics to take over and do their thing. The result is an album that showcases both a brilliant lyricist and veteran musicians (Lafayette’s Andrew Porter plays bass and organ, while Zach Boddicker was in the late great Drag the River). These songs are so tight that they’re past the “we got this” phase and into “how do we confidently show musically that we don’t got this in our lives?” And they do that here; it’s one thing to tell passion, but it’s another thing to tell overly optimistic, confused, underconfident, overcompensating, real passion. If that’s not an album you want to hear, this blog can’t help you much. This is easily a contender for album of the year. - Independent Clauses

These are the facts you should know:

• There is no such thing as shitty beer, only beer you’d prefer not to drink.
• 4H Royalty is a Denver bar band that wouldn’t mind if you chose liquor over beer while they played.
• They sound like they practice.
• Their singer and guitarist, Zach, used to play pedal steel for Drag The River.

Remember that time you and your buddies were walking down the sidewalk after having more than your fair share of booze and you were talking way too much shit. Maybe it was Pete or Bobby or Lester who finally had enough of your mouth and shoulder bumped you into the wall and everyone laughed. The bumping continued until a bouncer outside a bar stopped you. The next morning it took a while to figure out why your shoulder was so sore.

Colossalalia is a lot like that night. Through the first listen or two it sounds like a bar band with a bit of twang but then later the next day you find yourself singing a few words and you have to sing for a bit before you figure out you’re singing 4H Royalty. Their songs and the pain in your shoulder are the same the thing-reminders of good and stupid times. Later, you’re in the shower and getting ready for another night on the town with Pete, Bobby, & Lester and “Walk Of Shame” gets stuck in your head. And you admit, but only to yourself, that for the right kind of girl you’d take that walk and it wouldn’t have to be far because you’ve got the number of a cab in your wallet.

Just before heading out you’re drinking a beer you’d prefer not to and Lester is talking about a girl he’d seen the night before and you remember her too. “I’d be her “Scratch and Dent Man” y’all” you say and when they ask you what the hell you’re talking about you don’t have an answer but you’re convinced you want to be one.

And you wondered if your shoulder would be the one knocking into the sides of buildings or if 4H Royalty would be playing in one of the bars you walked into. One seemed more likely than the other but whichever one ended up happening you were sure you’d be reliving it the next day. - ninebullets.net

These are the facts you should know:

• There is no such thing as shitty beer, only beer you’d prefer not to drink.
• 4H Royalty is a Denver bar band that wouldn’t mind if you chose liquor over beer while they played.
• They sound like they practice.
• Their singer and guitarist, Zach, used to play pedal steel for Drag The River.

Remember that time you and your buddies were walking down the sidewalk after having more than your fair share of booze and you were talking way too much shit. Maybe it was Pete or Bobby or Lester who finally had enough of your mouth and shoulder bumped you into the wall and everyone laughed. The bumping continued until a bouncer outside a bar stopped you. The next morning it took a while to figure out why your shoulder was so sore.

Colossalalia is a lot like that night. Through the first listen or two it sounds like a bar band with a bit of twang but then later the next day you find yourself singing a few words and you have to sing for a bit before you figure out you’re singing 4H Royalty. Their songs and the pain in your shoulder are the same the thing-reminders of good and stupid times. Later, you’re in the shower and getting ready for another night on the town with Pete, Bobby, & Lester and “Walk Of Shame” gets stuck in your head. And you admit, but only to yourself, that for the right kind of girl you’d take that walk and it wouldn’t have to be far because you’ve got the number of a cab in your wallet.

Just before heading out you’re drinking a beer you’d prefer not to and Lester is talking about a girl he’d seen the night before and you remember her too. “I’d be her “Scratch and Dent Man” y’all” you say and when they ask you what the hell you’re talking about you don’t have an answer but you’re convinced you want to be one.

And you wondered if your shoulder would be the one knocking into the sides of buildings or if 4H Royalty would be playing in one of the bars you walked into. One seemed more likely than the other but whichever one ended up happening you were sure you’d be reliving it the next day. - ninebullets.net

While Denver has come into its own as a medium-sized cosmopolitan center, we still love our rural roots. The National Western Stock Show is still one of our city’s biggest events, our professional football team is named after livestock and an equine demon guards our fancy airport. Perhaps that’s why a large and visible portion of our music scene has also maintained its ties to the country. Slim Cessna, Munly, 16 Horsepower and Drag the River (among many others) all like a little twang with their rock-n-roll, and 4H Royalty is welcome addition to that tradition.

Earlier this year, the quartet — Zach Boddicker (who has played with Drag the River, Marty Jones and the Railbenders) on guitar and vocals, Andrew Porter (you might know him from Dicky Jaguar) on bass and vocals, Robert Buehler on drums and Jamie Mitchell on all sorts of things — quietly released its debut, “Colossalalia.” The album’s 13 tracks are steeped in a uniquely rural kind of swagger and desperation that comes from owning the shiniest Pontiac Fiero in town, pouring Wild Turkey in your morning coffee and knowing you’re meant for bigger things. The album is available for a mere fiver at the band’s Bandcamp site. The band expects to release a new album early next year. In the meantime, you can catch 4H Royalty at the Larimer Lounge on Wednesday night. - Denver Post

4H Royalty
Colossalalia

by Jason Heller (Westword, the Onion)

...Veering from twangy power pop to sultry Southern rock, 4H's debut packs a lot of twists and tangents into its seemingly simple songs. Granted, some of Boddicker's lyrics don't stray far from Drag territory, but even while celebrating such country-punk tropes, he invests them with a wordy wittiness that feels straight out of the Hold Steady's songbook. Colossalalia operates within a pretty tight framework — but Boddicker and crew manage to cram a lot of warmth, virtuosic licks, and even originality into the formula without tipping the whole thing over. - Westword

Colossalalia

by Matt Jennings (unclecritic.com)

...A refreshing new take on country music. In the land of alt-country and shitty popular country music, 4H Royalty doesn’t quite fit into either category as you’d expect them to. There’s more of a rock sound to their music, but this is still really good country... The very first thing I noticed about this CD when I got it was that the insert and inlay was all cut out from a case of PBR and hand written in marker. I already knew I was going to enjoy this. The first thing I noticed about the album when I popped it in was the great sound. I have no idea how much it cost to record, but this thing sounds like a million bucks...all thirteen songs are damn good and shouldn’t be passed over...I will be looking forward to the next 4H Royalty album. - unclecritic.com

To say that there's too much music at the Underground Music Showcase — maybe, in its 10th year, way too much — is blasphemy. But even a hardcore fan can be challenged to keep up with the marathon of gigs that take place here.

There were approximately 100 scheduled shows on Saturday across 25 unique stages. While variety breeds discovery, it also yields disappointment in having to choose between overlapping acts. After two long afternoons and late nights, the eight block walk between this fest's non-traditional venues suddenly seems less worthwhile when more "proven" bands are available in more accessible locations.

With such an excess of music, the idea of performance lags seems impossible, yet Saturday at theUMS saw its share of coordination and production issues. The fresh addition of Lucha libre (Mexican wrestling) in the Goodwill parking lot took too long to get rolling and left some audience members more bewildered than entertained before matches began.
On the Groove Automotive stage, American Idol's Lilly Scott struggled with a faulty pickup on her acoustic guitar. Likewise, Scott's cover of Animal Collective's "Bluish" created an uncomfortable nexus of the otherwise secular "mainstream" and "underground" music scenes.

However, just as festival nausea threatened to take over, along came Bobo.

Andrew Porter shuffled on the sidewalk outside of 3 Kings Tavern in a fraying gorilla suit to promote his band's Sunday night UMS showcase. Band mate and lead singer of 4H Royalty Zach Boddicker served as Porter's unofficial translator, explaining that "Bobo" simply couldn't speak. He was, after all, a gorilla. Bobo scribbled cryptic messages on a notepad and received all nourishment through a straw. People laughed.

"I had a vision," said Boddicker. "I took a nap at work and had a dream that I was being chased by a gorilla. So I came home and told the guys that we needed to find a gorilla costume for the weekend.'"

When fighting roughly 300 acts for attention, creativity calls.

The self-described "twang rock" band has cycled three members through the hairy suit since the Thursday night start of the UMS and promised that their Sunday evening performance will be "a party."

Day 3 also included several panels in the basement of South Broadway Christian Church. In a discussion entitled "Denver: A Venue Avenue," three local club owners discussed the rise of independent rock clubs in relation to the burgeoning local music scene.

"It takes more than a room and a stage and a PA to be a cool place to see music," said Hi-Dive owner Matt LaBarge.

The panel lamented routine bidding wars among venues and mused over the dangers of over-saturation. A walk down South Broadway this weekend certainly gives off that impression.

The Rouge initially played to a sparse crowd as the second act on the Car Toys outdoor stage. The band started shortly after lead singer Josh Vaught spoke on a panel alongside Flobots vocalist Brer Rabbit and Patrick Meese about the pros and cons of signing to a major label.

Indeed, mainstream-leaning acts can have a difficult time at an underground festival. The badge of discovery has long since vanished and, in some circumstances, so has the DIY work ethic.

Denver's The Lumineers played to an over-capacity crowd at the Illiterate Magazine gallery and were mentioned by many as "a discovery of the festival."

With skin and bones choral folk in the vein of Seattle's Fleet Foxes, The Lumineers are destined to play a larger stage at next year's event.

Even further removed from the sponsored stages and towering Heineken banners was 19-year-old Ben Flippo. Outfitted with a black fedora and an open instrument case, Flippo strummed his resonator guitar a few steps down from the Hi-Dive for most of Saturday evening. The Nashville-based "travelin' musician" has lived in and out of Denver for the past three years and makes a living as a street musician. His punk-bluegrass band, Barefoot Surrender, performs regularly on the streets of Boulder and, according to Flippo, averages $500 for a day's work.

"You're not welcome!" Flippo quipped to a festival goer caught sneaking a snapshot.

Despite making a go at it as a performer, he insists on maintaining his privacy.

When asked about the challenge of such a wish at a large-scale event, Flippo responded, without a hint of irony, "What event?" - Denver Post