I have been looking forward to the imminent tour of Hypernova since first seeing them in Austin three or so years ago. The band scored immediate points with me for their intense live presence and the fact that their sound recalls so much of the powerful post-punk on which I grew up. When people have asked me what Hypernova sounds like, I have almost always said that they remind me of Joy Division, but with a more modern bent… After this show I will add that the band mixes in, quite liberally, sounds that also remind me of Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and Interpol… all bands that also draw quite a bit of inspiration from the early Factory Records bands. For this show, the band had added a keyboardist that I don't recall seeing them with before which added to the overall texture of the music quite well. The set was overall filled with high energy and very danceable tunes, most of which were familiar.

The stage at Bender's is a bit small for five guys on stage, but this fact didn't stop Raam from thrashing about with his guitar whenever he wasn't using his microphone. Kodi used more effects to create more atmosphere with his guitar than I can recall him ever doing before, building intros to songs in tandem with the keyboards for a sort of new wave orchestral tour de force. The ultra solid rhythm section of Jam and Kami were as perfect in their performances as anyone could have asked, laying down the beat with a vengeance, building the songs into and out of crescendos with a fervor.

The band ripped through a set of songs that covered almost everything from their debut album Through The Chaos, including a masterful live working of "Viva La Resistance" that was as danceable and loud as anyone could have wanted. There was fog machines on stage and a few strobe lights scattered about which, when paired with the post-punk sounds of the band's more rocking numbers, really created a vibe that reminded me of the seminal goth/post-punk film The Hunger. We had older goth girls dancing their silly goth dances and we even had a few throwing down some pretty nice moves. When the band launched into "Fairy Tales", the crowd really launched into a dancing frenzy, people bopping and pogoing around the smallish room. I think it would be safe to say most people who were there had an absolute blast and more than a few left the show drenched in sweet rock and roll sweat.

While the band eschewed playing its slower songs (like the beautiful "See The Future"), they did cover quite a bit of musical ground, especially since they've really only released one record and an EP. There were a couple of songs that I did not recognize, but lead me to hope that there will be a new record forthcoming sooner than later. Let's all hope that this little rock band from Tehran with the big sound continues to churn out some of the finest dancey post-punk the world has ever known.

-David DeVoe

Hypernova
July 8, 2010
Bender's Tavern, Denver CO
www.hypernova.com

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