Eros and the Eschaton

Eros and the Eschaton are a duo composed of real-life couple Adam Hawkins and Kate Perdoni. The North Carolina lovebirds’ full-length debut, the cheekily titled Home Address for Civil War, arrives August 13 and has already yielded one single, a shoegaze assault called “Heaven Inside” (via Consequence of Sound). Now comes second sample “Don’t.Look.So.Sad,” a foggy pick-me-up that offsets disembodied vocals and click-clack percussion with waves of guitar distortion, proof the outfit would make great double-date partners with Yo La Tengo. - SPIN

Last weekend's Westword Music Showcase, along with the Westword Music Awards, serve as our annual celebration of our state's vibrant music scene. Colorado is home to internationally renowned experimental bands, pioneering folk artists, Grammy winners and much, much more. On most nights in Denver, you can see just about any kind of show you like, from bluegrass to hip-hop to hardcore punk. To help give you a place to start, we create a roster of some of the best up-and-coming artists in town as part of the Westword Music Awards.


To determine this year's finalists, we asked over 200 of the state’s music experts, ranging from talent buyers to studio owners to fans, to nominate their favorite hometown acts.

The results were overwhelming, with more than 800 bands and artists receiving votes. The 213 finalists from that nominating process are listed here. In the end, over 2,000 people voted, and we're proud to present the winners of this year's Westword Music Awards! The victor in each category is designated by an asterisk .

Congratulations to all the nominees, and indeed to everyone involved in the Colorado music scene!

Best Pop Band Nominees, 2015:

Candy Claws
The Centennial
*Eros & the Eschaton*
Kissing Party
Medic
Petals of Spain
Plume Varia

*asteric denotes winner* - Denver Westword

There’s a deep sense of companionship within this music. Love shimmering among the frayed guitar leads. No shouting. (I’m sure that comes later.) Tattoos, a beard, a child, a few knowing smiles. A comfy armchair. The moment given over to reflection lingers and lingers and lasts. Even the gently undulating oscillations seem sun-streaked. Intimate, but not exclusionary (not at all). The first time I EVER saw Low play… which was around two decades back… the entire place talked over them. New York, huh (rolls eyes). It made their beauty way more special than when people paid attention. It meant you had to care. I’m not sure about the religious connotations in this band’s name – the profane and the arcane, almost – but there there. It’s never put me off nothing, the idea some folk like to believe in the supernatural. I’m rather fond of supernature too. I can reach the same meditative state of equilibrium via it, it might be even easier for me because it sure is noisier. ... continued... - Collapse Board

In the grand tradition of Mates of State and Yo La Tengo, North Carolina’s Eros and the Eschaton are a couple who also happen to be a band. Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins met while playing with separate bands in Omaha, NE, fell in love, had a kid, and then finally decided to form the band. After buying a motorhome and touring through 18 states, they broke down outside of Greensboro, where they rented a house and recorded their full-length debut, Home Address For Civil War, due out August 13th via Bar/None.

For a taste of what the duo’s collaborative efforts can yield (aside from a human being), they’ve released lead single “Heaven Inside”. Despite only being two people, the lovebirds deliver a vibrant outpouring of shoegaze, taking the ceaseless drive of drums and layering on to it boy-girl harmonies and hazy guitar effects. But even amid that chaos, the vocal interplay betweenn Perdoni and Hawkins really draws the ear, an alluring mixture of their voices that sounds as much as they are singing at an audience as they are serenading one another. - Consequence of Sound

By Matt Miller and John Wenzel

If you even casually follow the Denver music scene and our ongoing coverage on heyreverb.com, you’ll recognize names like Tennis, In the Whale, Inner Oceans, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club and Snake Rattle Rattle Snake. On a national level, artists like DIIV, STRFKR and Mac McCaughan are loved by critics and music fans.

These are the artists you’ve been planning on seeing at The Denver Post’s 15th annual Underground Music Showcase since the lineup began rolling out in April.

But the beauty of this festival lies in discovery. When assembling our staff picks for the July 23-26 event on South Broadway, we wouldn’t be doing the festival (or you) any justice by suggesting folks you’re already going to see.

Eros and the Eschaton: Kate Perdoni’s voice is the ideal focal point for this Denver act’s earthy shoegazer songs, like Kim Deal leading a group of stoned banditos into the dusty, polluted, breathtaking sunset. 8 p.m. July 25, 3 Kings Tavern - Reverb Magazine

More than 100 artists played sets at music clubs and outdoor stages Saturday at the Westword Music Showcase in Denver’s Golden Triangle neighborhood. The event, one of the biggest summer music festivals in Colorado, featured performances by national acts like MisterWives and The Black Angels as well as dozens of local musicians. - See more at: http://www.cpr.org/openair/story/recap-scenes-2015-westword-music-showcase-denver#sthash.BCmqqVXn.dpuf - Colorado Public Radio OpenAir

It’s not very often you’ll stumble upon a husband and wife musical duo who are so good at their craft you wish you could do the same with your other half. But when you actually do, they’re usually those on the it list of legends and already in a league of their own. For example, Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley; Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth (separation aside, they indeed were the backbone of the band); and then there’s the late Johnny Cash and June Carter, just to name a few. That list would soon see a new entrée. Fellow music freaks, meet Adam Hawkins and Kate Perdoni.

Husband and wife, Hawkins and Perdoni met in Omaha when they were playing in different bands. They fell in love, got married, had a kid and hit the road, touring 18 states in a motorhome before settling down in Greensboro, NC where they decided to form Eros and the Eschaton and recorded their full-length debut, Home Address for Civil War.

The album opens with the faint sound of a crying baby as “20 Different Days” captures intense layers of soaring guitars, big drums mixed with the soft and mellow sound of Perdoni’s voice making it a perfect introductory number. “Carry the Water” introduces us to Hawkins’ dreamy vocals as the duo’s floaty harmonies gelled in rather beautifully with their brand of shoegaze pop music.

What follows are track load of musical goodness. First single “Heaven Inside” is a flux of shoegaze at its purest – heavy guitar effects and persistent drums creating outright musical chaos while Hawkins and Perdoni captivate with their vocal harmonies. “Over and Over” – a personal favorite resound in my head as they sing, ‘Over and over and over we fight / we still can’t get it right’ – sees the band mixing dream pop with touch of grinding indie rock coated with the sincerest of emotions – the one part I find most vital beside skills and technicalities.

Yet I’m not surprised. Despite the band’s heavily reverbed vocals, track list filled with intense energy and the atmospheric feel of the alternative sound that is shoegaze – Eros and the Eschaton not only managed to produce one of the most significant new shoegaze records in recent years; they have also capture the most important element of music making: It’s heart. - BestNewBands.com

North Carolina duo, Eros and the Eschaton have announced their debut album, Home Address For Civil War will arrive in stores August 13 on Bar/None Records. The band has premiered the first single off the record, “Heaven Inside”, via ConsequenceofSound.net. In addition, Eros and the Eschaton have announced a slew of upcoming tour dates, including the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC. - See more at: http://www.skopemag.com/2013/06/20/wire-eros-and-the-eschaton-post-new-single-at-cos#sthash.lPqkP9c1.dpuf - Wire

An ode to domestic life. A three-minute-and-change pastiche of sweetness and childhood. A view of familiar scenes: couch forts, playing with a garden hose. But it’s a little bit off, because this video has a grown couple pounding away at keyboard and drums under a crocheted afghan and spraying each other with water. Cut to a toddler finger painting and walking through the woods holding a feather, and our Sound of the Day, Don’t Look So Sad, by EROS AND THE ESCHATON , is like a modern-day indie rock fairy tale set in diffuse sunlight and mellow hues. The promising Greensboro, North Carolina based dream pop/shoegaze band EROS AND THE ESCHATON released their official video for Don’t Look So Sad, a track off their debut album Home Address for Civil War, available now on Bar None Records.

Made up of couple Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins, EROS AND THE ESCHATON are a must-have for fans of classic shoegaze like MY BLOODY VALENTINE and SLOWDIVE, tempered with the indie rock sensibilities of YO LA TENGO. What’s distinct about their sound is the clear storytelling, this is dream pop with a narrative. Think swirling guitars and dreamy effects that create soundscapes that are aural representations of the cherubic child we see finger painting. There’s quick edits to scenes of the couple falling asleep, brushing their teeth, reading in bed. Before you relax, stayed tuned for the electrified, Tesla coil style guitar face off between Kate and Adam. “Don’t look so sad/it really isn’t sad…”

About the video, Adam and Kate told us “We wanted to make a video where we dramatized the daily drudgery of real life and present that in a humorous light. But we ended up having too much fun and wound up with a lot of footage of us laughing and goofing off. Is that irony?” The inclusion of their son in the video is appropriate, since they didn’t write their first songs together until after he was born. Like their music, the video is captivating and unabashedly tender. - Nothing But Hope and Passion

by Andrew Norman

Adam Hawkins and Katey Sleeveless met and began making music in 2010, had a baby and went on a 20-state tour in 2011. They're now hunkering down in the southeast working on their first album together, to be released in 2013. Accompanying this video of recent tour footage is the first (unmastered) recorded track from their upcoming release.

The two recorded 20 Different Days in an old stone-church-turned-art-gallery in central Iowa shortly before the family set off on a great adventure across the U.S.

Sleeveless has been doing a lot of blogging about life on the road, and, recently, about touring with a baby. Hear Nebraska will be running her tales in future posts. For now, check out this family video/song premiere. - Hear Nebraska

North Carolina’s Eros and the Eschaton have released their first single off their album Home Address For Civil War. This is some serious shoegazing pop goodness by real-life couple Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins. - Pushing Rope

Something about a band duo who are also a couple makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside right? Well dating duo Eros and the Eschaton are just that and can evoke some tingly feelings inside with their dark pop music. Below you can sample their latest single called “Heaven Inside” which is a great example of how this band can craft some incredibly spooky and heartfelt pop music. Enjoy.

Debut album Home Address For Civil War is due out August 13th via Bar/None Records. - Austin Town Hall

Thanks to my friend Mark Lipsitz for sending this my way. It’s a curious clash of ’60s-inspired melodies with what sounds like the music swiped from an amusement park ride. I’ve already listened to it six times, yet still haven’t quite gotten my head around it. - Cha Cha Charming

North Carolina duo, Eros and the Eschaton have announced their debut album, Home Address For Civil War will arrive in stores August 13 on Bar/None Records. The band has premiered the first single off the record, “Heaven Inside”, via ConsequenceofSound.net. In addition, Eros and the Eschaton have announced a slew of upcoming tour dates, including the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, NC. - See more at: http://www.skopemag.com/2013/06/20/wire-eros-and-the-eschaton-post-new-single-at-cos#sthash.lPqkP9c1.dpuf - Wire

The Golden Hearts have put out an incredibly chill and at the same time altogether positive track with “Don’t.Look.So.Sad.

“Don’t.Look.So.Sad” strips away all the ego and pretension that so many indie groups carry with pride and places airy emotions in the spot light which feel simultaneously concupiscent and yet heedless. Like a benevolent offering that allows there music to live up to the title of The Golden Hearts.

Something complete and comforting lies within their songs that is rare and so involving making it a perfect example of what makes me absolutely geeked about having the opportunity to promote and share music everyday. The Golden Hearts are the one band I plan on paying the closest attention to this year.

This is the third and final early release from the husband/wife duo before reworking the songs a bit and putting out their first full-length album later this year, it’s going to be incredible, I can feel it. - LB4YB

Something about a band duo who are also a couple makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside right? Well dating duo Eros and the Eschaton are just that and can evoke some tingly feelings inside with their dark pop music. Below you can sample their latest single called “Heaven Inside” which is a great example of how this band can craft some incredibly spooky and heartfelt pop music. Enjoy.

Debut album Home Address For Civil War is due out August 13th via Bar/None Records. - Austin Town Hall

I would’ve been pissed off if this week had passed without hearing this song – so thanks to Mark for pointing it out! ‘Heaven Inside’ (which premiered at COS) is the work of North Carolina’s Eros And The Eschaton. The duo (Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins) also happen to be husband and wife, here’s hoping their forthcoming album title ‘Home Address For Civil War’ isn’t a relationship reflection! It’ll be available from August 18 via Bar/None (shop). This swooning shoegazer is appropriately reverb indulgent, giving it a spacious, widescreen sound that has me counting the days. - SoundsBetterWithReverb

I would’ve been pissed off if this week had passed without hearing this song – so thanks to Mark for pointing it out! ‘Heaven Inside’ (which premiered at COS) is the work of North Carolina’s Eros And The Eschaton. The duo (Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins) also happen to be husband and wife, here’s hoping their forthcoming album title ‘Home Address For Civil War’ isn’t a relationship reflection! It’ll be available from August 18 via Bar/None (shop). This swooning shoegazer is appropriately reverb indulgent, giving it a spacious, widescreen sound that has me counting the days. - SoundsBetterWithReverb

by Andrew Norman

The abandoned two-level, open-faced barn and hayloft that sits near The Golden Hearts' rented property outside of Greensboro, N.C., stands as a sentinel over a couple acres of former ranch land that over the last 50 or so years has been invaded and reshaped by bushes, shrubs and vines that stretch to the tops of the giant trees that form the back wall of its natural amphitheater. Naked on one side to the elements but protected from the sky by a sturdy roof and overhang, the barn resembles a chest during open-heart surgery. Exposed, vulnerable, but in the able hands of whoever pounded nails into its wooden frame structure so many years ago.

As a couple and as a band, The Golden Hearts' Katey Sleeveless and Adam Hawkins (It's True) stand as bravely vulnerable as this old barn — with their metaphorical hearts open to the humid air. Strong enough and ready to tackle whatever comes.

The way they find themselves exemplifies this courage. Hawkins released It's True's second full-length (one of my favorite albums of the year) with two packed concerts in Omaha and Lincoln in 2011 that featured a very pregnant Sleeveless on keys. Then they said goodbye (for now) to the Midwest and struck out from Grimes, Iowa, in an old RV, playing shows along the way for income. (They each performed solo, taking turns watching then-infant son Lio in the motor home when the other was on stage.) They were headed for the Carolinas, and they made it to Greensboro before the clutch went out.

On Day 11 of the 2012 Love Drunk Tour, they welcomed six of us Omahans into their new home, where we smoked a chicken, traded stories of travel, pulled ticks off their dog, Chamero, and in about 40 hours, became a sort of family. As the sun began to set below the treeline, on burnt-orange piedmont soil just inside the barn's open chest, we captured this full heart beating a new song. - Hear Nebraska

by Intern Katie Fennelly

Written by one half of The Golden Hearts (Katey Sleeveless) for the other half's 31st birthday (Adam Hawkins), "Terence McKenna" is an ode to where they've been and what they've done.

With lines such as "The future is ours to see" and "We've got nothing but time," the track is also a hopeful reminder of what's yet to come. "Terence McKenna" will be on the duo's full-length album due out later this year.

Read more about how "Terence McKenna" became a song in Sleeveless' blog entry: "Terence McKenna is the person who I’d choose to date in the classic 'If you could have lunch with anybody living or dead' sentiment. He was an orator, giving talks at conferences and special events all over the world from the seventies into the nineties." - Hear Nebraska

An honest overtly-talented group of true artists, husband-wife duo The Golden Hearts are full of creative spirit and ambient imagery that are nothing short of an atmospheric blessing.

I stumbled upon these guys on Bandcamp last week and have become obsessed in a very short period of time. Something in the delivery with its hints of honesty gives The Golden Hearts the most natural vibe I can remember coming across.

Most bands, even some that I thoroughly enjoy, feel like their sound is an active attempt. Yuck, 1,2,3, Fleet Foxes are three very solid examples, where the music is undeniably good (I would even argue for great) yet it is very obvious from the first listen that they’ve chosen a sound and developed it. There’s nothing obvious about “Carry The Water,” nothing contrived, just music that embraces itself and completely personifies a collective spirit within the band.

You find this kind of connection often in bands with family members, where without effort there’s an understanding to what each other is doing that feels very organic. As a husband and wife there’s a definite line running between each persons own stamp on the song yet Adam Hawkins and Kate Perdoni are so entwined that to map out the line and define it feels like a very ominous task to put into words.

I could very easily foresee The Golden Hearts becoming one of my favorite bands, that’s how attached I am to the first two songs I’ve heard from them, once you’ve taken the time to listen for yourself I believe you will understand why. - Listen Before You Buy

by Andrew Norman

The abandoned two-level, open-faced barn and hayloft that sits near The Golden Hearts' rented property outside of Greensboro, N.C., stands as a sentinel over a couple acres of former ranch land that over the last 50 or so years has been invaded and reshaped by bushes, shrubs and vines that stretch to the tops of the giant trees that form the back wall of its natural amphitheater. Naked on one side to the elements but protected from the sky by a sturdy roof and overhang, the barn resembles a chest during open-heart surgery. Exposed, vulnerable, but in the able hands of whoever pounded nails into its wooden frame structure so many years ago.

As a couple and as a band, The Golden Hearts' Katey Sleeveless and Adam Hawkins (It's True) stand as bravely vulnerable as this old barn — with their metaphorical hearts open to the humid air. Strong enough and ready to tackle whatever comes.

The way they find themselves exemplifies this courage. Hawkins released It's True's second full-length (one of my favorite albums of the year) with two packed concerts in Omaha and Lincoln in 2011 that featured a very pregnant Sleeveless on keys. Then they said goodbye (for now) to the Midwest and struck out from Grimes, Iowa, in an old RV, playing shows along the way for income. (They each performed solo, taking turns watching then-infant son Lio in the motor home when the other was on stage.) They were headed for the Carolinas, and they made it to Greensboro before the clutch went out.

On Day 11 of the 2012 Love Drunk Tour, they welcomed six of us Omahans into their new home, where we smoked a chicken, traded stories of travel, pulled ticks off their dog, Chamero, and in about 40 hours, became a sort of family. As the sun began to set below the treeline, on burnt-orange piedmont soil just inside the barn's open chest, we captured this full heart beating a new song. - Hear Nebraska

by Intern Katie Fennelly

Written by one half of The Golden Hearts (Katey Sleeveless) for the other half's 31st birthday (Adam Hawkins), "Terence McKenna" is an ode to where they've been and what they've done.

With lines such as "The future is ours to see" and "We've got nothing but time," the track is also a hopeful reminder of what's yet to come. "Terence McKenna" will be on the duo's full-length album due out later this year.

Read more about how "Terence McKenna" became a song in Sleeveless' blog entry: "Terence McKenna is the person who I’d choose to date in the classic 'If you could have lunch with anybody living or dead' sentiment. He was an orator, giving talks at conferences and special events all over the world from the seventies into the nineties." - Hear Nebraska

by Andrew Norman

Adam Hawkins (It's True!) and Katey Sleeveless met and began making music in 2010, had a baby and went on a 20-state tour in 2011. They're now hunkering down in the southeast working on their first album together, to be released in 2012. Accompanying this video of recent tour footage is the first (unmastered) recorded track from their upcoming The Golden Hearts release.

The two recorded "20 Different Days" in an old stone-church-turned-art-gallery in central Iowa shortly before the Hawkins family set off on a great adventure across the U.S.

Sleeveless has been doing a lot of blogging about life on the road, and, recently, about touring with a baby. Hear Nebraska will be running her tales in future posts. For now, check out this family video/song premiere. - Hear Nebraska

An honest overtly-talented group of true artists, husband-wife duo The Golden Hearts are full of creative spirit and ambient imagery that are nothing short of an atmospheric blessing.

I stumbled upon these guys on Bandcamp last week and have become obsessed in a very short period of time. Something in the delivery with its hints of honesty gives The Golden Hearts the most natural vibe I can remember coming across.

Most bands, even some that I thoroughly enjoy, feel like their sound is an active attempt. Yuck, 1,2,3, Fleet Foxes are three very solid examples, where the music is undeniably good (I would even argue for great) yet it is very obvious from the first listen that they’ve chosen a sound and developed it. There’s nothing obvious about “Carry The Water,” nothing contrived, just music that embraces itself and completely personifies a collective spirit within the band.

You find this kind of connection often in bands with family members, where without effort there’s an understanding to what each other is doing that feels very organic. As a husband and wife there’s a definite line running between each persons own stamp on the song yet Adam Hawkins and Kate Perdoni are so entwined that to map out the line and define it feels like a very ominous task to put into words.

I could very easily foresee The Golden Hearts becoming one of my favorite bands, that’s how attached I am to the first two songs I’ve heard from them, once you’ve taken the time to listen for yourself I believe you will understand why. - Listen Before You Buy

In the grand tradition of Mates of State and Yo La Tengo, North Carolina’s Eros and the Eschaton are a couple who also happen to be a band. Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins met while playing with separate bands in Omaha, NE, fell in love, had a kid, and then finally decided to form the band. After buying a motorhome and touring through 18 states, they broke down outside of Greensboro, where they rented a house and recorded their full-length debut, Home Address For Civil War, due out August 13th via Bar/None.

For a taste of what the duo’s collaborative efforts can yield (aside from a human being), they’ve released lead single “Heaven Inside”. Despite only being two people, the lovebirds deliver a vibrant outpouring of shoegaze, taking the ceaseless drive of drums and layering on to it boy-girl harmonies and hazy guitar effects. But even amid that chaos, the vocal interplay betweenn Perdoni and Hawkins really draws the ear, an alluring mixture of their voices that sounds as much as they are singing at an audience as they are serenading one another. - Consequence of Sound