Charm City Rockers: Roomrunner

Look. I'm the first to admit that when I google a band and see a handful of links that include spin.com and pitchfork.com, I'm more likely to start eating meat again than I am to buy a record. It burns that deep. It's not hipster resentment or anything like that; I just see those two rags as good filters for stuff I don't need to pay attention to.

Too much? Maybe.
Point taken.

I could have started out talking about how the only things I know about Baltimore are: The Wire takes place there; I lost more than one skateboard there; I was punched in the face five separate times there; G.I. made funny comments about skinheads from there; Dan Deacon and Double Dagger are from there.

I'm sure Baltimorites would be pissed at me. They should be. I missed a lot. I always thought we were friends, or maybe estranged cousins. Truth is I dig that city. I felt bad for it, in a way. It existed in D.C.'s shadow for too long. Cal Ripken, anyone?

Enter, Roomrunner.

The Charm City's quartet of Denny Bowen, Dan Frome, Sam Garrett, and Bret Lanahan (Yes, Bowen of this band you may have heard of) does successfully what many bands fail at: being interesting and relevant while resurrecting that 90s sound that we've all grown to love. So they're influenced by Nirvana, who isn't? It's feedback and riff heavy, but it strips away all the marketing zeal that's taken place over the past two decades and replaces it with a self-generated reverence for simple rock. The music swims through waves of abrasive noisiness but wraps it in catchy hooks that leave your head wondering what continent you're on. It drips with that Pacific Northwest feeling, but it Baltimorizes it, adding some crazy, tweaked vocals and muddy guitars. You can head bang and bounce all at the same time. With two albums under their belt, S/T and Super Vague, these cats have found a way to weave in a revitalized aesthetic that you could only find by digging through your tape drawer. Oddly poppy, fantastically brash. It's like they took the textbook of indie-rock, carved out the center and found those juicy morsels, chewed 'em up and put the book back on the shelf. Hopefully you find it before the roaches and ants do (oh, wait. I already mentioned spin).

Simple: This is good. Total Fest and Missoula are damn lucky to have them. It's the stuff your pants and socks want. Eat, drink, be merry.

2012 Begins Now

We've been promising this for a few weeks. Apologies for our delay.


We received an overwhelming number of great submissions this year. A few evenings spilled into a handful of marathon listening sessions, followed by days of talking through the crazy amount of talent that came through the submissions inbox. By no means is it a perfect system, but we, here at Total Fest, feel like we've come up with an awesome, well-rounded line-up that will get your blood moving. We have a limited amount of slots, and we're saddened by some of the bands that we have to leave out of the festival. It's tough, but it's a welcome problem to face. Thank you to everyone that put their hat into the ring. Submitting to a festival can be a tough, cold process, and we hope that we add a little more of a human element to things. We appreciate all the support  that you give us. Although it seems trite at times, it simply cannot be said enough -- Total Fest does not and cannot exist without you.


Lamentations aside, we're frickin' stoked about this year. We have approximately 45 bands lined-up, and there's not an out in the bunch. It's rewarding to see this come together, and we hope you'll erase that pencil and solidly ink in your travel plans for the 16th-18th.
A few changes: We'll be posting more as the days go by, but, unlike previous years, we'll throw-up a dozen or so bands at a time and follow-up with some write-ups and general musings on individual bands. So, without further ado here is the first installment for Total Fest XI:


Big Fiction    Arlington, TX
Brain Tumors    Minneapolis, MN
Broken Water    Olympia, WA
Buildings    Minneapolis, MN
Dikes of Holland    Austin, TX
Dreamdecay    Seattle, WA
No-Fi Soul Rebellion    Bellingham, WA
Pins of Light    San Francisco, CA
Rock n Roll Adventure Kids    Berkeley, CA
Roomrunner    Baltimore, MD
Sandrider    Seattle, WA
The Be Helds    Austin, TX


Stay tuned for blog posts on these bands with more updates to follow in the coming weeks!