With an explosion of psych-rock, it’s hard to cut through the noise and get to the truly talented musicians—luckily for Denver, local band Flaural fits the bill. Comprised of Collin Johnson, vocalist and bassist, Noah Pfaff, guitarist, Connor Birch, multi-instrumentalist, and Nick Berlin, drummer, Flaural surely picked up dozens of new fans last week at the Marquis Theater, where the band, along with Oyster Kids, opened for Dan Deacon.

Performing in front of a sold-out venue full of PBR-drinking college kids and adults looking for a night out is no easy task—keeping a crowd’s attention as an opener can be difficult, but Flaural has the audience hanging on every dreamy riff and smooth sense of storytelling. Flaural’s sound is like passing through a door and finding a whole new world on the other side, one filled with lush greenery and hues of blue and purple, where all stars are shooting and the body runs on beer, not water. Flaural has the rare ability to take us to dimensions other than our own—the band’s set is a journey that captivates the crowd from from beginning to end.

Flaural portrays a rare sense of ease layered within its live performance—Birch is a stoic yet enigmatic presence on the synth and various other instruments, while Pfaff looks out from underneath a wild mess of hair to produce perfectly executed riffs. One of the most charming aspects of Flaural’s live presence is that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously—Berlin is all smiles on the drums, and Johnson cheers the crowd with a tall beer in hand. Of course, there’s also the particularly enthusiastic crowd chanting the band members’ names with alcohol-fueled abandon. Flaural captures the attention of a large-range of music fans, from the punk rockers to the wildly dancing rave kids up front, to those who likely stumbled by the venue and decided to pop in for a spontaneous show. Those spur-of-the-moment concert-goers certainly lucked out with Flaural—each member brings a different talent to the stage, from Johnson’s effortless, incredible vocals to Birch’s fitting introspection.

When considering a fantastic set, it seems impossible to hone in on top moments—however, one can safely say that the best moment of the night is when the first few familiar sounds of “Nonnie” ring out. While the song is the band’s most popular, it’s for good reason—with rambling, bouncing instrumentals and an addicting chorus, “Nonnie” catches us like a fish in a net.

Flaural, hopefully, will be releasing new music soon (to be fair, we still can’t get enough of “Over Imaginary Cigarettes.”) The show at the Marquis served as a kick-off celebration of sorts in preparation for Flaural’s west coast tour—thankfully, the band will only be gone for a month, and will be playing plenty of local shows soon. For now, we’ll have to stick to hitting the loop button on Flaural’s Spotify.

Flaural, the psych-pop, new-wave Denver bred five piece has been playing official shows for exactly one year. 2015 UMS saw their first ever official set and they’ve since toured across the nation and released a second EP, Over Imaginary Cigarettes. Their new single “Nonnie” is a stunning track, breaking off with Tame Impala-esque synth and dipping into ethereal, ambient riffs and shoegazey restlessness. Their 2015 EP Thin King was celebrated by Westword as “colorful, bright, urgent yet expansive melodies that feel breezy and headlong but never anxious.” Flaural has built an impressive following for a band that is just about to turn one this weekend and have since played with Wild Nothing and at Treefort Fest in Boise Idaho.

They’ve been on our radar since we saw them open for Gardens and Villa back in early October and on our list of UMS bands to see since the lineup was released. Check them out at Mainstage this Saturday at 3:30pm.

We were able to catch up with five piece during one of their band practices and delved into everything about hair, harmonies and most of all, the UMS weekend which awaits.

Team members: Noah Pfaff, Collin Johnson, Nick Berlin, Connor Birch, Scott Storch

(U5280) What bands are you looking forward to see at UMS this year?

(NP) Personally I really want to see Methyl Ethel, and the Allah-Las, too, really badly. Thick Business is a band from Boise who’s really cool. Sunflower Bean is playing again, Couches from Oakland, Marshal Poole from Boise, and then all of the locals of course, but I don’t want to name a band and have a friend be like, “Why didn’t you say our name?” you know.

(U5280) You’ve been out touring nationwide for awhile. Which state treated you best?

(NP) California probably. Well, South Dakota treated us very really well. I wouldn’t be on the phone with you right now were it not for Boise, Idaho, Eric Gilbert and Megan Stoll [founder of Treefort Music Festival] and everyone else from Boise. They’ve all been so nice to us.

(U5280) You recently released two EPs. Anything brewing in the recording studio?

(NP) We’re waiting for a time frame during which we could put out a full length album and we’ll hit the road with that. We also really want to re-release the two EP’s as an LP.

(U5280) What was your experience like last year at UMS?

(NP) That was our first official show, which is crazy, because looking back, it’s been a long year with a lot of music, and travel. We’ve played over sixty shows this year. We wanted to do a less stressful UMS and just take it easy. Enjoy the shows. We always love playing the Hi-dive, though. Kurt and all of those dudes are super nice. I may or may not being going there tonight.

(U5280) What can we expect to hear- new stuff, old stuff, any covers?

(NP) Strictly covers. Scott was playing Smoke on the Water just a second ago (laughs). Last UMS we only had one EP released, so this year we’ll have a little more to draw from. We’re actually a five piece band now; our friend Scott just joined in, so you can expect some more harmonies and hair. Lots of hair. Yeah, this year we’ve got a lot more hair. Plus, August will be a good month for shows, we’ve got a lot of things planned. August is when we’ll be grindin’.

(U5280) Who’s the most likely to be catching Pokemon between shows?

(NP) Nick, and that’s only because I can’t afford the mother fucking data. Nick will be playing Pokemon Go and I’ll be playing Gameboy.

(U5280) Which band member is most likely to bring out the short shorts to beat the heat?

(NP) Nick, Nick too. I’m the band member most likely to be wearing tight black pants in the heat. All of us. We actually only play with people who wear tight black pants. Except Scott, he’s wearing blue pants. They’re still tight, though.

(U5280) Any advice for this year’s UMS goers?

(List ensues).

Ignore your hangover.
Carry a flask because it gets expensive.
Go to Piehole for a dollar beer.
Don’t be a jerk.
Take it too the limit.
Do not bum cigarettes from the Hi-dive basement.

(NP) Well, my favorite part of the UMS weekend is really just hanging out with people for the same reason. It’s going to be a good time.

Catch Flaural at Mainstage on Saturday at 3:30 during UMS.