The Polkanauts

Wandering south along Broadway toward the festival's main grounds, I happened upon one of the most enjoyable surprises of the four-day event. The Polkanauts' early afternoon set at Club 404 offered equal doses of kitsch and straightforward musicianship. The trio's set comprised an unadorned tribute to polka, a genre that's known better times in the pop culture psyche. But fads didn't phase the Polkanauts.
Decked in orange jumpsuits festooned with patches bearing knockoff NASA logos, the trio proudly busted out a hybrid of traditional European polka structures and an in-your-face punk attitude worthy of the Pogues. The group's attitude alone was enough to pull the sounds out of the annals of western European lore and make it immediate and dynamic. The trio offered a foot-stomping version of "Just Because," apparently one of the genre's most successful entries into the pop charts.
Still buzzing with the contagious effect of the Polkanauts' set, I made my way to ......A.H. Goldstein
The Polkanauts at Club 404 ........Look at link above for entire article. - Westword

UMS 2010 Another great band I had the chance to see was the Polkanauts. Talk about a lot of fun. This year they made Slayer into Polka, and brought out an 8 foot mascot called Death. I couldn't believe how packed that place was and how many people were dancing. - Music A Mile High -Denver, CO - Music A Mile High -Denver, CO

UMS 2010 Another great band I had the chance to see was the Polkanauts. Talk about a lot of fun. This year they made Slayer into Polka, and brought out an 8 foot mascot called Death. I couldn't believe how packed that place was and how many people were dancing. - Music A Mile High -Denver, CO - Music A Mile High -Denver, CO

It wouldn’t be Steal This Track if we didn’t take a sharp right turn into left field as we round the musical bases, and that’s just what we’ll do with this next tasty morsel. Denver’s own Polkanauts have been shocking both polka and rock fans around town for a couple years now, and they just keep getting tighter. Sure, there’s a novelty element to any band that lists both Napalm Death and Frankie Yankovic among its influences, but the musical acumen of guitarist Paco Vansistine, drummer Wade Clark, bassist James Van Fleet and accordionist Florin (yep, just Florin) is nothing to laugh at.

Playing everything from the crusty old “Beer Barrel Polka” to a wicked cover of Slayer’s “South of Heaven,” the quartet takes no shortcuts in blending polka aesthetics with metal, pop and fist-in-the-air rock. For a tame-but-tantalizing introduction to the band’s perverse aesthetic, steal the Polkanauts’ mostly-instrumental cover of America’s “Ventura Highway.”

Stream it:

Steal it:
Polkanauts | Ventura Highway (right click to save to your computer)

http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2010/05/18/steal-this-track-dyalekt-polkanauts-and-jonny-woodrose-the-broken-hearted-woodpeckers - Denver Post-Reverb

It wouldn’t be Steal This Track if we didn’t take a sharp right turn into left field as we round the musical bases, and that’s just what we’ll do with this next tasty morsel. Denver’s own Polkanauts have been shocking both polka and rock fans around town for a couple years now, and they just keep getting tighter. Sure, there’s a novelty element to any band that lists both Napalm Death and Frankie Yankovic among its influences, but the musical acumen of guitarist Paco Vansistine, drummer Wade Clark, bassist James Van Fleet and accordionist Florin (yep, just Florin) is nothing to laugh at.

Playing everything from the crusty old “Beer Barrel Polka” to a wicked cover of Slayer’s “South of Heaven,” the quartet takes no shortcuts in blending polka aesthetics with metal, pop and fist-in-the-air rock. For a tame-but-tantalizing introduction to the band’s perverse aesthetic, steal the Polkanauts’ mostly-instrumental cover of America’s “Ventura Highway.”

Stream it:

Steal it:
Polkanauts | Ventura Highway (right click to save to your computer)

http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2010/05/18/steal-this-track-dyalekt-polkanauts-and-jonny-woodrose-the-broken-hearted-woodpeckers - Denver Post-Reverb

And now for something completely different.

Polka, space suits, death metal covers and plenty of beer, the Polkanauts have definitively carved out their niche in the Denver music scene.

What started in a Wisconsin barroom as a hazy idea — a hip polka band with a hilarious name – has turned into a four-piece that regularly plays live in Colorado.

“When someone came up with the name the Polkanauts, we all just laughed our a**es off the entire night,” said Paco, the band’s founder. “It was too good not to do.”

Paco filled up the band’s lineup with a friend from his bowling league, a guy he met after a death metal show and an accordion player who answered an ad on the Internet. While Paco might be the only band member who grew up listening to polka music, the other band members quickly caught on.

“Every time we are getting drunk and practicing, we are laughing and saying how perfect this is,” he said. “Let’s just keep playing polka.”

Doing their own thing

Saying Denver doesn’t have a big polka scene is a bit of an understatement. Except for a few other traditional polka bands like the similarly named Polkanuts, the music style is much more well known in the Midwest and in Europe than it his here on the Front Range.

However, the Polkanauts’ hip take on the genre and the fact that they cover Black Sabbath, Slayer and America means that everyone from polka traditionalists to tattooed death metal fans might find something to enjoy.

“People have been surprisingly receptive — they clap, they laugh and they’re drinking,” said Paco. “That’s what’s so great about polka — even if they think it’s ridiculous, they’re just laughing and having a good time.”

- Denver Daily News

And now for something completely different.

Polka, space suits, death metal covers and plenty of beer, the Polkanauts have definitively carved out their niche in the Denver music scene.

What started in a Wisconsin barroom as a hazy idea — a hip polka band with a hilarious name – has turned into a four-piece that regularly plays live in Colorado.

“When someone came up with the name the Polkanauts, we all just laughed our a**es off the entire night,” said Paco, the band’s founder. “It was too good not to do.”

Paco filled up the band’s lineup with a friend from his bowling league, a guy he met after a death metal show and an accordion player who answered an ad on the Internet. While Paco might be the only band member who grew up listening to polka music, the other band members quickly caught on.

“Every time we are getting drunk and practicing, we are laughing and saying how perfect this is,” he said. “Let’s just keep playing polka.”

Doing their own thing

Saying Denver doesn’t have a big polka scene is a bit of an understatement. Except for a few other traditional polka bands like the similarly named Polkanuts, the music style is much more well known in the Midwest and in Europe than it his here on the Front Range.

However, the Polkanauts’ hip take on the genre and the fact that they cover Black Sabbath, Slayer and America means that everyone from polka traditionalists to tattooed death metal fans might find something to enjoy.

“People have been surprisingly receptive — they clap, they laugh and they’re drinking,” said Paco. “That’s what’s so great about polka — even if they think it’s ridiculous, they’re just laughing and having a good time.”

- Denver Daily News

Here comes the mighty Polkanauts. Playing this Saturday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m., these guys have to be seen live to be believed – they are that dope.

Heavy metal polka, yet still traditional enough to play all the old favorites (“Roll out the Barrel,” “Milwaukee Polka,” “In Heaven there is No Beer” and many more), they also cover Black Sabbath, Slayer, Tupac, Primus, Fleetwood Mac, and Enuff Z’ Nuff.

Donning their blaze orange jumpsuits, they look like they are about to board the space shuttle; instead they embark upon a cross genre journey between Metal/ Rock/Pop and Polka. Spread the word.




- Rocky Mountain News

Here comes the mighty Polkanauts. Playing this Saturday, Jan. 10, at 8 p.m., these guys have to be seen live to be believed – they are that dope.

Heavy metal polka, yet still traditional enough to play all the old favorites (“Roll out the Barrel,” “Milwaukee Polka,” “In Heaven there is No Beer” and many more), they also cover Black Sabbath, Slayer, Tupac, Primus, Fleetwood Mac, and Enuff Z’ Nuff.

Donning their blaze orange jumpsuits, they look like they are about to board the space shuttle; instead they embark upon a cross genre journey between Metal/ Rock/Pop and Polka. Spread the word.




- Rocky Mountain News