On Sunday, March 6, Icelandic rock band Kaleo performed in front of a sold out crowd at the Larimer Lounge in downtown Denver as part of their “Way Down We Go” tour, the band’s first headlining tour.

The concert started with opener Firekid, a guitar and drums duo from Alabama. The indie-rock band was a solid and innovative start to the show, as they found a way to use a classic Gameboy as a musical instrument. However, while the young band was good, Kaleo simply blew it out of the water.

Kaleo—Jökull Júlíusson (lead vocals and guitar), Davíð Antonsson (drums and vocals), Daníel Ægir Kristjánsson (bass) and Rubin Pollock (guitar)—is only three years old, hailing from Mosfellsbær, Iceland, though their name is Hawaiian for “sound.”

“Me, David and Danny have known each other a long time and we’ve playing together pretty much since we were 18,” Júlíusson said in a phone interview with the Clarion. Pollock is the most recent addition to the band. “I think David came up with this [band name] idea and and then it got stuck. We liked the meaning.”

Despite Kaleo’s relative youth, they sound like they have been playing together for much longer. While many of their songs are unreleased, the band is completely on the same page.

Júlíusson and Pollock traded killer guitar solos back and forth all night, while Antonsson and Kristjánsson kept the groove going with the rhythm section. They played through their repertoire of hard rockers and hauntingly melodic tunes easily carried by Júlíusson’s powerful voice.

Many of their songs would fit right in at a 60s garage band concert—except Kaleo is much, much better than the average garage band. The songs, which Júlíusson sings in his gritty, powerful voice and are backed by extremely talented musicianship, are rock and roll for the 21st century.

“We’re all big classic rock fans and very inspired by the blues, all the way back to the 1930s delta blues,” Júlíusson said.

With influences like that, it’s no surprise that the band’s song “No Good” appeared in HBO’s show “Vinyl” about 70s record executives. Kaleo’s music is definitely inspired by classic rock, but it’s not derivative. Their style is clear in every song they play.

Except for breaks with slower songs “Automobiles,” “All the Pretty Girls” and “Vor í Vaglaskógi,”—the only song they perform in their native Icelandic—to balance out the set, Kaleo kept the energy up all set long. Their cover of “Bang Bang” (originally written by Sonny Bono and performed by Cher) made the song sound like it was written for them.

The band recently relocated to Austin, Texas, which should benefit their blues-rock sound.

“It was always our vision to be living in the US and recording here and performing and Austin felt like a great fit,” Júlíusson said.

Currently, along with their recent move to Austin, Kaleo is working on recording a new album, hopefully due to be released in the spring of next year. The songs they have released are available on Spotify, their Youtube channel and iTunes. More information about Kaleo can be found on their website, and the band is returning to Denver on June 4 for a show at the Gothic Theatre.