Dragons Power Up! is a rock group from St. Paul, Minnesota, formed in 2005 by multi-instrumentalists Mike Coyne, Dan Ries, Mike Ries, and Chris Tures. Each member drawing from his own corner of musical influences, their sound marries loose, noisy guitars with tightly-wound rhythm section and vocals atypical of today's indie rock landscape. DPU! twist indie rock conventions by subtly blending the sonic freakouts of shoegaze and noise rock, unorthodox song structures and signatures of post rock, the rhythmic, atonal punch of post-punk, the love of hooks and melodies of the 60s, psychedelica, blues and whatever else they may bring into the mix. The result is both familiar and distinctly new - album rock for an age of MP3s.
Some of the bands DPU! has taken cues from include: the Beatles, the Who, Can, Pink Floyd, Queens of the Stone Age, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Pearl Jam, Deerhoof, the Constantines, to name a few. They've been likened to Gang of Four, Pavement, Brian Eno, Captain Beefheart amongst others.
They self-released their debut album "This Way to Gunshire" in 2006, later catching the attention of local indie label Guilt Ridden Pop (Gospel Gossip, Volante, Malachi Constant, Claps, Kill to Kill, etc) in 2008. Their sophomore full-length, "Brace for the Bloom" was released on GRP in March of 2010. They have shared the stage with countless Twin Cities bands as well as Titus Andronicus, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Sleepy Sun, Locksley, Lydia, Free Energy and Semi-Precious Weapons.
DPU! has a deep-abiding love for their hometown and the underground community within it, regularly playing shows at Twin Town venues.
