Authors: Christian Schultz
The Soft Moon Interview
Raised under the blistering sun of California’s Mojave Desert, Luis Vasquez creates shape-like sounds under a design of minimal darkwave. Vasquez began The Soft Moon as a process of expelling memories of a rotten upbringing. After a decade of working as a graphic designer and playing in various punk inspired bands, snarling post-punk and industrial synthpop felt like the perfect mode of expression. … read more
Trust @ Urban 03.12 with Eraas
Trust has been incredibly influential for me this past year. Their debut album, TRST, has nourished my babybat maturation and been a setting for the transgressive happiness that I look for in post-punk expression. … read more
Creature Feature: Cartel Chameleon Fenice, Public Trans
Within younger generations, drag culture is at a crossroads; our age is a chameleonic one, and post-Internet, we’re in a remarkable moment of subcultural revival. Cartel and the Bad Kids are bringing their mutant message to Salt Lake’s divided communities, straight and queer. … read more
Merchandise @ Kilby Court 04.03 with Parenthetical Girls, Wet Hair
From a wash of reverb, Merchandise’s lead guitarist Dave Vassalotti strummed the opening chords of an honest pop song called “Time.” Carson Cox’s melancholic croon shone through the band’s wall of sound, peaking at (my favorite Merchandise line), “I’m really just an animal/made with human parts.” … read more
Jeff Mangum @ The Depot 04.04
Neutral Milk Hotel’s story has long ago been folded into the tapestry of indie rock legend—a songwriter with a burning vocabulary makes one beautifully haunting collection of song and memory that’s instantly called perfection, then recluses himself and dissociates from its fame, perhaps crushed with the silly fear of never writing anything one-hundredth as good. … read more
SpaceGhostPurrp @ Kilby Court 04.05 with Raider Klan, DopeThought
I’m a Purrp fan not for his hip hop roots, but for his connection to a somewhat dissimilar genre—goth. The boundaries between any genres can be overcome in our post-Internet lives—witch house, a basic blend of goth, R&B and hip hop, is paving the way for such genre experimentation. Witchy is an apt description of Purrp’s music. … read more
Purity Ring @ Urban Lounge 04.09 with Blue Hawaii
Minutes before the experience of Purity Ring began, Corin Roddick lifted the black veils (literal, figurative) from over his unusual instruments—Roddick triggers his percussion and drum kits through lighted orbs; Megan carries a lantern and bangs a glowing bass drum, as if to guide her audience through the performance. … read more
Angel Olsen @ Kilby Court 04.15 with Villages, The Awful...
Angel Olsen’s songs uncover a bygone era of folk and country Americana, when music was simpler, or at least less cluttered with electronics. … read more
Charli XCX @ In The Venue 05.13 with Marina and...
Marina Diamandis and Charli XCX look and sound similar enough to successfully pull off a Parent Trap-style swap—beyond being British teen idols (well, Marina is Welsh, actually) they’ve recorded together, they have the same bratty ’90s pop aesthetic and yes, they really do look alike, especially when you’re drunk and bouncing up and down in a packed venue. … read more
BAD KIDS Present: Gods, Goddesses & Monsters Pageant @ Metro...
Pre-Pride weekend 2013 kicked off deliciously under last Thursday’s gorgeous sunset at Salt Lake’s Metro Bar as four founding members of Salt Lake’s alternative drag scene, the Bad Kids, hosted a pageant for its expanding fanbase. … read more