Authors: Christian Schultz
Stars @ Urban Lounge 09.21 with High Highs
Montreal-based band Stars are legends of melancholic, sincere indie pop music. Their music captures all the curious feelings of being alive in the current state of the world—with an anti-apathetic approach towards romance and politics and by a relentless appreciation of their craft. Last Saturday night, for the first time in this long and successful career, they played Salt Lake’s Urban Lounge. … read more
Exceptional Shoegaze: Juval Haring of Israel’s Vaadat Charigim
“The idea for the album’s name and glue that sticks the songs together came from stargazing. I thought a lot back then about how there really is no present time. About the paradox of perception that happens when you look up at stars and are actually looking into an image of the past. The album deals with displacements like that one, with the feeling that there is no now.” … read more
Our Beat Is Heavenly: Interview with John Peña
Heavenly Beat is the sort of band name that sticks to a project perfectly. John Peña’s Balearic indie pop arrangements balance classical guitar, steel drums, harmonica and mellotron to make lush, serene, heavenly songs. … read more
Coldwaves and City Rain: Interview with LowCityRain’s Markus Siegenhort
LowCityRain is the solo project of Markus Siegenhort, member of German post-metal band Lantlôs. On the album, Siegenhort’s post-punk baritone shifts through such brooding sonic pathways—cold synths, heavy bass, melancholic guitars—through similar thematic territory: urban nights and modern indecisions. SLUG spoke with Siegenhort about the album and some of his favorite coldwave tracks. … read more
Creature Feature: Mae Daye and Bad Kid Maenia
For its fifth Creatire Feature installment, SLUG spoke with camp queen Mae Daye about her humble descent into drag, her friends and supporters and why the Bad Kids’ brand of performance is a breath of fresh air for Salt Lake’s queer nightlife. … read more
Sharon Needles: Nightmare Before Xmas @ Metro Bar 12.14 with...
Out of the crop of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants that Metro Bar has hosted in this post-Pride season—including Manila Luzon, Honey Mahogany and JuJuBee— Sharon Needles is most certainly the Baddest. … read more
Salt 9: Jillian Mayer
Jillian Mayer, a south Florida–based artist and Sundance Film Festival alum, is the ninth artist to be featured in the Utah Museum of Fine Art’s ongoing Salt series, which highlights contemporary work from emerging artists. Much of Jillian Mayer’s work investigates the fragmenting consequences of Internet usage through some of its most ubiquitous media—catchy pop songs, humorous YouTube videos, chat rooms and ephemeral linkages. … read more
Youth Code @ The Shred Shed 02.07 with Coming, Baby...
Last Friday, L.A.-based industrial duo Youth Code and avant-punk band Coming, both fresh off of a stint supporting AFI on a cross-country tour, played passionate, frenetic sets with a small audience at The Shred Shed. … read more
Ghouls and Dolls: Bad Kids Pageant Preliminary #1 @ Metro...
Faced with an overwhelming response upon the announcement of their second yearly pageant, the Bad Kids decided to give every applicant a chance to compete, splitting the pageant into two preliminaries before the actual main event, to be held on June 5. … read more
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Urban Lounge 04.03 with...
Let me hit you with some cold, hard SLUG truth: Stephen Malkmus looks like the lovechild that Peter Murphy and Aaron Carter spawned after a heady night of blazin’, snackin’ and talkin’ sports. Goofiness aside, The Jicks and openers Speedy Ortiz entertained a packed crowd of seasoned slackers and young fans alike at Urban Lounge last Thursday night. … read more