Music
SLUG Magazine’s collection of reviews covering the latest and greatest of Utah-based music, covering all varieties of genre, style and type.
Local Reviews: Opey Tailor
Opey Tailor’s been known to spit variations of gangster rap and even love songs and on his latest album he’s got G-NO of 801INT producing the tracks. Though Opey got his name from people who used to clown on his resemblance to the redheaded, Andy Griffith Show character, Opey Taylor, he’s more like the Dennis the Menace of rap and only cares about his “I don’t give a fuck” image. … read more
Local Reviews: �O Dear Sarcasm!
One of the coolest things about punk rock is that anyone can make it. However, since anyone can make punk rock, chances are someone has already said whatever you have to say. ODS have plenty to say, and they say it loud, fast and hard, but it just doesn’t stand out from the pack. … read more
Local Reviews: Definit
The many chapters of Definit’s life have provided a wide array of experiences from which he constructs sincere rhymes. On this album he delves into religion, family drama, overdoses and the road to sobriety. As a sober member of the hip-hop community, you might assume that he’d be a little preachy, bur Definit rhymes about his experiences and his decisions, not about what anybody else should do. … read more
Local Reviews: The Up Collars
This disc got me interested in what’s going on in northern Utah, which I can’t say anything else has done in recent memory. Saxophone is mixed with shredderific guitar, thoughtful melodies and some interesting vocals form this release. … read more
Local Reviews: Starmy
While Billy Joe Armstrong is moonlighting as a 60s garage band with Foxboro, Starmy is right here in our backyard and doing it a hundred times better. So many bands out there are trying to replicate the classic rock sound, but Starmy isn’t trying to replicate anyone or anything. … read more
Local Reviews: Stag Hare
Chirping birds, folk guitar, non-Western percussion and droning static harmonies � all of these aspects usually equal something you try your hardest to ignore while a Yoga instructor orders you to relax during Savasana. So why is Black Medicine Music, a disc forged with these ingredients, so interesting? … read more
Local Reviews: Pilot This Plane Down
I wanted to get my ears dirty. Instead of putting Pilot This Plane Down in my computer and doing three different things, I sat down with headphones. Exigent Records is like a grab bag of goodies and has released albums from many local artists that I dig. … read more
Local Reviews: Navigator
This self-recorded album is a wonderful little discovery. Although its running time is hardly longer than twenty minutes, the songs are full of variation that stretch from extreme reverb to quiet acoustics to delicate, tinkling sounds. … read more
Local Reviews: Laughter
Are you ready to taste the rainbow? Laughter has created a sound that dips where other locals have not. Releasing the demon of influence, You Hit the Nail on the Head has a varied rock sound. Between the second track “Auditory Ipecac” and track five “I am on my Way,” you’ll feel the slap from a Converge to Pantera sound with an underlying tribute to grunge. … read more
Local Reviews: Julio Child
The most impressive thing about this group is that both Fisch and Ebay Jamil write the music. While most of the album tightly grasps their hiphop origins, several tracks digress into acoustic ballads that almost sound like a completely different group. Julio Child may lose the attention of some hardcore hip hop fans, because of this transition on tracks like “A Long Cold Winter,” but they’re trying to create something original. … read more