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: Tupelo Moan
The minute this album starts with “Take You Out,” it feels as if it was written in a dive by two guys just jamming out for the hell of it somewhere around the Alabama/Tennessee border. Trying to capture the southern rock feel with a harder edge, Brad McCarley and Jason Roberts pounded out this eight-track trucker-like album in a matter of weeks at McCarley’s own Salt Lake Recording Service. … read more
Local Reviews: Theta Naught
Omnium Gatherum is Theta Naught’s first full-length album in six years. Given their elastic membership and reliance on improvisation above all else, each release and live show has the capacity to take the prolific post-rock/jazz/classical collective into completely unexpected places. … read more
Local Reviews: Spoken For
These boys definitely have some very recognizable influences from Tool to, perhaps unintentionally, The Police (tell me you don’t hear it on the opening riff of “No More Blood on my Guitar”). They are taking their cue from some great musicians. It’s young and it’s pained—they are certainly taking advantage of all the pent-up frustration that comes along with being an adolescent group of boys becoming men. … read more
Local Reviews: Small Town Sinners
Small Town Sinners are turning out quality discs like Notorious B.I.G. personally came down from the heavens and requested it. Blood and Dust, their most recent offering, continues Small Town Sinners’ pursuit of making the most amazing heartfelt alt-country possible would definitely inspire the late, great Biggie Smalls to put on his flannel and grab his acoustic. … read more
Local Reviews: Replica Mine
It’s always a pleasant surprise to hear good, interesting dark music made locally. While we have plenty of good bands, industrial is rare at best. Sandy-based Adam Harmon, former guitarist and keyboard player for Carphax Files, is the force behind this meandering industrial experiment, a follow-up to $ra, their 2008 5-song EP. … read more
Local Reviews: Philosofist
Holy bajoley, Batman, this really is a knuckle sandwich. As they hint with their very name, Philosofist deftly combines thoughtful musicianship with execution that gets my body swaying and hand-fists punching. Each track in Obstruction Of Moustache stands by itself as its own work of art, starkly different from its siblings. … read more
Local Reviews: Mechanical Skies
The music itself has a vintage tone: a throwback to the ‘60s and ‘70s, with hints of ‘50s-era pop thrown in by the female vocalist. A distinct homage to bands like Rush and Cream on the instrumentals, with Hank Reese on vox and the addition of Jaylee Amey’s vocals certainly individualizes the sound. … read more
Local Reviews: Illegal Beagle
Illegal Beagle get points for incorporating second-wave ska and not exclusively playing third-wave ska, but the songs are grating and the recording is sloppy. Considering third-wave ska still sounds hopelessly dated, only first-wave ska could have compensated. … read more
Local Reviews: Idyll Rigamarole
It is hard to criticize music by a local “teen-run” record label, but I’ll do my best. All local artists should take note: Every artist is a local artist where they came from. That doesn’t mean they should be making records. With a name that would surely get them kicked out from even busking in Sherwood Forest, Idyll Rigamarole describes their sound as “medieval groove folk” on their Facebook page. … read more
Local Reviews: The Direction
Man, I love chicks who rock. And this chick totally rocks—lead singer Felicia Anderton ties up this package most delightfully, with a vintage voice that is somehow exactly what this rock n’ roll outfit wants. … read more