SLUG Magazine’s collection of reviews covering the latest and greatest of Utah-based music, covering all varieties of genre, style and type.

Local Review: November Tide – Jargon Sunset

Local Review: November Tide – Jargon Sunset
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November Tide Jargon Sunset Nova One Productions November Tide = Ron L. Hubbard + Roses & Exile It’s amazing the variety of projects Chris Alvarado takes on, from the black industrial of 23 Extacy to Twilight Transmissions to Roses & Exile to now, the delicate, mellow tracings of November Tide. Lying underneath the multiple layers

Local Review: Gerald Music – Take Part of Group Activities

Local Review: Gerald Music – Take Part of Group Activities
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GERALD MUSIC TAKE PART IN GROUP ACTIVITIES Gerald Music = Temporary Residence Records + William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition + yin-yang My favorite part of Gerald Music is the silver, fawn-soft bells that seem to rise like multi-colored bubbles above the heads of a dreaming, silhouetted crowd in a club infused with magic, if only for

Local Review: Curious Birds – The Wheel Turns

Local Review: Curious Birds – The Wheel Turns
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CURIOUS BIRDS THE WHEEL TURNS Shapeshifting The Curious Birds = Stevie Nicks + Yanni Usually I don’t like neo-new age folksy acoustic stuff that mentions nature with every third breath and sings about “Persephone,” “midwinter,” “harvest time,” obscure pseudo-Celtic-Irish-Scottish mythological references and above all, a “crossroads” that is a doorway to another realm. However, like

Local Review: 23 Extacy – Brutal

Local Review: 23 Extacy – Brutal
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23 EXTACY BRUTAL Nova One Productions 23 Extacy = Ministry (but darker) + Error (but darker) The first time I got my mitts on old, unreleased and unavailable Red Bennies tracks from the bands’ first four years, it felt like panhandling a gold chunk. Fans of 23 Extacy should feel the same way with the

Local Review: The happies – Meet the happies

Local Review: The happies – Meet the happies
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THE HAPPIES MEET THE HAPPIES The Happies = Nick Drake + Brian Jonestown Massacre The questions you should ask yourself right now are: Why haven’t I heard of this band before, how has my life been incomplete without them, are they still around, and why did this stupid reviewer wait several months to write them up?

Local Review: When Cars Crash – All Kinds of Comfortable

Local Review: When Cars Crash – All Kinds of Comfortable
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WHEN CARS CRASH ALL KINDS OF COMFORTABLE (2002) Hibiscus Zombie When Cars Crash = Jade Tree Records + chutzpah One of the hardest things for me to do when helping out with Death by Salt was having to cut When Cars Crash’s track, “Shattered Smile”, from the comp after finding out it was previously released

Local Review: McFalls – Self-Tittled Demo

Local Review: McFalls – Self-Tittled Demo
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MCFALLS SELF-TITLED DEMO McFalls = Pearl Jam (Ten) + Soundgarden (Superunknown) + Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin) McFalls, or Rune, as they are currently known, combine classic rock/grunge-laden guitar riffs with Jim Morrisson-like vocals that can really wail. Added to that grunge base are three main additives: A bluesy, almost jazzy strut (best illustrated in “summerday”);

Salt Lake Indies

Salt Lake Indies
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All the news about record releases from R.U. dead, Semaphore, Siren Song and Flatline Records.
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Record Reviews: October 1990

Record Reviews: October 1990
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1990-era SLUG Writers Chuckles, Charlee Johnson and more reviewed a handful of records released that year. … read more

Feature Band: Truce

Feature Band: Truce
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Truce are one of the few local bands that are just as good on tape as they are live, who’s fans range from die hard metal fans to punks and skaters. … read more