SLUG Reviewed
Check out reviews of SLUG by the following publications:
Salt Lake Magazine
2008 Best of the Beehive
www.saltlakemagazine.com
The Underground Historian
Angela Brown,
SLUG Magazine
It's natural that Angela Brown - owner/editor of the music- and sports-oriented SLUG Magazine and a talented photographer - would focus her eye and ear on moving pictures. This year marked the release of SLUG Magazine Presents: Making a Scene, a film about Salt Lake's underground rock scene as documented by SLUG since 1989, and an important artifact for the SLC punks who are still standing. slugmag.com - Dan Nailen
SLWeekly.com
5 Spot | SLUG magazine's Meghann Griggs
By Jerre Wroble
Posted 03/06/2008
On Tuesday, March 25, at 7 p.m., Sam Weller's and SLUG will launch the
Hardboiled Book Club which meets monthly in the basement of Sam Weller's at
254 S. Main. The first book to be discussed: Jess Walters' The Zero. SLUG's
sales manager Meghann Griggs weighs in.
What's with this "edgy" book club?
SLUG Magazine is always looking for different ways to breed new excitement
in our thriving city. We also love to bring people from all walks of life
together to promote important issues like literacy. What better way to
promote reading than with an "underground" themed book club such as this?
Bill Frost wondered if an edgy book club is similar to extreme crocheting?
God I hope not! Seeing that I, myself, have competed in several extreme crocheting matches where it almost cost me the sight in my left eye back in '98. Since then, I retired and hung up my teal crochet hook. I hope we can
keep this a little more on the mellow side.
Does reading edgy books make one hardboiled?
Well according to Dictionary.com, the definition of "hardboiled" is: written
in a laconic, dispassionate, often ironic style for a realistic,
unsentimental effect. That information being known, I would definitely
consider hardboiled "edgy," but edgy doesn't necessarily mean you are
"hardboiled."
What can you say about the club's facilitator, Sam Weller's employee Zach
Sampinos? Is he edgy? Hardboiled?
Zach is a mysterious and soft-spoken fellow. Not quite sure whether he has a
secret life outside of the bookstore at night. I can picture him turning
into a mysterious superhero like Christian Bale's version of Batman. So that
would definitely put him in the "edgy" category. I wouldn't say he was
hardboiled, but we may discover that as the months go on.
BEST UNDERGROUND HISTORY LESSON
Making a Scene, SLUG Magazine
The roots of Salt Lake City's current music scene aren't completely gone, much less forgotten. SLUG Magazine went the extra mile to ensure that the next generation of punks, rockers and free thinkers recognizes its predecessors with Making a Scene, a 30-minute documentary which only failed in its brevity. The film, shot around SLUG's 18th anniversary show featuring four reunited SLC legends - Clear, Iceburn, The Stench, The Corleones - includes trips down memory lane with local musicians, fans, members of the media, and of course Brad Collins of now-defunct Raunch Records. Scene also features cool footage from old concerts and the Club Vegas reunion gig. It's one lesson you don't want to miss.
Thrasher
Circa 2003
The Salt Lake Tribune
Slugging it out
SLUG Magazine speaks up for Utah's underground
By Rosemary Winters
June 26, 2005
A tall guy in black pants jumps off the stage and shrieks indecipherable lyrics into the microphone clenched in his fist. He staggers back and forth among a sparse, but rapt, crowd. The bar - filled with smoke and the swell of electric guitars - is an unlikely environment for a CEO.
But Angela Brown blends in better here than in a boardroom. She wears black, cropped pants, ballet flats and her signature brooch: a yellow sunflower with a skull at the center. A thin, silver ring hangs from her nostrils. A fire-breathing dragon is tattooed on her arm.
She's 29, young by executive standards, but not when you consider her job. Brown owns, edits and publishes SLUG Magazine, Utah's standard-bearer of underground music and culture (SLUG stands for Salt Lake Under Ground). She organizes dozens of SLUG events each year, including this one, the monthly SLUG Localized band showcase at Urban Lounge.
The magazine is more than a job to Brown. She thrived on the magazine as a teen. It helped her find a community where she fit in.
SLUG "was like this whole other world I had no idea existed of underground culture," Brown says. "That's also why I'm so passionate about the magazine: I know from experience how it can affect young kids. [SLUG] played a part in who I turned out to be."
The underground gets a voice: SLUG was started in 1989 by J.R. Ruppel, who once played pinball with Nirvana guitarist Kurt Cobain. Ruppel reportedly saw the magazine as a way to trade advertising with private clubs and pay off his bar tabs. He also was tired of watching good music come through town and not get any attention from the mainstream news media.
Since then, SLUG has secured interviews with nationally known musicians and groups, such as Tom Waits, Slayer, Daniel Johnston, AFI, Guided by Voices, Fugazi, The Flaming Lips and Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedys. And its pages have dished out liberal politics, scathing music reviews and profiles of local bands.
Ruppel, who plays bass in Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons, sold the magazine in 1994 to Gianni Ellefsen, music director at KRCL, who sold it to Brown in 2000.
The mission has always been to build a strong local music scene and to rattle Utah's conservative establishment, Ellefsen says.
"Pissing people off is kind of the deal," he says. "Sometimes you've got to bloody someone's nose to let them know they can bleed. Utah's kind of a sheltered little bunny of a town, and there's a monster out there who eats little bunnies."
The magazine doesn't censor its content or its language, and keeps up its street cred with readers by being just as mean to its supporters as its detractors.
"They slam us and then we slam them. There's a large amount of jest involved," Brown says. "Some people don't get it. We're not really saying we hate our readers - obviously."
A misfit fits in: Brown was 14 when she started reading SLUG. She picked up the second or third issue and was hooked. A few years ago, she uncovered a virtual SLUG archive in her parents' basement of copies she'd diligently saved as a teenager. She also discovered a "zine" she made as a Churchill Junior High student called CHUG, Church Hill Under Ground.
At the time, she felt stifled by her conservative Mormon upbringing. The youngest of six kids, she more readily identified with the music of The Cure and Bad Religion than the Tabernacle Choir tunes her mom liked to play at home.
As an eighth-grader, she walked into Hair Cuts Plus and queried stylists until she found one willing to shave the long, blond locks off one side of her head. In high school, she would tack safety pins and band patches all over a trench coat. She wore blood red, Dr. Martens steel-toed boots and Christian Death band T-shirt, the front of which showed Jesus shooting up heroin.
She was not allowed to subscribe to Rolling Stone - her mom called it "Satan's magazine," she says - but Brown would tuck SLUG inside her history textbook and read it during class.
And although the link to Utah's counterculture made life in the Beehive state more bearable, Brown was always plotting her escape to a bigger, more diverse metropolis.
A SLUG to call her own: In college, Brown began writing for SLUG and Ellefsen made her assistant editor.
"I taught her how to negotiate, which was the smartest thing I ever did but also the dumbest," Ellefsen says. "When I had to negotiate with her [to sell SLUG], she was eating me up."
Brown was also working at Salt City CDs and as the Salt Lake City rep for Universal Music and Video Distribution. When she graduated from Salt Lake Community College, the record company offered her a job in San Francisco as an artist development representative. She finally had her ticket out of Salt Lake.
But her father, who died last year, had been diagnosed with cancer, and Salt City CDs offered to make her a manager if she would stay. Plus, Ellefsen wanted to sell her SLUG.
Brown applied for small-business loans and qualified for three-fourths of the amount she needed. Her parents were supportive and lent her the difference. At 24, Brown formed her own corporation, 18 Percent Gray, and purchased the magazine.
Beauty, bands and buzz: Under Brown's leadership, SLUG has established a regional presence; it's distributed in small towns and cities throughout Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
"We try markets similar to what Salt Lake was 30 years ago," Brown says. "Those are the kids who really appreciate SLUG."
She's increased the circulation from 15,000 to 25,000 and plans to add another 10,000 before she's done. The look of the magazine has changed, too. Last year, she switched from newsprint to glossy and added color to every page. She also wants to expand the magazine by 16 pages to increase local music coverage.
"SLUG is read by a lot of kids. If they see something highlighting local music, they pay more attention to it," says 21-year-old Mike Wright, bass player in His Red Letters, which has played a SLUG Localized concert. "It helps out bands a lot."
In addition to the magazine's two mainstay events, Sabbathon and an anniversary party, Brown added two local band concerts a month, SLUG Localized and Action Sports Night. She was criticized by some music purists when she introduced skateboarding and snowboarding to the magazine, which now gives a 20 percent focus to those "underground sports." SLUG began holding snowboarding and skateboarding competitions in 2000, at a time when there weren't many amateur level contests, and the series have sold out the past three years.
Brown believes skateboarders and snowboarders deserved more media attention, but she admits adding action sports was also a way to attract new advertising dollars. Digital downloading and the economic downturn following Sept. 11, 2001, have caused music industry dollars to dwindle, she says.
But for all the controversy surrounding action sports, Brown created the most buzz with her SLUG Queen Contest, an event she started in 2001 and held for two more years.
Contestants in the mock contest were judged on "alternative" beauty standards - "The whole idea of a beauty pageant is revolting and sexist," Brown says - and the top two contestants had to wrestle in a kiddie pool of applesauce to claim the title. It was SLUG's most successful event - too successful, in fact.
Bars that held the contest would sell out of alcohol and competing bars would call Brown to complain about their slow nights. Plus, losers in the contest were crying and fighting in the dressing room. One year, the winner's prizes were stolen by the other girls.
"Everything we were trying to make fun of, it somehow turned into that," Brown says. She cancelled the event after its third year.
Less talk, more action: With all of Brown's changes, the business is still far from lucrative. Her annual revenue is about $100,000 but most of that is eaten up by printing costs and other overhead. With the remainder, she pays herself and two part-time employees, an associate editor and an office coordinator. Her writers, designated in SLUG's masthead as "monkeys with typewriters," are unpaid but get some perks, such as free concert tickets and CDs.
Brown is dedicated more to promoting Salt Lake's underground than making a fortune. Instead of griping about how lame it is to live in Utah, she's become a hip ambassador for the state. While the governor's office courts new business by touting Utah as a family-friendly place, Brown travels to big music festivals, including South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and the CMJ Music Marathon in New York, and tells people about the alternative music scene here, dispelling some stereotypes that Utah is boring.
As for the future, Brown wants to sell SLUG in three years, move to New York and pursue photography, journalism or a career in the music industry.
She also plans to use the proceeds from the sale for a down payment on a house in Salt Lake City.
After all, she's helped build it into a place she wants to be.
"There's this old punk rock saying: talk minus action equals zero," Brown says. "I finally took that to heart, and I realized if there's something you really don't like, you have the power to change that."
Xploited Zine
www.XploitedProductions.com
www.myspace.com/xploitedzine
SLUG (SaltLakeUnderGround) magazine isn't exactly a zine since its distribution is well over 30,000 monthly, but I think it's definitely worth a review here on the blog. SLUG originally started out as a zine in 1989. That makes it one of Utah's oldest alternative publications. Columns such as Contributor Limelight, Dear Dickheads, The Inversion Trawler, Bellyography, Tattoo Talk and Gallery Stroll (just to name a few) grace the pages of the magazine each month along with full coverage on the underground, alternative Utah scene.
The newsprint magazine is filled with reports on local shows, local productions, various local artists, interviews with local bands, music reviews, DVD reviews, book reviews, video game reviews and various product reviews. Alternative sports such as snowboarding and skateboarding are covered in each issue. For example, in this month's issue, there is an article exposing the glam and glitz on what it's really like to be a member of a snow park crew at a ski resort written by the park's only girl crewmember.
Local music, art and alternative sports scene aside, my favorite thing to read in SLUG magazine are the articles written by various SLUG writers. Since SLUG isn't a mainstream publication, their writers are free to honestly speak their minds in the pieces they write. In the March issue, Patricia Bateman wrote a passionate article questioning two local, public radio stations about changing from their alternative formatting to a mainstream-type of formatting, on the sly, while trying to hang on to the respect and loyalty of their listeners. In the same issue, there is also a well written and informative article ..cards" which discusses how one music company is changing the way music is being sold and distributed.
Sometimes it's a little distracting sifting through all the ads in each issue of SLUG in order to get to the articles and columns, but as any zinester knows and understands, printing and distributing a zine is far from cheap. These ads make the magazine free to its readers. Amen to that! I must give major props to the magazine for keeping the ads mainly to local businesses, another way in which SLUG magazine supports its local scene.
Even though I don't live in Salt Lake City, I still love reading SLUG magazine every month. Its obvious when you read the magazine that you can see the passion the editors and writers all have for their local, alternative and sometimes very underground scene and that's what it's really all about.
City Weekly
SLUG SABBATHON
Music Picks
By Randy Harward
Posted 09/12/2002
The new, improved SLUG Sabbathon: No daytime entrance into dirty, 21-and-over clubs for pre-pubes, no 45-minute sets from West Valley heshers, no Taco Time next door. It's still tough to know whether to thank Angela Brown for spiffying up her mag's annual charity concert or pine for the old days. Nostalgia sez the latter, but the former ain't bad. It means shorter sets by better bands (best lineup ever: Dirty Birds, Thunderfist, The Downers, Red Bennies, Magstatic, y mas!), better facilities with more grub choices and a different worthy cause each year (Sabbathon 2002's beneficiary is the Shundahai Network, for a nuclear-free Great Basin). And boozers can bring a cooler of their own swill for only 10 bucks cheap! Sunday, Sept. 15 @ The Gallivan Center, 239 S. Main, 535-6110, 1-10 p.m.
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SLUG QUEEN PAGEANT 2002
By Bill Frost
Posted 08/29/2002
It's been a year since Jenn Buchanan was crowned the SLUG Queen, our virginal vision of the local underground scene-is there a woman up to the challenge of filling Miss SLUG 2001's royal C-cups? Some contend that the real Queen will always be the mag's publisher, the lovely Angela Brown, and that this is nothing but an excuse to have half-nekkid ladies parade around and wrestle in pudding for drunk punks ... yeah, so? Starmy will provide the rock, and City Weekly's own Ben Fulton will reprise his role as a celebrity judge (in the underground, "celebrity" is a relative term). Friday, Aug. 30 @ The Zephyr Club, 301 S. West Temple, 355-CLUB, 9:30 p.m.
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SLUG 13TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY
By Alex Wells
Posted 01/31/2002
If only to be among the first to eyeball SLUG Queen Jenn Buchanan's mondo-sexy February centerfold (and even see her jump out of a birthday cake), the street mag's 13th anniversary bash should be a priority in any serious scenester's Palm Pilot (yes, they have 'em now). Add the sounds of locals Form of Rocket, Endless Struggle, Shimmy She Wobble and The Kill-not to mention the fact that all this hot rock action is totally free-and you've got, well, a typically killer Salt Lake Underground party. "This is SLUG's way of thanking our readers for 13 years of support," says editor Angela Brown, who's reportedly holding out until the mag's 15th anniversary to pose for the centerfold herself-stay tuned. Sunday, Feb. 3 @ Xscape, 115 S. West Temple, 539-8400, 7 p.m.
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Death By Salt Vol. 3
By Ryan Bradford
Posted 05/01/2008
SLUG Magazine's DBS compilations usually offer an authoritative glimpse of how diverse, eccentric and wonderful our local music scene is. After including 59 and 42 bands on Volumes 1 & 2, respectively, the monthly pub took a lesson in editing to fit only 10 bands on the first ever, local, vinyl-only compilation-which becomes the album's double-edge sword. The record itself is beautiful; the artwork (designed by Paul Butterfield and Dave Styer) reflects the rebelliousness of early Mormon settlers, which complements the candy-swirl, black and green of the actual vinyl. No complaints about the band selection: Blistering tracks from Trebuchet, Blackhole, Terrance DH and Subrosa only highlight a recordful of highlights. However, the small number who got the VIP treatment makes Volume 3 feel a bit like a members-only club rather than a celebration of the music scene that the publication strives to recognize. DeathBySalt.com
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On Any Sunday
Hazy memories of SLUG Sabbathons past.
By Randy Harward
Posted 08/19/2004
Number nine ... number nine ... number nine ... Yup, folks, while it seems like SLUG Magazine's local-rock Sabbathon fund-raiser fests should be now be numbered in three-place Roman numerals a la the Super Bowl, they're only on "numero nueve."
I can't pretend to remember the first, but my first Sabbathon was around 1993, maybe '94. It was at the Bar & Grill (today known as Halo, kids) and it was mine and my best buddy Wade's first exposure to matinee rock. The bands, if memory serves, included big-deal locals like Honest Engine, The Obvious and ASA, maybe Headshake, as well as Shadowplay, One Eye and some lesser bands never to be heard from again.
We drank in the parking lot of Downtown Music rental studios, thinking there would be no refreshment during daylight hours. With each Pabst, the buzz from inside the club increased in insistence and appeal. Our fires stoked, we staggered to the door with the cans of beets or kidney beans or Libby's Pumpkin Pie mix that we pilfered from mom's cupboard (just to get the discounted admission-back then, we were shamefully selfish and didn't care about the Utah Food Bank). Inside, we raided the boxes of cassette singles (you've never seen so many copies of G. Love & Special Sauce or Dag Nasty tapes-we took five of each) and drank some more.
And we moshed. Like the drunken, newly-legal asses we were, we elbowed our way up front and started cracking heads (usually our own, from bouncing too hard off of each other) and acting indignant when someone would bump into us. During pit lulls, we appreciated the bands even though we barely knew what to appreciate (Dude, is that dude playing slide bass? Dude!).
We staggered next door to Taco Time and returned with soft tacos secreted in our cotton flannel vests, just in time to see the headlining bands. Honest Engine was the favorite-they, at the time, the coolest local band we'd seen (which, before this Sabbathon, was about four). We ate and moshed and yelled for them to play their signature tune, "Turn Out the Sun." When they obliged, we hooted, spraying the crowd with pieces of seasoned ground beef.
On the way out, we picked up several copies of SLUG, more Dag Nasty tapes and some fliers. Between the door and the car, one of us would puke while the rest cheered and/or jeered. The next day, we couldn't really articulate why we had such a good time. All we knew was we'd seen loud music by bands who were from our own back yard. And ate delicious tacos.
Looking back, it's easier to see why it was so great. It was seeing that rock & roll wasn't exclusive to the Big Touring Acts who would blow through town and leave with our money. Anyone with enough money for a Japanese Stratocaster/Peavey practice amp package and a subscription to a guitar mag could get onstage and throw down. It wasn't always the greatest music, but it was inspiring.
Today, where the Salt Lake City music scene has grown to several times the size it was back then, it's likely many of these bands (perhaps even some of the bands scheduled to play Sabbathon 9 this Sunday, including but not limited to Her Candane, Starmy, Le Force, Smashy Smashy, Rope or Bullets, The Rubes and Pushing Up Daisies) exist because of what they saw at previous Sabbathons. And it's fun to ponder what might spring up in these bands' wake. But music isn't the only reason for Sabbathon-you're supposed to notice the charities, too.
This year, SLUG is hoping, by its sponsorship of voter-registration activists MusicForAmerica.org, that it will get some kids who might be selfish, gluttonous oafs like the younger versions of myself and Wade to include other people and society into their worldview and just get out and vote, already. Considering what's on the line this election year, it could be the most important Sabbathon yet.
SLUG SABBATHON, In the Venue 579 W. 200 South Sunday, Aug. 22 2 p.m.-midnight
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Music Picks
DEATH BY SALT
By Bill Frost
Posted 02/19/2004
Coinciding with SLUG's 15th anniversary, the local rock rag's ambitious triple-disc compilation of local music, Death By Salt, hits SLC's squeaky-clean streets tonight. Who's on it? Super secret! Even the 59 painstakingly chosen bands (out of 200 submissions-yes, really) don't yet know if their song passed SLUG muster. Hint: Bob Moss, Numbs, Purr Bats, Starmy (Thursday), Mental Midgets, Coyote Hoods, Hudson River School, New Transit Direction (Friday), Nihm, Gerald Music, The Switch and Red Bennies (Saturday) probably aren't performing for Death By Salt's three-night release party for naught, kids. THURSDAY, Feb. 19 & SATURDAY, Feb. 21 @ The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, 9 p.m. Also: FRIDAY, Feb. 20 @ Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 8 p.m. All-ages. Info: www.slugmag.com.
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Local CD Revue
Death by Salt II, Spencer Nielsen, Let's Become Actors, Revideolized, Midwife Crisis, PVH Project
By Bill Frost
Posted 03/30/2006
VARIOUS SLUG: Death by Salt II
Your favorite club warriors are included (The Wolfs, Starmy, Red Bennies, Thunderfist, Tolchock Trio, et al), but some of the best tracks on SLUG's latest local comp come from bands you'll rarely, if ever, see live: Flying Missles' Stooges-fueled "You Tore My Heart Out," Andale!'s fuzzy-catchy "Hit the Ground," Fifi Murmur's haunting "Message From the Grave," Silvox's gorgeous "Jaded." They all stand equal to cuts like Form of Rocket's scald-rock and electronic and hip-hop inclusions from A.Vanvranken, Deadbeats-too many to fit. Of the 39, Lollipop Guild's no-fi "Are You Done Yet?" and AODL's noise-splat "Rubber Dress Fire" are the biggest "Huhs?" (SLUGMag.com)
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Salt Licks
SLUGmagazine hits a double with the release of Death By Salt II.
By Jenny Poplar
Posted 03/02/2006
Almost every year since 1989, Salt Lake Underground magazine, a free, fringy-monthly music rag that's a bit edgier, grimier and more profane than City Weekly (but we're still cool, #@$&#!), has released some sort of a compilation showcasing the underbelly of Utah's robust local music scene.
In the early '90s, SLUG comps were scrappy cassette tapes that featured a handful of choice acts. But thanks to advances in technology, the tireless efforts of Editor Angela H. Brown and a dedicated crew of music enthusiasts and artists, SLUG peaked with 2004's exhaustive Death by Salt, consisting of three CDs that featured the work of over 60 bands, as well as a booklet about Utah's local music scene.
"The goal of Death by Salt," Brown explains, "was to produce a comprehensive picture of the local music scene. We hope to achieve the same thing this year with Death by Salt II." SLUG's 2006 compilation is slightly smaller, with two CDs, just over 40 artists and band trading cards (yes, band trading cards) in lieu of a booklet. "We received over 200 submissions, and the entire process of putting DBS II together took about a year and half. We'd like to speed things up in the future, but we're very happy with the way it turned out."
Comprehensive is an apt description for DBS II: Where else will you find drum & bass experimentalists Cosm, alt-country trio Bronco and hard-rockers Thunderfist co-existing in harmony on the same CD?
Guitarist Ryan Fedor of the Wolfs, Tolchock Trio and Buttery Muffins (all DBS II contributors), believes that a slimmed-down Death by Salt compilation is a good thing. "In 2004, I think a lot of bands gave SLUG their leftovers. But this year, the emphasis seems to be on quality tracks recorded specifically for DBS II."
Brown confirms that SLUG sought exclusive tracks but stresses that the bands maintain the rights to their songs so they can eventually be issued somewhere else. Tolchock Trio's DBS II contribution is actually a re-worked version of "Our Lady of Good Counsel," the first track on their most recent album, Ghosts Don't Have Bones; the group employed Andy Patterson, the same sound engineer who ultimately mastered DBS II, to alter the sparse, meandering song so that it could be played live with more ease.
Scott Selfridge (singer-guitarist of contributors Coyote Hoods and the Red Bennies) says that DBS II is a great opportunity to do something a little different. "I dared myself to send a recording of a basement tape or a song that wasn't quite finished but still had a uniqueness and a beauty." Ryan Jensen, vocalist of the Vile Blue Shades, says the VBS track has existed for a while, but it wasn't intended for any particular record. "It's about debauchery," he says with a fiendish laugh, "so we figured, why not give it to SLUG?"
Brown notes that SLUG comps always prompt local musicians to begin new, specialized projects-such as Sleeping Bag, a soft, moody collaboration between Dave Payne of the Red Bennies and Kyrbir of Purr Bats, two legendary Deseret rockers who were once both members of the now-defunct Puri-do. Regardless of whether the bands who contributed to DBS II were motivated and organized or intoxicated procrastinators, the end product is an impressive collection of songs that proves that the underbelly of Utah's local music scene is teeming with hidden gems.
The themed CD release parties for DBS II will also mark SLUG magazine's 17th birthday: Festivities will include a kissing booth, tarot readings, belly dancers and performances from several of the bands featured on the CD.
"We're aiming for a circus-sideshow sort of thing," Brown says with smile. "You know, carnies, all of that."
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Track Stars
SLUG's Angela Brown spins 10 salty cuts.
By Angela Brown
Posted 02/23/2006
City Weekly is asking locals what's playing on their iPods and assorted digital toys-brand-new tunes, classic favorites, etc.-right now, and why. This week, SLUG magazine editor Angela Brown plugs some product: "Because I'm a shameless self-promoter, I'm going to pick most of the tracks from the upcoming SLUG Death by Salt II compilation, featuring 39 Utah bands, to be released March 3 and 4."
The Glinting Gems, "White Lilly"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"'White Lilly' breaks my heart into thousands of small, warm-fuzzy pieces at the first sound of their husband-and-wife vocal harmonies. It restores my hope for true love and dare I say ... marriage? Gasp!"
Fifi Murmur, "Message From the Grave"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"Attention, Jeremy Smith and Dave Durrant: Please make more sugar-pop dance tunes for me to host hairbrush lip-syncs to at 3 a.m. for an imaginary audience consisting of ... absolutely nobody."
Silvox, "Jaded"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"An amazing studio project from the mind of Stiletto's Julie Styer; hopefully, she'll release a full-length in the near future."
Sleeping Bag, "Ex-Blackhole"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"Hands down, Kyrbir is one of the sexiest vocalists in Salt Lake (maybe it's those dresses he wears onstage). 'Ex-Blackhole' makes me want to crawl into a sleeping bag naked with headphones."
Thunderfist, "Sleep When I'm Dead"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"Played at maximum volume, 'Sleep When I'm Dead' will make you cheat on your wife and spend this month's grocery money on cocaine and midget porn, while wearing a pink bunny suit."
Vile Blue Shades, "Under Watchful Eye"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"The opening track for the two-disc Death by Salt compilation-also, my personal favorite. Ryan Jensen is the Gary Busey of Salt Lake."
The Horns, "Broadcast Male"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"Imagine an amazing B-movie where singer Scott Selfridge sludges through a deep swamp, hears a scary noise and ends up shooting a man-eating rabbit in the face with a sawed-off shotgun. Did I mention this was taking place underwater? Yes, an underwater swamp."
Le Force, "Enviro"
(2006, SLUGMag.com)
"No matter how many times I listen to it, I never get tired of this track-my second favorite on the comp."
Stiff Little Fingers, "Barbed Wire Love"
(1979, SLF.com)
"One of my favorite love songs of all time."
Turbonegro, "Fuck the World"
(2003, Turbonegro.com)
"Who doesn't love homosexual Scandinavians in jean jackets and tight leather G-strings? If only they would play Salt Lake ..."
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SLAMMys Top 75
Reviews of 75 local CDs from 2006 and a couple from 2005 and 2007
By City Weekly Staff
Posted 02/15/2007
SLUG
Death by Salt II (SLUGMag.com) Your favorite club warriors are included (The Wolfs, Starmy, Red Bennies, Thunderfist, Tolchock Trio, et al), but some of the best tracks on SLUG magazine's latest local comp come from bands you'll rarely, if ever, see live: Flying Missiles' Stooges-fueled "You Tore My Heart Out," Andale!'s fuzzy-catchy "Hit the Ground," Fifi Murmur's haunting "Message From the Grave," Silvox's gorgeous "Jaded." They all stand equal to cuts like Form of Rocket's scald-rock and electronic and hip-hop inclusions from A.Vanvranken, Deadbeats ... too many to fit. (BF)
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Readers' Poll 2007 Results
By City Weekly readers
Posted 02/15/2007
Best Local CD 2007
SLUG: DEATH BY SALT II
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5 Spot
Pre-roasting SLUG's Angela Brown
By Jerre Wroble
Posted 01/04/2007
SLUG magazine Editor/Publisher Angela Brown's longstanding support of the local underground music scene will be rewarded with her roasting at a currently sold-out dinner on Sunday, Jan. 7, beginning at 6 p.m. at Big City Soup, 235 S. 400 West. The artwork of Sri Whipple, Trent Call, Fletcher Booth, Derek Dyer and Derrick Mellus will be auctioned off with proceeds going to Valley Mental Health.
What is your passion for Valley Mental Health based upon?
Some of my favorite people on this planet are crazies, and I love having them in my life. Valley Mental Health helps sustain their well-being and other people's loved ones with mental-health problems. They provide quality care for many afflicted Utahns that would otherwise not receive treatment. [Since the event is sold out, donations may be sent to "The Roast," c/o SLUG, 351 W. Pierpont, Ste. 48, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.]
What will the funds raised by this event be used for?
Lining the pockets of prescription drug companies while making sure a portion of Salt Lake City's mentally ill community gets its daily dose of Prozac and lime green Jell-O.
What advice do you have for roasters Mike Brown, Erik Lopez, Liz Ferrin, Mariah Mann-Mellus, Jeremy Cardenas, Derek Dyer, Shon Taylor, Leroy Barndog & Charity, [City Weekly's] Bill Frost and Rebecca Vernon?
While my rump may be the one that is getting roasted, feel free to tell a humiliating story that includes the hostess of my roast, Ms. Meghann Griggs!
How does one mentally prepare to be roasted?
A bottle of Maker's Mark, a little black dress and red lipstick.
Should diners worry if Big City Soup serves an "Angela" stew the following day?
I'll be doing the "stewing" by getting the Big City Soup employees sloshed on a school night. Diners the following day should ask really annoying questions and laugh at their hangovers.
Is it true that SLUG's hiring requirements includes wearing black hair and tattoos?
Yes. I fire people for even mentioning tattoo removal or hair bleaching.
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SLUG 18 PARTY
By Jamie Gadette
Posted 02/15/2007
Most kids celebrate their 18th birthday with cigarettes, strippers and the draft. SLUG did all those things (except the whole armed forces part) as soon as it hit the streets as Salt Lake City's premiere underground music publication. Since then, the magazine has walked a nice line between anarchy and conscientious objection all while supporting local bands. And, though some might argue the unpaid writers devote too much copy to national acts, you've got to hand it to Editor Angela Brown and crew for centering their anniversary party around four defunct Salt Lake City groups with a reunion extravaganza. Somewhere someone is freaking because Iceburn are performing. Not sure if the same level of obsession applies to Clear, The Stench and The Corleones, but they're certainly legends in their own right. Rock! Club Vegas, 445 S. 400 West, 9 p.m. Info: SLUGMag.com.
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Live & Loco
By Bill Frost
Posted 05/10/2007
• After their monthly Localized showcase at the Urban Lounge on Friday, May 11, SLUG magazine is taking it one step further with the first-ever SLUG Tour, a Four-Corners-states trek that will end up at the Hyperactive Music Festival in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, May 19. Local rockers Blackhole, Purr Bats, Subrosa, Thunderfist and The Wolfs will represent Salt Lake City among 200-odd indie acts from across the country during the three-day festival. Go slap down $5 at the Urban Lounge Friday night and help 'em get there.
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SLC Re-Punk
Iceburn, Clear, The Stench and The Corleones reform for a night; history ensues.
By Kelly Ashkettle
Posted 03/01/2007
After observing a growing national trend of band reunions, the staff of SLUG magazine decided to apply it at a local level for its 18th anniversary party, held at Club Vegas on Feb. 16. Much like an episode of VH1's Bands Reunited, some of the bands they approached refused to reform, but in the end, SLUG Editor Angela Brown and event coordinator Meghann Griggs managed to persuade four of their all-time faves from the Salt Lake Underground: Iceburn, Clear, The Stench and The Corleones.
Iceburn (1991-2001) were one of the first bands to blend jazz and hardcore music. Founder Gentry Densley believes they broke up because their cycle simply ended. The middle song of their middle album is called "Centre," and Densley thinks their albums balance around that point so that the theme from the beginning comes back in reverse order at the end. "When that was complete, we had closure," he says.
Clear (aka xClearx, 1995-2000) were Utah's contribution to the national straight edge/hardcore scene. After touring and releasing an album, they broke up on the verge of mainstream success. They attribute the band's demise to songwriter's block, brought on by conflicting musical interests. "We were a perfect example of a band disintegrating from the inside out," says bassist Sean McClaugherty.
The Corleones (1998-2004) ended because singer Ryan Jensen "got tired of being in a violent rock & roll band," preferring the more art-collective vibe of his current project, Vile Blue Shades. He attributes some of The Corleones' aggressive energy to the fact that they couldn't get along. "If you're pissed off at all your bandmates all the time, what are you going to write about?" he says.
The Stench (1985-1993) embodied the bouncy, fun side of punk rock. Singer/guitarist Terrance DH says they broke up simply to pursue other interests; he was the only one who stayed in music. A few days before the SLUG reunion show, he recalled The Stench's early days. "Back then, there was one big scene and everybody would go to this one show," he says. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of good people [at the SLUG anniversary show], but I'm still waiting to be disappointed. Club Vegas is a pretty big place. I've still been playing all the time, and the shows are always little."
This show was different. Club Vegas sold out its 450 capacity by 10:30, and had to turn away what was estimated to be 200 more hopefuls.
True to form, The Corleones were confrontational: Jensen wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Straight Edge" while smoking a cigarette and guzzling a pitcher of beer. Later, in the bathroom, a straight-edger accused him of "not showing respect" and told him that he "wasn't walking out of the show in that shirt." However, they reached a grown-up solution-Jensen handed over the shirt, and the straight-edger bought him a Stench T-shirt to wear instead.
The Stench performed to an audience of many people who had been waiting over a decade to see them play. Several technical difficulties could not overshadow their well-preserved talent-or their joy. "You have no idea how fun this has been," bassist Geoff Williams told the audience.
Clear was like a primal force, a rumbling ocean that lifted people off their feet in a wave that threatened to engulf the stage. It took the club's entire security force plus a few recruits to hold it back. For the band, returning to these songs together felt like being kids again, only (as drummer Tyler Smith says) as better musicians. Brown laughs, "It was cool to see them playing this incredibly brutal hardcore music with large grins on their faces."
Iceburn caused some body surfing as well, but most of the crowd was too busy having its collective mind blown by something so heavy yet so intricately precise. By the end of their performance, looks were being exchanged that said, "I get it now. I understand the legend."
Nights like this leave some people searching for a greater meaning in their experience. Griggs says, "I'm not ready to give up my youth. It's part of who I am, but it's not something I can live every day, so I think this is a fun night to bring that back."
Brown hopes that it will have an impact on the future. "That's the biggest thing that I hope comes out of this event" she says, "is people that will be inspired by their own local heroes and ... pull out a guitar or a paintbrush, or whatever the art form is, and start creating and making the city a more interesting place to live."
Since this show has gotten Iceburn, The Stench and Clear discussing the possibility of recording more music together, perhaps some of that interesting future may even come from the past.
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DEATH BY SALT III CD RELEASE
By Jamie Gadette
Posted 12/20/2007
Friday 12.21
Hats off to SLUG Magazine for putting together another daring collection of never-before-released material by local bands. This year's addition manages to outdo the first and second installments by narrowing the compilation's focus. Where Death By Salt Vol. I and Vol. II featured somewhat schizophrenic track listings (a hardcore band followed by mellow indie rock and hip-hop), DBS Vol. III includes just 10 artists, all of whom are considered, for lack of a better term, rock bands. This loud and proud collection marks the first of several genre-specific DBS albums to be released on a quarterly basis, so now everyone can stop complaining about waiting every two years for new tunes. The only potential downside to this break from the norm? Listeners either need to be high-tech, low-tech or both-but not in-between. DBS Vol. 3 is available only on vinyl, with a downloadable digital version available with purchase. Whether you dig the switch or not, there's not much to dislike about tonight's all-ages release party featuring The Furs, Eagle Twin and Terrance DH. Big kid release party to follow on Saturday. Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, 7:30 p.m. All-ages. Info: SLUGMag.com
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The Essentials | City Weekly's Entertainment Picks for Feb. 21-27
Posted 02/21/2008
FILM/MUSIC
By Jamie Gadette
Trip down memory lane with SLUG Magazine, the local publication devoted to
both current musical trends and blasts from the past. Case in point: MAKING
A SCENE, a new 30-minute documentary on the reunification of four
once-prominent, now-legendary punk/hardcore bands<Clear, The Stench, The
Corleones and Iceburn<from their late '80s heyday to February 2007, when
SLUG celebrated 18 years on the block with two grand-slam reunion shows. The
brief film squeezes in commentary by local musicians, concert promoters,
members of the media and other figures who supported and continue to rave
about these bands and their much-needed impact on our sleepy little town.
Why should you care? Well, many of the featured artists are still "making a
scene" in new projects including Vile Blue Shades, Eagle Twin, Form of
Rocket, New Transit Direction and other groups that make The Beehive State a
more colorful place in which to live and rage. If you're too young to
remember what Raunch Records was and somehow consider yourself an expert on
local music, this is one history lesson you can't afford to miss. Making a
Scene @ Brewvies Cinema Pub, 677 S. 200 West, Friday, Feb. 22, 8 p.m. & 9
p.m., 21+; also @ Red Light Books, 179 E. 300 South, Saturday, Feb. 23, 8
p.m. All-ages. Tickets: 24Tix.com