Month: April 2005
Local Review: The Legendary Porch Pounders – A Little Gift:...
The Legendary Porch Pounders A Little Gift: Authorized Bootleg Self-Released LPP = Muddy Waters + Bob Dylan I swore off drinking yesterday, but halfway through the emotionally exhausting second track, “Up for Days,” I had one leg swung back up on the wagon. Dan Weldon’s lyrics are more folk-poetic than would traditionally accompany many of
Local Review: The Brobecks – Happiest Nuclear Winter
The Brobecks Happiest Nuclear Winter Self-Released The Brobecks = Weezer + They Might be Giants + Flaming Lips + Alkaline Trio This album isn’t over-cute, it’s just cute drawn out. Happiest Nuclear Winter struts clever through 12 tracks of electro-pop subtle-saccharine with bummed-out lyrics and occasional near-jazz piano ditties. Sad, socially conscious, mostly strange and
Local Review: The Body – Call Off the Search
The Body Call Off the Search Self-Released The Body = Aesop Rock + Atmosphere + the Roots Funky sometimes slipping into raga full-instrumental backtracks flow behind flows laid by emcees LoKaL and MiMiC rounding out over an hour of recorded sweet hip-hop smoothness. The first half of tracks find the lyrics a bit lazy, crutching
Local Review: Quiet Colors – Self-titled demo
Quiet Colors Self-titled demo Quiet Colors = Circa Survive + Armor for Sleep Quiet Colors comes off like an Equal Visions band with their melodic-emo-with-punk-overtones mix. The music’s cloudy-darkish, but behind it the sun is bursting out orange and glorious, and the big reverby guitars make golden rainbows. Um. Not golden showers. Armor for Sleep
Local Review: Purr Bats – Bionic Fresh Moves
Purr Bats Bionic Fresh Moves State of Deseret/Rest 30 Purr Bats = Purr Bats They’re incomparable, sorry. Salt Lake’s best dour synth-disco-spazz band that will kill you with humor while they revive you with succinctness have so many tongues in cheeks it’d be an athletic event to french ’em. Purr Bats move in a more
Local Review: Magstatic – She’s Just a Buzz
Magstatic She’s Just a Buzz Pop Sweatshop Magstatic = Failure + Sugar + Pinback Plump, solid pop-hooks are as satisfying to the palatte as malt balls; sometimes energetically upbeat (“Downtown Girlfriend,” “My Little Runaway”), sometimes smoldering crystal-cool (“Run to You,” “Bitchin’ House”). It’s all radio-friendly and better than anything playing on the radio, if you
Local Review: Jesse Michael Garcia – A Man Of Action
Jesse Michael Garcia A Man of Action Jesse Michael Garcia = Christian Johanssen + Mr. Rogers Jesse Michael Garcia. A man of action. An earnest man. A man who likes to write music, play guitar and sing. A man who wants a contract when he plays the Urban Lounge. Try to understand; he’s been burned
Local Review: Eliza Wren – Selections in Time
Eliza Wren Selections in Time EW = Radiohead + (Fiery Furnaces – total bizarrity) + Tom Waits As melancholy and complex as scarcity musicianship can muster, Eliza Wren ‘s (new to SLC from Austin) compositions seem good for sleeping, but great for strange dreaming too. SLUG’s own RMP describes her as “a gruff angel of
Local Review: Facts – The F Files: Mixtape Vol. 1
Facts The F Files: Mixtape Vol. 1 Lace Em Up Facts = Bubba Sparxx + The Agents Facts puts lyrics together as precisely as a watchmaker, and his beats and samples stick to you like flypaper slathered with honey. His remix of “Walks of Life” is 10 times better than the original, and his shout-outs
Review: Foetus – Not Adam
Foetus Not Adam Birdman Records Foetus is an act most rivetheads are not familiar with. Since 1981, Jim Thirwell made his mark as an early industrial pioneer working with the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Coil and Lydia Lunch. Surprises ensue when putting Foetus in for a listen. The title track of the single, “(Not
Review: Ffa Coffi Pawb – Am Byth
Ffa Coffi Pawb Am Byth Empyrean Before Gruff Rhys was mesmerizing the world with Super Furry Animals, he and a cast of characters who would go on to play in Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Mogwai and Cornelius were kicking around Wales as Ffa Coffi Pawb. Am Byth is a compilation pulled from their three albums and
Review: Erasure – Nightbird
Erasure Nightbird Mute On Erasure’s last release, Other People’s Songs, Vince Clark and Andy Bell sounded tired. Their bag of tricks had been spent, reducing them to an album of poorly constructed cover songs, and even though it pushed the duo back onto the radar in America, it was quite easily their worst effort
