Year: 2013
Local Reviews: Pretty Worms/Plastic Furs
With “Comet Tail,” you can hear Trisha McBride’s vocals a little more clearly in the mix of bright bass and thick sonic distortion, and her ranting drone is an excellent fit for Pretty Worms. It’s a little slower and much less noisy than their other material, but as a stand-alone track, it rocks with the best of them. While the familiar, yet still unsettling vocal loops play on, the drums keep a snappy, danceable beat. … read more
Local Reviews: The Beginning At Last
The Beginning At Last are a quartet who combine the basic musical styles of metal and hip hop. The resulting sound on No Music No Life is pretty much what one would expect: scratching vinyl over trilling distortion and synth lead over bellowing shouts. … read more
Local Reviews: American Hitmen
Listening to American Hitmen is like jumping into a Hot Tub Time Machine. Instead of going all the way back to the ’80s, this time travel adventure sends you back to the early ’90s when rock bands still had all the flash and machismo of spandex-rocking ’80s metal bands, but were also starting to embrace a little bit of a dark, moody, creative side. … read more
Local Reviews: Chainwhip
The Salt Lake punk scene’s own Critter fronts Chainwhip with his screechy vocal assault, accompanying a cacophonous mix of thrash and crusty hardcore. As with most demos from a local hardcore band, the lo-fi recording quality stands out at first, but only becomes more and more charming and appropriate as the release claws along. … read more
Local Reviews: Daisy & The Moonshines
This band has three things that make them dangerously worthwhile: class, soul and groove. It would be difficult to listen to their music and not feel engaged in some way or another—whether it be to the visceral, bluesy feel (such as in the song “50’s Kill Off!”) or the genuine lyrics that thread the album together. … read more
Local Reviews: Max Pain and the Groovies
Tortilla Gold, the latest release from the Groovies, is seven tracks of jangling, bluesy rock n’ roll. This band plays a great live show, always getting the crowd thrashing around. Fast rockers such as “Electro Cosmic Chronic Jam” and “Doin Time” capture that energy, while the slow groove of “Piano” and “Good Olds Blues” show a more melodic, tightened-up side of the band. … read more
Local Reviews: Summerteeth
Summerteeth’s recent release is a conglomeration of swirling hooks and high-neck diddles played through synthpop keyboard. The EP has an early ’00s indie rock influence that plays out well with its lo-fi guitars, discordant vocals and simple chord progressions. … read more
Local Review: Visions of Decay
Visions of Decay = old Norma Jean + Chariot vocals + sludge and groove … read more
Local Reviews: Lady Murasaki
Had I not seen this band in person, I never would have guessed these soulful vocals came from a 6’ Japanese woman commanding the mic with a classic Gretch in hand. But this poppy five-piece rock group really isn’t anything they appear to be, and that’s a really good thing. … read more
Local Reviews: The Mooks
Before hearing it, I thought that the title track of this latest Mooks release might be a Spice Girls cover—these are SLC’s foremost purveyors of all things pop-punk and cuteness, after all—but that is not the case (though that probably would’ve been pretty cool, too). … read more
Local Reviews: Pat Briggs and the T-Birds
This album reminds me of the best band you heard at a college party in the late ’90s and could never remember the name of—but I mean that in the best way. The instrumentation is softer rock, all shining guitars and thoughtful and adept rhythm-section backups. … read more
Local Reviews: Golden Sun
This self-titled indie rock EP is fierce as fuck, paving the way for a full-fledged album in the future and establishing an above-average, awesome sound. A casual listener might not realize that these dudes are young—both in age and in their time together as a band, releasing their first album in July 2011. … read more
