Authors: Rebecca Vernon
Local Review: State & Stereo – Thinkstop
State & Stereo Thinkstop Gloworm Records State & Stereo = New York Dolls + The Strokes + The Warlocks Bratty, cheeky lo-fi rock equal parts pop, glam garage and psychedelic wash with heartrending piano is best when dipping closer to the latter two, traveling back two decades como T. Rex than suckling from fads
Local Review: Spit – Self-Titled Demo
Spit Self-Titled Demo Spit = Godsmack + Taproot + Disturbed Spit aren’t bad for what they do, even though the first track blows monkey chunks and they could have used better production … or just production, period. Fat, harshly separated riffs churn more viciously than a jilted milkmaid. Aggressive drumming with plentiful amounts of
Local Review: Sound Lab – Eat Your Pets
Sound Lab Eat Your Pets Sound Lab = NIN + The Bad Plus + Cat Stevens They experimental ambience was passable in the first three tracks, but really picks up in “Toy Box,” where toy percussion, discordant, creepy guitar, maggot-moulting clicking sounds and beautiful cello blend together—a perfect soundtrack to falling asleep clutching your dead mother’s
Local Review: State & Stereo – The Reservoir
Ragged guitar, lo-fi production, cool keyboards with slippage and astounding songwriting rescue State & Stereo from over-polished indie-rock oblivion … read more
Local Review: Seconds Away – Self-titled demo
Seconds Away Self-titled demo Seconds Away = The Used + Gift Anon + Drive-Thru Records OK, I put Gift Anon in there because of the tender vocals. They should send their CDs only to Drive-Thru Records and Jade Tree and call it good. Seconds Away are pretty good at making emo that doesn’t suck, thanks
Local Review: Scoob Serious – Standing in the Gap
Scoob Serious Standing in the Gap Visualize Scoob Serious = The Bible + Cypress Hill Christian rap can be annoying, but Scoob Serious comes off sincere and non-self-righteous about his religious convictions, rapping directly but non-melodramatically in his knowing purr about his past life as a gangster leading a double life behind his young
Local Review: Ryan Boud – Falling Stars
Ryan Bound Falling Stars Ryan Boud = Jade Tree + acoustic guitar + Gathering Osiris Ryan Boud probably wants to be signed, but he already sounds like he’s on a label—the packaging, production and delivery of his music is pretty much Pollyanna perfect. Bitterness against perfect-aspiring people aside, Ryan Boud’s songwriting is quite impressive
Local Review: Royal Bliss – After the Chaos II
Royal Bliss After the Chaos II Air Castle Records Royal Bliss = Vertical Horizon + P.O.D. For how many people can’t stand Royal Bliss, they sure show up the hatahs with After the Chaos II. Sure, Royal Bliss come from a surefire mainstream perspective, but how. This album has more catchy hooks than an 18th-century
Local Review: Purr Bats – Soft Fluff EP
Purr Bats Soft Fluff EP State of Deseret Purr Bats = Virgin Prunes + Rope or Bullets + candy necklaces Purr Bats, a jeweled rainbow Phoenix risen out of the bleak, life-affirming wasteland that was Utah County band Puri-do, are a fleck of unadulterated talent in a grey fog of bombastic music caricatures. They
Local Review: Quetté Daddie – Reverse Psychology
Quetté Daddie Reverse Psychology JAMS Quetté Daddie = Bert McCracken’s publicity stunts + $10 DI Casio “Before music critic [sic] bash my music in a CD review, I think they should try to understand my music and my pain,” says Quetté Daddie at the beginning of Reverse Psychology. Could he be talking about little
Local Review: Red Bennies – Adult Sophisticates
Red Bennies Adult Sophisticates Rest 30 Red Bennies = 40s big band + 50s garage + 70s soloing I can’t give Red Bennies a bad review because one of the members used to be my next-door neighbor, and when I would get hungry, I would go over to their house and his wife would serve
Local Review: Rezolution – Karmakatastrophe
Rezolution Karmakatastrophe Fenix Rezolution sent SLUG a copy of their new CD, even though I bashed their last one. Maybe they thought there was a different reviewer now; nope—Nicholas Fox was me, Rezolution. Face! Anyway, Rezolution pride themselves on having more substance than most “cute boy-bands.” They are heavier than Justin Timberlake; I’ll give
