Music
Local Reviews: Parallax
Mediums and Messages was originally released on CD in 2006, shortly after the tragic death of Parallax vocalist Blake Donner. Five years later, the band is reissuing the album on vinyl and playing one final show in Provo (with Jeff Jensen, who filled in on vocals for a year following Donner’s passing) before laying Parallax to rest. … read more
Local Reviews: The Moth & The Flame
As a duo that thrives on the subtlety of ambient and fragile song structures, the presence of percussion on the album was unexpected. The songs definitely benefit from the addition of drums, and some still maintain that gentle, icy sound even with crashing cymbals in the background. … read more
Local Reviews: Mayson Lee and the Rock & Roll Space...
There’s ome pretty fun greasy pop punk with a little horror thrown in on the EP from Mayson Lee. At first I didn’t think much of the female fronted group—they sounded like a lot of other bands to me—but after a few listens, I was coming around and started to see that they may not be reinventing the wheel, but they do know how to get it spinning. … read more
Local Reviews: Lalage
Whoa. This is a whole lotta art here. Lara Candland vocalizes her poetry in various stylings over sometimes lovely, sometimes strange and bizarre background sounds, created along with Christian Asplund, her long-time partner and the other member of the duo known as Lalage. … read more
Local Reviews: J-Real
This is just bad marketing. So much of this album is a waste of time. Not so much the music parts, more the cee-lo instructions, like your target market doesn’t already know how to roll bones curbside. “Million Dollar Swag” is spit over the “Nissan, Honda, Chevy” beat, and still doesn’t hold up to the other 350 artist to spit over it. … read more
Local Reviews: Joshua Payne Orchestra
Zoom is going to be the record you put on the top of the pile, where your friends will be sure see it. Each jammy, heavily rhythmic, hooky tune is as good as or better than the last. You’ll find yourself humming melodies from “La La La” and “SLUG” as if they were lyric-less primary songs written for Miles Davis’ grandkids. … read more
Local Reviews: Fox Van Cleef
Fox Van Cleef couldn’t have picked a better title for their first full-length album. The five-piece ensemble have blended elements of funk, psychedelic, rock and blues into a overwhelming concoction of music that doesn’t really match any other Utah band. … read more
Local Reviews: Blitzkrieg Witchcraft
Blitzkrieg Witchcraft continues digging at that crusty scab, coaxing a virulent anarcho-sludge blend to the surface, but opting for strained atmospherics over speed. “No Faith” is a wobbly intro that’s as doomy as it is unnecessary, but “Mais” picks it up, seething like a faster, sloppier Void practice tape. … read more
Local Reviews: All Systems Fail/@patia No
After waiting for roughly a year and a half, this split LP has finally dropped, and boy howdy, it’s a fucking doozy. Seven songs apiece from SLC’s most under-appreciated band, All Systems Fail, and Venezuelan anarchists @patia No. The ASF side showcases songs that have been live favorites for a couple of years at least, and they sound absolutely brutal on this slab. … read more
Local Reviews: American Hitmen
American Hitmen would be considered a somewhat modernized offspring of 1980s era metal/thrasher tunes. Not so much like the metal creations who have done away with melody and music altogether—the “roll” in “rock n’ roll,” if you will. This EP seems to pay homage to some of the original interpretations of the genre, aligning more with Alice Cooper and Def Leppard stylings. … read more
Foxygen, Unknown Mortal Orchestra @ Urban Lounge 03.19
Foxygen delivered such high energy to the show that I would’ve felt pretty stoked seeing only them had the show taken some sad turn of events and Unknown Mortal Orchestra bailed. This was my first time seeing or even hearing Foxygen, and I am completely sold on their sound. Their performance reminded me of Spindrift, if instead of incorporating the Western themes of cowboys versus Indians, they would embrace the ’70s styles of bands like The Mama’s and the Papa’s. … read more
NOVA Chamber Series: Echoes of Utah @ Libby Gardner Hall...
Tchaikovsky is so good at this kind of thing, it might not be wrong to credit him with the invention of Stadium Rock, as the desired effect and the outcome are essentially the same. … read more
