Issues: Issue 244 - April 2009
Local Reviews: Blue Sunshine Soul
Diversity within the local scene isn’t always celebrated and is usually even harder to come across within the environs of a six-piece entity like Blue Sunshine Soul. Perhaps the fact that the majority of the members of this collective are professional musicians helps to keep egos in check and let the individual voices present come to the fore. … read more
Local Reviews: Cherubin
Being a local, I still have to admit that Utah’s metal scene leaves a lot to be desired. That said, I’m not entirely jaded, and this album did manage to catch me off guard. Whatever fucked up inspirations Cherubin have resulted in a particularly gloomy, dismal and completely satisfying experience. … read more
Local Reviews: DJ 2BE
Over the years, I’ve found that artists who incorporate reggae into their sound have some ironically hilarious similarities to certain types of ganja connoisseurs. On one hand, if your music is just some new-wave reggae mash-up hippy gangbang, it resembles that guy that you try to avoid at all costs because he smokes 20 hours a day and goes on about the same ol’ shit he has been for years. … read more
Local Review: Drew Danburry – This Could Mean Trouble, You...
I’m no musician––I have no musical talent in any bone of my body––but I still have to wonder how any one can sit down, create an album like this and call themselves artists. Hold on, let me take a step back and sugarcoat it a little. Danburry’s attempt at making a quirky and “unique” album deserves at least a pat on the back. … read more
Local Reviews: Going Second
As I’m growing out of my pop-punk phase, it’s getting harder and harder for these types of bands to impress me. Going Second has caught my ear though. This band has managed to incorporate all the aspects that make a pop-punk band good, while most bands nowadays seem to only focus on one. … read more
Local Reviews: Illegal Beagle
Hey, non-traditional ska bands in Utah: this is how you’re supposed to be doing it. The members of Illegal Beagle seem to have ignored nearly all of the ska made during their lifetimes and pick it up right after the two-tone movement, injecting an urgency and attitude into ska while keeping the rhythm in tact. … read more
Local Reviews: The Naked Eyes
Using their first release, Free and Easy, as a solid point to base jump off makes this local three-piece’s latest efforts a great follow-up to their previous grounded approach. As they continue to refine their signature style it seems they have no hinderance in the creative flow they’ve coddled––and are now unleashing it on The West. … read more
Local Reviews: Paul Jacobsen and the Madison Arm
I first heard Paul Jacobsen a while back on the Slowtrain compilation, Around The Bend, and fell in love with his featured track, “Lung.” When I got my hands on the full-length and figured out why that opening track was so familiar, I kept my fingers crossed and kept listening. Not only does Jacobsen deliver, he exceeds my expectations. … read more
Local Reviews: Riots of Eighty
Christian Hardcore is probably the lamest genre of music that has ever been invented. I mean come on, screaming about faith and god and being all angry about it? Seriously? … read more
Local Reviews: Starmy
Utah was ready for this album in 2007. Two years later and after the first listen, it wasn’t as huge as I expected. … read more