April 2013
Local Reviews: Night Sweats
Usually, an EP will comprise a few songs representing a short body of work by a band. In the case of Night Sweats’ Red EP, four songs make up over 30 minutes of dark yet poppy electronic indie music. I keep seeing references to them on my Facebook feed. Red makes it quickly obvious why they’re on every tongue and fingertip. … read more
Local Reviews: The Rose Phantom
The latest release by Salt Lake’s own Ted Newsom, Abandon represents a new direction as Newsom turned his back on his other projects to focus two years’ time on the Rose Phantom persona and work. Marrying lush dramatics and intricate electronica, the album’s 10 tracks of careful and succinct industrial-tinged darkwave would not be out of place in a goth club or in an alternative radio station’s rotation. … read more
Local Reviews: Salt Lake Spitfires
Salt Lake Spitfires aptly synthesize thrash guitars and mid-tempo punk rock right off the bat with “Mountain” in the Chaos Baby EP, and pin down exactly what it would be like at a rock n’ roll show in the ’70s. The Spitfires succeed in varying their songs yet retaining their own sonic signature. … read more
Local Reviews: Searching for Celia
I reeeeally enjoy Searching For Celia’s sound. I love strings, and I love them even more when they’re moody, frantic and excitable. I love them most of all when their undeniably classical sound is mixed into a modern interpretation, paired with electric guitars, bass and hearty drums. … read more
Local Reviews: Sinthesis
You’d think that a fusion of hip hop and blues would be a musical trainwreck, but Phaust and Phingaz, who make up Sinthesis, blend the two genres nicely––especially considering they wrote and recorded Horseshoes & Handgrenades in a little over a week. … read more
Local Reviews: Wake Up Nebula
Wake Up Nebula Never Fall In love With Birds Self-Released Street: 02.12 Wake Up Nebula = Metro Station / Shiny Toy Guns Emo-electro has had its ups and downs in terms of popularity—maybe there are still some die-hards out there still listening to Playradioplay!. There always seems to be somewhat of a whiny, perhaps nerdy
Review: Globe and Beast
st 15 minutes of this album gives me a feeling of overwhelming chaos—like when a circle pit gets too crowded or finding a light switch in a large dark room. … read more
Review: Gold Fields
I want to enjoy this Aussie dance-rock, but something about it reminds me a little too much of being 15 and angst-ily blasting Panic! At The Disco. My teenage insecurities aside, the fast rock chords combined with perky electro-beats and male pop vocals that are the basis of Gold Fields are pretty decent—if not boy-band quality. … read more
Local Reviews: Cathy Foy
“I can carry my own weight, I can carry my own sins, away,” Cathy Foy delicately sings on “I Became a Flash” from her sophomore release, Quiet as the Hour. Most of us are accustomed to seeing Foy behind a drum set playing for scene makers such as Hang Time, Future of the Ghost, Bluebird Radio, The Awful Truth, The Downers and more. On Quiet, Foy showcases a newfound confidence in songwriting and performance. … read more
Local Reviews: Desert Noises
If I had to pick one local album to share with a friend from out of state, Mountain Sea would probably be it. To me, it represents the real quality folk-inspired rock n’roll that comes from Utah. Its sound is big enough to fill wide-open spaces and its feeling is intimate enough for a good pair of headphones. … read more
Local Reviews: Eyes Open
The EP is short but sweet, consisting of just three four-minute-plus rock-ballad style songs that flow in and out of each other easily. They are pretty, nicely executed, neatly produced, and clearly reflect the influences (such as U2 and Foo Fighters) that the band members have listed on the back of the album sleeve. … read more
Local Reviews: Fever Dreams
Even though they’re from St. George, I’m pretty sure that anytime Fever Dreams play a show in their hometown, we’d be able to hear ‘em all the way up in Salt Lake. This is dirty, mean, evil shit. … read more
