July 2012
Local Reviews: Folk Hogan
It’s too easy to say Folk Hogan sound like Flogging Molly—they deserve more than that. Pub-belting tunes about whiskey, women and mythical men, Folk Hogan should be blasted at volume 11 by every cabby-hatted booze enthusiast in Utah. … read more
Local Reviews: Thunderfist
Since visiting my 8th-grade Career Day class 10 years ago, singer Jeremy Cardenas scream-sings just as viciously as in those initial Thunderfist recordings. But now, I’m more afraid he’ll beat me with an ugly stick, shrieking, “I’m all fucked up tonight!” in “Hit the Bottle Again.” With the addition of the prodigious Matt Miller, Thunderfist’s guitar dynamics are fleshed out in a kaleidoscopic way, balanced so that each guitar complements each other just enough, such as in the riffy “Back Down.” … read more
Local Reviews: Bullets & Belles
I have to say that this might be the best production of anything local I’ve ever heard, which would stand to reason, since while Bullets & Belles only formed last year, the members are all veteran musicians. This three-song EP is some damn catchy jazz pop, with stunning vocals, thoughtful lyrics and brilliant songwriting. … read more
Local Reviews: Funnel Vision
Here’s a fun little sack o’ goodies for ya: two CD-Rs, a cassette, a sticker and a mini-zine that chronicle the weird exodus of band members Stan and Karrie Boman as they fled cross-country following the massive tornado that wiped out their home in Joplin, Miss. in May of 2011. … read more
Local Reviews: Giraffula
Loop pedals and one-man bands are becoming more and more common these days. Though this fosters creativity by allowing any single person to experiment with a sound that was previously only attainable with a full band, it has brought with it the unavoidable, long and repetitive loops. … read more
Local Reviews: I Am The Ocean
Post-hardcore outfit I Am The Ocean have delivered a standout and unique EP with Overhead. Their sound is complex and innovative––and hard to pin down and describe. It’s more creative and far-reaching than other contemporary acts, and while it doesn’t hit the crazy, time-changing speeds of some prog metal acts, it carries the same artistic banner of natural experimentation and removal of genre boundaries to build a solid song. … read more
Local Reviews: Samuel Smith Band
You swore you would never listen to KBER. Samuel Smith Band, Salt Lake Soundcheck favorites, will make you repent your superiority. Recall, if you possibly can, some shit-forsaken rock quartet from the ’70s, with a white soul singer, bottle-neck guitars and Fender Champs cranked up to blues kazoo. Samuel Smith Band delivers these basic goods, combined with enough wit and funk to retain a sure sense of the here and now. … read more
Severed Savior
There’s death metal and then there is brutal death metal. Enjoy a straight injection of sinister-flavored dopamine by way of spastic blast drumming, crunchy, grooved guitars and jazz-inspired homicidal tendencies when Severed Savior plays Salt Lake City’s Bar Deluxe on July 11. SLUG caught up with the band’s drummer, Troy Fullerton, to give all you brutal fans a window to the ear-bleeding, eye-watering event going down this summer. … read more
Euphoria in Motion: Teen Daze Releases All Of Us, Together
Although the music Teen Daze creates is easily classified as down-tempo chillwave, Teen Daze is anything but mellow in a live setting. When I caught his performance during New York’s CMJ, Teen Daze quietly informed the crowd that he’d be playing some new music and hoped the crowd would get friendly with one another, before diving into a half-hour set that saw him head banging over his MacBook and Ableton Live sequencer, thrashing about as if he was in the midst of a seizure. … read more
Photo Feature: Sam Giles
I’d like to say that I’m an artist and my photos are timeless, but that would be a joke. This photo will be dated by this time next year, when some kid from Nowheresville, Utah hardflips into this same trick at this same spot. Unfortunately for Cody Hardflip, Sam Giles got a pretty damn stylish backside 50-50 on this spot without the hardflip. … read more
Evan Service: Fixie Fiend
Like many cyclists, Evan Service boasts a lifetime of rollin’ rough: “I’ve been riding two-wheelers since before I was three,” he says. What sets him apart is exactly what reeled him into the world of fixed-gear freestyle, though. “I always thought it was cool, something different,” he says. “No one did it at the time that we all started doing it.” … read more
Corporate Skateboarding Still Sucks: Joey Sandmire, Local Skateboarder
Joey Sandmire may not be a name you’re familiar with now, but it’s definitely one you should get used to hearing. The 17-year-old out of Bingham was recently added to the Blindside team and travels with SK801. I recently met up with Sandmire and his crew. Upon arriving at his desired meeting spot, his friends volunteered him to go skate a nearby rail. He agreed and I followed them to the mysterious spot. There, shaded between two buildings, was a mammoth 11-stair with royal blue handrails and a nasty kink. … read more
