Issues: Issue 303 - March 2014
The Demonstrably Modest Isaiah Rashad
I was gushing to Isaiah Rashad about his excellent new album, Cilvia Demo. A gauche, fanboy move I admit, but I couldn’t help myself. I went on about how there’s no filler, how it’s a “fully realized artistic statement” and so on. With all of that in mind, I wondered why he decided to call it an EP? … read more
The Asylum Door Opens: Ringworm Return to SLC
I’ve been chatting with James “The Human Furnace” Bulloch for just a few minutes. We’ve touched on Cleveland, the ’90s hardcore scene and his band Ringworm’s place within it. “I really had nothing in common with my peers at the time,” says Bulloch, reflecting on the band’s genesis and the hardcore scene of the time. “I never felt like singing about ‘the scene’ or ‘my friend stabbed me in the back.’” That’s always been Ringworm’s deal, though. A little bit o’ hardcore and a whole heaping of metal, it’s a style that came from Bulloch’s upbringing as the youngest of four music-obsessed kids. … read more
Pack the Van: Utah Hits SXSW
The SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas is the largest of its kind in the world—and one of the best opportunities for up-and-coming bands to promote their music, expose themselves to potential labels and maybe even get a little press. Though it sounds like a good time—and it is—it takes a motivated, hardworking band to make the trip and play a week of shows against thousands of other bands. Utah has a handful of talented acts making the trek this year under the Texas sun for a piece of the action. Follow them on the web to find out where and when they’ll be rockin’ in Austin. … read more
Creature Feature: Jezebel Jet’s Bad Kid Origins
SLUG’s bi-monthly online column, Creature Feature, has followed the Bad Kids from their raw, youthful days to the brilliant, thriving queer constellation it continues to be. They are a vital force for queer voices in the face of today’s hesitancy toward all things goofy and sexy and weird and fun. For its sixth installment, SLUG spoke with Jezebel Jet about becoming her comic book alter ego and being the Bad Kids’ first female performer. … read more
Skivenge
I felt compelled to defy the disingenuous liberal attitude that snowboarding connotes for me, but also to redefine skiing as something other than being for older folks, faux, white thugs with saggy ski pants and trust-fund frat babies. Though I know it’s an expensive hobby, I romanticized the days when “ski bums” lived up to their name, and wanted to re-appropriate skis and poles from privileged means for entertainment to weapons of carnage to pillage the ice amid mountainous splendor. … read more
Pipa: Asian Small Plates on the West Side
After living in the heart of Downtown for over a decade, recent circumstances allowed me to buy a house in the northwestern Salt Lake neighborhood of Rose Park. It’s an older neighborhood with deep roots, and with the arrival of the light rail along the North Temple corridor, rumors of a renaissance for the Rose Park and Fair Park neighborhoods have begun to stir, and a recent trip to the Rancho Market plaza on 900 West led me to the unassuming façade of Pipa. … read more
Localized: Bombshell Academy
March Localized features an orgy of electric sound on March 15 at 9 p.m. The sultry, blues-rock sounds of Merchant Royal will massage things into action before we get a little horny (that’s a trumpet joke) with energetic, brass-infused ska-punkers Bombshell Academy. Once we’re hot and bothered, MiNX will hit the stage for an audio-visual mixtape that might leave your shorts a little moist—bring cigarettes for after. This $5 show is 21+ at Urban Lounge and graciously sponsored by Salt Lake Community College, KRCL 90.9FM, Budwiser and Spilt Ink. … read more