The opening track “Illuminati” on Top Dead Celebrity’s self-titled album made me hope this would be a dynamic instrumental band, and then right towards the end of the well-laced opening track they speed it up, give it the Kyuss kick and the hammer drops. … read more
You have to give respect to Monorchist. This band drops straight-up garage rock that is so unpretentious and unpolished that it sounds like you’re right in the middle of one of their band practices. Hating on it is next to impossible. … read more
Although Negative Charge have been together (in some form or another) since 2005, it’s probably a good thing that they waited until now to release their debut album. After opening for many decent punk bands here in SLC (Street Brats, Lower Class Brats, Funeral Dress, GBH, The Casualties, etc.) and a plethora of lineup changes, Negative Charge finally seem to have perfected their sound. … read more
It’s difficult to know even where to start with Sundance’s “World Cinema Documentary” selection Of Fathers and Sons. It’s clear, however, that it’s an incredibly essential film, and it touches on an array of issues. … read more
For me, and for many viewers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor is a nostalgic trip into what made Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood such a memorable and prolific television program, and also a testament to how much imagination and care Fred Rogers put into his show, as well as his life. … read more
Admittedly, what I know about the Norwegian Black Metal scene I owe to Last Podcast on the Left—I basically knew what to expect from the plot of Sundance film Lords of Chaos. However, there was no way to prepare for the brutal way the story is presented through the eyes of Euronymous (Rory Culkin). … read more
Alone in her mansion, famous Argentine theater actress Robertina (Valeria Bertuccelli) grows increasingly anxious in the days leading up to her much anticipated, one-woman show in The Queen of Fear. … read more
“Come inside my mind,” says Robin Williams, in his own distinctive voice as the film opens with a scene from a different time—an interview where Williams uses an impromptu performance as the answer to a question about whether he can think faster than most people. … read more
Exotic Payday sounds like a moon-shined Paul Bunyan careening around the lumberyard with a hatchet recently sharpened on the ol’ whetstone�in other words, heavy, ungainly and dangerous. Is it wrong for me to think Mr. Peter Makowski is just cuter than ever as he gargles, spits, retches, spews rabies-laden saliva and shreds his throat into Austin pork barbecue to get across his tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic, red-hot-burning angst? … read more
Salt Lake has been overrun lately by blues-influenced, mostly acoustic musicians�a visit to any coffee shop on gallery stroll will confirm this. It makes it that much more refreshing to find someone who experiments with the genre and successfully turns it on its ear. Aye Aye does just exactly this. … read more
The Black Hens started as a fluke; a thrown together project birthed from a one-off jam session with SLC folk powerhouses: Glade, David Williams, Band of Annuals members jeremi Hanson and Brent Dreiling while in … you guessed it, Albuquerque. … read more
I was pleasantly surprised when I popped in Knifeshow’s blue sounding album Here Until It’s Gone. The first thing that caught my attention was Brent Anderson’s falsetto vocals. His voice sounds like a cross between Jeff Buckley and Muse front man Matthew Bellamy. Maybe those two are secretly his parents and he just doesn’t know yet. … read more
