There’s a complexity and balance of malt and hop flavors that are subtle but still provide a bit of excitement on the tongue. The carbonation is medium-high and light bodied, with a smooth, crisp and lightly tickling mouthfeel. The light alcohol is well hidden, with zero warming effects. … read more
We thought this would be a great opportunity to host a festival because we had so much great beer—great local beer,” says Briggs. “We were so excited to see them winning awards at the Great American Beer Festival and in San Diego. We thought that we should be highlighting them ourselves, here in Utah.” … read more
Admittedly, I was a bit confused when I first spun the latest EP from Salt Lake City’s The Mighty Curse. It is a mishmash of styles, and the vocals are so obviously bad that you know even the members probably laugh at them. The first thing I should have done was the last thing I did, and that was go to their MySpace page. … read more
Minimalist percussion and plaintively delivered vocals make this release one of the most haunting local pieces I’ve heard in a while. Band members Big Red and Little Fran create a lot of atmosphere with only some sparse acoustic guitar, a shaker, a tambourine on some songs and a small drum kit on others. … read more
Wite Nite’s self-titled EP starts off with a promising ambience of swirling sounds and soft guitars, but moves quickly from that beauty into an unrelenting, bad mushroom trip. The whole alblum is actually perfectly described as a mushroom trip – it starts off pretty and exciting, but time seems to stop about five minutes into it and you just want it to be over. … read more
Even though Thor Yamamoto isn’t doing a hard trick in this photo, his style and attitude shine through and speak for themselves. Kids like Thor are a big part of why I stay heavily involved in BMX. … read more
Spencer Holt’s comic this month illustrates the exciting complexities of drinking games and “getting sloshed.” … read more
This year, while spitballing ideas for a beer column, I realized that there was one thing that I’ve actually never done with regard to beer, and that is drink a nonalcoholic one. I thought that it would be helpful to review some sans-fun suds for the Beer Issue. I don’t quite know whom this helps, because the first thing I realized is that I know absolutely no one that drinks this shit. … read more
Eleanor Coppola’s narrative-film directorial debut, Paris Can Wait, is a stale jaunt through French terrain by way of a Peugeot convertible, exorbitant dinners and flat—mostly nonexistent—romance and comedy. … read more
Ever wonder what Clutch would sound like if they returned to their roots, yet still retained some of their modern sound? That’s the biggest vibe I’m getting from Salt Lake City’s Breaux on The Brown Bag EP. It has almost become cliché to say, “This band defies genres,” but in all honesty I really haven’t come across a band like Breaux. … read more
You could play this record for someone and they’d wonder what classic 80s hard rock band it is until you told them that the members of this band were probably just small kiddos in the 80s. The band isn’t out to re-invent the notion of what hard rock is, I could cite influences until the cows come home, but that doesn’t really matter. … read more
While I still stand firmly by my assertion that most local punk rock sucks, I’d be lying if I said this release is anything but awesome. Recorded live in the Dubbed band room, this split finds two of Utah’s finest punk bands at their best, even if they are a little drunk (Dubbed) or a little rough around the edges (Bombs & Beating Hearts). … read more
