Year: 2004
Local Review: Summerhead – Liberation
Summerhead Liberation Eden’s Watchtower Summerhead = German EBM + A Different Drum Records Mostly instrumental Summerhead ranges from new-age electronica to synthpop to hip-hop to DJ dub trance to reggae, Enya to Natalie Merchant to Massive Attack. The coherency lies in the smooth production, the peaceful, slow beat structures that are one web holding
Local Review: State & Stereo – Thinkstop
State & Stereo Thinkstop Gloworm Records State & Stereo = New York Dolls + The Strokes + The Warlocks Bratty, cheeky lo-fi rock equal parts pop, glam garage and psychedelic wash with heartrending piano is best when dipping closer to the latter two, traveling back two decades como T. Rex than suckling from fads
Local Review: Rope or Bullets – Call It for What...
Rope or Bullets Call It for What You Want Rope or Bullets = Atom and His Package + Modern English From the band that brought you “I Love Personality,” the outright best song on the Death By Salt compilation, comes a six-song precursor to a full-length album. Rope or Bullets, though not the rockin’est
Local Review: Seconds Away – Self-titled demo
Seconds Away Self-titled demo Seconds Away = The Used + Gift Anon + Drive-Thru Records OK, I put Gift Anon in there because of the tender vocals. They should send their CDs only to Drive-Thru Records and Jade Tree and call it good. Seconds Away are pretty good at making emo that doesn’t suck, thanks
Local Review: Scoob Serious – Standing in the Gap
Scoob Serious Standing in the Gap Visualize Scoob Serious = The Bible + Cypress Hill Christian rap can be annoying, but Scoob Serious comes off sincere and non-self-righteous about his religious convictions, rapping directly but non-melodramatically in his knowing purr about his past life as a gangster leading a double life behind his young
Local Review: Powerhouse Rock – Self-Titled
Powerhouse Rock Self-Titled Powerhouse Rock = Alice Cooper + Ted Nugent Good God. Someone in the 80s invented a time machine and sent a butt-rock group to the new millennium to see if it could still survive. Unfortunately, it landed in SLC and somehow made it into my hands. I’m guessing the entire band consists
Local Review: Purr Bats – Soft Fluff EP
Purr Bats Soft Fluff EP State of Deseret Purr Bats = Virgin Prunes + Rope or Bullets + candy necklaces Purr Bats, a jeweled rainbow Phoenix risen out of the bleak, life-affirming wasteland that was Utah County band Puri-do, are a fleck of unadulterated talent in a grey fog of bombastic music caricatures. They
Local Review: Quant – Crossies Count
Quant Crossies Count Quant = (Modest Mouse + Jane’s Addiction)valium Quant set out to make the most subtly-smart album ever and almost succeeded—or maybe I’m just not smart (patient) enough. The songs are all well and good with intricate instrumentation and thoughtful lyrics but they just go on and on and on—listening to this
Local Review: Quetté Daddie – Reverse Psychology
Quetté Daddie Reverse Psychology JAMS Quetté Daddie = Bert McCracken’s publicity stunts + $10 DI Casio “Before music critic [sic] bash my music in a CD review, I think they should try to understand my music and my pain,” says Quetté Daddie at the beginning of Reverse Psychology. Could he be talking about little
Local Review: November Tide – Jargon Sunset
November Tide Jargon Sunset Nova One Productions November Tide = Ron L. Hubbard + Roses & Exile It’s amazing the variety of projects Chris Alvarado takes on, from the black industrial of 23 Extacy to Twilight Transmissions to Roses & Exile to now, the delicate, mellow tracings of November Tide. Lying underneath the multiple layers