Year: 2013
Local Reviews: The Furies
Glow’s opener, “Death of Man,” could be an okay rock track if properly recorded. But, you know that whisper-scream people do when quoting a scream from a song/movie? Well, the Furies recorded that for some reason. Many tracks are just noises—a door closing, a repeating guitar pattern, random drums and arbitrary, incoherent 12-inch-whisper vocals. … read more
Local Reviews: Ghosts of Cinema
How does one reject both time and color? Some sort of laser? In trying to avoid the pitfall of lyrical content focused solely on relationship drama, the young Ghosts of Cinema reach for some pretty ambitious, yet ridiculously obtuse subject matter on their debut album. … read more
Local Reviews: Harbor Royale
It pains me to be a Debbie Downer about music, but when the first 35 seconds of the album make me want to scratch my ears off my head, I find it necessary. On one hand, Aspirations would sell at Hot Topic to girls with too much eyeliner, without question. … read more
Local Reviews: Mark Dago
Plain and simple, this is one of the better local CDs I have been lucky enough to come across. SelfHighFive is a testament to the talent in the area—the production is tight, the beats hit your ears crisp and clear, and the dude’s lyrics are sharp. … read more
Local Reviews: Red Pete
Red Pete hits the nail on the head in the first song “Best Defense” when singer/bassist Keith Callister sings, “You tripped a landmine in my head.” I couldn’t have said or sung it better myself there, Keith—a landmine has definitely been tripped in my head by your sweet, jiving jams. … read more
Local Reviews: Righteous Audio Werks
Vocal-free reggae is amazing. It elevates the standard genre above just something to get stoned to and takes it to a level similar to jazz. That may be a bold statement, but bold bands like Righteous Audio Werks (RAW) are happy to do it. … read more
Local Reviews: Soft BleR
ElekHztro, from Orem’s Soft BleR, is an album that doesn’t show its true colors until most listeners have pushed skip on their iPods. Electronic wizard Sam Davis places a formidable road block with the first half of the album that could alienate listeners without the patience to wade through the headache-inducing minimal chord progressions and pummeling house beat. … read more
Local Reviews: Timothy Hay
This Wreckerd is all over the place as far as genre, bouncing back and forth from blues to folk and everything in between. However, this roots cavalcade hits all the right spots to make an interesting record. With over a dozen players featured, the record becomes epic in scope. … read more
Local Reviews: Victims Willing
I couldn’t be more impressed with a band I hadn’t heard a thing about until I had the CD in my hands. This is hardcore punk rock with just as much vibrancy and attention to melody as brutality, and it has as much viscosity as anyone can handle. … read more
Local Reviews: Wings of Normandy
Hailing from good ol’ Salt Lake City, Wings of Normandy have been busy with a brand new album, Bitterroot, released on their own label, Narwhal Records. … read more