Authors: Alexander Ortega
Review: Dawes Audio – Overdrive Pedal
Such a situation demands a good overdrive pedal, and Dawes Audio’s got what the doctor ordered. … read more
Review: Zensah – Invisi Running Socks
Zensah has taken care of me before with their Smart Running Gloves. Now they’ve come back to insulate my little feetsies! … read more
Nico Muhly & The Utah Symphony: Peeking In On A...
To commemorate Abravanel Hall’s 75th anniversary, Utah Symphony Utah Opera commissioned Nico Muhly to write scores for the orchestra to premiere. … read more
Review: Hot Girls Wanted
Hot Girls Wanted principally examines Tressa Silgnero’s (aka Stella May) foray into amateur porn. She is a case study for this documentary, which reveals the competitive reality of the amateur-porn machine that renders 18- and 19-year-old girls starry-eyed once they learn of how much money they can make per scene. … read more
Review: Bitters Lab
Bitters Lab Small Batch Bitters, 4-oz. bottles bitterslab.com Bitters Lab is moving up in the local cocktail ingredients scene, and their bitters add dimension to even the simplest Old Fashioned. Their Aromatic bitters include cherries, and the overall mix exudes almost a lavender scent, but it also tastes sweeter than the good ol’ Angostura. The Charred
Local Reviews: Handicapitalist
Handicapitalist thwacks out an irreverent, blatant style of old-school crust. “Smart Girls” epitomizes the band’s straightforward temperament as vocalist Jake Gatenby scratchily wails, “I only fuck smart girls!” … read more
Chelsea Wolfe – Abyss: The Aches of Sleep
Two years after her breakout album, Pain is Beauty, Chelsea Wolfe has again commanded a confluence of genres to synergize into a new, consuming ebb. … read more
Local Reviews: Starvist
Just as their album art suggests, Starvist saw off rhino horns with Taker Mythology, a fresh gulp of contemporary hardcore. Drummer Chase Cluff is a technical beast in his own right as he seamlessly transitions from technical rolls on his snare and slides into a smooth 6/8 beat with fluffy ride taps in “You Just Don’t Fool Me Twice.” … read more
Local Reviews: Visigoth
Nobody can resist headbanging to Final Spell. Visigoth gets right to the point in “Creature of Desire” as frontman Jake Rogers’ perfect falsetto crescendos into “whoa-oh-oh”s with the aid of the front line, exhibiting vocal prowess akin to Rob Halford. … read more
Local Reviews: Draize Method
Slamming out legit hardcore—literally from the ’80s—Draize Method and their onstage socks n’ sandals represent a bygone era that has come back to haunt us. The band namely hashes out D-beat punk with natural, mid-level vocal aggression and thrashy chugs, such as in “Fear.” They do, however, add an Agent Orange-esque element in “Myself” and “Mantra,” where vocalist Dan Fonoti sings in a ghostlike voice and then breaks into throaty wailing. … read more