Music
Washed Out, Memoryhouse @ Urban 04.28
There was a big difference between Washed Out on record and Washed Out the show. If you’re the kind of person who wants a band to sound exactly like they do on the record, you probably hated this show—a lot of the songs were changed up a bit to translate into a full band as Washed Out has moved from a bedroom project to a career for Ernest Greene. The songs sounded bigger and louder and heavier than the laptop synth-pop versions. Greene was obviously into it—pounding on his keys, bobbing his head like a parrot and putting himself into every word he sang. … read more
All Shall Perish, Carnifex, Fleshgod Apocalypse @ In the Venue...
Thursday, April 26, In The Venue hosted one of the most anticipated death metal tours to hit Salt Lake this year: the This Is Where It Ends tour. I’ve been waiting for this show for months, and some fans, for years. All Shall Perish are one of my favorite bands and this is the first time I’ve seen them in my hometown. The place was humming with excitement from the second you walked in the door. … read more
The Cave Singers, Dave Wilson @ Kilby 04.21
“You guys are badass!” Shouted one over-excited spectator as The Cave Singers took the stage. Lead vocalist Pete Quirk was quick to respond, “We are badass! We steal, and we loiter, but we’re a good catch, nonetheless!” Guitarist Derek Fudesco and drummer Marty Lund chuckled and hooted in agreement as they took their posts—Fudesco on a ripped up barstool, and Lund behind his percussion set, which included a pair of bongos. … read more
Poetry Written in Gasoline: Refused @ The Glass House 04.12
Refused are fucking dead. The self-proclaimed “socialist fag-loving pc scumbags” quietly imploded on October 27, 1998, announcing their demise on the very day their final album, The Shape of Punk to Come, was released. That was 14 years ago, and if the adult me told the younger me that we would be seeing one of the most influential unsung hardcore bands of all time live, I would have replied simply, “You demand the impossible.” … read more
RJD2, New Body Electric, Burnell Washburn @ The Depot 04.14
RJD2 started doing his thing: grabbing records from his collection and throwing them onto the tables while he scratched and pressed and flicked at his setup like a porn star at an orgy. … read more
Hanni El Khatib @ Urban Lounge 04.13
Khatib has been met with almost immediate success in his newfound full-time music career and I’m not going to argue why. The guy knows how to write songs and he and his band mates can perform them even better. … read more
Perfume Genius with Parenthetical Girls @ KIlby Court 04.14
Mike Hadreas doesn’t do drugs, or at least not anymore. This is what the front man of Perfume Genius connoted as he told me the story about how a destitute man carrying a baby randomly solicited him for drugs a few blocks away upon his arrival. He looks as if he wants to laugh and grimace simultaneously at this, but opts to smoke the cigarette clenched in his right paw instead. This is his first time playing in Utah. … read more
Regal Beast, Midnight Vitals, PTO, The Message @ GoGo37 04.14
Last weekend a few of my friends and I all stuffed ourselves into a car and made a short but sweet weekend trip to sunny St. George, Utah. Aside from “the hell of it,” the reason for our journey entailed a performance by Regal Beast at GoGo 37 and an interview for SLUG’s podcast, Soundwaves From the Underground, with the venue’s owner, Ryan Groskreutz. … read more
Sleigh Bells @ The Depot 04.12
Around 9:45 p.m. the room went dark and the hype for the headlining act began. A red glow illuminated the 12 massive Marshalls at the back of the stage. Moments later, not one, but two guitar players emerged on the dark stage before being followed by the tiny, raven-haired Alexis Krauss who was rocking a pair of white Keds, cut off denim shorts and a super tough leather motorcycle jacket, which was discarded by the side of the stage after only one song. … read more
Alex and Dylan vs. Comeback Kid @ Club Sound 04.07
SLUG sent two of our best hardcore and punk music writers to the show for a bit of nostalgia, and they returned with broken glasses, scraped noses and the following reviews. … read more