Music
Fiddling While Rome Burns: Pleasure Thieves
Unbeknownst to many, a small faction has been assembling for the past few weeks to revive an entity that has long been considered dead. Their inconspicuous plan to unleash their diabolical, reanimated creature on humanity is almost complete. That is, if you consider post-hardcore-influenced metal-punk diabolical. I’m not talking about some cult from a splatter film, but, rather, Salt Lake’s Pleasure Thieves: a punk-based four-piece coming off an extended hiatus. … read more
Napalm Flesh: Corrosion of Conformity Interview
Welcome to Napalm Flesh! This week we have an interview with drummer Reed Mullin of the mighty Corrosion of Conformity, who will be in Salt Lake on June 15, headlining a show with tourmates Torche, Black Cobra and Gaza. We also have a rundown of this week’s metal happenings in Salt Lake and beyond. … read more
Maximum Distortion: Utah’s Metal Valhalla Celebrates Seven Years on the...
Outsiders may be deceived, but Salt Lake City loves its fucking heavy metal. We also have some of the most dedicated torchbearers calling our scene home. Two of these pioneers have been broadcasting brutality every Wednesday night from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. for seven years on KRCL: Forgach and Cody D, the DJs behind Maximum Distortion. … read more
Midsummer Crunch: Crucial Fest Strikes Again
Crucial Fest is Salt Lake City’s own badass rock festival thrown by Exigent Records. Making its debut last summer, Crucial Fest presented an exposition of amazing local and regional talent in a five-day, multi-venue musical orgy. At this year’s festival, running June 20-23 and June 27-30, there will be more bands and more shows spread over various Salt Lake venues, with all-day Kilby Court extravaganzas complete with art, vendors, food carts and skate demos on both Saturdays. … read more
Picking up Some Colonel Knowledge: J.D. Wilkes Plays Salt Lake...
Even though he’s spent the last 14 years as the wild and rambunctious frontman of The Legendary Shack Shakers, J.D. “The Colonel” Wilkes was unable to resist his urges to create another highly original band with his wife Jessica: The Dirt Daubers. Now touring simultaneously with both groups on the same bill, Wilkes is up to the challenge of bringing his dual musical visions to life night after night. … read more
It’s a Short Way to the Top: The Rooftop Concert...
Three years ago, Wiley, Mindy Gledhill, Courtney Kendrick and Justin Hackworth sat in a meeting with the town’s Cultural Awareness Committee to discuss how they could make downtown Provo more vibrant. The result is The Rooftop Concert Series, thrown on the first Friday of the month from May to October on a parking garage. “It’s unique. It’s the only rooftop concert we know of. It’s also really beautiful—you have the backdrop of the mountains behind it all,” says Hackworth. … read more
Torche Song Trilogy: Drummer Rick Smith is Homeless and Happy
Beginning with 2008’s Meanderthal and continuing with the band’s newest release, Harmonicraft, Torche has steadily written material that has more in common with Led Zeppelin than with Black Sabbath. “We get a lot of shit for not being as ‘heavy’ as we used to be,” says drummer Rick Smith. “Not everyone is supposed to like your band.” … read more
Wandering into the Wild West: Spindrift Returns to Salt Lake...
It’s a rare treat to find a band who so easily transports listeners to another place. It’s even better when the experience is enhanced during their live sets. On multiple occasions while watching LA’s Spindrift perform, I’ve felt the transformative and utterly delightful power of their mostly instrumental and moody spaghetti western songs. The music is driven by its imagery, and surprisingly, it is done without the use of many lyrics. … read more
SLUG Readers Interview Social Distortion
For over 30 years, Social Distortion has built a loyal following wherever their music has reached, Salt Lake being no exception. Mike Ness and the boys have never had any trouble selling out shows in our fair city, which is why SLUG reached out to you, our readers, via Facebook and Twitter, to submit the questions you’ve always wanted Ness to answer. Never ones to let us down, you came up with some terrific inquiries that evoked some interesting responses from Mr. Ness. … read more
More Than Just A Party: 128 Beats Per Minute
For photographer Shane McCauley, 128 Beats Per Minute is a book based on what he describes as his three-year vacation—a time where he toured across the world with DJ and music producer Diplo, and his only responsibility was doing what he loved: taking photos. “I wanted to make this book about dance culture. I didn’t just want it to be a book about Diplo; I wanted it be about this music culture and this music movement,” he says. … read more