Music
▼ Local Reviews
Local Review: Replica Mine – A Ghost In The Womb
Part 1: Acceptance begins softly and sweetly, with a simple guitar riff and some breathy vocals. Things quickly evolve with electronic details and effects that give a definite ’80s synthpop kind of feel. … read more
Local Review: The Obliterate Plague – The Wrath of Cthulhu
The Salt Lake City death metal band that’s always persistent and consistently good has finally officially recorded some tunes for the masses. Founding members Alexander Jorgenson and Alex Gomez have picked a collection of tracks from the band’s earlier era that never got any proper recording treatment and gave them the deluxe workup in an oh-so-good way. … read more
Local Review: Mortigi Tempo – Bob Your Head Suzie
Bob Your Head Suzie begins heavy, with overdriven guitar bass and what sounds like pounded, low-end piano on a track called “Air Raid” that has vocals so buried it comes off as instrumental. … read more
Local Review: Eli Whitney – We’ve Got Questions If You’ve...
Surprisingly dynamic, blending hard rock with a Lostprophets-esque post-hardcore sound, Eli Whitney’s debut album rocks. … read more
Local Review: Dethrone the Sovereign – Autocracy Dismantled
This local prog-metal outfit is one to watch out for. They display maturity in every inch of their presentation, from songwriting and recording/producing to oft-neglected areas such as packaging and art direction. … read more
Local Review: Desert Empire – Like Home
After seven interminable years of anticipation and a recent name change (originally Velvet City), Desert Empire have released a heavily progressive first album that veritably blew me away. Intricate, rolling drum patterns, matched with a mix of soft and sonorous upper–register piano riffs create an aquatic theme like a deep–ocean odyssey. … read more
Local Review: Contaminated Intelligence – Tracks
While I was listening to the album, I was delighted to hear the scratchy bath salt zombie sound that I so love to grind to, except there was only one problem—I had to wait for what seemed like eternity for the next track to start. … read more
Local Review: Cavedoll – Late Nights/Bad Decisions
The truth is these guys make some very scrappy dance tunes—half of the songs pulsate with darkness and a little bit of raw romance, but in each case, dark or not, the song is dominated by lead singer Ransom Wydner’s vocals. … read more
Local Review: Gothen – Self-Titled
What can you say about a local album that measures closely to established contemporary acts like Grizzly Bear? It’s clear who Gothen’s influences are, but it’s also clear they understand how to develop fine music rather than mimic it. … read more
Local Review: The Beehive Compilation – Volume 1
The collection includes some local favorites that I am familiar with, like King Niko, and surprised me with quite a few that I was not. It’s a great selection of indie and alternative styles, including pop rock, pop punk, folk, electronic, a bit of rap/hip hop and even a dash of female mojo (via The Blue Aces, Kitfox, Ashlee Woo, Summer Lasts Forever). … read more