Music
SLUG Magazine’s collection of reviews covering the latest and greatest of Utah-based music, covering all varieties of genre, style and type.
Local Reviews: 36 Grit Slurry
This band’s name makes no sense to me, but I give them a big ol’ thumbs up “Welcome to Gotham” style for being creative and whacky. … read more
Local Reviews: The Tenants of Balthazar’s Castle
Michael Biggs’ (aka The Tenants of Balthazar’s Castle) music requires patience, but that patience is rewarded with intrigue. Divided into three movements, Biggs starts the set with “Room (Dream),” a fairly grumbling, sometimes explosive, sub-frequency driven mix of oscillated gestures and reedy snippets. … read more
Local Reviews: Some Beasts
A nostalgic tinkering oxf an orchestral kind, this album is bursting with delectable sounds. From tambourines to pots and pans to castanets to delayed acoustic guitars, the music is extremely varied and colorful. The energy that is channeled throughout the album is of such a marvelous kind that it’s almost hard to believe. … read more
Local Reviews: The Smash Brothas
Hip Hop is not dead in Utah. Reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. The crews around here should start paying attention, or at least start buying beats from the laundry list of producers and DJs that The Smash Brothas utilize on their latest release. … read more
Local Reviews: Sheeprizer
I will always have a deep admiration for multi-instrument musicians. Sheeprizer is a pretty standard hard rock setup by a man known as Butt Socrates, consisting of basic distorted guitars, drums and no vocals. Therein is my problem. … read more
Local Reviews: Negative Charge
Although Negative Charge have been together (in some form or another) since 2005, it’s probably a good thing that they waited until now to release their debut album. After opening for many decent punk bands here in SLC (Street Brats, Lower Class Brats, Funeral Dress, GBH, The Casualties, etc.) and a plethora of lineup changes, Negative Charge finally seem to have perfected their sound. … read more
Local Reviews: Monorchist
You have to give respect to Monorchist. This band drops straight-up garage rock that is so unpretentious and unpolished that it sounds like you’re right in the middle of one of their band practices. Hating on it is next to impossible. … read more
Local Reviews: Madraso/Blackhole
Now this is a welcome listening experience. SLC’s Blackhole and Portland’s Madraso each offer up one song on this bit of vinyl heaven (the one they sent me was on clear orange wax). Reviewing 7″s kind of sucks because they’re so short, so I’ll keep this review the same. … read more
Local Reviews: Kill Everyone Now
I enjoy the occasional garage recording as much as the next SLUG staffer, and listening to Kill Everyone Now’s tracks remind me of just why I appreciate most start-out rock bands and their growth that occurs early on. … read more
Local Reviews: Josh Waldron
I’m no psychologist, but it seems that Josh Waldron may suffer from multiple personality disorder. This album flipflops more times than Cybil. First he thinks he’s in a mariachi band and before you know it, he’s part of the Goo Goo Dolls. I leave the room for one minute, come back, and he’s Garth Brooks. … read more