Local Reviews: The Hung Ups

Local Reviews: The Hung Ups
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Dripping sexual frustration as teenage pop-punk is prone to do, there’s no more to Red Rocket than twelve songs about girlfriends, pizza and alcoholism. The songs blast through with such haphazard high energy that they are almost indistinguishable. … read more

Local Reviews: Heterodactyl

Local Reviews: Heterodactyl
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These local boys deserve credit for coming up with charismatic instrumental parts which complement each other nicely, but the overall production feels overdone in a smooth jazz kind of way. I couldn’t connect with Fourier because I felt so far away from what was going on. … read more

Local Reviews: Hearsay

Local Reviews: Hearsay
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Poppy punk chops are fun to listen to and that’s all there is to it.  Doesn’t matter how high-pitched the vocals, how emo the subject matter, or how derivative the melodies.  Those things are secondary.  Hearsay is about playing power drums and rock guitar with energy.  Perfectly moshable rhythms, staccato fills, and guttural bass punctuate the tightly structured songs. … read more

Local Reviews: The Fully Blown

Local Reviews: The Fully Blown
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How do I relate to you the greatness found on this record? In complicated words I could say, The Fully Blown is a heavy hard rock band with post-punk influences and lightly dusted with hardcore inflections, with touches of psychedelic guitar work. Simply put, they fucking rock. … read more

Local Reviews: Citizen Fate

Local Reviews: Citizen Fate
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Local CDs are always a mixed bag.  95 percent of the time they suck, and once in a while they 100 percent suck.  Unfortunately for my ears, Citizen Fate fell immediately into the latter category.  … read more

Local Reviews: The .bLARE”

Local Reviews: The .bLARE”
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Every unpaid music critic dreams of writing a critical review of a band’s early release that prompts them to make prescribed changes and then go on to great glory. I know this is a mirage, but still …The .bLARE”, let’s chat. Like any first time director, you have a great first act, but have no clue how to follow that up. … read more

Local Reviews: Arsenic Addiction

Local Reviews: Arsenic Addiction
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Any band that has a song titled “Bruce Campbell” is cool with me, even if it’s only a minute long. In all seriousness, Salt Lake City’s Arsenic Addiction leave listeners wanting more instead of less with their EP Requiem of the Fallen. The band plays a nice, modern metal melodic/heavy mix with no damn chugga chugga breakdowns, thank goodness. … read more

Local Reviews: Uni.Verse.All. & Roe

Local Reviews: Uni.Verse.All. & Roe
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As much as I dislike the whole outerspace trend going on in hip hop, Eat & Run is not half bad. Made up of U.n.i.verse.all and Roe, two local SLC cats, my only real issue with the album is how it doesn’t sound the least bit like two 15-year-old white kids. From the sound of the voice to the rhymes, the only thing sounding age appropriate is the space-man beats they rhyme over.  … read more

Local Reviews: Terry Lynn Tschaekofske

Local Reviews: Terry Lynn Tschaekofske
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Illusions makes me tense.  Rather than relaxing to the sounds of a simple guitar, I find myself on edge, waiting for a theme to develop into something compelling.  Each song inflicts dutiful repetition, at around 80 beats per minute, with some reverb. … read more

Local Reviews: Small Town Sinners

Local Reviews: Small Town Sinners
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Small Town Sinners aren’t what you would expect from a local alt country band. Each one of their songs seems to slightly pull at your heart strings and randomly sneak back into your brain when you least expect it. … read more