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Local Reviews: Digital Lov/How to Get Down
What a team! Digital Lov and Tyler Sorensen’s How to Get Down get together to produce an album that most computer-literate people could make with the Fruity Loops program. When it comes to electronica, leave it to experts like Cut Copy and Daft Punk to put out hits. … read more
Local Reviews: Declaration
Declaration vacillates from Ben Folds Five piano-ballad quietude (“Half Inch Man”) to humdrum restless lethargy (“Headlines”) all while maintaining a melodically mellow, simple-yet-engaging tone. Perhaps the best compliment for Panic Button is that you will fast find yourself singing along to most of the album’s catchy refrains, naturally grafted onto the album’s crescendo-crashing guitar riffs and cymbal-heavy drum displays. … read more
Local Reviews: All Systems Fail/ Sarcasmo
This 7″ was two years in the making and unfortunately for fans of either band, the sound quality just doesn’t do them justice. Sarcasmo hails from Mexico and their four-song side of the 7″ features angry punk rock reminiscent of the 80s. … read more
Local Reviews: Written in Fire
There is a great progressive metal scene in Utah and Written in Fire is just one of the many bands showcasing that scene. This four-song demo isn’t a short one with lengthy tunes averaging over seven minutes each. Upon first listen one might think that the production is poor, but first listens are just that. The production reflects a huge old school metal style. … read more
Local Reviews: The VCR Quintet
Like much of Ikue Mori’s pre-laptop, dual drum-machine work and Autechre’s slowly deteriorating sequences on their Untilted album, Joe Greathouse’s (aka Thrillhouse) VCR5 project works in a rhizomic fashion. … read more
Local Reviews: S.S.
If you were to classify S.S. I Am The as a metal band, the first thing you’d have to realize is how much more melodic they are compared their wail-and-thrash brethren. They have a dark sound, but the melodies are almost ethereal: dreamy, and virtually intoxicating, even when the song turns heavy. … read more
Local Reviews: Separation of Self
Separation of Self fit right in with the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, a scene that is huge not only in the U.S. but all over the world. Resolve is one of those albums that like the style or not you cannot deny that the band is extremely good at what they do. At first I was turned off by the style of the band, but now it’s caught on in my head and I find myself singing along to some of the ultra-catchy choruses. … read more
Local Reviews: Patter Stats
From the sound of it, this is the sort of band you have to see live to get a good feel for them, because it takes some effort to get over the “dude-in-a-basement” quality level of recording here before you can really get into this album. … read more
Local Reviews: Paper Cranes
I admit to not having heard the source material for this collection of remixes, but I gather from a 2006 (yes, this is two years old, apparently the A. Star PR machine is a little rusty) SLUG review that it’s noisy dance-rock a la early Liars. … read more
Local Reviews: Nolens Volens & NJ Foster
Nick “is that a Max/MSP patch?” and Andrew “I record everything in the red” Glassett is the creative duo behind this release, a tour du musique electronique, Pierre Schaeffer to Klaxons. … read more