SLUG Contributor Limelight
April 30, 2013
Contributor Limelight: Cody Hudson
Cody started in the SLUG office as an intern five years ago in 2008, when he was 17, downing cans of Red Bull while he responded to prison mail and writing music reviews of indie albums during his spare time. Five years later, Cody still graces us with his wit and writing chops, and has his feature game on lockdown. This month, Cody penned his story on local bicycle light company LED By LITE through his lens as a key list volunteer at the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective where he helps “homeless people and hipsters get their bikes into working shape.” Cody still loves writing about indie (and, now, hip-rap like A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar and Kid Cudi), and especially loves writing sarcastic, snarky reviews of national albums that are not quite up to par. He is finishing up his degree in Economics at the University of Utah, and currently works at Central Book Exchange, selling used books and sorting out Sugar House weirdoes as he awaits his next internship in either finance or banking. Whatever is in the stars for Cody, we are glad he’s still a rock in SLUG’s salty pond!
Articles by contributor
Reviews: Hands – Synesthesia
This band might end up being way popular, that doesn’t mean they are any good though. Every song is a radio-friendly bright and upbeat pop song. … read more
Reviews: Ghost Wave – Ages
Everyone loves songs about getting drunk and breaking stuff, romanticizing self-destructive behavior like a poorly written Bukowski novel. This album gives me none of those feelings—it is about as visceral as a Ryan Adams song. … read more
Review: Xiu Xiu – Nina
This is obviously a work of love. This homage to the late, great soulstress Nina Simone is beautiful and stark. … read more
Review: Xiu Xiu – Angel Guts: Red Classroom
On this most recent Xiu Xiu release, Jamie Stewart has taken a darker, more gothic approach than on other recent albums. Some apt comparisons might be Bauhaus or Siouxsie And The Banshees. … read more
Review: Thee Oh Sees – Singles Collection Vol. 3
This collection of singles is a treat for any John Dwyer fan, featuring alternate and live versions of a handful of songs featured on previous albums. Due to the disjointed nature of a collection of singles, it might not be the best introduction album for new listeners, but Thee Oh Sees have yet to release anything bad and this is no exception. … read more
Review: The Men – Tomorrow’s Hits
It seems that The Men have been moving away from their aggressive roots in favor of piano riffs, harmonicas, and slow, steady guitar solos. It is a step forward. … read more
Review: The Entrance Band – Face The Sun
Maybe it is the thinly veiled (read: shitty) heroin metaphors, or maybe it is the surprisingly sexy female bass player from A Perfect Circle and Zwan, but despite the decent melodies and engaging psychedelic-surf guitars, this album seems dated and uncool. … read more
Review: The Besnard Lakes – Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO
This album would pair best with a morphine drip. This shoegaze sonata is lush and minimalistic all at once. The chorus for “The Specter” sounds like it came straight from from Veckatimest. … read more
Review: The Black Angels – Indigo Meadow
I don’t really understand Salt Lake City’s love for The Black Angels. Phosphene Dream was decent at best and people here were going nuts for it. With Indigo Meadow we see The Black Angels moving away from Psych-rock and toward garage rock. … read more
Review: Sunwolf – Angel Eyes
The lyrics are cheesy, and the instrumentals would be really well received at a high school house show. There is a lot of simple, cheesy lo-fi out there that is really good, but this album lacks the charm required to turn those weaknesses into strengths. … read more
Review: Snowflake – We All Grow Toward The Sea
I guess working with douchebag musicians for a living must be rough since all of the songs have a somber tone. The keyboard and guitar work is beautiful and atmospheric while the percussion is almost industrial. … read more
Review: Shannon And The Clams – Dreams In The Rat...
When Sleep Talk came out two years ago, it managed to blend forced nostalgia with something fresh. … read more
Review: Ovlov – Am
Ovlov’s instrumental simplicity is reminiscent of indie-precursors like Pavement or Mclusky. The vocals have a bit of that post-punk whininess and the lyrics are, for the most part, indiscernible, but they do it well. … read more
Review: Marijuana Deathsquads – Oh My Sexy Lord
As is the case with a great deal of so-called super groups, this release is pretty masturbatory. With intense, pulsating, electronic jam-band beats and half scream, half rap vocals, it is overall pretty unpleasant to listen to. … read more
Review: Kid Cudi – Indicud
Not masculine enough for gangsta rap, and not clever enough for backpack rap, Kid Cudi is akin to the middle school kid who discovered schwag, constantly reminding you that he loves weed. He removes all of the self-destructive wonder from drug use that rap, as a construct, has worked so hard to instill. … read more
Review: Jonathan Rado – Law and Order
The opening track “Seven Horses” starts off with an odd, fluid, warbling synth line and morphs into catchy ’60s pop. Because of the simplicity of the lyrics (“If you feel it all, clap your hands”) and the weird synth noise, I thought it was going to be pretty similar to the MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular, but by the second track it had completely changed … read more
Review: Fuzz – Self-Titled
It is definitely closer to early conventional heavy metal than any of the previous releases—you’re going to hear a ton of people compare it to Black Sabbath. … read more
Review: Eksi Ekso – Archfiend
Shitty bands love buzzwords, like art-pop and hyper-sexualized; these guys have nothing but buzzwords. I feel like the lead singer was in a Hoobastank tribute band, and this is his attempt to stay relevant. I honestly can’t tell if it is satire. … read more
Review: Doug Tuttle – Self-Titled
From the moment the first track starts, you will immediately feel as though you are listening to a record from your odd uncle’s collection acquired during his “experimental phase.” … read more
Review: Deerhunter – Monomania
This album is a bit of a change for Deerhunter—a bit less shoegazy and experimental, and a lot more fun. … read more
Review: Cuckoo Chaos
This is one of the best demos and rarities compilations that I have heard. Usually rarities albums are choppy and inconsistent, with each song being recorded at a different time, and there are usually some pretty shitty songs. This feels like a cohesive album with a central theme, but that isn’t to say there aren’t slight variances. … read more
Review: Big Deal – June Gloom
Though it opens on a gloomy note (which had me worried I was reviewing another downtrodden shoegaze album) with “Golden Light,” the album quickly morphs into cutesy upbeat dream pop that borders on twee. … read more
Review: Armed With Legs – Self Titled
To stand out as a two-piece you have to be creative. You are starting off at a disadvantage, and even if you are damn-decent, at best you will be getting compliments laced with qualifiers … read more
Local Reviews: Spell Talk
It must be tough being a southern rock band from northern Utah, but Spell Talk has it down. I haven’t been able to see these guys live since guitarist Dylan Roe joined the band, and this definitely isn’t how I remembered them sounding. … read more
Local Reviews: Bears On Parade
I am supposed to avoid vague, nonsensical descriptions when writing a review, but this album is slightly vague and nonsensical, so fuck it. This album is like a swim through a cave of glitter followed by that slimy feeling you get after showering in soft water. … read more
Local Reviews: Mantra Monsta
This release starts off strong with a song that sort of sounds like a noise interpretation of Devendra Banhart’s “Fall,” but it quickly degrades into an unintelligible mess. For the most part, it sounds like something one would record with friends after getting drunk and playing instruments you are completely unfamiliar with. … read more
Local Reviews: Albino Father
Earlier this year, Albino Father released Blanket, and they returned six months later with a far more mature album. The opening track’s intro sounds like it was stolen from a White Stripes album, but the vocal melodies are more reminiscent of the British Invasion. … read more
Local Reviews: Albino Father
This Futurists side project is, unsurprisingly, one of the better sounding, current local projects. With bluesy folk-guitar riffs, the whole EP tends to ramble on in the least boring way possible. … read more
Local Reviews: Inland
With noodly, undistorted guitar lines and constant high hat in the forefront showcasing emotional vocals and thinly veiled romantic lyrics, Inland sounds exactly how I’d imagine Kickball did in high school. … read more
Local Reviews: Giraffula
Loop pedals and one-man bands are becoming more and more common these days. Though this fosters creativity by allowing any single person to experiment with a sound that was previously only attainable with a full band, it has brought with it the unavoidable, long and repetitive loops. … read more
Tilly and the Wall @ Kilby Court
July 2, 2008 Kilby Court With Kid Theodore, and The Devil Whale I usually arrive at shows 45 minutes after the doors open so that I don’t miss anything but the long wait outside. I showed up at 7:45 and found a nice thistle patch to sit in. The turn out for this show was
Thao With The Get Down Stay Down @ Kilby Court
July 25, 2008 With Future Of The Ghost and Tune Yards The show finally started an hour and a half after the doors opened. Word at the door was that we were waiting for Thao Nguyen to arrive so she could watch Future Of The Ghost play. Thankfully that idea was abandoned. This was Future’s
The Faint @ In The Venue
The Faint July 30, 2008 In The Venue With Cavedoll, and Shy Child The Faint When you get a couple hundred kids from one of the most conservative of cities together to listen to dance music, shit gets ridiculous. The horde of angry, over-groomed scene kids wrapped around the building at least twice. After a
Why? @ Kilby Court
Why? 9.30.08 Kilby Court Restiform Bodies Why? It might serve you well to know that you can get sushi for half price at different establishments almost every day of the week in Salt Lake City. I wouldn’t recommend half-price Tuesdays at Sapporo if you have plans later in the night though. I was there from
Yeasayer @ Club Sound
I remember seeing Yeasayer at Kilby Court two years ago, as the opening act for MGMT. Back then their self-applied genre, Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel, still fit. Times have changed. Yeasayer is headlining these days, playing to people who probably know nothing of Man Man (the last band Yeasayer toured with, and opened for). … read more
Crystal Castles with HEALTH and Kontravoid @ In The Venue...
People lost their shit when Crystal Castles came out. It was like Beatlemania, but instead of young innocent girls, it was a bunch of dudes who looked like they were in a shitty Cold Cave cover band. As soon as the first song began it was clear who was the star of the show. … read more
Parenthetical Girls: Guilty of Association
Parenthetical Girls have clawed their way into indie media outlets such as Pitchfork and have played larger European festivals like Primavera Sound —using the pull of praise and association. … read more
Positively 4th Street / Record Store Day
There is no better month than April for buying a record store, as the second annual Record Store Day falls on April 18. … read more
Local Natives: The Dutch Love Them and So Will You
Local Natives are the indie darlings du jour. They recently signed to Frenchkiss Records, and have been receiving incredibly favorable reviews from just about every publication that writes about music. With melodic indie-rock boasting harmonies that even Grizzly Bear would be jealous of, it’s easy to see why they have become the talk of the town. … read more
CLC Artist: Nic Annette Miller
Ogden-born Nic Annette Miller has been practicing her humane alternative to taxidermy for just two years now. After adopting her collie companion Sheila during her senior year of school at Utah State University (where she double majored in Design and Printmaking), Miller felt compelled to go vegetarian and inspired to take her jigsaw to some birch. “‘Save a Deer, Buy a Print,’ is kind of the concept.” Miller says. … read more
Avi Buffalo: What’s In It for Avi?
Rock n’ roll and youth go together better than poofy pants, glow sticks and shitty electronic music. When you’re young, your liver can deal with the large amounts of alcohol you push through it, and you’re still pretty attractive even if you’re ugly, especially when you can play an instrument. The kids in Avi Buffalo certainly still have their youth, and after touring with Japandroids, Rogue Wave and Modest Mouse this year, it seems they have the rock n’ roll part down as well. … read more
Top 5: Ariel Pink
Ariel Pink is a scary, bat-shit insane homeless man residing in an old abandoned tunnel of reverb. His albums have always been speckled with moments of lucidity and genius, but good portions were just homeless rambling. This time he was given a budget and a producer, who took a cheesecloth and chinois and strained out all of the bad acid vibes. … read more
Slowtrain
Since 2006, Slowtrain has been a fixture on Broadway (300 S.). Through a blog, Twitter, newsletter and Facebook, they keep their customers in constant contact, which may be the key to their success. Apart from their social networking, Slowtrain has also put on some really good shows (the majority of them free) that undoubtedly inspired loyalty amongst local audiophiles. Slowtrain’s ncredible level of involvement with local music has made it an indispensible local feature. … read more
Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour: A Little Bit of Magic
Founded by a group of old high school friends in 1991 the Athens-based Elephant 6 Collective had actually become commercially viable by the mid ‘90s. Featuring bands such as Of Montreal, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples In Stereo, The Gerbils, The Music Tapes and Elf Power, Elephant 6 has had a pretty sizeable impact on indie music. Now it is 2011, and we get to enjoy another reunion tour. … read more
CLC Artist: Evan Jed Memmott
A first time Craft Lake City artist, Memmott’s work is on the pop art end of the spectrum and heavy on appropriation—think sci-fi/comic book nerd Andy Warhol. The subject matter ranges from sci-fi stuff (including pretty sweet Star Trek: DSN Quark and Star Trek: TNG Worf masks) to his Utah history inspired work. … read more
Ty Segall: Riding a Wave of 7 Inches and Tape...
Since 2005, Ty Segall has been leaving his dirty, tape-delayed impression on vinyl, originally with Epsilons, then Party Fowl, followed by The Traditional Fools, The Perverts and even Sic Alps. Most notably, however, he has released his music under his own name, with four full-length albums and countless 7”s. Over the last few years his sound has matured, trading in undirected aggression for a much more calculated, noisier sound. … read more
Xiu Xiu: Noise Pop, Sex Cams and Water Play
Xiu Xiu has been a facet of the indie music scene for nearly a decade, and has never ceased to be interesting. With work that ranges from morose and purposefully uncomfortable, to noise pop masterwork, Xiu Xiu continues to build a following. With their newest album, Always, coming out March 6, singer/songwriter Jamie Stewart set aside some time to discuss the album, piracy and water play. … read more
Crystal Castles: Catharsis Incarnate
Crystal Castles came out of nowhere. The music alternates between despondent and fierce, often finding a middle ground between the two. Lead singer Alice Glass growls and shrieks over Ethan Kath’s instrumentals (which are generally somewhere between 8-bit Nintendo music and a car commercial), and the result is incredible. The live show is tempestuous and infinitely stimulating—imagine Iggy Pop as the hypeman at a Justice show. They strive for abrasive and bleak, but neither is overdone. … read more
Top 5: Japandroids
Celebration Rock is the musical equivalent of getting shitfaced with your friends and talking about past successes or ex-girlfriends, ending the night with drunken optimism about the future. Somewhere between post-rock and pop-punk, they are never trying too hard to be cool—it all seems genuine. … read more
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: Making a Career Out of Strange
“Uncomfortable” is probably one of the best words to describe the early Ariel Pink albums, as well as the majority of interviews and a great deal of the performances. His eccentricities and diamond-in-the-rough garage pop drew people in initially, built him a fanbase of loyal, lo-fi cassette hounds, and did wonders for the beginning of the new chillwave genre. Released in August on 4AD, APHG’s newest album, Mature Themes, is a return to weird. … read more
Bright Lights, Salty City
Some days, biking on busy streets is fucking miserable: being constantly screamed at, cursed at, called a faggot and, on some occasions, being pelted with half-eaten food. To many drivers, bike commuters are an infuriating nuisance, and are certainly not taken seriously. It is hard to have a commanding presence on the road on your 25-pound Univega when two-ton cars are flying past you, forcing you onto the shoulder. Nighttime can be even worse—establishing a presence is a pretty tough task with two puny, blinking LEDs. LED By LITE started with this conundrum in mind, their goal being to establish and emphasize a rider’s presence on the road. … read more