Reviews

REVIEW: Gojira continue to evolve with ‘Magma’

Artist: Gojira Album: Magma Label: Roadrunner Records Genre: Metal When a long-running band has worked hard to carve out its own niche in a genre, and when it is also able to create an instantly identifiable, unique sound, that band is in rare company. Gojira has done just that. Wild left turns have alienated many […]

REVIEW: ‘Strange Little Birds’ is Garbage that’s worth picking up

Artist: Garbage Album: Strange Little Birds Label: STUNVOLUME Genre: Alternative Rock For most of us who remember Garbage from the 90s, their first two albums, Garbage and 2.0, are the definition of what we love about the band: Shirley Manson’s sultry yet haunting vocals, a backing band equal parts trip-hop, industrial, grunge, and a lot […]

UTG PHOTOS: Cage The Elephant, Portugal. The Man in New York, NY (05/17/16)

Don’t ever expect to stand around at a Cage The Elephant show. They sure won’t. “That guy is going to be completely spent by the time this show is over,” I thought to myself as I watched lead singer Matthew Shultz power through the lines of “Cry Baby” in frenetic and sometimes acrobatic fashion. The […]

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Popstar’ has at least a few hits

Film: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Directed by: Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone Starring: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer From the makers of heralded comedic masterpieces such as “Dick in a Box” and “Motherlover” comes a 21st century satire on the extravagance and vapidness of modern pop idols. Sounds like a pretty good tagline, right? […]

10 Years Later: The Sound Of Animals Fighting’s ‘Lover, The Lord Has Left Us…’

“Lover, the lord has left us,” answered Charlemagne, though he wasn’t sure if Penelope could hear him, “if ever the lord was here.” – “Charlemagne & Penelope” by Chris Haynie We all have that band or artist which opened our eyes to the broader spectrum of what music is capable of being. From getting a […]

REVIEW: Real Friends play to their strengths on ‘The Home Inside My Head’

Artist: Real Friends Album: The Home Inside My Head Label: Fearless Records Genre: Starting Line-influenced pop-punk, the last pop-punk band that’s not ashamed of their genre Due to either the Pop Punk Defense Force dying with Man Overboard this Spring, blatant over-saturation of the market in 2013, or all of the good bands rebranding as “emo” […]

REVIEW: Say yes to Bent Knee’s ‘Say So’

Artist: Bent Knee Album: Say So Label: Cuneiform Records Genre: Orchestral Avant-Pop What’s in a name? That’s one of the age old questions, isn’t it? In music, a name can reflect many things; the overall aesthetic of an artist/group, a reference to a concept, or even just a hint towards a style or genre. I […]

REVIEW: The Hotelier find peace from agony with ‘Goodness’

Artist: The Hotelier Album: Goodness Label: Tiny Engines Genre: Taoist Indie Rock, Emo, Pop-Punk Like many fans of The Hotelier, I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard their breakout sophomore record, Home, Like Noplace Is There. Alone in my freshman year dorm room on a Sunday night in February, I listened to […]

REVIEW: Thrice return with powerhouse new record, ‘To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere’

Artist: Thrice Album: To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere Genre: Rock It’s been a while since we’ve heard any new music from Thrice, but they’ve welcomed us back with complete and utter ease in “Hurricane,” the first track off of the band’s ninth LP, To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere. With buzzed guitars […]

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising’ is the rare sequel that tries

Film: Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Directed by: Nicholas Stoller Starring: Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron Do sequels really need to exist? This thought kept bouncing around in my head before seeing Neighbors 2, a movie that more or less finds a legitimate reason to exist. As is with almost every second entry, the audience […]

REVIEW: Ariana Grande’s powerhouse vocals shine on ‘Dangerous Woman’

Artist: Ariana Grande Album: Dangerous Woman Genre: Pop Label: Republic Records Let me start this review by stating an extremely obvious fact: Ariana Grande has a damn good voice. It’s the kind of voice that comes along infrequently, the kind that makes you want to stand in your shower and belt as hard as you […]

MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The Nice Guys’ is a loopy, drunk masterpiece

Film: The Nice Guys Directed by: Shane Black Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Margaret Qualley Every Spring/Summer there seems to be a big studio movie that everyone exclaims is a masterpiece. Last year was Mad Max: Fury Road and that ended up being my favorite film of 2015. This year is The Nice Guys, a […]