In January 2024, the Cedar Falls indie pop trio Salt Fox found themselves heading to Texas for a gig. Right before departing, Kyle, a friend of a friend that the band had never met, showed up to be the roadie for the trip and became the inspiration for the title of the band’s new album. […]
Album reviews
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Album Review: Early Girl — ‘Do I Even Cross Your Mind?’
If every song is a sort of conceptual collage of sound, with its layered instruments and vocal harmonies, then Early Girl’s EP Do I Even Cross Your Mind? feels like both an auditory and physical collage. It’s a lovingly flipped-through scrapbook of grunge and throwback, capturing the grittiness of hand-cut paper, rough ripped edges and even a smattering of glitter.
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Album Review: Curtis Taylor — ‘Taylor Made’
For those unfamiliar, Curtis Taylor is an award-winning trumpeter and recording artist. He is also Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Iowa School of Music. The fact that a talent like this resides in our community is worth celebrating.
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Album Review: Dickie — ‘Headful of Hiss’ EP
Headful of Hiss By Dickie In April 2023, Dick Prall brought a string quartet to CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids. Billed as Dickie and the Cask Strength Quartet, the evening was a setlist of stringed versions of songs from Prall’s career to that point. Towards the end of the evening, he announced that he wanted […]
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Album Review: Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops — ‘Live at the Lift’
Equal parts sweat and excitement hang thick in the air after a full day of performances at the 80/35 music fest. It’s July 8, 2023, and it’s Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops’ festival afterparty at The LiFt in Des Moines.
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Album Review: Munk Rivers — ‘Practice Room’ EP
Most of the press around Des Moines band Munk Rivers mentions their self-declared genre “yearncore.” While obviously somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it speaks to the very human emotions that weave through the lyrics of lead singer and frontperson Charlotte Judkins. Siblings Charlotte and Tucker Judkins started performing as Munk Rivers last summer after they relocated to Des […]
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Album Review: The House Flies — ‘Mannequin Deposit’
Mannequin Deposit by The House Flies My favorite time of year is here: cool autumn air, hoodies, bonfires, long-sleeve band T-shirts and of course, Halloween. While you can catch me in all black clothes most any time of the year, spooky season is the time of year I feel most at home. That feeling requires […]
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Album Review: Chrash — ‘Music for the Next Scene’
In a recent email from Chris Bernat, guitarist and vocalist for Quad Cities band Chrash, said, “We are all very pleased with the cover shot featuring a big shiner on my right eye.” The week the band was scheduled to do the photoshoot for the album artwork for their latest album, Bernat had a pretty […]
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Album Review: AGED & Malik Grey — ‘Ferment & Rot’
ferment & rot promo medley by aged By the time “Reactivated,” the first track on Ferment & Rot by Des Moines-based producer AGED and Georgia rapper Malik Grey, is over, you will only have a vague sense of what awaits you for the remainder of the 20-minute project. The production starts out with lo-fi bass […]
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Album Review: Fishbait — ‘Fishbait’
For many, fishing brings to mind a whole lot of casting, sitting and waiting — a favorite of grandpas and teenagers alike. But for Fishbait, fishing is gnarly, bloody, sewage-filled and above all, slimy. That’s the general message of their self-titled (and fittingly fish-themed) debut album: Bodies of water, whether bathtub or ocean, are forces […]
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Album Review: Jim Swim — ‘Unruly Automatons’ EP
Unruly Automatons by Jim Swim I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started up “Creature,” the first track on Jim’s Swim’s Unruly Automatons. Keyboard chords stutter as if a DJ is warming up a crab scratch. A drum loop kicks in that would feel at home in a Metal Fingers Special […]
