Decibrity Playlist: SubRosa (Part 2)

Last week, we brought you the first part of SubRosa’s playlist covering all things Salt Lake City. I could go on and on about how great their latest record, More Constant Than The Gods, is (one of the “exceptional candidates for the top spot” in this year’s top 40 according to the powers that be), but they are also good people. In the wake of a recent rough patch, the band sent out a handwritten thank you note to each person generous enough to donate. It’s a gesture that I’d guess many donors felt unnecessary but will forever appreciate. Plus, as you’ll read about in the six selections below, they take care of their own. Check out MCTTG below and pick up a copy here.
<a href="http://subrosausa.bandcamp.com/album/more-constant-than-the-gods">More Constant Than The Gods by SubRosa</a>

Light/Black’s “One Good Turn Deserves Another” (from 2013’s Light/Black)
Light/Black is a collaboration between four exceptional people: husband and wife team Levi Lebo and Carri Wakefield (lead guitar and bass respectively; Carrie also fronts the band with her beautiful voice), Danielle Mariott on guitar and Josh Asher on drums. Carri is a former SubRosa member and played in Stiletto with Rebecca. She has lent her talents to many SLC bands, as has Levi. Danielle Mariott has been a long-time supporter and member of the music community and Josh Asher has been playing in bands since he was a wee lad. Their deep and wide river of sound drives you forward, grasping at the vocals as they beckon just beyond your reach, both menacing and delicate. I love the atmosphere in this song, built with carefully subtle guitar work.–Sarah Pendleton

Lindsay Heath’s “Painted Queens” (from 2013’s upcoming Holy Medicine)
Lindsay Heath is one of the most talented and versatile musicians, composers and drummers I know. Using her deep intuition about how to shape melodies that burrow into your soul, Lindsay makes magical, enchanted music veined with world-wise themes and deep sorrow. SubRosa violinist Kim Pack plays on Lindsay’s upcoming record, Holy Medicine, and is featured on this video of “Painted Queens” (check out the 3:22 mark) (though note that there will be a more updated version of this song on Holy Medicine). Continuing the incest, I also have played drums for Lindsay’s project a few times and she let SubRosa use her piano to record the piano parts on “No Safe Harbor”.–Rebecca Vernon

Making Fvck’s “A Slave To The Lazy Boy” (from 2013’s Making Fvck)
Making Fvck is a musical creation reminiscent of the Paleolithic culinary art of hurling a box of cake mix into an active volcano to produce something that every doom/metal-seeking wildebeest would love sinking its teeth into. This brilliant three-piece spotlights Jessica Bundy’s brutal low-end fluidity on electric cello creating a serendipitous relationship with the other two members’ aggressive riffs, driving rhythm, and confrontational vocals (provided by Jeff Wells and Kory Quist). My first listen of this track provided a much-needed burst of sonic adrenaline.–Kim Pack

<a href="http://makingfuck.bandcamp.com/album/makingfuck-self-titled">MakingFuck Self Titled by MakingFuck</a>

Oxcross’s “Sisyphus” (from 2013’s upcoming TBA)
Oxcross is my favorite band in Salt Lake City right now and features Taylor Williams on vocals/guitar, Jeff Anderson from Top Dead Celebrity on guitar, David Jones (bassist from SubRosa’s No Help) and SubRosa’s current drummer, Andy Patterson. Oxcross are disciples of the song, corralling unruly, heavy, catchy riffs into a cohesive pattern belying thought and calculation, polish, and refinement among the visceral uproar and chaos; a much harder task than just letting riffs run wild. Taylor’s vocals are one of the highlights of the band, with their meaty melody lines exemplified in the harmonies of “Sisyphus” from their upcoming album (not a final mix).–R.V.

Sure Sign Of The Nail’s “mov.1” (from 2011’s Ruminascentions EP)
This is Sure Sign of the Nail’s longest song off their three-song EP, Ruminascentions. It’s heavy, dark, a little groovy, and the ending makes you feel a bit uncertain and maybe even a bit put off. They definitely capture a unique sense of heaviness. Plus, their name really brings it all together (if you know what it means).–Christian Creek

<a href="http://escapegoatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ruminascentions">Ruminascentions by Sure Sign Of The Nail</a>

Worst Friends’ “Pill” (from 2013’s upcoming Business Ethics)
Worst Friends is a three-piece (Elliot Secrist, Jarom Bischoff, Mike Cundick) whose live show makes me feel galvanized, frazzled and frantic, as if I’m being pelted with endless math problems I have seconds to solve. As started by jazz trained, music-theory toting geniuses, Worst Friends will put your socks in an algebraic twist. This unmixed/unmastered track was recently posted as a preview of their upcoming album. Enter epic breathtaking shift at 1:27.–K.P.