MUSIC PICKS MAR 28 - APR 3 

• Aimee May Photography
• Cinders

Cinders EP Release show ft. Heber Matüte, West Max @ Soundwell 3/29
Beloved indie band Cinders are kicking spring off right with a tour, with SLC being their kickoff city. Get ready to dance and sing all night, as they fully unveil their latest EP. Cinders has given us a taste with tracks "Gold Pearl" and "Going Nowhere," two new songs that exude the signature Cinders sound, but are still fresh and energetic. If you're a fan of the band's back catalog, you may know that their album Looking Forward to Looking Back turned five this last October (where do the years go?). "We put (literally) our blood, sweat, and tears into it. This is the album that pushed us to start touring to the east coast, as well as our first trip abroad!" the band said in a tribute post last October. "We are so grateful to everyone who was on the album, who came to see us tour it, and to everyone who has ever listened to it! If you have a favorite memory either seeing us playing songs from it, or just memories you have with songs from the album we'd love to have you tell us them!" It's exciting to see local bands reach these levels of success and get their music to more and more listeners. Come rock out on Friday, March 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets for the all-ages show are $16 and can be found at soundwellslc.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

• via Register-Guard
• Slander

Slander @ The Marquis 3/30
Enter trap heaven this weekend with Los Angeles-based DJ and producer duo Slander. The two grammy-nominated artists, Scott Land and Derek Andersen, have been performing at the biggest global festivals in EDM including EDC (Las Vegas, Orlando and Mexico), Nocturnal Wonderland, Electric Zoo, Sun City Music Festival, Electric Forest and Ultra Music Festival over the past decade. They are fully-established powerhouses for future bass, house and their unique brand of "heaven trap," which was attributed to their remix of Above & Beyond's "Love Is Not Enough" 10 years ago. The trap-trance combination genre pioneered by Slander has been consistent from their 2015 EP Nuclear Bonds to singles like "Gud Vibrations," to their 2019 single "Love Is Gone" featuring Dylan Matthew. The description "heaven trap" describes the feelings these songs evoke; a place of pure joy and euphoria where one is free from this world. Their debut studio album, Thrive, was released in 2022 and is a futuristic cosmic love story that focuses on a singular astronaut in search of a new home for mankind. The beautiful production of Slander's music can still feel like heaven even when conveying emotions like desperation and regret. For example, their single "Walk on Water" includes the lyrics, "I would walk on water / I would turn the tide / I'm sorry more than anything / That I left your side / I would raise the anchor / Of all the pain and pride / My God, I would do anything / To bring us back to life." See Slander at The Marquis in Park City on Saturday, March 30 at 9 p.m. General admission costs $65. Go to tixr.com (Arica Roberts)

• Brynn Osborn
• Low Cut Connie

Low Cut Connie, Fantastic Cat @ The State Room 4/1
It's been just over a dozen years since Low Cut Connie's debut record Get Out the Lotion was dubbed one of NPR's "Fresh Air Top 10 albums" of 2011, and since that time, the kudos have kept coming. The Los Angeles Weekly described the band's live show as "unmatched in all of rock right now." In August 2015, former President Barack Obama included the band's song "Boozophilia" on his presidential Spotify playlist. Their connection with the Commander in Chief continued when Low Cut Connie was given the honor of performing at President Biden's inauguration ceremonies. This show pairs them with Fantastic Cat, a supergroup of sorts whose members include Anthony D'Amato, Don DiLego, Brian Dunne and Mike Montali (aka Hollis Brown), all of whom are exceptional singer/songwriters in their own right. "Everyone's put out a bunch of records, and we each have type-A personalities," DiLego said in an interview with Rock and Roll Globe. The title of their debut album, The Best of Fantastic Cat, may seem a bit presumptuous, but given the talents of those involved, they can easily live up to it. "We've each run our own careers, but for me, it's become such a pleasure to be in a situation where I'm only 25% responsible for whatever happens," DiLego continued. Given the combined talents of the musicians involved, that should be enough. Low Cut Connie and Fantastic Cat perform at The State Room at 7 p.m on Monday, April 1. Tickets cost $32; go to tix.axs.com. (Lee Zimmerman)

• Erin Olivia
• Saxsquatch

Saxsquatch @ Urban Lounge 4/1
Of all the things that seem like improbable, imaginary things, Bigfoot is the one that I think might exist. It gets a highly qualified "maybe" out of me. Aside from being the reigning hide-and-seek champion for 250-plus years in a row, they might have left behind solid evidence in the form of tissue, bone or waste samples. Or perhaps, signs of the mythical creature hitting the stage with a woodwind instrument. Performing as a one-beast band, Saxsquatch has come out from the woodlands and is currently in the midpoint of their coast-to-coast Bigfoot Rave tour. But for real, why the saxophone? "I studied Bird (Charlie Parker) and Trane (John Coltrane) growing up, because I wanted to play really fast and I wanted to impress the females? But as I grew up, I realized that life was more than female squatches," Saxsquatch told Forbes. "I decided to really recognize the stories and the spirit in the notes these classic jazz musicians were playing. And I began to identify and really be able to tell my own story through my notes. That's what I love." Their take on "Maneater" with John Oates really is something that you need to experience for yourself. Not the collab we deserve, but definitely the collab we need. Catch Saxsquatch as they present the Bigfoot Rave at the Urban Lounge on Monday, April 1. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets for the 21+ show are $17 and can be found at 24tix.com (Mark Dago)

• Sara-Louise Bowrey
• Gary Numan

Gary Numan @ The Depot 4/3
Seeing Gary Numan live for the first time is akin to the feeling of the first rush of red wine finally hitting your bloodstream: life, flushed and fresh. And, as the old saying goes, like red wine, Gary Numan just seems to get better with age. If you're looking for a show that is not just a concert, but an experience altogether, Numan and his band deliver upon that promise tenfold. Outfitted in post-apocalyptic, Fury Road garb with accents of blood red and deep black smeared upon their faces, the band isn't just performing music for the audience, but projecting at them with impressive bouts of deep bass and sinister synthesizer, all coated in Numan's signature voice and A-line dance-like maneuvers. Starting off his career as the frontman of The Tubeway Army, Numan sling-shotted himself into success with his solo work like the hit single "Cars," and is known to many as a quintessential component of any '80s soundtrack worth its salt. However, his recent releases, which have wrung out his earlier club hits, leaving them taut and dripping with a darker edge, are fit less for a John Hughes movie and more for times of societal disruption and inevitable collapse. So ... perfect! See Gary Numan for yourself at the all-ages show at The Depot on Sunday, April 3. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets (which start at $44.50) can be found at concerts.livenation.com. (Sophie Caligiuri)