Long Players 

• Courtesy Photo

Though we've been focusing lately on a deep wellspring of singles released by regional artists, it's nice to see a few long-players arrive, as well. Here're some background on two new releases.

The Anchorage, Wild Stories (theanchorage.bandcamp.com, theanchorageband.com): It's no knock to say that some bands evoke a certain time period. And that time period might not be right now. It's almost refreshing, in fact, to see rock bands with big lineups and a sound that's meant to harken back to youthful joys. The Anchorage have a foot in rock and a foot in ska, for sure. It's not uncommon for the band's songs to kick off with a guitar riff, the rhythm section and then, bam!, here come the horns. Easily, you could imagine these tracks on a mixtape from 20 years back, the band fitting into a niche inhabited band like 311 and The Urge.

The Anchorage is made up of Derek Harman (guitar, vocals); Jason Bohman (drums); Evan Wharton (trombone); Jake Bills (bass); Myles Lawrence (guitar and tenor/baritone sax); and Tyler Webb (trumpet). Recording for the album took place from March 2020 - March 2021 at Rigby Road Studio with Joel Pack, a friend and associate of the band.

The band wasn't one to go and blast through songs live. Instead, they found a nice formula. If it took a little longer, it was worth it, they feel.

"The album was multitracked, one instrument at a time," says Bohman. "That method has always suited our sound very well, and the music that we write utilizes a lot of textural control that multitracking really excels in. Joel is a wizard in the studio and really helped us find the right tones, and was amazing at driving our performances to really be the best they can be, and I think it came through in the record."

Not content to "just" release four singles, the band went to work creating a sequence of multiple videos, as well. "We flew Travis Cook, a filmmaker from California and a good friend of ours, out to Salt Lake and just slammed through a marathon of filming," Bohman says. "We had come up with a loose concept that actually connected the four videos together, and working with Travis, we really fleshed out the idea and made it happen."

Three of the four videos ("Live with Death," "Love Drunk," and "Force of Habit") are available for viewing at the band's official website, theanchorageband.com, as well as via YouTube. While the band plans to release a vinyl version of the album later this year, you can buy or stream the tracks at the usual locations, including their Bandcamp listed above.

"This album is something we are truly proud of, and we feel like it really has something for everyone," Bohman says. "We've always enjoyed experimenting with genres in our music, and as the years go by, our music seems to blend even more seamlessly with new genres every day. Wild Stories is so fun in this way—there's a couple songs that went in directions we've never gone before, and they feel just as natural to us as anything else we've played."

Magda-Vega, Stella (MagdaVega.com, magdavegaslc.bandcamp.com): Variety adds the spice to life. If The Anchorage found joy in creating a track-by-track approach to their latest album, Magda-Vega employed more of a "mics on, let it rip" philosophy to their 10-song album, Stella. Some overdubs may peek into the work but it's an overall live-sounding affair, produced in February of this year and recorded by Mike Sasich at his studio, Salt Lake's Man vs. Music.

"When we did our previous album, Destroyer, with Sasich, it was recorded live in the studio, vocals and all, no overdubs or additions," says Magda-Vega guitarist/vocalist Bill Frost, once the music editor of this paper. "It's a messy process because sound bleeds into mics everywhere and we all have to nail the take, but it works for us. For Stella, we did the live thing again, but then went back and added extra guitars, vocals, drums, effects and even keyboards—played by our drummer Mike's brother, James—to the mix. We wanted to take advantage of the studio and add some more toppings to the sonic pizza this time around."

In addition to Frost, Magda-Vega is made up of Robin Brown on vocals and lyrics; Angela Mize on bass and vocals; with Mike Walton on drums. This energetic album is a blend of new and familiar work, including a half-dozen songs that've been in the group's live repertoire for a bit, augmented by four that're pandemic-era cuts. "Mirror Man" was the group's teaser single, released in May.

Stella is available on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music/iTunes, YouTube, Amazon Music, Tidal and, primarily, via the official band sites listed above. There are also CDs available, including the time-tested addition of a mystery, bonus cut. The record, Frost suggests, is for those "who like aggro vocals, excessive guitar solos, and songs about drugs, demons and embarrassed sound engineers."

Magda-Vega will be appearing at The DLC @ Quarters Arcade Bar (5 E. 400 South) on Friday, July 15, with support from Fight the Future and The Fever Drift.