Books About UFOs
Let the Bridges Ignite
Sick Boy Records
Two-and-a-half out of five stars
Books About UFOs is a band you can drink a beer to.
This homegrown, Salt Lake City garage-rock band dishes out the rockin’ licks on its debut album Let the Bridges Ignite. But the best way to enjoy BAU is still at a local bar with a pint of your favorite brew.
Though the songs on Let the Bridges Ignite make great barroom listening, they fall a little short of being filling enough for iPod or home-stereo listening.
At times they call to mind bigger acts, such as The Von Bondies, The Hives and The (International) Noise Conspiracy; but, for the most part, BAU’s sound is a little muddled as it struggles to find its own niche.
The band cites about a gazillion influences on its Myspace page, and at times it just seem buried by all of them.
Don’t get me wrong: BAU still rocks it with gusto and are, at times, very entertaining. They just seem to follow what is emerging as the Salt Lake City rock recipe-garage-y riffs like The Stooges and MC5, sprinkled with some Ramones, maybe a little Black Flag, and finish it all off with a twist of Nirvana?not to mention a dozen other bands.
For a local debut, Let the Bridges Ignite is not bad at all; but, for the band’s next release, BAU would do well to hone its style just a bit and try to set itself apart from the rest of the Salt Lake City garage-rock crowd.
Until then, they’re still worth checking out around town at one of the ol’ rock ‘n’ roll bars. Or for you under-21 folks, they’ll probably play at Kilby Court soon.