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==== ISSUE 109 ==== CONSUMABLE ======== [May 19, 1997]
Editor: Bob Gajarsky
Internet: gajarsky@email.njin.net
Sr. Correspondents: Jeremy Ashcroft, Reto Koradi, David Landgren,
Sean Eric McGill, Tim Mohr, Al Muzer, Jamie
Roberts, Joe Silva, John Walker
Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Lee Graham Bridges, Scott Byron,
Janet Herman, Bill Holmes, Eric
Hsu, Tim Hulsizer, Stephen Lin, Scott Miller,
P. Nina Ramos, Linda Scott, Scott Slonaker,
Simon Speichert, Jon Steltenpohl, Courtney
Muir Wallner, Simon West, Lang Whitaker
Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, Dave Pirmann
Address all comments, subscriptions, etc. to gajarsky@email.njin.net
==================================================================
All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s).
Permission for re-publication in any form must be obtained from the
editor.
==================================================================
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| Contents |
`------------'
INTERVIEW: Pond - Al Muzer
REVIEW: Meredith Brooks, _Blurring The Edges_ - Bob Gajarsky
REVIEW: The Orb, _Orblivion_ - Joe Silva
REVIEW: Supergrass, _In It For The Money_ - Tim Mohr
REVIEW: Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, _A World Without Dave_
- Simon West
REVIEW: Cast, _Mother Nature Calls_ - Tim Kennedy
REVIEW: Various Artists, _DMA Dance Volume 3_ - Bob Gajarsky
REVIEW: Baby Chaos, _Love Your Self Abuse_ - Johnny Walker
INTERVIEW: Automatic - Al Muzer
REVIEW: Slider, _Sudden Fun_ - Scott A. Miller
REVIEW: Dead Fucking Last, _Grateful_ - Simon Speichert
NEWS: Audioweb, Jeff Buckley / Shudder To Think, Cajun & Zydeco
Festival, Ani DiFranco / NAIRD, Jason Falkner, Kraftwerk, Music
In The Anchorage, Toys For Tots / Q South / Danielle's Mouth
TOUR DATES: Big Back Forty, Bobgoblin, Brilliantine, Camber, Johnny
Cash, Capercaillie, Cellophane, Chemical Brothers, Walter
Clevenger & The Dairy Kings, Descendents / Less Than Jake, Dots
Will Echo, Mary Ann Farley, Five For Fighting, Gene, Hanson, Indigo
Girls, Jayhawks, Eric Johnson / Cravin' Melon, Leo Kottke, London
Suede / Longpigs, Lunachicks, Metallica / Corrosion of Conformity,
Moxy Fruvous , Ozzfest (Ozzy Osbourne / Type O Negative / Machine
Head / more), Iggy Pop, Prodigy, Q-South, Sister Hazel, Stone Temple
Pilots / Cheap Trick, U2 / Fun Loving Criminals
Back Issues of Consumable
---
INTERVIEW: Pond
- Al Muzer
Pond's 16-song major label debut may sound positively
loopy - but the lyrics, on closer examination, are a lot darker
and much deeper than first impressions would indicate.
Blasting out of your speakers like a warped hybrid of
Weezer, Flaming Lips, Primus and Nada Surf after a weekend spent
listening to (and then smashing) their big brother's old prog-rock
records and taking power hits outta the bong they found stashed
under his bed, the Portland, Oregon three-piece have conjured up
an amazing collection of musical oddities that just happens to
boast several potential hit singles among its heart-on-sleeve
confessions.
With songs devoted to disaffected offspring, human shells,
stars gone horribly off course, bad memories, escape, failure,
waste, loneliness, self-doubt and Russian dogs sent into outer
space to die; _Rock Collection_ (Work Group/Sony) sounds a lot
lighter, quirkier - and a hell of a lot more fun than it should,
by all rights, sound.
Maybe it all boils down to a childhood spent in musical isolation.
Growing up in Juneau, Alaska, bassist/vocalist Chris Brady
and guitarist/vocalist Charlie Campbell had to search far and wide
to hear anything worth listening to. Spending his formative years
in Boring, Oregon, drummer Dave Triebwasser didn't have things much
better from an audio-input point of view.
"We had to really search for good music," laments Campbell
of his and Brady's high school years. "All you'd ever hear was this
Top 40 sort'a stuff. There was this one place where you could buy
'weird' records - I remember picking up a live Replacements cassette
there called _When The Shit Hits The Fan_ and just being totally
amazed. You know, 'what the hell is this?' and, like, a light
clicked on over my head."
"There was also this little public radio station up there
that received the same releases most college radio stations got,"
recalls the author of "You're Not An Astronaut" and "My Dog Is An
Astronaut, Though." "I volunteered to work there after high
school - which was a real eye-opening experience for me. Man,
those were great times," he adds of his musical coming of age.
"I sort of knew Chris from high school," Campbell says as
he explains the beginnings of Pond, "but we didn't really hang out
or anything until the band actually came together. I was working
with someone else and we both wanted to leave town and play music
somewhere more, uhm, receptive. I knew that Chris played bass, so
I asked him to come play for us." "We did a couple of shows in
Juneau," he adds, "and then said 'Let's go try this down South'
(the duo relocated to the lower 48 states in 1989) and Pond was born."
Formed in the summer of 1991 when Brady and Campbell met
Triebwasser (formerly of Thrillhammer) and the three young musicians
bonded; Pond released one 45 on T/K in 1992 before someone at Sub Pop
Records caught the group opening for Sprinkler and signed them.
A few tracks on various Sub Pop CDs, vinyl and holiday
collections helped attract modest attention to the band, as did
1993s self-titled, Jonathan (Posies) Auer-produced full-length CD,
1995s _The Practice Of Joy Before Death_ and opening slots for Six
Finger Satellite, Throwing Muses, Rocket From The Crypt and Soundgarden.
Smart enough to recognize a great band when they finally
came across one, Work Group/Sony negotiated a deal with Sub Pop for
Pond in 1995 and then waited patiently for the three friends to polish
up their _Rock Collection_.
"The whole major label thing is" begins Campbell as he
attempts to describe his new life. "When you're not out on tour
or recording, you seem to spend an awful lot of time at home doing
absolutely nothing. You go from sitting around doing whatever you
want, whenever you want - to being out on the road with practically
every second of your day spoken for. It's definitely a very weird
way to live."
"I imagine some of it'll have some influence on my next
batch of songs," offers the man whose lyrics display almost an
obsessive fondness for water and drowning. "And animals and
astronauts!" Campbell adds with a chuckle. "You know, I'm not sure
what, exactly, the connection is between all those elements. I don't
really know why those particular themes kept cropping up in these
songs - especially the astronauts!"
---
REVIEW: Meredith Brooks, _Blurring The Edges_ (Capitol)
- Bob Gajarsky
If there was one woman's voice that dominated the music scene
in 1996, it was Alanis Morrissette. And the woman most likely to
take over that since-vacated throne, Meredith Brooks, will draw plenty
of comparisons to Morrissette on her debut album, _Blurring The Edges_.
The opening track on _Blurring The Edges_ immediately brings the
Alanis comparisons to the forefront. The drum machine (Morrissette's
best friend, other than her guitar and Glen Ballard) and cross somewhere
between singing and speaking throughout "I Need" - even with that
tracks' slight Middle Eastern guitars twanging - harken out to the
Canadian who sold more than 12 million copies of _Jagged Little Pill_.
But if Brooks' sounds parallels Morrissette's, her lyrics don't.
This woman would rather spend her time with friends, listening to Todd
Rundgren rather than checking up on an ex-lover's new flame.
One likely future single, the upbeat, sing-along "My Little Town", shows
Brooks coming to grips with the fact that she's now a city girl, while
remembering all the good features of her Oregon upbringing.
Of course, tearing up the airwaves is the leadoff single, "Bitch".
With no cognizance of the Stones, Brooks combines the passion of
Sheryl Crow and Sophie Hawkins (circa "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover")
into an anthem for the 20-something woman of the 90s. Its refrain of
"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover / I'm a child, I'm a mother / I'm a sinner,
I'm a saint / I do not feel ashamed" is likely to draw groups of
slightly buzzed rock clubbers to sing the chorus, en masse, in
little circles in this tale of a woman more than capable of standing up
for herself, but who has *human* elements about her; she'll cry, admit
that it's hard for her to change and realizes how challenging it is for
her companion to deal with her.
And so it goes. There's plenty of Alanis comparisons to be sure,
("What Would Happen" just threatens to break into "You Oughtta Know",
as does "Birthday") but not all the tracks rely on a standard formula.
There's more Sheryl Crow influences on "Stop" and some from Courtney
Love's group Hole on "Wash My Hands". "Somedays" opens with an
introduction similar to Love & Rockets ("No New Tale To Tell").
and morphs into different mini-sections of guitar chords, all linked
together by Brooks' vocals. The token ballad "Watched You Fall", with its
"Twin Peaks"-like guitar, throws an interesting monkey wrench into any
calls of predictability, while "It Don't Get Better" walks a tightrope
between country hillbilly and Depeche Mode guitars ("Personal Jesus").
Yet even as Brooks charts familiar territory crafted by Crow,
Hawkins, Morrissette and other female success stories, she is busy
blazing her own path. Regardless of what her music sounds like,
approval all boils down to how the *songs* are - and there isn't a weak
track out of the 12 songs contained herein. More to the point, there
are at least 5 songs which could be ready-made radio hits.
If this were Ms. Morrissette's second album where she *wasn't*
doing a Jody Watley-meets-Tiffany impression, it would be hailed as
a success. But there seems to be some unwritten rule which states
that a new artist *can't* be derivative of some huge success - witness
the praise heaped upon Nine Inch Nails, and the scorning of artists
influenced by NIN. With or without this critical approval, Brooks
will do just fine with _Blurring The Edges_. One of the standout
albums of 1997.
---
REVIEW: The Orb, _Orblivion_ (Island)
- Joe Silva
While the fleeting glare of the media is temporarily fixed
on the electronica ghetto, the style boundaries are sure to be
somewhat smeared. The true hairsplitters and genre geeks would
probably never lump the Orb in with the Prodigy troll, but with
the Chemical Brothers' miraculous appearance in the Billboard
stratosphere and Bowie and Bono honing in on the game, things are
bound to get muddled. Besides, it's far easier to hand the interns
at Rolling Stone one label to slap on this clutch of artists, than
to have them sacrificing quality time at the complimentary deli
trays by having to futz around with the distinctions.
And while much of the synth axis currently swings jungle-ways,
_Orblivion_ sees longstanding Orb Captain Alex Paterson has keeping
the vibe remains unmistakably Orb-like (Orb-ish?), while quite
possibly rethinking the sweeping tack that 95's _Orbvs Terrarvm_
took. At the time of that release there was probably good cause for
worry amongst the clearly devoted. Succeeding the quirky but
interesting mini-LP _Pomme Fritz_, _Orbvs_ was a expansive treatise
whose focus was dilated almost beyond proportion. The hacks hailed it
as brilliant (not to say that it was free of merit), but only because
they probably know the techno-sphere as well as they know the
Congressional roll.
Having disposed of longtime cohort Kris "Thrash" Weston, Alex
has fashioned a platter that weaves some cohesiveness back into the
brilliance of his ambient ramblings. The canvas is still sprawling,
it's just not multi-dimensional. The material is still bathed in
enough echo and reverb to tickle all the appropriate receptors, but
the beats lost in the _Orbvs_ sea have resurfaced steadfast and righteous.
It would seem that whatever he may spin on his own time for the hordes
of the dancefloor, Alex has kept his BPMs well within the posted limits
for the bong and weed set like jungle never happened. The tracks are
also compressed a touch (the longest clocking in at just under 12
minutes) as if to make things a bit more digestible.
From the kickoff, Alex presents the Orb's universe as that
shimmeringly funky place, chock full of fractured symbolism and cosmic
unease and trepidation. _Orblivion_ can play both blissful and beatific
and eerily troublesome. There's the angelic exotica of the vocal sample
1:19 into "Bedouin", pitted against the apocalyptic rant of a Scottish
fundamentalist upheld throughout "S.A.L.T." And just to air out the
deed of electronic supremacy issued to him upon the success of the
landmark "Little Fluffy Clouds" single, Alex reworks French pioneer's
Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygene 8 into the album's stunning centerpiece
"Toxygene."
But most commendable about all of this is that without appearing
the least bit hackneyed, the Orb can regurgitate sonic flavourings unique
unto themselves that signal a true depth of style. The bleeping undertow
of "Asylum" shows their keen ability to make a deft nod at their own at
their own palette while not sacrificing anything that is fresh and
engaging throughout the rest of the track.
Having taken all this in live a few weeks back, the visuals
Alex is toting around with him only add slightly to those of us who
had the misfortune or sense to remain chemi-free in their presence.
The groovers in the UK probably know how to make the most of moments
like this (most of the Atlantans in attendance didn't seem to be
properly genetically configured for a gig like this), but depending on
the capacity of your stereo system, you can probably work up to the
event, before it lands in you area. Be sure to catch it while the groove
remains accessible and delicious.
---
REVIEW: Supergrass, _In It For The Money_ (Capitol)
- Tim Mohr
Now four years since the watershed magazine covers featuring Brett
from Suede alongside headlines such as "Yanks Go Home," several of the top
Britpop bands are allowing American sounds once again to sneak back into
their musical vocabularies. First Blur disavowed their Britpop moniker and
now Supergrass return with an outstanding sophomore album that likewise
disregards the parochial Britishness so vital to the original
foundations of the recent British music scene.
Of course, Supergrass never tried to mimick the Small Faces or
Madness in the first place, leaning more towards 70s party music and their
own inimitable sense of fun. Their seminal contribution to the soundtrack of
the 90s, "Alright," was as easily compared to Elton John's "Crocodile Rock"
as to anything else.
Supergrass can shake, rattle, and roll without dogmatically invoking
English cultural cliches (Mansun, Menswear) or slavishly pursuing European
bands trying to sound like US West Coast rock (Reef, Bush). So that even
though the latest single, "Richard III," features Smashing Pumpkins-style
vocals and "Tonight" uses Sonic Youth guitars, the literary title of the
former and the playful melodic sense of the latter (not to mention horn
sections) will assure anyone of the band's roots.
In addition to their admiral universality, Supergrass also happen to
write terrific songs. The first single, "Going Out," though not as fast as
earlier hits like "Mansize Rooster" or "Caught By The Fuzz," is a good
example: a calliope organ swirls into a driving beat, a relaxed bass line
limits any drift towards chaos, a melodic bridge is filled with horns, and
Gaz sings with an unbridled voice, a voice best described as a cross between
Supertramp and Mudhoney (though perhaps with a bit of Gary Numan and Cheap
Trick thrown in for good measure).
"Hollow Little Reign," "Late In The Day," and "Cheapskate" have
loping beats, somewhere between "Ob-La-Di" and ska, while "Sometimes I Make
You Sad" uses a human beat box ala Fat Boys in lieu of bass. On "Sun Hits
The Sky," they add a New Wave synthesizer and bongos.
What's outstanding about _In It For The Money_ is the abundance of
vocal melodies. The backdrops, while also good, are almost immaterial when
attached to such a wonderful array of great ideas from Gaz. His vocal lines
distinguish a "Richard III" from the two-chord rockers of dozens of other
up-and-coming bands. And naturally, the vocal lines are the reason this
record, like the first, instills the listener with an urge to sing along.
Supergrass are by turns zany, comic, touching, and insightful. But
they remain perpetually melodic without any signs of the cloying Victorian
music hall sensibility that may have made Blur (on _Parklife_ or _The Great
Escape_) or other Britpop headliners disconcerting to audiences
west of Ireland. For people who wish Weezer or Nada Surf could play with
might and melody but not utilize funny glasses or a lack of social prowess
as their primary lyrical conceit, Supergrass demonstrate that, in Britain
at least, melody need not be a consolation prize.
---
REVIEW: Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, _A World Without Dave_
(Cooking Vinyl)
- Simon West
The Unstoppable Sex Machine returns a year or so after leaving
their record company, signing to indie Cooking Vinyl and swelling to a
six piece. _A World Without Dave_ is billed as a mini album, designed
to tide us over before a full length release later in the year. Six
tracks in the UK, the rest of the world gets three extra songs.
It's absolutely bloody superb. There. Cut through the hyperbole,
the flowery build-up. Fantastic stuff. A trawl through Tory Britain, down
the darker alleys of England, Carter have always dealt with people and
problems their peers ignore. "And God Created Brixton" is especially
good - a wander through a late night riot backed by pulsing
synthesizers you'd generally expect to find cropping up on one of Marc
Almond's more epic stories.
A reviewer for one of the English weekly magazines suggested that
Carter's last album, _Worry Bomb_, sounded at times like a battle
between the old and new Carters - fast punk guitars fighting strings,
brass and keyboard. To a great extent, new Carter won out. The guitar
here is less power chord thrash than before, and the emphasis is
certainly on melody, although "Road Rage" shows Carter still willing
and able to turn the guitars up.
Singer Jim Bob's voice has developed a range previously unknown.
From the falsetto of "Nowhere Fast" to the bite of "Road Rage", there's a
warmth and drama there that began to show on _Worry Bomb_. He's as
effective a story-teller as anyone out there.
A good couple of years ago, the ever-fickle British press wrote
Carter off as an early 90s relic (file under Neds, Wonder Stuff). Wrong
then, wrong now. The Sex Machine is as fiercely relevant and as
devastatingly spot-on as ever. Carter and label-mate Billy Bragg are
the best around when it comes to telling stories about real people,
real problems, mundane lives, but always delivered with bite and wit.
Nice one. Now the full-length album, please.
---
REVIEW: Cast, _Mother Nature Calls_ (Polydor U.K.)
- Tim Kennedy
Formed by ex-La's guitarist and one of the most eccentric
bandleaders of our times, John Power, Cast are very much a product
of their town - Liverpool. Live, the Irish folk element in their
music leaps out from amongst their wild rythmical tattoo, much
more so than on record.
They still remind of the La's mainly on the strength of
Power's unmistakable coarse voice which is still like the wind
whipping against the Pier Head. Although the sugary "There She
Goes" was the La's hit, much of their output had a sharper bite to it.
The first Cast album was a _Who's Next_, wild
Townshend riffs and muppet Moony drumming to match. However this
collection finds them in a more reflective, and even romantic mood.
There is at least 50% ballads on this album, which is strange
for a band celebrated as one of the Oasis "NoelRock" mafia by such as
Britain's NME.
So John is returning to the style of his most widely-known
musical work of yesteryear. Strings are used to good effect, and
the harmonies are, on a Beach Boys scale of excellence, if not
_Pet Sounds_, at least _20-20_ (a sadly underrated album, in my opinion).
The lyrics are mostly in philosophical mode; this is not an
album which tackles politics or social questions. But Power clearly
feels we should be more in tune with the planet.
This is a nice album to stay in and listen to - a reflective
and extremely satisfying album.
This album has not been scheduled for release in the
United States.
---
REVIEW: Various Artists, _DMA Dance Volume 3_ (Interhit)
- Bob Gajarsky
When an independent label starts up, the quickest way
to garnering enough sales to stay afloat lies in finding some
underappreciated niche of music, and then satisfying the demand among
consumers in that market. Los Angeles-based Interhit Records has
targetted the Eurodisco community with its releases and this compilation,
the latest in the outstanding _DMA Dance_ series, Volume 3.
Eurodisco (alternately called Eurodance, presumable to avoid
upsetting people who have preconceived notions of disco) hasn't made much
of an inroads in mainstream America. Probably the biggest successes
of this style were Stock-Aitken-Waterman proteges Rick Astley and Kylie
Minogue. And, although Minogue is experiencing a revitalization of
her European and Australian career by hooking up with respected
artists (collaborations with Nick Cave and a future one with the
Manic Street Preachers), American audiences can collectively be heard
to ask 'Where are they now?'
But, outside of this country - or inside some of the major
city's clubs - Eurodisco is alive and well. Based in repetitive light
keyboard riffs, running anywhere from about 115 to 140 beats-per-minute,
and sometimes confused with 'Happy House' music, Eurodisco offers audiences
a mixture of cover songs given the keyboard remix treatment (No Doubt's
"Don't Speak" by Clueless and Joan Osborne's "One Of Us" by Outta Control
being two of the more recent hits) and new songs which are easy to dance
to but seemingly only appear in 12" vinyl racks in small quantities.
Interhit continues to compile these tracks - on this volume,
16 tracks clocking in at a healthy 70+ minutes - in a most timely fashion.
Ten of the 16 tracks are making their American debut, and only three
(Culture Beat's "Mr. Vain", Le Click's "Tonight Is The Night" and
possibly Crush's "Jellyhead") would be instantly recognizable to
American audiences.
The lack of availability of these songs is the major selling
point here, and _DMA Volume 3_ includes top European hits, such as
DJ Bobo's top 5 European hopeful ode to a peaceful world, "Pray". Many of
the songs have their break into the marketplace in Italy, and acts such as
Double You are proof of that. Best known for their Eurodisco covers
(U2's "With Or Without You", KC & the Sunshine Band's "Please Don't
Go"), the group teams up with Alexia to produce "Me & You", a cross
somewhere between Real McCoy and 2 Unlimited.
Culture Beat's "Take Me Away" (which is only available in the U.S.
through Interhit; an 8 track maxi-single is also commercially released)
follows the driving, gotta-dance feel which made their 1994 _Serenity_
album such a major smash. Don't forget Dr. Alban, whose "It's My Life"
topped dance charts around the globe a couple years back, who returns
with "This Time I'm Free", and JK's "My Radio", which harkens back to
the dance club sound of the late 1980's. The collection wouldn't be
complete without a new cover song, and this time, Interhit offers up
Jackie O's take on Oasis' "Wonderwall"; the Gallagher-penned tune sees
guitars being replaced by a pulsating keyboard backdrop, as Jackie's
vocals last for a longer time and offer a more dynamic range than those
in the original.
You don't have to be European to partake in this musical genre.
Canada's Outta Control's make yet another appearance on the DMA series
with "Sinful Wishes" (from the _Outta Control_ full length; also
available on an 11 version, 70+ minute! maxi-single) Featuring the
talents of Barry Harris - formerly of Kon Kan - this song originally
appeared on Kon Kan's Canadian-only _Vida_ album. The guitars and
male vocals have been replaced by a steady stream of keyboards and
the diva-like sound of Kimberley Wetmore, and the resulting song is
irresistible bliss to all fans of dance music.
Fans of Eurodisco, rejoice. Interhit's latest dance compilation
will not only keep you dancing, but save you money from spending $100
or more on European imports.
Interhit is on the Web at http://www.interhit.com
---
REVIEW: Baby Chaos, _Love Your Self Abuse_ (Atlantic)
- Johnny Walker
Scotland's Baby Chaos are the great 90s band that no-one's heard,
seemingly doomed to make sizzling rock and rock albums in a millennial
era when the music business has decided that guitar-based rock and roll
is dead. Their 1994 debut, the perhaps prophetically, definitely
satirically entitled _Safe Sex, Designer Drugs and The Death of Rock
and Roll_, was a high-strung, razor-barbed amalgam of post-punk, metal
and glam-rock influences delivered with plenty of sass and a nihilistic
viewpoint that made Baby Chaos stand apart from the then-current and
now passe PC victim-rock of Pearl Jam and that ilk.
After a label switch from East/West to Atlantic, the Babies are
back, and they're still packing plenty of punch. "When the season gets me
down / I feel like kickin' things around" screams head baby Chris Gordon on
"Kicking Things," a song that encapsulates the melodiously aggressive
mood that pervades this album. There's an advanced sense of dynamics
on display here, on songs like "Try Hard To Be Psychic" and "Pink" that
continues to set Baby Chaos apart from the pack: they're
tight in a way that a band can only achieve from years of playing
together on the road.
This album burns from start to finish with a kind of existential
remorse, the realization that the end of things, as Samuel Beckett once
wrote, is inherent even in their beginnings, and yet we stagger on. The
centerpiece track "Mental Bruising For Beginners," a dynamic riff-rocker
that whirls through tempo changes and tosses in a few neo-metal riffs
for good measure, epitomizes this view: "One day the door opened and I
fell through / And who'd have thought that we could be like this so
dead inside with no desire at all," Gordon laments. But what makes this
band so enjoyable is that, however tragic their recognitions of life's
basic predicament, they refuse to give in, and find a form of personal
sovereignty in the Dionysian ecstasy of the moment, as on the title
track: "Love your self abuse / It may be all you've got and if it is
then that's your lot / so enjoy the sensation of your mental liberation
and feel / a little better you deserve it you're a fucking star."
Sentiments that would no doubt have met the approval of their fellow
Scotsman, Aleister Crowley.
_Love Your Self Abuse_, then, is a rock album for those who
remain unconvinced by all the "love and equality" communal crapola
currently being spouted by the new hippie generation hiding under the
misleading "electronica" moniker. "I've got a feeling that they're
fucking with me / they're trying to drain me of my dignity" Gordon
warns in "Ignoramus," sounding the same warning that Lou Reed and the
Velvet Underground did back in a similar musical climate in the 1960s:
namely, that all systems and ideologies, be they "alternative" or
"mainstream," work to erode the sovereignty of the individual.
The best thing, then, is to play your cards close to the vest:
"I confess to nothing" Gordon paradoxically declares here on the smoking
"Confession of a Teenage Pervert." In a world full of snake-oil salesmen
peddling the latest fashions and trendy philosophies, Baby Chaos continue
to proudly go it alone.
---
INTERVIEW: Automatic
- Al Muzer
"Jee-sus! Now that's just too bleedin' scary!" proclaims Danny
Plant in a thick Australian accent as the rest of the band try to appear
cool, calm and collected.
Automatic's third night in America, their second U.S. gig, and
their first show opening for Silverchair finds the group's visibly
nervous drummer gazing wide-eyed out the window of the group's
six-hour-old tour bus as he bangs out a staccato beat on the table top
and sips another (" 'murrican beer's too weak!") brew.
Trying their best to keep busy 45 minutes before a show at a
New Jersey-shore nightclub, bassist Richard Taylor replaces an A-string
that broke during sound check, singer/guitarist Matt Fenton downs
another slug of Mylanta and guitarist Alex Jarvis pops Jonathon Richman
into the CD player.
Out on the sidewalk, the cause of Plant's concern and a sight
his three bandmates are going out of their way not to notice pierces the
chilly ocean air with yet another wave of earsplitting screams
launched for no apparent reason.
Two hundred? Three hundred? Four hundred? It's physically
impossible to count the crowd of carefully-coifed, constantly-moving
young girls as they nervously pose, preen and promenade around the
headliner's two tour buses.
"Not a one of 'em older'n what? Fifteen, sixteen tops?" asks
Fenton as he screws the cap back on the medicine he hopes settles his
jumpy stomach and glances out at the vibrating swarm of future mothers
of America as they thrust out their young breasts and smoke cigarettes
stolen from mom's purse in a vain attempt to look older than their
freshman and sophomore year book photos.
"Do 'ya think it's gonna be this, weird every night?" worries
Taylor, already slightly alarmed at the prospect of two more weeks
playing for a hormonally-charged teenage audience clearly not there
for the opening act.
"Ya' know, this tour is gonna be a real interesting test for
us," Jarvis says optimistically. "If we can just grab their [pointing
to Silverchair fans] attention during the first couple of songs - we
should be able to keep 'em going for the entire set."
"We're really hoping this [tour] helps the record gain a bit
of a toe-hold in the states," Fenton says of the group's just-released
Sony/550/Murmur/Epic debut, _Transmitter_.
"I think that if we can manage to get a bit of airplay for
ourselves over here, _Transmitter_ will actually do fairly well. It's
just a question," he adds nodding to a gaggle of young girls descending
on one of the headliner's roadies as he attempts to enter the first
bus, "of us getting up there and winning that crowd over."
A loud, filthy, sprawling blast of joyful, Iggy Pop-inspired
sludge-punk with healthy pop roots and an aggressive, in-your-face
bass/drums wallop, _Transmitter_ is a heady collision of "A"-list
influences that comes across like the third or fourth release from a
more mature outfit instead of the first full-length effort from four
young Aussies who've played together a little less than three years.
Somewhat short in the "history of" department, the members of
Automatic were friends who went to high school together in the small
coastal town of Ocean Grove before they decided to join forces as a
punk-influenced Raw Power-based pop band in 1994.
"I actually dabbled in computer science for a bit," recalls
Fenton with a shiver, "I didn't like it at all."
"It didn't take me too long," he adds, "to realize that music
was a much more satisfying option for me."
Releasing a five-song EP financed by Jarvis' mother later that
same year, Automatic quickly became a staple on Australian alternative
radio. The group parlayed their on-air exposure into gigs up and down
the east coast that eventually led to a contract with Sony-distributed
(also the home of Silverchair and Ammonia) Murmur Records.
Another year on the road and another popular EP gave Sony the
confidence it needed to green light sessions for Transmitter with
INXS/Midnight Oil-producer Nick Launay.
"We tried our best to get a raw, loose, very live sound on the
record," offers Fenton when Transmitter's ultra-greasy guitar caterwaul
is mentioned. "A lot of the guitars, bass and, occasionally, the
drums and vocals were miked through one of those little Marshall
practice amps cranked all the way up."
"It's a great noise, innit?" asks Jarvis. "Our earlier
recordings always sounded a little too clean. This is much better, you
know?"
"We wanted _Transmitter_ to have a gritty sound," adds Fenton.
"We wanted it to simulate the feel of a great pub performance. You
know, something that grabs you and doesn't let go."
"Until you've downed a pint or two with it," cracks Plant as he
grabs another beer from the refrigerator.
---
REVIEW: Slider, _Sudden Fun_ (A&M)
- Scott A. Miller
Three-minute songs, three-line choruses and loud - really loud -
playing: what would you expect from someone who at age 18 produced Primus'
debut and a guy who used to drum with Paul Westerberg?
From the opening riff, Slider's _Sudden Fun_ strikes you as a
loud album, definitely not meant for the "let's kick back and mellow out"
crowd. As long as you like it loud, you'll still be interested seven or
eight listens later, thanks to vocalist/guitarist Matt Winegar's gift for
getting into a song, making his point and getting out.
Eleven songs in 33 minutes equals very little wasted motion. The
opening cut, "I Wanna Go," is one of several examples. It starts comical
- "Got up and went to church, outta my fucking head, made it home by 10,
so I went back to bed" - been there, done that. Then it quickly -
everything happens quickly on this album - turns into a 1990s night-life
anthem. What makes the chorus shine is its simplicity: "'Cause when the
lights are turned down low, everything starts moving slow, I wanna go."
All the choruses are like that: short on words and long on possibilities.
Winegar's voice, which much of the time has the same ragged,
intense longing of Kurt Cobain's (check out "Inside"), also has a slushy
lower register, giving songs like "Corduroy" and "Take Me Down" a coolly
detached air.
The strongest song on an album with several high points may be
"All Along." With an incredible guitar hook and a punchy two-line chorus,
the song seems like it would fit right into the so-called "alternative"
radio format. And radio or not, it'll definitely have you bopping around.
Of course radio may never play it for the same reason radio
never picked up much on the Replacements. I don't know what that reason is
and neither does anyone else who loves music, but at least that hasn't
stopped record companies from getting behind music like this.
Winegar proves capable with a guitar and a bass (he plays both on
the record; Zak Schaffer is playing bass on the road), but after hearing
the solo on "Better" I wanted him to cut the rock 'n' roll cliche crap
and stick with those great punchy pop songs - sans solo. Wisely, he steers
clear of the "lead guitarist pose" the rest of the time.
Josh Freeze, who has drummed for Westerberg, Juliana Hatfield,
and Devo, among others provides plenty of excitement from behind the kit.
His work on the intro to "Corduroy" practically explodes off the CD.
Winegar and David Bianco, a former Rick Rubin engineer who has
worked with Teenage Fanclub and Frank Black, produce. The pair give the
disc the same clean sound of the two most-recent Goo-Goo Dolls albums,
another band that borrowed a little from the Replacements to find a
niche in lots of record collections.
Loud guitars on top of good pop songs may not be a new concept.
Ultimately, it's Winegar's haiku-like ability to evoke strong images using
few words that make this debut interesting.
---
REVIEW: Dead Fucking Last, _Grateful_ (Epitaph)
- Simon Speichert
When I received this CD, I promptly exclaimed, "What the heck it
this?" Well, it's Dead Fucking Last's new album, entitled _Grateful_. The
reason for the aforementioned exclamation was that the packaging was quite
unorthodox. In scrawled printing, there were production, recording and
mastering credits, a web site address, and four different band rosters. To
this day, I still don't know who's in DFL. Yet, still, the most unusual
thing is the CD itself. There is one track, 26 minutes long, with 17 songs
on it, therefore; because there are no vacant spaces between songs, it
sometimes is hard to tell when a song starts or ends.
However, most of these quirky packaging faults are made up for
when the music starts. _Grateful_ has 17 songs in 26 minutes, which works
out to an approximate average of a minute and a half a song (my math isn't
very good). Although the songs are short, they sure are sweet. A few of
the highlights are first song "We Are The Dead", "The Grateful Song",
"Live 4 Today" and "It's All (In Your Head)". I wish I had a CD player
that programmed by minutes and seconds instead of tracks.
DFL is an Epitaph band. This should immediately send out a signal
to record buyers that says: HARDCORE PUNK. And nobody does it better than
the part of Epitaph that is Dead Fucking Last. This is a party album,
something to get the adrenaline flowing, something that sounds like old
Beastie Boys before they turned rap. Although this album may seem sloppily
done, (example: someone laughs at the end of a song, then someone
whispers, "Shhh! That's a keeper!") it is a superb effort from a band
whose main previous credit was that their last album was produced by Adam
Horowitz of the Beastie Boys.
---
NEWS: > Audioweb's self-titled album, which was originally reviewed
in the February 3 issue of Consumable as an import, was released in
the United States this past week.
> Jeff Buckley, preparing to start work on his second studio
album shortly, recently went into the studio with Shudder to Think,
recording lead vocals for "I Want Someone Badly", a song which will appear
on the soundtrack of the film _First Love - Last Rites. Shudder To Think
is composing, recording and producing the entire soundtrack to and
working with several guest vocalists besides Buckley.
> The 11th annual Southern California Cajun & Zydeco Festival
will be held on May 31 and June 1 at the Rainbow Lagoon Park in Long
Beach, CA. The event is driven by producer Franklin Zawacki, who
who has pioneered Cajun/Zydeco music for 18 years. For further
information on ticket prices or the festival, call 714-638-1466
or visit the Web site at http://www.ZydecoCajun.com.
> Ani DiFranco will be the keynote speaker at the NAIRD
25th anniversary convention, scheduled from May 21-25 at the
Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans. NAIRD is the trade organization
specifically geared to servicing the global independent music
industry.
> Jason Falkner and his band will be performing a free concert
at New York City's Westbeth Theatre on May 27 at 9:00 pm. This show will
be filmed by HBO2 for "Reverb".
> Keyboard pioneers Kraftwerk are scheduled to release
a new album in September of 1997.
> Music In The Anchorange '97 will be taking place
June 6-28 on Thursdays through Saturdays at the Brooklyn Bridge.
Artists who will be participating in this event include Sonic Youth,
Ben Neill, DJ Spooky, Vernon Reid, Lady Miss Kier, Mogwai
and many others. Ticket prices range from $12-20, depending on
the show. This is sponsored by Creative Time, which was founded
twenty-four years ago and has since become an international leader
in presenting new works by artists of all disciplines in unlikely
public spaces. For further information, check out the site at
http://www.creativetime.org
> The first annual Toys for Tots Jam will take place at
the Harley Davidson Cafe in New York City on Thursday, May 22. Two of
the scheduled bands for the evening's charity event include Q South and
Danielle's Mouth.
---
TOUR DATES:
Big Back Forty
May 23 Atlanta, GA Star Bar
May 24 Athens, GA High Hay
May 25 Myrtle Beach, SC Yesterday's
May 27 Columbia, SC Rockafella's
May 28 Charleston, SC Music Farm
Bobgoblin
May 23 Little Rock, AR Vino's
May 24 Dallas, TX Galaxy Club
Brilliantine
May 23 New York, NY Arlene's Grocery
Camber
May 24 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
Johnny Cash
May 21 Spokane, WA Arena
May 23-24 Chicago, IL House of Blues
Capercaillie
May 21 New York, NY Bottom Line
May 22 Toronto, ON Bamboo Club
May 23 Raleigh, NC Museum of Art
May 25 Washington, DC Wolf Trap Celtic Festival
May 27 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
May 28 Seattle, WA Backstage
Cellophane
May 20 Boston, MA Bill's Bar
May 22 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
May 23 Toledo, OH Carol's
May 24 Chicago, IL ESPN EXTREME GAMES- Tinley
May 25 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
May 28 Madison, WI Mango Grill
Chemical Brothers
May 20 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
May 21 Tampa, FL Ritz
Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings
May 21 Irvine, CA Sloppy Joe's
Descendents / Less Than Jake
May 22 Charlotte, NC Tremont Music Hall
May 23 Atlanta, GA Roxy
May 25 St. Louis, MO Mississippi Nights
May 26 Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall
Dots Will Echo
May 23 New York, NY Sidewalk Cafe
Mary Ann Farley
May 28 Waltham, MA Brandeis University
Five For Fighting
May 20 Colorado Springs, CO Manhattan's
May 21 Denver, CO Bluebird
May 23 Ames, IA People's
May 24 Somerset, WI Apple River Amp.
May 25 Omaha, NE Ranch Bowl
May 28 Chicago, IL Schuba's
May 29 Bloomington, IN Second Story
May 30 Pontiac, MI Clutch Cargos
Gene
May 22 Boston, MA Paradise
May 23 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
May 24 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
May 27 Chicago, IL Metro
May 28 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Hanson
May 19 Bridgewater, NS Riverview Community Centre
May 21 New Brunswick, NJ Court Tavern
May 22 Philadelphia, PA Upstairs At Nicks
May 23 Cleveland, OH Euclid Tavern
May 24 Chicago, IL Fireside Bowl
May 25 Green Bay, WI Concert Cafe
May 27 Regina, SK The State
May 28 Calgary, AB Republik
Indigo Girls
May 23-24 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park
May 27 Richmond, VA Classic Amphitheatre
May 28-29 Vienna, VA Wolf Trap
Jayhawks
May 22-23 Chicago, IL (w/Wilco)
Eric Johnson / Cravin' Melon
May 21 Columbus, OH Ludlows
May 23 Nashville, TN 328 Performance Hall
Leo Kottke
May 24 Columbia, MO Prairie Home Companion
London Suede / Longpigs
May 21-22 Los Angeles, CA El Rey
May 23 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
Lunachicks
May 22 San Francisco, CA Slims
May 23 Los Angeles, CA Whiskey
May 24 San Diego, CA Soma
May 25 Mesa, AZ Nile Theatre
May 27 Austin, TX Emos
May 28 Houston, TX Emos
Metallica / Corrosion of Conformity
May 20 Seattle, WA Key Arena
Moxy Fruvous
May 22 Owen Sound, ON Harbour Inn
May 23 Port Dover, ON Old Town Hall Theatre
May 24 Guelph, ON Guelph Spring Festival
May 28 Quebec City, PQ Le Kashmir
Ozzfest (Ozzy Osbourne / Type O Negative /
Machine Head / more)
May 24 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavillion
May 26 West Palm Beach, FL Coral Sky Amphitheatre
May 28 Charlotte, NC Blockbuster Pavillion
Iggy Pop
May 24 Omaha, NE New Amph.
May 25 Minneapolis, MN Apple Valley
May 26 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
May 28 Chicago, IL The World
Prodigy
May 26 Seattle, WA Union Station
May 27 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
May 28 Los Angeles, CA Mayan Theatre
Q-South
May 23 Philadlephia, PA Grape Street Pub
May 27 Portland, ME Stone Coast
Sister Hazel
May 21 Houston, TX Satellite Lounge
May 23 Dallas, TX 8.0
May 24 Biloxi, MS CPR Festival
Stone Temple Pilots / Cheap Trick
May 20 Las Vegas, NV Aladdin Theatre
May 21 San Diego, CA Ri Mac Gym
U2 / Fun Loving Criminals
May 19 Kansas City, MO Arrowhead Stadium
May 22 Pittsburgh, PA Three Rivers Stadium
May 24 Columbus, OH Ohio Stadium
May 26 Washington, D.C. R.F.K. Stadium
---
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