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“Never Let Me Go”
So poised it’s seden
tary, “Never Let Me Go”
is, like the sad and won
derful Kazuo Ishiguro
novel it’s based on, a
drama structured
around fissures of disori
entation.
But, unlike with
Ishiguro whose prose
is so reflectively consci
entious it shimmers
the meticulousness of
Mark Romanek’s adap
tation reads like a bland
copy.
There’s something
performative at the cen
ter of this story about
British schoolchildren,
bred to schooladults,
who’ve been raised (nay,
created) for the purpose
of donating their organs
to “real people.”
If it sounds like sec
ond-hand sci-fi, it’s
because, well, it kind of
is. But that’s because
Alex Garland (who wrote
Danny Boyle’s space
thriller “Sunshine”) has
only adapted the
mechanics of the plot,
not the soul.
Carey Mulligan, Keira
Knightley and Andrew
Garfield star, spinning in
love-sick triangulations:
Does their love matter?
Do they? What’s the
point of living if your life
isn’t, y’know, all that
alive?
Romanek, shooting
with sharp-eyed pretti
ness, dares to ask these
questions. Unfortunately,
all he finds has been
found before.
Yet I’m struck not
with sadness, but the
revelation that the most
resonant thing about
“Never Let Me Go” is
how hollow it is.
—Adam Carlson
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SQUID: Bands unite
for charitable EP
► From Page 1
the Warm FUzzies. “We
kind of epjoy things that
are offbeat, things that
don’t take themselves too
seriously. Squidmas epito
mizes that.”
Indeed, Doctor Squid
takes its name from the
band’s mulling over how
the world would react to
Dr. Phil turning into a
squid. •
“Would people still take
him seriously as a squid
with a Southern accent?”
Moody said.
Harwell said he doesn’t
intend to wear a Santa hat
for the show, but he did
promise he will reach deep
in to his wardrobe for
something appropriately
lame.
The Warm FUzzies came
aboard after Harwell had
lunch with Doctor Squid’s
lead guitarist Mark
Spurlock, who invited
them to the gig for the fun,
carefree sound that lent
itself to the band’s name.
“When we started the
band, the only thing we set
forward was that it had to
be fun,” Harwell said,
eschewing the notion of
treating the band like a
job, which had the poten
tial to suck the fun out of
the endeavor.
The band’s latest proj
ect an ambitious plan to
release one song a month
in 2011— arose from a
desire to put the band’s
talents to use.
Besides making music,
every member has a graph
ic design background and
will be designing covers for
each monthly release.
“We considered calling
it ‘The Singles Club,’ but
that would be confusing,”
Harwell said. “We’d have a
lot of cougars prowling
around.”
Drummer Davey Staton
said the group is also
working a spring release
that will take the form of
an EP or a full-length
album, depending on how
the recording process goes.
He said the group
already has eight or nine
songs put toward that
effort.
We helped University of .Georgia students save more than $205,000 this fall through Rent-A-Text!
Flesh and Blood’s
Marston shares the same
tongue-in-cheek attitude
that typifies the other two
bands.
Even the band’s handle
came from a joke on
Marston and bassist Erica
Strout’s part.
Drummer Erika Rickson
had rejected every poten
tial band name laid out
before her, so the two con
cocted a title she wouldn’t
possibly accept. But then
she did, so the band rolled
with it.
“We like it in the con
text of how it sounds fore
boding,” she said. “At the
same time, it’s not a mor
bid name. It’s just flesh
and blood.”
The name also captures
a sense of the band’s diver
sity, which has given rise to
at least one song Marston
classifies as “dance metal,”
combining catchy tunes
and heavy riffs.
“We can dance, but we
can break your nose, too,”
Marston said.
This year’s Squidmas
will be her second, having
previously performed with
the band Romanenko.
Rickson also made the
move from Romanenko to
Flesh and Blood with
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“ITS WHERE DAWGS SHOP"
VARIETY
FILE | Tim Rm * Black
▲ Doctor Squid, whose name originated from a conversation about Dr.
Phil turning into a squid, encourages all to dress up for the performance.
Marston, while the rest of
the band is new to the
holiday Squidmas experi
ence.
She said she is especial
ly looking forward to this
year’s Squidmas, as the
2nd Annual Squidmas was
very nearly torpedoed by a
number of nasty surprises,
including a last minute
change in venue.
The scheduling conflict
arose when Tasty World,
formally bn Broad Street,
decided to replace
Squidmas with another
The Red * Black | Tuesday, December 7, 2010
act, a move the venue
made without consulting
Doctor Squid or the other
bands.
The event was forced to
move, and the 40 Watt
agreed to host the show
two days later.
However, Marston said
it worked out for the best.
“Last year, it didn’t real
ly feel like a show,” she
said. “It felt like a party. A
lot of that had to do with
the atmosphere of the 40
Watt.”
With the 40 Watt firmly
in hand, Marston said the
bands have had much
more time to plot their
Christmas cheer.
Marston said Flesh and
Blood’s Squidmas plans
already include fresh,
homemade cookies and
fake antlers.
“Rickson is the one who
wants us to wear horns
and Santa hats and
things,” Marston said.
“I’m sure I’ll wind up in
something. I already plan
on wearing a majestic
sweater.”
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By: December 15
7
