Newspaper Page Text
Page 16
Flagpole Magazine
February 14,
What Jeff Saw, What Jeff Heard...
Some Tape Reviews
It's the ones who are humble as well as
gifted that are the most interesting, don't
you think? George Vest, foi example. Watch
for an interview with him in a few weeks,
when the riches will hopefully be mined and
sifted a little more carefully. But for now, let's
talk about ‘Keep’’, his tape. For one thing,
it's completely full of music on both sides,
and it has the feel of an album rather than a
demo. It’s a lot of fun.too, because many of
the songs are deadpan hilarious, about
things like losing your face in the mirror or
watching motorists get mad as elephants
parade down the highway. There is a sly wit
and also boyish charm, a mischevious play
fulness about these types of songs. Very
clever, inventive and imaginative. There are
ballads and more somber, reflective tunes
as weli-sometimes the styles overlap, such
as on ‘Late for the Wedding"- but in any
case the songwriting is muscular and ex
tremely skillful throughout, reflecting a keen
and perceptive intelligence with clarity and
childlike humor. Sometimes the words are
hard to make out (just squint a little), but the
subtlety and intrique will make you want to
listen again anyway, even if only for the
nuances of the lyrics you heard perfectly the
first time. Now, I have a word bias, so I
should move on to the music. The sound,
whether fast or slow or mid-tempo, is sinu
ous like water. The guitar work is folkish,
bluesy, sometimes more pop-oriented or
electric, sometime combinations of these.
George has a wide range, yet he has al
ready developed a distinctive style, so there
is a uniformity of tone to the arrangement of
the songs, though the different numbers do
not sound like so many variations of one.
‘Your Reptile Eyes", a particularly fine com
position with lots of hooks, is an excellent
example of this: it sounds like nothing else
on the tape, yet it has that definitive George
Vest stamp. Lots of harmonica fill figure into
this set, along with snare drumming and
some tamborine effects. (Did I hear mara-
cas also? Listen for the restrained, effective
comic use of snapping in one part.) The mix
I can't be from
the big city 'cause
I wear pointed shoes
is deft, and George's versatile vocal ca-
papbilities make “Keep" a delight and a
pleasure to listen to. There's a lot going on
there, and I'd like to explore the details more
in depth, but like I said, please watch for the
interview. In the meantime, I strongly rec
ommend that you pick up George’s tape,
because, really, artists like this need your
support.
In other news, I’m going to lie through my
teeth and say, ‘Hey, the Labrea Stompers
are fucking great?”.... Yeah the acidulous
mallifularity of their eebedy (urn)... recip
rocity, is, uh, you know beside the creek. In
other words, the tender, touching love bal
lad ‘Barnyard Funtime".
From the gentle sound of Donna
Bowman’s cleavage to the, uh, oblong
shape of the TAPE CASE (yeah, that's what
I meant). It takes a big man to fill Jim's
shoes, and that's why he wears them. The
Empire State Building. Trey, teil them the
new rhythm section will, how does one say
it in America, eee, kick bootie! (Trey says it.)
Yep, these folks ez tighter n Donny Trump
on speed, n more fun than a barrel of schizo
phrenic mocassins (the snakes, not the
shoes, -aw hell take your pick) let loose in a
Midwestern newscasters convention. So,
basically, they suck. Go see a movies (I
mean) get their goddamn tape. It speaks for
itself. It says, Ican't be from the big city
'cause I wear pointed shoes.
On that warm note, I’d like to apologize
to CORDY LON for misquoting “Verged on
Innocence" as ‘Birdsong Innocence" in last
week’s column. Also, I’d like to invite anyone
anywhere to send me tapes. And/or letters.
I would be very interested in feedback
(preferably in letters), and maybe we can
even establish a continuing dialogue of
some sort. At any rate: COMING SOON-
Vanilla Trainwreck, Farnz and the Burgoos,
Naked in the Rain, Smash Fantastic, John
Miley, The Groove Trolls, and an undiscov
ered solo gem...
Jeff Pa yne
!!!NEW!!!
Pitchers Of
Beer
SatelliteTV
Drink' &
Dinner
Specials
RESTAURANT
& CANTINA
HAPPY
HOUR
Mon - Fri
4:00 Til 7:00
j 364
E.Broad St.
543-3097