Newspaper Page Text
November 20, 1.991
ii
Flagpole Magazine
Page 17
venus Beads
Black Aspirin (Emergo)
England has produced some
exceptionally gifted and prolific
atmospheric noise bands over the
past two years, and Venus Beads
is one of the best among them.
The band was founded in Stoke
on Trent in 1989, and have re
leased a single praised for its
“comet hail on vinyl" sound, an
EP. Transfixed, which evoked
comparisons to Husker Du, and
Incision, an LP which was sub
jected to my metaphorical ravings
in the September 4 issue of Flag
pole. Black Aspirin, a 7-song of
fering described by Emergo as a
“mini-LP", finds Venus Beads still
blasting through the darkness with
feedback sparks flying.
"Reckless Hope", the opening
song, presents faith as the irra
tional hope which often rises in the
face of desperation. In the songs
that follow, emotional towers are
struck by lightening , leaving the
occupants to crawl from the wreck
age as best they can, with only the
desire to understand why and a
vague sense of hope to comfort them. "Does God Shoot
Dice?" asks the Big Question directly and the use of vocal
harmony over a distorted guitar roar is as bizarre and com
pelling as the strains of a childrens’
choir in a horror novel's alternate
reality. Another outstanding track,
“Funnel Web", likens trying to philo
sophically comprehend life to being
trapped in the deadly cone of a
poisonous spider's web. The nar
rator is “tearing up floorboards
looking beneath a vanishing point"
trying to find the nonexistent safe
route for his perilous ascent. By the
time the gothic instrumental. “Chlo
roform", and final track, "The Les
son", which condemns the hypo
'll f critical and authoritarian nature of
\ I organized religion, come through
the speakers, one can almost smell
the alter incense burning in the ca
thedral at the end of time.
Black Aspirin is an impressive
follow-up to Incision, one that any
one not devoted to lightweight
music and perpetual optimism
should hear Just above the hori-
zor the evening star hangs, as
lovely as it is distant
(Emergo Records, 225 Lafayette
St., Suite 407, New York, NY 10012)
Lisa McDonald
All aboard the Hayride
Unbeknownst to the Flagpole staff, the three members
of Hayride infiltrated the office in an effort to coerce us into
interviewing them. The office was empty at the time and
upon our return we discovered a straw effigy of The
Scarecrow hanging over the computer terminals Mes
sages were scrawled on the Macs such as "interview us or
we'll be tar and feathering the place..." The smell of hay
covered the office We figured it would be in our best
interest to invite the guys back for a chat, before the
Flagpole office was turned into a barnyard The clucking of
chickens was a mere phone call away We discovered that
Hayride, an Athens band, is playing at the 40 Watt. Wed
nesday, Nov 20 and that Kevin plays guitar, Nick plays
bass and sings, and Will plays drums
FP: You guys wanna talk a little about that Catholic up
bringing thing?
Nick: Yeah, well, we’re ail
Catholic. We all went to
Catholic school
Kevin: It plays a big part in
our band
FP: You two [Kevin and
Nick] knew each other in
high school?
Kevin: We met each other
in high school.
Nick: My first day of high
school.
FP: And when did you two
meet Will?
Kevin: About a year and a half ago. We're all from around
Atlanta and he had actually seen us in our very first high
school band playing at a talent show.
Nick: We had just broken up one of our bands and we
needed a drummer and we went, like, six months where we
didn’t play with anybody and then we found Will through
some other people.
Kevin: I didn’t like his playing and I was waiting for a friend
from Alabama to come join but Nick talked me into having
Will in our band and I’m so glad It’s been great.
FP: Does the Catholic thing influence the music
Nick: Sure, somehow.
Kevin: Yeah, this is the only way we can "let it out. * escape
the guilt.
FP: What do you guys do to pay the rent 7
Kevin: I wash dishes
Nick: I work on a chicken farm.
Will: I cut Chickens (they laugh).
Kevin: He grows ’em, he cuts ’em, and I wash the dishes.
We need to get a cook in this band.
FP: Nick, you want to talk about what it's like taking care of
100,00 chickens 9
Nick: It’s pretty scary. It's 20,000 in five houses and they’re
really fragile animals. If there’s a piece of mold in there they
can all get pnemoma. If it gets too hot they’ll die and if they
eat too much, more of them die. I saw 10.000 dead
chickens a couple of weeks ago. It was not fun, I had to pick
them up.
Kevin: They turn into black ooze when they die
FP: Is there any danger of the chickens turning on you 9
Nick: No, they peck at my shoelaces and that’s about it.
I really hate them I didn’t eat chicken for a long time but now
as an act of revenge I eat it all the time
Kevin: He has a really good song about it
FP: What 's the name of the
song?
Nick: It's called “Number
Seventeen"
FP: Would that be a spe
cific chicken called Num
ber Seventeen?
Nick: In my first batch
there, there was this one
chicken there that I kind of
took care of, felt sorry for
FP: You took him "under
your wing “?
Nick: Yeah, [chuckles
sarcastically). He had this
big eye and his head was on sideways and he had a big
tumor and a limp. We were supposed to kill him but I kept
him alive. Then one day I had to walk around with a stick with
nails in it and kill all the retarded ones. So. I had to get him
and he was the seventeenth one I killed that day and I felt
so horrible.
FP: Getting back to your music.
Nick: One thing — we’re not a funk-metal band
Kevin: There are some critics who have been labeling us
as a "Funk-Metal Trio," and we’re not at all We have some
funky songs and we have some metal songs, but never at
the same time.
Nick: Nothing against the writers, but it’s just real annoy
ing to be called “Funk-Metal" when you’re not
FP: What would you call yourselves 9
Kevin: [pause] Hippiecore
FP: Hippiecore?
Kevin: Yeah, Hippiecore.
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