Newspaper Page Text
Page 18
Flagpole Magazine
April 8,1992
Ear Wax Facts
Pell Mell
Flow (SST)
I have a friend with whom I have shared many a lazy
summer night, listening to tunes until dawn. The tunes she
would choose would be dark, somber, minimalistic, and
somewhat
depress
ing; moods
to suit her
personality.
When I
first heard
this disc, it
brought
those long
lost nights
back with
the reverby
guitars, the sparse production, and the zombie approach to
the tunes. I had to double take to make myself believe that it
was an SST product. (4AD mavbe, but SST??) Pell Mell
draws from some odd sources for their apparent inspira
tion: the ambient doodles of Dif Juz and/or Love Tractor
(when they were a good band), the spirited guitar zoning of
Neil Young, and the quirky production values of Alex
Chilton. But there’s more going on here than just a combine
of rough influences. The joy of this disc is in the way they can
pull off song after song SANS vocals, and make it work.
Rarely do the songs collapse into clich6, and the longer
cuts are verily hypnotic. “Flood* works from a classic
Tractor riff, expanding the idea into several layers of spon
taneous combustion; “Breach Of Promise’ finds them dig
ging into Yeung’s Zuma territory, with chiming overdrive
and near feedback; "Bring On The China* captures the feel
of the old "Jumping Jack Flash* Stones. “Mopping Up’
appropriately cioses the disc with an elegant, soulful bal
lad Flow is a lovely album, textured and heartfelt in a time
when form and emotion are being replaced by machines
and tubes. Go get it and see why I loved that girl so much.
Wednesday, April 8th:
Pitcher Night with the
“The Contenders”
$2 Pitchers of Mixed Drinks & Beer
$1 Bottles & $1 Shots
Thursday, April 9th
“The Remaining Few”
5<f. Drinks (St Draft • 75# Daquiris
Friday, April 10th:
“Normaltown Flyers”
(o) Hypnotist Jade Berry
$2 cover with current UGA I.D.
$ 1 Drinks <St Draft
The Leaving Trains
The Lump In My Forehead (SST)
You’ve always been able to count on The Leaving Trains
to give a great performance, but they've also been beset
with problems through their career, mostly self-inflicted.
They haven't been the smartest band on earth. Who else
would name an album "Fuck* at the height of the PMRC
hearings (aside from Big Black)? And if you didn’t know they
had an album with that name on it, I rest my case. It sure as
hell wasn’t going to be displayed in the local K-mart. Not
only that, but the band has been known to perform in drag,
complete with weird makeup and curlers in the hair. You
never really know what to expect visually from th ; s group.
Now you gotta wonder about this one, although the title
is obscure enough to keep it relatively safe. What’s inside,
though, is well worth the price of admission. Lead conduc
tor Falling James spits blood through a tour de force of barn
burners based on the principles of the Hammond B-3, the
grinding rock/punk ethos that kept X alive, and thatgood old
Keith Richards guitar.
This band taKus misogyny to another level with "She’s Got
Bugs* and “Women Are Evil.* While it might sound like a bad
joke to some, even to these liberai, liberatea ears, it’s a funny
;oke. It’s like every spurned lover’s nightmare brought to light.
They’re
telling you
to shut up
and listen
to some
humor for
a change,
laughing
without
shame.
They
even at
tack our great American institution “Bob Hope’ in a hilarious
send-up of his relationship with "the boys* and Brooke. It’s
a fun album, one of those rare discs that can get a whole
room hopping in no time flat. (A)
Saturday, April 11th:
Super Saturday
“The Goodfellas”
$2.75 Pitchers — 7 to 9 = 5<f, Draft
Monday, April 13th
“Monday Madness”
Hypnotist Jack Berry
$1 Bottles, Drinks & Daquiris
Tuesday, April 14th:
“Original Dollar Night”
“John Berry”
$2 cover
$1 Bottles, Drinks, Daiquiris (St Shots
Reduced Cover w/ current UGA I.D.
The Jazz Butcher
Condition Blue (Sky Records)
I dreamed that I met the Jazz Butcher himself in a high
school auditorium. He fixed me with his intense blue gaze
and sang for me an impossibly string-laden version of “Hey
Hey Paula’ complete with regionalist lyrics. I told him I
wasn’t that kind of girl...then we went shopping.
But anyway... there wasn't much point to that, except to
give my luscious pouting readers some idea of the awe
inspiring presence
that is the Jazz
Butcher. Pat Fish
has survived in all
his incarnations.
Luckily, he hasn’t
lost his sense of hu
mor, which rose to a
crescendo on the
hysterical American
compilation LP
Bloody Nonsense,
and has since
settled to a level of delicacy and intricacy seldom seen in
any music today. For the Butcher there are no more three-
minute laugh riots along the lines of "Caroline Wheeler’s
Birthday Present* or even "Hungarian Love Son* ("I’ll be
your breakfast/ I’ll De your dinner/ You won’t get hungry/you
won’t grow thinner!’). Instead, sharply drawn observations
are couched in almost innocuous pop arrangements, much
like the technique employed by the underrated Irish band
Microdisney. Especially pointed is "Our Friends the Filth,’ a
jab at American soldiers with Messianic complexes. That
song also wins the Best Line award: “You want it now? I’ll
see you later!" Fish also has a way with a love song; “Girls
Say Yes* is beautiful and, well, delicate, while the epic
"Racheland* is both a yearning declaration of unrequited
love and a metaphorical journey through the subconscious.
No, really. Cute, single and PC, the Butchmeister is a sex
symbol for the ’90s and all-around godlike figure. Worship
this man no'M I'll see you later. (A)
Donna Brown
J.E. Sumrell J.E. Sumrell
ATHEN’S ONLY FROZEN DAIQUIRI AND LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BAR.
Petal Taiples '• Darts * Pinball * Shuffleboard
312 E. Washington St. • 613-0021