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WB»C
FLAGPOLE
FEBRUARY 24. 1993
WAX
The members of Earih
gaf ready to shoo! aomabody
EARTH
EARTH 2: SPECIAL
LOW FREQUENCY &RSION (SUB POP)
I approach anyth rig that emanates
from the pores of the sub pop market
ing laboratory nowadays with a mix of
wily cynicism and seN-imposed dis
tance One of the reasons wrfry this is
the case is best illustrated by earth 2.
On the surface, this album seems to be
the noblest of protects: A two-member
studo-based guitar orchestra rerrxna-
cent of the sweepng symphonic work
of Glen Branca and Steve Reich. Sup-
posedty there are up to sateen tracks
of guitar on this recording at once
(which, of course, pales in comparison
to the mlion-track overdubs of some of
Branca s work, but hey. this is sub pop
— big stodbs sounds aren't pert of the
bargain). While it sounds impressive
from the description, the recording it
self teds a different tale Earth takes
classic sup pop chocm-chocm-choom
dead-E grunge guitar to the furthest
possible level — to the epic
soundscapes of seventies album rock
akttie harsh
does manege to
thit0* inmost ofoar ele
ments of sub pop that
differentiate ft from. say.
Peter Frampton: Low
groantog bass, heaps of
distortion, glacial tempo
and so on . The only dif
ference is the surpris
ing economy of drum
work Gosh There are
three songs on this sev
enty-minute recording,
which offers another
idee of the album s
pace I can almost buy
into whet they are doing from just a
straight listening, but I cent escape the
obvious radio-guitar overtones pre
sented as modal themes in each piece
I ultimately have to defer to earth'sowm
press package to actually judge thee
legitimacy and sincerity Reading the
teNing promo materials is where this
band's true(lack of) colors gleams forth
These guys obviously haven't taken a
hard look at their roots, and I can't ready
take hard noticeof them until they do In
sum. earth is a safe and grunge-fnendty
ntroducfon to a really fascinating realm
of avant-garde music nobody will hurt
themselves listening to. but. despite
vtoat sub pop would have us think, they
are anything but the next encompass
ing guitar orchestra LAs most Seattle
muse, they are mere pretenders to the
Travw Sutton
SCARTAGLEN
Last Noht’s Fun (City Spank)
This CO's subtitle is Irah Music in
America and. indeed. th* Insh have
arrived in full regaka touting Uilleann
pipes, pennywhistles. bouzoukis. and
fiddles, complete with track desenp-
tions and the history of each traditional
song. Jigs, reels, marches, and pokas
we al in the Irish Celtic vein with Connie
Dover singing sometimes in Gaelic
This is a lovely album, as lilting as the
Irish accent and as expansive as the
Cliffs of Moher If you're a fan of Celtic
music, have bought every Chief
tains. Boughty Boys. Planxty. the
Dubliners, the Shenachie Celtic
catalogue, and Clannad album, or
evsn if you have a taste for pop
Cetic Ike the Pogues. Hothouse
Flowers, or English bands that
have incorporated Celtic melo
dies such as the Levelers. the
Oyster Band, and even Fairport
Convention, then you should, by
all means, take a step back and
hear the ongins of the sound To
obtan a copy (available on cas
sette and CD) write to Scartagien
at PO Box 128. Weston. MO
64096-0128
Hillary Meister
Arcwelder
Pull (Touch fnd Go Records)
Arcwelder hails from the
land of Prince, that is. Minne-
apoiw — but don't let that fool
you Once they were called
Tit-A-Whirf. the name of some
carnival ride but they had to change it
due to a copyright or something But
now they are Arcwelder. and the name
fits Arcwelder consists of Rob and Bill
Graber. who switch off playing guitar
aid bass, and Scott MacDonald on
drums One of my friends says they
remind him of Husker Du I never lis
tened to Husker Du so I cant really say.
although I do hear subtle shades of Big
Black I will tell you. though, that
Arcwelder are both repressive ar
potent. The* sound a a comb r at on of
driving, hacksaw girfars. Ktok-driver
bass o>d constant dnm bombardment
which ’weld* together to prottoce mu
sic that mesmerizes and magnetizes
Their songs are smartly crafted. asbes
tos-laced hard-edged pop ejaculatons
that mix controlled
Arcwoidar and some of
rocks fiat twy went lo roll al you.
tens on with touches of frenzied reck
lessness All in all. Arcwelder are a
tightly wound trio with an emphasa on
power — power that doesn't somcaky
overpower but emotionally drans A
roller-coaster ride that uses speed to a
minimum but nstead utilizes the has-
pin turn you don't expect A good solid
album that fits nicely withn the ranks of
the Touch and Go battalon Arcwelder
rates 4 overloading power generators
OTd 5 cutting torches
John Mmcemoyer
Catbird Seat
One Of These Days (Setter Ruby)
It's odd that the mention of acous
tic-fok rock will bring the Indigos to
mind, even whan toe band in questton
is male dominated (but not an al male
band) But you hear thi oh-so-
senous stuff tossed
out on guitars with
• big holes in them,
and you hear Amy
and Emily knotting up
their brows, and...
wait a minute Sony.
While I can see the
comparisons (thay
thank Eddis's Attic m
the credits). I'm gong
to shock you all by
pontng out that this
kind of music has bean
around a really long
time I hear traces of
Bob Dylan in some of
toe tones here'\Atoai a
concept! No. I'm afraid
that the Girls didn't in
vent to is Anyway, when
you draw your nspira-
tion on music spanning
a few decades, you can
take a ’ toss-it - and-see-what -sticks' ap
proach. which this band specializes in.
Seamless because every song it cut
from the same broadcloth, formless
because there's not an idea in their kttte
heads, noffensive because they want
to sell tots of CDs. IK tell you how easy
the is: I used to be in a band kka this
Dull beyond your worst nightmares
J.E. Sumreif
HAPPY! HAPPY!
JOY! JOY!
*
cards are at
aI CoIor
MF- **
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