Newspaper Page Text
Swing into the holidays at the annual Redneck GReece
Christmas Benefit at Loco’s Deli (3190 Atlanta Hwy.), 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 14- All proceeds from this year’s benefit will
be used to purchase emergency toys for the children of Project
Safe. Every year, during this otherwise joyous sea'on, many
women and children will have to 1 ocate because of the abu
sive behavior of a spouse. Help make Christmas possible for
families fleeing abusive situations by celebrating with Redneck
GReece for what is guaranteed to be a Swingin’ Hillbilly
Honkeytonk Time. Donation at the door will be $5. Project
Safe is a non-profit organization offering shelter and services
to battered women and their children. For more information
about Project Safe, call 549-0922. For more information about
this benefit, call Redneck at 369-1486.
GREYSCALE
- PORTAL / INDEPENDENT
It s a shame GreyscafcJs debut album
opens the way it does, because these guys
are a solid band.'and there's more to them
than their ability to sound note-for-nole like
a certain Seattle four-piece (hint it starts
with "Alice and ends with "In Chains")
When you're a sludgy metal band capable
of writing good songs ana handling sweet
two-part harmonies, you're lucky if you can
escape the A.I C. corripanson. but Porta/
makes.too few. efforts to prove that state
mentwrong "Heartcafe.' T .and Common
Good" (where vocalist Kym puts his Layne
Staley impression into overdrive), could eas
ily fool radio listeners into thinking there was
new A 1C product on the way. That's not to
say "Heartcave and If" aren't "good songs
— they show Greyscale's knack for explor
ing the area between chunka-chunka
Metallica territory and melodic Quegnsryche thinking-person's rock. That t*e'ing said. Portal has some strong mci-
ments dll its own the title track is a soft ballad about the band moving South from their upstate New York fodfs. J
Blue & Grey is a sort of'moody piece utilizing sohne nice doutjie,vocal tracking and’a subversively propulsive'
drum beat — you get tte idea that the song is pushing you in a direction you weren't at all sure'you want to go. and
finally, Panicking Ram'' (say Panic and Rain' out loud) is the sort of ballad Faith No More might try whenever
Mike Patton^ets around to learning a little restraint. But the real star of Portal, as it turns out. isn't a particular
song or two, it's guitarist Jim Bonito Except for an all-too-obvious Chili .Peppers tendency on “Register'' and “Sick
of Women.” Bonito is constantly pushing the envelope of what guitar parts will work for a particular song He
alternates between grinding I ve-Got-a-Les-Paul-and-l m-Gonna-Use-lt metal riffs and dew-drop minimalist mood
pieces without a hint of hesitation. He is the rare guitar whiz who refrains from weediy-weedly guitar solos not
because he can't play them, but because he has better taste than that.
„ So in the end. Portal is a solid beginning It's not going to revolutionize the music industry, bu^ it is designed as
a stepping stone to bigger and better things As such, it'll do just fine (Greyscale PO Box 168 Athens GA
30603)
• ■ Marc Pflvinsky:
' if
HOME
X/Screw Music Foiever
Elf: :Gultborewaltz / Jetset
Records
Let the low-fi blare, but
don’t forget the strings.
Home is about as unique-
sounding a band as the
state of Florida could produce.
Home's music con
structs its own paradigm
combining discordant
noise, mellow melodies
and, yes. a chamber en
semble, hammering planks
from a musical scrap heap
into tossed-off slacker an
thems, plaintive showtunes
and unpolished pop sym
phonies. Their songs burst
into vibrating cascades that
whirl about the room, then
expand into the backyard to
throw up a fence.
The Devil’s Isle Cham
ber Ensemble, a combina
tion of horns, woods,
strings and percussion,
paint on a texture-rich glaze
without a hint of pretension
atop walls of guitar and
electronic chaos. Featured
heavily on both albums,
they expand what are al
ready heavy mood pieces.
X seems the bitterer ef
fort to swaliow, cramming
layers of sounds into every
corner. The album refuses
to sit still and winds up clut
tered and chaotic. The ex
perimentation shows a little
too well. Home keeps the
songs together nicely, but
nonetheless it is still very
rough around the edges.
Just when Home start to
find that perfect sound,
they scatter off into a hun
dred new directions. X.
which meanders on gor
geous, settles into a ca
cophonous full that is thrill
ing to witness, but could ul
timately be more satisfying.
Elf::Gulfborewaltz,
meanwhile, is more fo-
cusea. Beatle-esque
psycheoelia is layered atop
guitar-driven pop songs
that in-the least are ex
tremely hummable. They
still experiment here and
there, but their effort is
pointed in a more discern
ible direction, with a stron
ger foundation.
The songs are coarse,
yet full, making use of piano
and keyboards to great ef
fect. They take the clich6d
MBS
BarrjMCrumpy,
RandvIDjirtram
:heniw t eilQaiS
N
C
r
m
IE
R
E
B<
A
1
240 N. Lumpkin St. / 546-4742 J
munUHT - WE0NE5DAY
Free Pool - Mo Cover
Miller Might Football
$1 Bottles of Miller
THURSDAY, DECEMBER <12
NICKEL NIGHT
The Simpletons
50 BRINKS & DRAFTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13
Tommy Gun
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1«
ANOTHER NICKEL NIGHT - BISCO «
COMING EVERY SATURDAY IN DECEMBER: ANOTHER NICKEL NIGHT!
Pool Tables * Darts«Live Music* Disco • Big Screen TV
164 E. Clayton St. Above Big Shot 548-7573
18 & over Available for Parties
Downtown
20