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LIVE REVIEW)
editions mil occasionally hit a power
wave They attempt Fran* Black-tsh
speed surges, which lac* the necessary
alert potency to make them very attrac
tive It’S rust average, well-packaged
West Coast aK-rock
For instance, the seventh track.
'Teen Competition; otters some sparse
examples of Soundgz: Jenmg from the
fellas The ontv *orthwt*te variation to
the undom - ,mated monotone of the IP
is m the quirky 'Follow the Leader.’
which demonstrates the bands
poprockability. with lead singer Jeffrey
McDonald doing a Lennon in ’Bad
Boy* imitation, complete with neck-
terkmg rolls and ‘60s chord changes.
’Ugty Town" exhibits a rmkty entertain
ing couple of minutes, too It would
probably fare well on some new twenty
something-films soundtrack
The rest ot the album, though,
conjures up glossy, annoying images
of studio work Sometimes guitar
solos border on Aerosmifh y bravado
All in all I’d recommend looking lor
some earlier retease trom the band —
such as Neurotica — in lieu of the
showy Sfiow World
Smith Harrison
CARTER BURWELL
Fargo*Barton Ftnk soundtracks /
TVT Records
The Coen Brothers are story
tellers Their films generally tall into
two categories zany comedies
(Raising Arizona. Hudsucker Proxy).
and dark dramas (Fargo. Barton Fink.
Millers Crossing and Blood Simpld)
As I listen to this new compilation
of Carter Burweils music Irom Fargo
and Barton Fink, it occurs to me that the
Coens generally take a visual (rather
than audto) approach to their f.lms Ot
their six trims, only small passages rety
heavily on music to set the mood ot the
scene In Millers Crossing there was
the bnlliant 'Damy Boy' botched mur
der sequence and the a cappetia Tom's
Last Walk sequence, and in Barton Ftnk
you could almost hear Big Band music
seeping under the door Irom some
mysterious room down the hall Racing
Arizona ot course, had the rollicking
cowboy-music chase-scene passages
but the Coens generally let then stories
untold through visuals and
dialogue, not traditional film
score music
Its not surprising, then,
lo listen to the combined
Fargo •Barton Fmk sound
tracks and leel like you ve
missed something when it's
all over Burweils scores
here are minimalist exercis
es in mood music Only the
triumphant ’Fargo. North
Dakota’ (the opening titles
music lor the trim) has much
power; you can practically
seen Conan the Barbarian
marching across the windswept desert
as the orchestra booms, thunders and
splashes away Otherwise, we re treat
ed to minor themes and dark, somber
pieces that seem to crawl up your
spine and settle at the base of your
neck, or efse pass through your mind
without even registering
It would be wrong to expect
Burwell's scores lo match the great
ness of the Coens' films, because
surely they gave him instructions to
lay low while their visuals and clever
dialogue propel the films forward
Burwell wasn't meant to be the star ot
the Coens trims, but as a supporting
player, he gets the job done in a
straightforward, simple, non-flashy
way It works just fine (TVT Records.
23 E 4th St New York. NY 10003)
Marc Pilvmsky
MOBSTERS OF METAL
"Atomic Arena “ / April 18
This was truly a momentous
night After years of grunge-induced
suppression, heavy metal reared its
brazen, poofy-ham.'* head once more
— this time in the personage ol
Hoboken. N.J Is. very own 'tonslers ot
Metal.
The boys were certainly dre-'ed
tor the occasion With his awe-mspn
ing Zubas and dravwi-on tattoos, front
man Nikki Slick was one badass sight
to behold Drummer Ramon *Rim
Shot* Splogeili bore an unnerving
resemblance lo the late, great Kiss
drummer Eric Carr Guitarist Vmny
Rage .. uh.. was there, too
But none had a more command
ing stage presence than bassist Lome
’Love Potion’ Spardeca. dad in what
appeared to be a crucitu-embiazoned
bathrobe I tell ya, if Geezer Butter and
Friar Tuck ever had a child ...
Rest assured, heavy metal con
noisseurs — fashion sensibilities
weren't all these guys had gomg for
them As they so effectively demon
strated tew can tear into "Bang Your
Head.’ ‘You’ve Got Another Thing
Comm’You Really Got Me’ and
other anthems ot your white trash
youth the wav the Monsters can
A tribute to AC/DC dosed out the
first set. with our extroverted heroes
blazing their way through 'TNT,'
‘You Shook Me All Night Long.’ "Back
in Black* and ’Highway to Hell ’ For
this climatic sonic barrage, the
Monsters were joined onstage by
some deranged fool dressed up as
Angus Young (His duck walk was a tut
lame, but otherwise, he had Angus'
stage shtek down pal)
After a 20-mmute respite, the
Monsters were back, blasting out
everything from 'Welcome to the
Jungle’ to 'Rock and Roll All Nile* with
renewed machismo But all jaws col
lectively dropped when Nririu delivered
an impassioned rendition ol (gasp 1 )
'Eye of ihe Tiger’ For one dark
moment it looked as il our manly,
metal-mouthing mavercks were mutaf
ing into the Monsters ot New Wave
Fortunately tor us. this prosped
dKtnt sit well with Nikki's bandmates
'Jesus, we might as well play J Gals
or something.' a particularly dis
traught Lome whined
The Monsters ol Meta! jamming
to 'Centertoftf 7 " Ummm best not to
entertain the thought
Jeremy Cohen
Izflt-frtrQani
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