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BLUE (JEANS AND LASER BEAMS:
the m ng®
saasmsToi®
/j A-ir when the Modern Lovers
in 1 y I f entered the studio to
record their first album, singer/guitarist
Jonathan Richman was at complete odds with
producer John Cale. The pairing should have
been ideal — the Lovers' "Roadrunr.er" being
the best post*Velvets homage rock has seen —
but Richman was moving away horn the
droning angst that first attracted Cale to the
group. As the producer kept demanding that
Richman play harder, the guitarist kept
wanting to play softer emphasizing his more
"mature'’ lyrics and subtle vocal delivery. The
resultant — and highlv influential — album
almost didn t see the Uqht of day. Eventually,
Richman was orqanizir » free concerts at
orphanages, ard toning down th** Lovers' vibe
to the point where diurnmer David Robinson
left because his role loi been stepped to just
"playing a roliea uf rivA'spaper
There at- a few similarities between the
aforementioned tale and the lire of iccat pop
sters Rock and Roll Unimex, and it's no surprise
that Jonathan. Richman plays ar influential
role for singer, guitarist Wes Whitener. Rock
and Roll Summer ar* ideal heirs to Richman s
brand of almost uncomfortably honest song-
wntmg, in which the ego is removed from the
equation and all pretense is loweied. It may be
horribly uncool to smq catchy pop songs about
love, marriage and "Christ and His Church'*
without a trace of irony, but it takes a lot of
courage, too. Whitener found his way to this
point much like Richman did
"I left my former Land. Peachtree Salvage,
because I wasn't sayum anything I was just
making noise ' explained the quitarist. "I
wanted to do something quiet, that could com
municate to people.'
At this point, after a steady diet ot the
Pixies, Pavement, ana other alt-rock touch
stones, Whitener turned to his father's old
Beach Boys tapes and other late '50s and early
'60s musicians, as well as Jonathan Richman.
"After hearing about what I wanted from
music, someone told me I would probably like
Jonathan Richman." remarked Whitener. "Ke
really inspired me, as did my dad's old tapes. I
guess they were my roots."
About this same time, Whitener was also the
worship leader — a sort of music minister — at
Athens Timbergrove Church; soon he was
playing awkward gigs at locales such as Q-Zar
(the laser tag place) with an almost full-band.
"It was great having these band members
who nobody would “ver think was cool,"
Whitener explained. "I nad a pastor's wife
playing drums and some Kenny Loggins fan
with rolled-up jean shorts playing keyboards."
Eventually, the Rock and Roll Summer line
up became Whitener. bassist Davis Hipps, and
drummer Tom Crea, augmented at times by sax
ophonist Michelle Stiles and keyboardist Pat
Strawser. Whitener then met his future fiancee,
began trying to figure out his identity, and.
ultimately, put all of this into song form. The
result. Rock and Roll Summer's debut CD, Seal it
with a Kiss: The Wedding Album is a sort of song
cycle that follows the guitarist through his
recent changes. The band is blessed as well
with a perennial audience, made up of everyone
horn church friends to indie scenesters to oth
erwise jaded rock types, who never fail to catch
a RNR Summer gig.
"It's crazy" Whitener admitted. "We had no
idea that people were requesting our songs on
90.5 or that people were going to like us Tilings
just come together You know', tneres not too
manv bands in town that pray before they play."
Ultimately though, tnat may be the appeal.
The band 5 inherent spirituality is less pervasive
than early U2 albums or even Madonnas spiri
tually insulting "Ray of Light." There are no
Psalm recitations, no shamanesque blather in
the Summer s stage repertoire. Christ s nominal
presence in Whitener's lyrics is simply a func
tion of his personality; if he were agnostic or
Jewish, then that would be just as apparent.
"I don't like to listen to Christian music, but
I do want to break the mold. If ycu re going to
be honest, then you ran t retain your coolness.
It's going to be innocent and goofy, without
any sense of self-composure."
Of course, it also doesn't help your street
cred to be :per.ding your down time — as per
Richman — helping out at housing projects,
nursing homes, and prisons. But what will
happen to Rock and Roil Summer after both
Whitener and Hipps get married, as they plan
to do shortly? If Seal it With a Kiss follows a
man from bachelor life to marriage, where
next? Will the next album be Sealed with a Fist:
The Divorce Album?
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for the new songs to
come to me." laughed Whitener. "We were
thinking of calling the next album Should Rock
and Roll Summer Stop Having Fun V
John Britt
r
WHO: Rock and Roll Summer,
with Wee Turtles and Hi-Fi Mastodon
WHERE 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 20
HOW MUCH: $4
199 Prince Avenue • near comer of Pulaski • 543-6592
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JANUARY 20, 1999 FLAGPOLE IB