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thev'H still get you up out ot your chair,
but you'll be less likely to maybe pull a
hamstring or knock over things The
horns here — trombone, sax. even
trumpet — lavor a slightly blurred
tone, the solos reflecting a modest,
intuitive approach Comparisons with
the mighty Skatalites are all but
unavoidable
An inexhaustible lunetulness per
vades the entire album Plus sturdy
vocals, sweet harmonies, old wrinkles,
new wrinkles, lyrics that signify actual
thought and feeling. 19 (') tracks, over
an hour s worth ot music, and an organ 1
So, what's not to like 9
Paul Chastain
SLEATER-KINNEY
The Hot Rock
Kill Rock Stars
‘True love is not nice" is how
Jonathan Richman sings it and the best
love songs — “love Will Tear Us
Apart". “Jealous Guy", "In Dreams" —
know this, that being in love is as much
a state ol agony as it is ot ecstasy
Awareness ol this truth was present in
Conn Tucker's voice on "One More
Hour', from Sleater-Kinneys last album
Dig Me Out As Conn wailed "Oh
you've got the darkest eyes" the nearest
antecedent I could think ot was Bobby
Hatfield pleading "I need your love" al
the end ot "Unchained Melody" it was
raw. honest, powerlul emotion By
baring the heart "One More Hour*
yielded beauty from pain
Wisely. Sleater-Kmney's new
album. The Hot Pock, continues in this
vein There are a couple ol numbers
("God is a Number," "Banned From the
End ol the World') that deal with pre-
millennium tension, and a couple ot
tunes ('Start Together," "The End ol
You") that demonstrate Sleater Kinney
can rock out just as well as they could
when they recorded "You Ami It" back
m '94. but the core ol the album con
sists ol intricate love songs that display
an emotional maturity and musical
sophistication that Sleater-Kmney's
peers can only dream of possessing.
The album's loaded with stunners
("A Quarter to Three" and "The Size ol
Our Love" come to mind) but the one
song on The Hot Rock that gets me
every time is the title track A play on
the fairly obscure/tairly cool Redtord
flick ol the same name. "The Hot Rock"
depicts love as a heist, a theft ol some
thing precious — "you made the thiet
ot your heart* is how the old Sinead
O'Connor song about it went
"The Hot Rock' is deceptively
gentle al first — we (rear a wiry guitar
line, Janet Weiss' expert cascading
drums, the soli interplay between Came
Brownstem and Conn Tucker's vocals
The gravity ol the situation is slowly
revealed "How am I to know what you
want me to (eel? I'm not the one you
wanted, not tne thing you keep " The
song then builds to its climax a quief
rage and Conn wailing. ‘It's not real
You don't need to tell that it's not real"
It's incredibly moving and cathartic, but
it is also llle-aflirming, m a strange way
Great pop music makes you twist and
shout but. as The Hoi Rock shows time
and time again, the best pop music
sometimes breaks your heart (120 NE
State Ave #418 Olympia. WA 98501)
James Blount
DROPSONIC
Sleep With the Fishes
Independent Release
Wlh mega-enlerlainmenl conglom-
erales merging left and right, rock
radio's slow and pamtul death, and the
systematic dilution ot rock and roll into
"new rock.' it's not surprising that you
don't hear many solid bands these
days While Atlanta's dropsonic don't
oiler much in the way ol rock innova
tion (who does anymore 9 ), they are
much more visceral and tresh sounding
than the current batch ol primped and
groomed bands that seem to grow like
a lungus in the big A town
Recorded here m Athens al Chase
Park Transduction by local engineer
David Barbe, Sleep With the Fishes
sounds clean and tight without being
overly slick Early Black Sabbath and
AC/DC is certainly a factor here as far
as influences, throw in a little Louder
Than Love-era Soundgarden and Jesus
Lizard dissonance and you've got the
basic idea Heavy rhythms and forceful
dynamic shifts are what makes songs
like "Ride" and "Shelter" kick Droney
psychedelic effects and a vibraphone
(borrowed trom Macha) add texture to
the likes of * 45* and "Meteor Boy."
making Sleep With Fishes even more
engaging (436 N Highland Ave. Apt
15, Atlanta GA 30307)
Chris Morns
I LIVE REVIEW
THE ROCK'ATcENS,
MAN... OR ASTRO-MAN?
Thursday, Jan 28
40 Won Club
First there was The Rock "A* Teens
While singer/gu'iarist Chris Lopez can
perform like a strange mix of Greg Dulli
and Dave Porter when he's on. he
seemed to be more drunk or depress^!
than normal tonight
There were no wild Mailings or
cymbal debasing:, just a by-the-num
bers run-throuj r ot the P*A‘T _
upcoming release 5 ‘'Jen Tune
Drummer Balla'rt lesemann tried to
pick up the sl<*> with ms trenehc punk
pacing, but nothing seemed to lift
Lopez's spirits
Even without the Irontman on his
game, the set was good enough tor
some older gentleman up near the front
to raise his finger in the air. hoping to
convert the masses with hts revelation
TheRock'A'TeensareNo 1
And then there was Man Or
Astro-man 9 who proved once and lor
an that it their band did not exist NASA
would have long ago reached and colo
nized the outer reaches ol the solar
system instead of channeling their
technical smarts in any constructive
manner, these ubergeeks chose to don
tiamnig helmrts and make spastic pom
tail's in front ot take satellite disties
I have no idea what the purpose ot
the Apple tic keyboard with a shoulder
strap was. but when either guitarist
Coco or the new Astro-man Trace
Reading touched one of its keys, his
lace made the "I canl betieve the tunky
no*se coming out of my instrument"
face
Said face seemed to sum up the
performance tonight Tl.c ‘surf/space
rock" routine got a tittle old toil the the
atrics were superb The grand finaie
came when a 10-toot Rube Goldberg
phallus at center stage shot f it ourpte
lightning bolls, a la Jacobs Ladder
NASA wept Geevs cheered End o!
story
Tra.is Nicnols
CURRENT BEST SELLING RELEASES
m •
HOME
AWAY
• • • •
WUXTRY
1. Macha Mocha (Jetset'
2. Ani DiFranco
Up Up Up Up Up (Rightous Babe)
3. Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
Live at Luthei College (RCA)
4. Belle and Sebastian The Boy With the
Arab St'Op (Matador)
5. Mojave 3 Out of Tune (Sire)
6. Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of... (Sony)
7. Berk Mutations (Geffen)
8. Vic Chesnutt The Salesman and
Bernadette (Capncorn)
9. Elliot Smith XO (Dreamworks)
10. Rufus Wainwnght
Rufus Won*right (Dreamworks)
Thanks to Dagmar and Mark
BOW WOW RECORDS,
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
1. Fatso Beefmaster (Science Project)
2. Ani DiFranco
Up Up Up Up Up (Rightous Babe)
3. Defan Focused Daily (Tommy Boy)
A. Fatboy Slim
You've Come A Long Way... (Astralwerks)
5. Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of... (Sony)
6. Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds
Live at Luther College (RCA)
7. Whiskeytown Faithless Street (Outpost)
8. Peanut Butter Wolf
My Vinyl Weighs A Ton (Copacetic)
9. Beck MuloVons (Geffen)
10. Liz Phair
Whitechocolatespoceegg (Matador)
44
Wednesday February 24
Charlie Chastain
Thursday February 25
Bill Scoggins
Friday February 26
PHLOX
Saturday February 27
Jesse James’ Favorite Band
Monday March i
Patrick Connell
Tuesday march 2
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During
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240 W, Clayton St. / Downtown Athens • S43-4342 or (54-MUSfC)
Ibanez, 1998 CLEARANCE
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FEBRUARY 24, 1999 FLAGPOLE ED