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© REVIEWS ©
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THE KENNY WAYNE
SHEPHERD BAND
Live On
Giant/Reprise
"I'm a man, baby/I ain't no boy no
more" boasts young blues wizkid
Kenny Wayne Shepherd on "Shotgun
Blues" from his latest release He
sounds like he's trying to make a case
that he's no longer some novelty act
kid who's read his Stevie Ray Vaughan
take books front to back (even it the
tune sounds like a Texas Flood out-
take) An awtullv big deal has been
made over Kenny Wayne Shepherd
over the last few years Sure, the kid
can llat-out play some guitar and, sure,
he's not doing anything SRV didn't do
damn near 20 years ago Sure, he's
shared the stage with blues legends
like Buddy Guy and B B King and he's
gotten loads ol airplay on modern rock
radio. And. to be fair, there's more to
Shepherd than him simply being
another SRV clone, and that's not
counting the novelty aspect ot his
being only 22 years old
Frankly, though, whatever six
string fire he's able to whip out on
stage hasn't really translated well lo
record. While Live On may be the most
solid record in his career, it's still
lacking something
There's guest stars aplenty,
including former Double Trouble mem
bers Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon
and Reese Wyans, as well as ringers
like Gov't Mule's Warren Haynes,
Willie Nelson harp man Mickey
Raphael, and Chicago blues legend
James Cotton Admittedly, the band is
tighter than a drum, sounding like the
world's greatest blues-rock bar band
on Saturday night, but really, theres
nothing new here Vocalist Noah Hunt
is still somewhat flat and the lyr>cism
is still a bit cliched (to be fair, though,
there hasn't been a new idea in blues
songwriling in years)
To be sure, being a "guitar
prodigy" is a double-edged sword, and
Shepherd has fought claims that he is
all technique and no soul since his
debut Ledbetter Heights Make no
bones about it. the kid can play He
whips out some stinging blues-rock
guitar on the first single "In 2 Deep"
and a killer rendition of Jimi Hendrix's
"Them Changes" Unlike Johnny Lang
Shepherd incorporates more than just
SRV blues bombast as well, particu
larly the acoustic-tinged "Last
Goodbye" and the Della blues "Every
Time it Rains'
While he's still light-years away
Irom SRV. Kenny Wayne Shepherd is a
maturing talent and Live On proves
hes moving in the right direction Fans
of Shepherd, as well as fans of album-
style blues rock, will dig it but tor the
rest ol us well that's wny the Good
Lord gave us Stevie Ray Vaughan if tor
only a short while Because whatever
that mercurial "something" SRV had
that made him so special. Shepherd is
still searching tor it (3500 W Olive
Ave . Ste. 600, Burbank. CA 91505)
Matt Thompson
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•coctea" laruis
COCTEAU TWINS
BBC Sessions
Rykodisc
Sometimes the surest tribute to a
band is the frequency with which
someone says, in order to characterize
a different group. "They sound like (the
band in question) ” Eerie female vocals
against starkly ominous bass, layered
guitar chords and heavily miked drums
or drum machines—this became a
standard formula of '80s and early '90s
pop music But it all started with the
Cocteau Twins, the band that did more
than anyone else to establish the inde
pendent 4AD label, known tor exquisite
album covers with minimal band infor
mation
The recordings on this double
album set are culled from BBC perfor
mances spanning a period from 1982
to 1996. and they serve to remind the
listener ot the exceptional sound these
musicians were able to create, a sound
built most meaningfully around the
pipes ot Elizabeth Fraser I do mean
"pipes." because at times her quavery
yet powerful vocals resemble nothing
so much as skirking bagpipes Some
of the best-sounding tunes are the ear
liest ones such as "Wax And Wane."
"From The Flagstones" and "Hitherto
but the generous collection takes some
interesting turns, mcludmg an etlechve
cover version ot Billie Holidays
"Strange Fruit (Shetland Park 21
Congress St. Salem. MA 01970)
Jim Winders
THE ZEROS
Right Now 1
Bornp'
The Zeros have the distinction of
being one of the youngest bands on
the spirited Los Angeles punk scene ot
the late 1970's—a lad which only
adds to the band's spotty and largely
anecdotal history
According to the liner notes of Year
One Records' ’ve From The Masque
Volume II. the concerned parents ot the
Zeros' singer-guitarist Robert Lopez •
(AKA "El Vez") took an active role in
their son's musical ambitions They
drove the band to their gigs in the
family station wagon, and lingered in
the sleazy clubs where the Zeros per
formed to "made sure they were not
corrupted or cannibalized by the drug
and alcohol-crazed punks"
Perhaps it was because the Zeros
never tell prey to cheap beer and air
plane glue that they managed to hold
their own with the likes ot the
Avengers, the D»ls and the Screamers
Although the Zeros called it quits
before reaching the lull strength of
their potential, they left a small but
indelible mark on the burgeoning
scene
Comprised ol guitansts/vocahsts
Javier Escovedo and Robert Lopez,
bassist Hector Penalosa. and drummer
Baba Chenelle. the Zeros were lour
Hispanic teenagers hailing from La
Jolla. CA As one ol the first bands
signed to the then-fledgling Bomp'
Records m 1977. the Zeros issued a
grand total ot three singles before
breaking up and gravitating to other
projects
At the time, the Zeros were touted
as the "Mexican Ramones” even
though their snotty sound and edgy
delivery might have been more accu
rately likened to the Dictators
Therefore, as you might have guessed,
the now-middle-aged Zeros are less
antagonistic than their teenaged coun
terparts Right /Vow' finds the older and
wiser Zeros more intent on hero wor
ship than picking up where they left oft
in 1978 In addition to winding up
such badass '60s garage rock tunes
like The Seeds' "Pushin' Too Hard."
and the Somes' raunchy classic.
"Strychnine." the Zeros also touch on
proto-punk, which raises its head
briefly m the form ot a cover of the New
York Dolls' "Chatterbox"
Of the 15 songs on Right Now 1 .
three are re-visitations of the Zeros'
past material, and another three are
cover tunes They do justice to some ot
their former set-staples like
"Handgrenade Heart." "They Say (That
Everything's All Right)," and "Talkin."
all of which originally showed up on
their first, post-break up released
album. 1992 s Dont Push Me Around
The Zeros' new material, in keeping
with their old attitude, seems to be
focused primarily on poking tun al fad
dish dances (’Do The Swim"), teen
angst (’Sneakin' Out"), and the
boredom ot the punk rock milieu
("Tonight") The new songs, though
they will probably never find their way
into the repertoires of the legions ol
garage punks who are rehearsing at
this very moment, are still entertaining
and uproarious As a band, the Zeros
benefit from the«r former chemistry, as
well as more than 20 years collective
experience Every track on Right Now 1
is enjoyable, with enough feel-good,
everybody-dance energy to last until
the next record is pressed, sleeved and
shipped A mighty strong record from a
band that reached its prime before any
of its members were old enough lo
drive a car (P 0 Box 7112. Burbank
CA 91510)
Chris Ellis
THE CURE
BioodFlowers
FictioaElektra
During the second half ot the
1980s, The Cure was the hottest up-
and-coming British post-punk band
The band seemed to accomplish this
partly through sheer work ethic and
volume, putting smgle-upon-album-
upon-video-upon-tour until it simply
couldn t be ignored any longer It had
also already been around almost a
decade, having formed when the close
ot the punk movement dovetailed into
Goth and new wave
The Cure played on bills with
bands as venerated as Wire. The Jam.
Siouxsie & The Banshees (of which
leader Robert Smith former member)
and Joy Division, persevering when
others disintegrated, until the band's
cult following blossomed into world
wide success beginning with the 1986
singles compilation. Standing On The
Beach Fright-wigged and lipstuck
Smith began lamenting the inclusion of
stadium-sized audiences to his private
club and issued the first ol his annual
final lour/album declarations
Having commercially peaked in the
mid- 90s and slowed lo a professional
crawl (though to be tair. ex-member
and punching bag Lot Tolhurst curbed
momentum with a work-paralyzing
lawsuit). The Cure would seem to be in
an estimable position with 27 million
records sold, the group retains a huge
global cult audience and possesses the
wherewithal to make records and tour
the band's leisure So why is Smith still
so unfailingly woebegone 7
That's like asking the ram why it
tails Last heard from in 1996 (a
second singles comp Galore, was
released a year later), the gmup's Wild
Mood Swings album found it in transi
tion After longtime drummer Boris
Williams resigned unexpectedly on the
eve of recording. Smith made the
Mood Swings sessions a cattle call,
auditioning several percussion candi
dates on a stylistically schizophrenic
set of songs This non-theme estab
lished, he then hired a different person
lo mix each track m what tailed to
result in a singtes-collection feel The
group released the feast accessible
track as the first single (the bizarre
"The 13th*j. and the band's window to
the mainstream closed tor good
Themes of history and acceptance
prevail on the new BioodFlowers Ever
conscious of his legacy (Cure shows
still include "A Forest" from 1980's
Seventeen Seconds). Smith s new
album is billed as the third m a trilogy
begun with 1982's little-heard
Pornography and 1989's breakthrough
Disintegration While this smacks ol
marketing by Elektra. BioodFlowers
bears much in common with these two
predecessors it is slow ponderous,
relentlessly dark and morbidly beau
tiful
Practically every song contains a
lyric that looks nostalgically back,
threatens to end something forever,
then playfully admits lo having said
this before "Maybe someday is when it
all stops, or maybe someday always
comes again." Smith sings on "Maybe
Someday" The one blatant relationship
song—and the only track under five
minutes —is "There is No II " It
bleeds into "The Loudest Sound" and
into the last half of 'he album which
rages through violence and sadness
and regret as Smith screams. "I ve run
out of thoughts, and I've run right nut
of words." in the searing "39" and the
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m FLAGPOLE FEBRUARY 16, 2000