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ADV continued from page 19 Atlanta rock trio that originally formed in Boston in 1992 and plays a spirited mix ot sweet-tempered altemapop and jangty guitar-rock with beautifully-exe cuted, lush vocal harmonies. The band played a benefit at the Variety Playhouse for its hometown station WRAS 88.5 FM last vieek. PLASTIC BIRD (Engine Room) Singer-guitarist Rob Roemer, who recently relocated here from Lexington. KY. is 'Plastic Bird*—an electric guitar and drum sequencer-driven rock project that channels the spirits of Cheap Trick. GBV and Smoky Robinson. RARE FORM ((Classics) Classic rock covers and originals. RED CLAY QUARTET (Winery) This Athens-based combo—comprised oi local jazzmen Jcrin James. Matt White. Darin Cook and Adam Deli—play a mic of explorative modem improvisations and old-school bop and swing. SPIDERFINGER (Tasty World) Hard hitting retro-punk noise from Atlanta Midnight. STELLA BLUEGRASS (Georgia Theatre) Ensemble out of Atlanta han dling a variety of funky "newgrass* and such. TAKING ROBOTS TO THE PROM (Above) Yes. this band of mystery does its own astounding’ version of Bowie's Space Oddity {'ground control to major robed...*). TWO FISTED COOL (Georgia Theatre) A newly tormed Athens ensemble com prised of the familiar cats out of jazz- fusion band Velvet Jones & The Sex Appeal. THE X-IMPOSSIBLES (Caledonia) '70s-style guitar-rock and old-school American punk collide in this Atlanta rock quintet's audacious sound. The band recorded recently with David Barbe at Chase Park Transduction Think X and Social Distortion with a sloppy tarbmshed hint of MC5 with a touch of AC/DC. Stooges and the Clash THE YO-YOS (Tasty Worid) This London-based quartet of “outlaw rockers* (in the classic 77 punk sense) was just added to tonight 1 !: bill! 11 p.m. See p. 25 for more. Sunday, July 23 CARLTON OWENS CONSPIRACY (AMF) Top-notch Athens drummer Carlton Owens’ (Squat) regular collabo rative jam session gets jazzy this week. THE CATHETERS (Ullramod) Heavy- duty hard rock in the vein of Gas Huffer and The Supersuckers from the Northwest. KIT HOLMES (Garden Room Cate) Singer/songwriter at the lower level of the conservatory at the State Botanical Gardens. 1230-2 p.m. THE MURDER CITY DEVILS (Ullramod) 2000’s version of Mudhoney (but scarier). See p. 25. REDHOUSE (Bumtstone) A rock and roll duo (the new drummer can! make it tonight) comprised of two Fender- strumming fellas. Kevin O'Riley and Josh Eaton. These Athens rookies blend elements of classic rock with current ‘alternative’ sounds.* 8:30 p.m. THE YO-YO’S (Ultramod) Classic punk revivalists straight out of London. See p. 25. Monday, July 24 •BLUE MONDAY" (AMF) The weekly ‘blues nighk* series continues with leg endary blues singer and harmonica player Neal Pattman. 8 p.m. CAT POWER (40 Watt) The irresistible Chan Marshall and company play a special show behind the new album The Covers Record (Matador) at 10 p.m. See p. 23. PATRICK CONNELL (Alien*) Local singer-songwriter. Originals and stan dards. DJ EVIL NICK (Tasty World) This local spinner wages turntable war “between ‘80s New Wave and Goth/Industrial records* upstairs every other Monday here staring at 10 p.m. FATHEAD (Tasty Worid) Jazz-fusion, hip hop and funk meld together in a danceable mix on this octet's latest disc. Mat Doesn't Kill Us. THE GOODS (Tasty World) This Athens band plays a mostly instru mental mix of jazzy funk, reggae and rock. KIDS INC. (Above) Indie-rock. This Garden State rock and roll combo has shared the stage with the likes of Braid and the Promise Ring. “MONDAY THUNDER" (Caledonia) Slot Car Races! The free, bi-weekly event features a slew- of local musicians and funlovers with “need for speed * The races is free and cars and tracks are provided (thank-you Paul Wlazlo and Mark Logan!). 9 p.m. Call 549-5577 for info. SPJORK! (Boar's Head) A *|oyously unpredictable blind improv" session conducted by pianist Jason Fuller, drummer Carlton Owens, and guitarists Mike Hartnett and Jason Rabineau. Tuesday, July 25 "ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND" (DT’s) This weekly “open mic’ session fills up early, so make sure to call ahead (543-9276). 10 p.m. BRETT BAWCUM (One Love) Singer- songwnter. Covers and originals. JAY BORCK (Allen's) Acoustic singer- songwriter. “100% PRODUCTIONS PRE SENTS" (Mean Mike's) ‘Hip Hop Night" includes spinning from DJ Chrisis & Friends. 10 p.m. NATKAN SHEPPARD (Boar's head) Sheppard is a veteran of the Athens scene and is known lor his emotive singing style and his modern rework- ings of classic tunes. “SINGER-SONGWRITER SHOW CASE" (AMF) This week* roster includes Jeff Andrews (The Fountains). William Tonks (Barbara Cue) and Mark Holling. PATTI SMITH (40 Watt) The legendary New York songwriter plays a special early night show! Doors open at 8 p.m. and music starts at 9 p.m. sharp! See 21. Wednesday, July 26 JASON FULLER (Boar's Head) A solo pianu set from this town* official Piano Man. ODE TO ABBEY (40 Watt) T his dili gent rock trio recently released a new live album titled Happiness In Still Frame. “OPEN BREAKS" (AMF) Aspiring local DJs can sign up to spin their favorite old-school, breakbeats and such. 10 p.m. THE PEOPLE ACROSS THE STREET (40 Watt) This newly-formed Athens four-piece describes itself as funky, psychedelic porno groove.* SOUP (40 Watt) The Atlanta-based, vocal-heavy groove-pop quintet recently celebrated the release of its two-disc live album A Tour OI Two Cities (Phoenix Presents), a 21-song collec tion recorded in Atlanta and New York. SUPERNO WAKS (Above) Jazz stan dard and originals. 7-9 p.m. ViViSPECTRA (Tasty World) Fronted by local composer-musician Charles Names, this experimental local project nas enlisted the help of additional vocalists, players and philosophers to help deliver the various sound sources—whether electronic or other wise. This is the band's “final show * B FLAGPOLE J U LY ®yrt? TVe*> ^ijp'jpe^s Xrut*'o : //■Qeople seem to like 71611' and I'm glad to give them hell,'" L says Tom Maxwell, the dapper singer and multi-instru- mentalist late of the popular ensemble Squirrel Nut Zippers. He has just embarked on a peculiar solo jaunt. It's been three years since he has performed in Athens, and hs returns equipped with a fine new solo album and a hot backing combo. Maxwell, 34, grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina after relocating from south Florida with his family. He moved to Chapel Hill in 1983 to attend college and immedi ately started banging around on the drums. While playing in traditional rock bands in the late '80s, he became more inter ested in digging up hot Harlem jazz records from the 1930's than keeping up with the burgeoning "altema-rock" scene. He joined the Squirrel Nut Zippers in late 1994. By 1995, the seven members of the Squirrel Nut Zippers were armed with a vast working knowledge of early 20th Century American music and the technical proficiency to infuse respectful and authentic elements of Harlem jazz, blues, calypso, Dixieland and swing into their own unique sound. The local press quickly tagged them as a qmrky "lounge band" despite their broad range of musical styles. By 1996, the national press lazily tagged them as a "swing band" after they suddenly broke out of the regional scene in mid '96 with the surprise hit Hot, featuring "Hell," a calypso-driven tune penned by Maxwell about the fiendish, fiery underworld and the greedy cats who populate it. Of course, Maxwell and his mates were not a "swing" band at all; if anything, they were purveyors of "vintage pop" culled from the work of Cab Calloway, Coleman Hawkins, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Django Reinhardt, Sydney Bechet, Johnny "Guitar' Watson and Skip James. After the release in 1998 of the band's third full-length album, Perennial Favorites (Mammoth) and a holiday album, Christmas Caravan, Maxwell became dismayed at their novelty status and the ever-tightening straightjacket known as the "Swing Movement." That whole thing had reached its nadir," he exclaims. "It was inappropriate for much of the media to shoe-hom us into the latest fad or 'swing' trend," remembers Maxwell. "It's sad to me that our culture is so profoundly divisive, not only in terms of ethnicity and age—we can see that just by looking around—but also in terms of our art and what we consume. We were interested in where different musical styles overlapped and came together and in making music that was timeless." After officially leaving the Zippers in 1999, Maxwell con tinued to write songs and accumulated a sizable backlog. Many of the tunes ended up on Samsara, his 15-song solo debut. The album was recorded at Kingsway studios ("a fucking huge, haunted mansion") in New Orleans and released on Maxwell's own label, also called Samsara. For the session, he enlisted three Zippers alumni—horn and reed player Ken Mosher, drummer Chris Phillips, bassist Stu Cook—and worked with Zippers producer Mike Napolitano. "I was the head cheerleader," says Maxwell. "I made sure that I was the weakest musical link on the record 'cause I wanted it kick ass! I didn't want to be the best thing on there, you know. When you play with people who are this good, it sort of raises the standard and keeps you on your toes musi cally; there was no coasting on this record." "Samsara" is an ancient Buddhist term which, according to Maxwell, means "the opposite of Nirvana, it describes the end less cycle of desire and dissatisfaction." Maxwell's touring band lineup consists of Mosher and Phillips along with pianist Tom Lonclark (who plays an upright console piano), hom player Dave Roof (who played the solo on the Zippers' "Hell"), and electric and acoustic bassist Robert Sledge (of fellow Chapel Hill band Ben Folds Five). Maxwell rounds out the live set these days with plenty of Zippers tunes—mostly those he wrote, including "Hell"—and has a band that's more than capable of doing it all. "Samsara is a result of all the stuff I had been through emotionally over the past couple of years," explains Maxwell. "Primarily, I was trying to give voice to an emotional experi ence any way I pleased. On a musical level, the Zippers were a discreet entity comprised of 'x' members with 'x' number of instruments. I was a songwriter who did not contribute to the majority of songs. Musically, I was completely freed up to pursue any bizarre angle that interested me— like a pipe organ or a gospel quartet, I don't think the Zippers would have ever attempted a lot of this." The album isn't totally different from what the Zippers were doing, (the live-to-tape, minimalist, "first-take" production quality is very similar) but the music is all over the map—from blues and gospel tunes and traditional country waltzes to Far East instrumentals and Chinese operas. One of the highlights includes a slinky, dead-on version of Duke Ellington's "The Mooch." It's an enjoyable collection that flows from one style to the next. Maxwell: "It's further down the road, so to speak." Ballard Lesemann WHO Tcm Maxwell, Ingrid Lucia & The Lying Neutrinos WHERE: Athens Music Factory WHEN: Friday, July 21 HOW MUCH; Call ■ . 19, 2000