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frontman Stephin Merrill's wounded- romantic personae a chance lo ease their fevered breasts. Its been less than a year since Merritt’s behemoth mas terpiece, and he's already back on the street, this time under the souped-up. glossy dance umbrella Future Bible Heroes. And let me tell you. the gloss on this five-song EP is an inch thick, often smothering the germs ol touching pop tunes (most notably the distantly longing ‘Cafe Hong Kong”) under sugary electronic glaze and thunk- thunk-thunk techno-pop tedium Always stopping short at the senti mental value of a laminated Hallmark card, I'm Lonely fails to deliver the iinger-snapping catchiness of happier Magnetic Fields numbers like “Famous’ and “When My Boy Walks Down The Street’ or the drenching melancholy of the Heroes' crusher ol a debut Memories Ol Love The title tune and “Good Thing I Don't Have Any Feelings’ coast by on Merrill's token lyrical bon mots, but listen to “My Blue Hawaii’ (’Cause I'm just a dancing to ol/ When I do the hula-hula’) before you cast your ballot for America's next poet laureate Let's face it: this sort of innocuous dance-pop wouldn’t raise an indie rock unibrow if it weren't for the parties involved. Maybe Merritt (who never misses an opportunity to point out what an insatiable ABBA fan he is) just has this shit in his blood. Maybe Mac McCaughon and company are doing the stuffy horn-rimmed crowd a favor by allowing them to indulge in club music's more ephemeral pleasures under an ’indie* guise, but my guess is they'll continue to avoid the real thing (i.e. the folks Merritt's unapolo- getically ripping off here) like an incor rigibly unhip ex when the party's over. In other words, if you buy this and you rea//y like it (not just because you're a diehard Merritt completist - that’s not hypocritical, jusl kinda bizarre), you’d better not look me in the eye and claim you don't have a favorite Erasure song. (P. 0 Box 1235. Chapel Hill. NC 27514) Emerson Dameron I LIVE REVIEWS | PATTI SMITH June 25,2000 40 Watt Cub Patti Smith didn't just ’play’ at the 40 Watt; she reminded fans of how pow erful—how transcendent—a force rock and roll can be. With no opening act, the crowd was appeased because “Electric Ladyland’ was playing over the PA before R.E.M frontman Michael Stipe introduced Patti Smith to Athens. Smith obvi ously appreciated Stipe's introduc tion. because she said he would be a great mayor for Athens someday, before beginning her set with The Byrds' “So You Wanl To Be (A Rock W Roll Star)*. Smith is one of those tew artists that you rea'ly need to see live to understand Although her albums are strong—with Horses being the best of the lot—a live penormance is where she and her bands music really take off It's not just the music; it's what she does with the songs and the set, too. I mean, only a* a Patti Smith show j are you going to hear William S Blake's “Ttie Lamb’ and footnotes ^ to Allen Ginsberg's Howl and have x it work z Smith gets a lot of flak about is, these very things, but at least she's s doing something difteient and her S commitment and passion were so 5 in evidence that one would be hard £ pressed to call her a bullshit artist. Smith's backup band was an impor tant component making the tonight's show so powerful as well. Guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty have played on all ot Smith’s studio work and bassist Tony Shanahan and guitarist Oliver Ray have been with her since she re-emerged in 1996 with Gone Again Nowhere was the magnifi cence of the band more noted than on the numbers “Beneath The Southern Cross’ and the title track to Smith's latest, Gung Ho Keeping ttie packed bar still for “Gung Ho’s’ nearly 12-minute length, Ray and Kaye wrapped a droning, yet dynamic web around Smith's ruminations on Ho Chi Minh that recalled the magic of Lou Reed, Television's Richard Lloyd, Tom Verlaine and Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan, without copying any of them. Sure, Smith played her biggest hit “Because The Night ’ but it was the show’s nature to leave one wondering what would come next. The use of lilm footage projected behind her and her band included powerful images of everything from crowded streets to a bald eagle lo an old Native American portrait to an astronaut—adding further dimensions to whatever Smith was singing about. Smith closed her set with the rousing “People Have The Power.’ and it didn't seem like it could gel any better... but it did during her encores. Smith has always had a proclivity for interesting covers, and I must S3y I never expected to hear “Be My Baby“ at a Patti Smith show, but it worked Stipe, who also sang with her on ‘People Have The Power.’ provided some good har monies to boot. But Smith wasn't fin ished yet. She had one last thing to say in the torm ot “Rock ‘N’ Roll Nigger." Few songs are as angry and cathartic at the same time as this; as she chanted the lines “outside of society* with the crowd spitting the same lines back, it was a beautiful, transcendental moment—one I'm still aflecled by. Who says rock and roll doesn't matter any more? Bruce Folkerth PATTI SMITH June 25, 2000 40 Watt Club Ttie much anticipated ratti Smith concert at the 40 Watt was one to behold 1 A great audience and a great performer blended into the best poetry- on-rock-slam yet, welcomed by Michael Stipe (who was instrumental in bringing her to Athens) and ending way too soon in a blaze of guitar feedback. Patti Smith is one of those artists no best-ol album could do right, inca pable as she is ol writing a sorry song. Both her studio work and st?ge pres ence show loo much authenticity lor that; she's a charismatic artist who led Athens into a celebration ol her rich repertoire. Thmgs felt jus! right when Hendrix's “Electric Ladyland’ played througr: the PA prior to the concert. 1 he candles on stage and a tattered American Hag hinted at that powerful mix ol rebellion and artistry that make Patti Smith's work so strong and healing. The roof blew oh right Iron the sla i with a sizzling rendi tion ol ’So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star,’ putting fireworks under The Byrds' original all over again. The club remained without a roof for the rest of the night: she brought a chilling “Gung Ho.’ a chunk from “Gone Again,' "Because ttie Night,’ "Dancing Barefoot’ (on bare feet), a page from William Blake that hushed the crowd at the bar. ‘Redondo Beach,’ “People Have the Power* and a screeching clarinet solo that conjured u H all her power without words. Stipe sang the chorus on a cover version of “Be My Pabe“ as part ol the encore and by then Patti Smith had become a good friend to all of us. My aching bones after the show kept that mpmorable night alive for days to come. The 40 Watt was an excellent venue to go see Patti Smith, and I hope to ever see her there again. Thank you Michael for making it happen! Bart van Arf SQUAT, "THE ORIG INAL DRUM BATTLE," PARK BENCH BLUES BAND July 13,2000 Georgia Theatre The Georgia Theatre was unusually crowded with local music fans this evening for a summer night in a college town. The Park Bench Blues Band was already wailing away by 11:30 p.m. The band confidently made its way through the blues standard “Dimples," along with several unidentifiable originals heavily influenced by the Allman Brothers. Park Bench has obviously improved from its first few gigs last year with skilled guitar interplay and soulful singing My only complaint was that the band played so loud that it was difficult to hear vocalist Julia Schoenning sing her ass oft. Between the Park Bench set and Squat's headlining performance was the much hyped “drum duel’ between Pa! lard Lesemann and Carlton Owens Both drummers' four-piece trap kits were set up on the far sides of the stage facing each other. The duel started off paying dred homage to a 1956 recording of a “drum battle’ between jazz greats Buddy Rich anc Gene Krupa. After a minute, the duel was in top gear with the two drummers trading fills and switching the lead back and forth. The crowd ate it up, cheering for their favorite drummer and clapping lor the random Aerosmith or Zeppelin beat. At one point, Lesemann switched to mal lets and Owens threw away his sticks lo play with his bare hands, adding to the already charged performance. As the duel came to its climax, the rest ot Squat emerged from ttie darkness and launched slra'gh! into “Chicken Skin" from its last album, Placebo. Lesemann continued to play while downing a cold pint of beer then quietly slipped away trom the stage I've seen Squat hall a dozen limes, and this was the quartet's best perfor mance yet. The set didn't seem to be plagued by time-consuming indecisive- ness and instrument changes that sometimes clog the performances. “To Bedlam And Part Way Back" and other new songs from Squat's forthcoming album made their debut The music paused as bassist and scatman extraor dinaire. Carl Lindberg gave a passionate speech about love, God and ‘cutting out the middleman ’ Ttie night's highlight had to be the drum duel, but Squat's performance came in a close second. Those guys make il seem so easy. For anybody who was there this will be a gig that will be remembered for a while. Frank Hamrick MUSIC for Less A FULL SERVICE USED INSTRUMENT SHOP AM US' LARGEST & BEST SELECTION Of USES EQUIPMENT H Fender • Epiphone • Gibson • Peavey • Olympian • Tacoma AUGUST 9, 2000 FLAGPOLE ES