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The album bla/es on w»th
"Welcome To Flint an introduction to
The Dayton Family s violence-mtected
hometown "Feds.’ a thick track that
once again finds the rappers domi
nating the beat with adrenalme-laced
Hows and "Drugstore,” a head
bouncer that likens rapping to selling
cocaine
The songs become a little tormu-
laic by the end ot the album, but the
formula works well The vivid, startling
lyrics grab attention where so many
other gangster rappers bore listeners
While Bootleg and Shoestring are diffi
cult to tell apart on record, both are tal
ented songwriters and rappers, as each
paints dramatically dark pictures with
pedect rhyme delivery They keep their
flows tight, avoiding the laziness that
many ‘hardcore’ rappers succumb to
after finding the fruits ot stardom But
then. The Dayton Family were never
stars (740 Broadway. NY. NY 10003)
James Castle
TOMMY KEENE
The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
spmART
Having only released about five
albums worth ot original material in 20
years, Tommy Keene is to power-pop
whal Lucinda Williams is to country-
rock For his small gang ot appiecia-
tors. any new release is cause tor cele
bration like his contemporary
Marshall Crenshaw Tommy Keene had
RADAR BROTHERS
Radar Brothers And The
Surrounding Mountains
Merge
Cali's Radar Brothers are anything
but experimental They could be
accused ot being merely a less con-
trontalionaiiy depressive Permce
Brothers Worse they could be accused
ot playing Pink Floyd's Wish You Were
Mere’ in a lew dozen different modes
And neither accusation would be without
merit But what the Radars lack in extern
sity is generously made up tor m inten
sity The band's 1994 catting card The
Singing Hatchet was a beautiful rarity on
a college radio landscape dominated by
affected puerile wackiness at one
extreme ’concept” cleverness m the
middle and affluent grmgo bedyachmg
at the other a comply unassuming
collection ot everymans buy-a-vx-
pack and draw the-btifKts recuperation
anthems That was gwtar pop played
with stuff and character as haunting and
comfejrting as watching *i atom sink
vtowty to the bottom ot the ocean
Surrounding «s tuber
and less meanchofc than its prede
cessor and might be less
'if tearing m me rung run ShH nothing
at this sort released bus year ti*s
sounded as vugary rich as the harmc
mous chorus to Oh The i, me and
there are more s*ke 4 here Ar< centered
on iweping the ship on course trusfc*
a brush with tame in the '80s (tri
Keene's case, with the 1986 song and
album Places That Are Gone) and has
contented himself and his tans with the
occasional show and the very occa
sional album
wwwr nett
Having heard little ot Keene's work
since Places That Are Gone, I’m rea
sonably impressed how he's holding
up with The Merry-Go-Round Broke
Down bolh in terms ol production and
songwntmg It you can even call him a
power popster. Keene definitely leans
on the rock side of that tag “The Man
Without A Soul” takes some ot the
trademark elements ol earty-TOs
Rolling Stones—chunky horns, barrel-
house piano, the ever-present
swagger—and blasts it like you re lis
tening Irom row MV of the
Superdome The sax solo on ‘The
World Where I Still Live’ is a cinch lor
drawing Sprmgsleen parallels Despite
these distinctly classic rock compar
isons this is not an attempt at classic
rock Despite the big, loud sound. The
Merry-Go-Round sounds like the
work ot a guy who found his calling in
“Ticket To Ride,” not ‘Smoke On The
Water"
Though not superlative-inducing.
I'm going to keep The Merry-Go-
Round Broke Down dose at hand, and
pul it on the next time some joker tells
me there are no decent rock records
coming out any more (P0 Box 1798,
NY, NY 10156).
Tom Bavis
MOBY
18
V2
No. theres no new ground broken
here No. this CD doesn't tump out and
grab you No. it's not going to make
Moby many new tans Still, its a great
record
When I first heard it. I was kind ot
disappointed that it didn't hit me like
the predecessor Play did the tirst lime I
heard that Since then. I've noticed that
18 is rarely out ol my disc player It s
relaxing and peaceful. It's like swim
ming at night It's comforting, but a
little decadent
Songs tike 'Sleep Alone” and “At
Least We Tried” are dreamy, discon
nected. b’ttersweet soundscapes that
wrap around the listener like a toggy
blanket The instrumentals (particularly
“Fireworks") sound like less ominous
takes on David Bowie's wordless work
ot the late 70s
With the exception of the lead oil
single and most “rocking’ song. “We
Are All Made Of Stars,* 18 is great
background music And it's more than
that The background slowly sneaks up
on you and takes over the foreground
Before you know it. you're drifting on
the echoing vocals ot Sinead O’Connor
in "Harbour ’ Athens even gets a nod
as former local act Azure Ray provides
the voices on ‘The Great Escape,’
which is one of the best tracks on the
collection
There is a downside, though, as
the album is way too long and a lot of
the tracks sound alike It this had been
called 12, if would've been much
stronger as a whole, but then it
wouidn t make such a great chill out
record By the time “I'm Not Worried At
All" releases you, you'll be feeling
relaxed and ready to deal with another
days stress (14 E 4th St. NY, NY
10012)
Chris McKay
lion and hunger pangs be damned For
those days when ad isn't your bag and
the classic rock station refuses to play
’The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"
when you need it (PO Box 1235.
Chapel Hill. NC 27511)
Radar Bros play the EARL in
Atlanta on Saturday July 13
RUDY RAY MOORE
The Genius D1 Rudy Ray Moore
Generation International
Not many heads turned out to see
Dolomite s Athens show at the end ol
April (Blame truH exams. Thursday night
or Athenians increasing conservatism
Compared to last years packed Friday
engagement it was evpty) Moore made
lithe effort to conceal his disappointment
bong a prk to the few that dtdshow and
at ore pomf chastising the promoter
«4>o d done the bed he could m a drift
oik situation r«jn fflere m front of
everyone He told us n^eatodfy that he
woutdnl return It was kinds* depressing
But the slow sweaty gospel-styled
soul ballads whu.h Rudy sang to tuck
and wh«Ti he apparently wants to make
hrs new forte were gfeat The mm s
btonf commanding von* retains its
wtvde the stand up form and
b»s covers o# “1 Cant Stop tovmy You"
and lets Do tt Again are pufe enter
lauwert tunny bwause you can] tocgM
whose upS*i**t voce* firs is but
bracing because be won t allow you not
to take these testaments to true love for
any less than their face value
And now you. slacker lerkoft that
you are. can play them m your own
home where Mr Moore won't see your
enthusiasm And save your scratch tor
yet another look at the rapidly declining
Guided By Voices, on the tndie rock
nostalgia circuit Sad (PO Box 11591,
Los Angeles CA 90011)
ARCHER PREWITT
Three
Thnll Jockey
I hear lubber tour square bails *
bounce in 4/4 time l see a little blond
snapperbead skipping through his
mom's daffodil garden one sun-
smooched day oetore his familys week-
long tup to Pawley s island thinking
about some cute girl that wore a tiara to
school today as it was her birthday i
nod my head and snap my tmgm My
**vefids ease hallway down I dont fen
the feast b4 corny
The sod of elegant Angtophiiic pop
mat Sea And Cake vet Archer Prewitt
iays down on his sofo shit rs too classy
to be fxitttegum But not prrtenhous.
enough to be invested at face value and
ret» **v*1 for anything greater I! courts
the smses and the instinctual attraction
to a beaut itoi melody through a thin
etreer of sophistication a^ wesatar
away smite not a shit eating gnu
Theres a harmonica on ‘Over The
Line "Behind Your Sun” is sprinkled
wth feisty manachi horns A coquettish
troupe ot female backup singers pops
m on ‘Sister Ice ’ But the gimmicks
and gags are never primary Hardly
even secondary
The alb is mostly comprised ot
righteously dumb love songs ‘You re
moe to know/ You kind of How /Girl it s
bound to shine / This thing ot yours and
mine * From the first time that she really
done ya. she done ya good, eh? ‘You
cant know/ What it means to grow/ Until
you suiter from love/ And all its highs
and lows ’ Unless the word is on the
street that the lire m your heart is out
You ve heard this shit before
Recently From Rufus Wamnght Or
Scott Walker Ot Nick Drake, circa Bryter
Layter Or The Delgados One ot those
critics darlings Or maybe you heard it
from john Lennon, after the reconcilia
tion with Yoko and immediately before
he was rubbed out Or on that Beautitul
South CO you hocked eons ago
because, although they had some unde
niably good songs.” you thought it
sounded cheesy when it t;«d to sound
upset Archer would too. no doubt
if Archer Prewitt had a contract with
Virgin, you might have borrowed Three
from your friend's girlfriend, the one
who discovered Elliot Smith from Good
Will Hunting and has followed Robyn
Hitchcock since the early days of
Per spe* island
it he ckdnT have a contract with Thnll •
Jockey, you might not have heard ol him
at all Or be partiokarty interested
Which doesn't make these graceful
ditties any easier to resist, if you re that
sort ot lomantc Which ism something
to hide, or smother m irony and fnAmg
affectation (P0 Box 0RG38. Chicago
H 60600)
Archer Ptm*h ptays M 9* Echo
Lounge m Atlanta on Saturday July 20
Fmtnofi Oamnron
Live Music with Miller
$3 Polling Pocks & $12.95 Buckets
$5.99 10 Piece Piblets with Fries
$14.99 25 Piece Piblets with Fries
Friday Night
Kickoff Athfest at the Win j!
Saturday Night LIVE
atf^is’ Go!; kuts too atMtst
park bsnck trio (12am-2am)
artk trie (10pm-12am)
Every Monday
S.l.M tflCyHT
Tuesdays
FREE WINGS!
2 Fer Tuesday • Buy 10 Wtngs • Get 10 Free (6-10pm)
KRAZY ON KARAOKE
$2.50 22oz. Miller High Life
312 East Washington St. • 227-WING
JUNE 19. 2002 FLAGPOLE COM 29