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INTRODUCING BOMBER CITY
EX-GUADALCANAL DIARY MEMBERS
PUT A NEW TWIST ON AN OLD SOUND
the words "Watusi
Rodeo" to anyone
who spent time in
Athens around 1983
or so, and the next
words out of their mouths will most likely be
“Guadalcanal Diary." Following that will prob
ably be a recollection of a Guadalcanal Diary
show way back when where an upbeat rhythm,
paired with some humorous, irony-laden lyr
ics, brought the house down. Some considered
Guadalcanal Diary one of the greatest Athens
bands. Only problem was, the bandmembers
weren't actually Athenian. No, the band that
fit so well into that scene was actually from
the Marietta area. Not that it mattered, of
course. Good music is good music.
Heavily influenced by the '60s and by
bits and pieces from other bands of its own
era, Guadalcanal Diary created a collection
of jangly and smart songs that covered top
ics ranging from historical events to slightly
twisted religious themes. As the years passed,
Guadalcanal Diary eventually faded into the
background. Some of the band's members,
however, did not. They shared too much musi
cally to ignore the call of the stage for long.
In between other musical projects, jobs, and
life in general, Murray Attaway and Jeff Walls
continued to write music, even though they
didn't know quite what to do with it. Now the
dynamic duo has a new project called Bomber
City, which builds upon the members' past in
order to give a home to the large backlog of
songs that has been stockpiled over the years.
"The idea came about right before
Christmas last year, and it just took this long
to get a full set's worth of original material,"
says Walls. "All of us are grown-ups; some
have kids. It just got put off. This stuff has
just been sitting there a while, and there's
this stuff that Murray and I had written back
in the Guadalcanal days that has been moved
around and changed a bit."
Bomber City's lineup resembles quite a few
other bands, looking most like Nairobi Trio
but with a few additions to shake things up.
The band boasts an almost ridiculous number
of Athens veterans, in addition to Walls and
Attaway, making for a tight-knit group of
musicians who act more like family than your
normal band. Billy Holmes of Love Tractor and
Hillbilly Frankenstein's Diana Crowe, Phyllis
Walls and Pat Patterson make up the bulk of
Bomber City, lending their experience and
unique stylings to the many songs that have
been kept out of the spotlight for years. With
familiar faces, you can expect some very
familiar sounds.
"We probably don't sound that different
from Guadalcanal Diary, you know," says Walls.
"We've got some expanded instrumentation
especially with Billy Holmes on keyboards,
violin and guitar and a little more varied of a
sonic palette, but it's still pop music with our
own twist on it."
That's not to say they won't cover some of
their other bands' work. "If anyone was a fan
of Guadalcanal back in the day," says Walls,
"they might hear some songs that we used
to play but never really wound up on records.
We kinda just staked out a setlist based on
what we already had, but I imagine we will
be doing some writing together in the future.
Some ideas have been tossed about, but none
of them are being used just yet."
As for what Bomber City may do in the
future, it's still a bit up in the air. "I don't
know what the future of the band will be, but
I know we're enjoying doing it and it sounds
good," says Walls. "We'll probably wind up
doing some writing and coming up with new
stuff together and so forth."
But for now, we get a chance to hear some
thing vaguely familiar to some but that may
be brand new to many others. Family, friends,
a little bit of humor, a little bit of dancing,
and a lot of good music; it doesn't get more
Athenian than that.
Jordan Stepp
( H
WHO: Bomber City, Can Can Be Btoe
WHERE: Melting Point
WHEN: Saturday, July 17,838 pjn.
HOW MUCH: $S (aril.), $12 (dew)
^ —J
18 FLAGPOLE.COM JULY 14,2010