NEW ON CD

Twenty-four-year-old identical
twins Evan and Jaron Lowenstein hail
from Atlanta and call its yeshiva their
alma mater. The duo have a clause in
their contract releasing them from
performing on Shabbat, keep kosher
on the road despite an extensive tour-
ing schedule and turned down a big-
break opening gig for Oasis because
the date fell on Rosh Hashanah.
It's obvious that Evan and Jaron are
good Jews, but can they sing? The
answer is a simple yes.
In their first major-label album,
We've Never Heard of You Either (Island
Records), the brothers tend toward an
acoustic pop sound. Their style often
is compared to the Everly Brothers,
and Rolling Stone Network described
the pair as "equal parts
Simon and Garfunkel
and the Rembrandts
with a dash of Ben
Folds Five."
Many of their songs
tell stories about rela-
tionships. "Is It All
That Great Without
Me?" is a song about a
guy whose girlfriend
breaks up with him
and now wants him
Evan and aron:
back. This song stands pleasure.
out as one of the bet-
ter tracks, along with
"Could've Been James Dean," which
tells the story of a homeless man who
reminisces about how things could
have been.
But the catchiest song on the
album has to be "How To Keep the
Sky From Falling," a '70s-ish folky
tune that no doubt caught the eye of
Jimmy Buffett.
While Evan and Jaron started per-
forming about five years ago

•

Mixed Media

News 6- Reviews.

CURTAIN CALL

in Atlanta's coffeehouses and put out
two independent albums, the pair's
career really took off once they began
to play at Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe
in Key West, Fla. Buffett put Evan and
Jaron in touch with Island Records.
As for musical influences, it would
have to be "the Beatles, Simon and
Garfunkle and my favorite, Jackson
Browne," Jaron told Rolling Stone
Network. "We really like the music
from the 1970s, where
all the songs had a West
Coast feel to them. We
try to follow that theme
of telling a story in our
songs."
That's exactly what
the Lowenstein brother
do. It's refreshing to see
that a major label
signed a group like
Evan and Jaron, who
already are popular on
Double the
the college circuit
(they've made several
stops at Rick's in Ann
Arbor) an d have begun making
appearances on VH-1.
They're musicians with talent —
and not a bubble-gum pop group like
Hanson or the Backstreet Boys. But
don't confuse them with that other
chewing gum, either.
"We don't like to promote the fact
that we're twins," Jaron told Rolling
Stone Network. "We're not saying,
"Hey, it's Doublemint
gum, it's Evan and Jaron,
have a stick!' We just want
the music to speak for
itself."

— Julie Zimmerman

Julie Zimmerman is a

senior at Berkley High
School.

BETWEEN
THE PAGES

Do you have a child
heading off to college?
Then you might want
to send along a copy

8/28
1998

90 Detroit Jewish News

• Always keep in mind where you
come from.
• Trust your instincts in life.
• Accept who you are.
And her most serious life rule:
Carpe diem.

SAS1C LIFE RULES FROM

A JEWi.S1-1 MOTHER

of Sharon Strassfield's new little book,
Everything I Know: Basic Life Rules
From a Jewish Mother (Scribner; $17).
In this compact volume, Strassfield
shares the words of wisdom she corn-
piled in books she wrote for her two
oldest children upon their high school
graduation.
Also the author of The Jewish Fami-
ly Book and The Jewish Calendar,
Strassfield shares personal tales
arranged in chapters titled "Know
Where You're Coming From," "Know
Where You Are Going" and "Know
Before Whom You Will One Day
Stand in Judgment."
And when your student tells you he
or she doesn't have time to read Every-
thing I Know, just extract a promise to
at least read the afterword, in which
Strassfield boils down into three short
pages "Basic Life Rules" which are
bound to come in handy.
Here are just a few (in capsule
form):
• Take care of your body. If some-
thing seems wrong with you, never
put off investigating it.
• Making love is not the same as eat-
ing pizza. They may both involve basic
human instincts, but sex involves
responsibility to the other. (This is a
really handy rule for future presidents.)
• Don't waste. Whether it be time,
resources or money, waste is a sin.
• When you find yourself in an
unhealthy place, leave immediately.

Check your inhibitions at the door,
along with any personal belongings.
The Off-Broadway show De La Guar-
da is not for the faint of heart.
Upon stepping foot into a seatless,
standing-room-only theater, audience
members become willing participants
in a 60-minute party that puts Animal
House to shame. Audience participa-
tion is not only encouraged; it is
mandatory.
Most of the action takes place above
the viewers' heads, with high-flying cast
members and acrobatic-like stunts.
Some lucky audience members are lit-
erally swept off their feet. They learn
how to fly, like the play advertises.
The man behind the curtain of this
new interactive play is super-producer
and former Oak Parker Jeffrey Seller,
who also is responsible for the smash
hit Rent
De La Guarda, Seller told the JN
in March, grabbed his attention at the
International The-
atre Festival in
London. "It was
from Buenos Aires
and was the
hottest thing at the
festival," he said.
The De La
Guarda troupe,
which consists of
19 members, was
Former Oak Park- created in 1993,
er Jeffiey Seller is
and began testing
earning raves for
ideas in clubs
"De La Guarda." throughout South
America.
A high-energy
circus that would not be possible
without an open-minded audience, De
La Guarda seems to be attracting just
that. Not only is the production earn-
ing rave reviews, it has begun to create
a cult following in New York. Can the
rest of America be far behind?

— Melissa Schweiger

De La Guarda is playing at the
Daryl Roth Theatre, 20 Union Sq.
East, in New York City. For tick-
ets, call (800) 432-7250.

Melissa Schweiger writes from New

York.

'–\