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=ONE"

THE FOLKS EXPECT YOU TO

ARTS

WRITE HOME ONCE IN A WHILE..

Page 6 Thursday, September 29, 1983 The Michigan Daily

.

HERE'S AN EASIER WAY

A push for Love
By Larry Dean

Tractor

THERE MAY not be a helluva lot of
good music coming from within
the confines of good o1' A-squared, but
there's lots of wonderful stuff zeroing in-
to the pulsebeat of our fair city courtesy
of Joe's Star Lounge. This particular
lure is in regards to Athens, GA's Love
Tractor, rolling in tonight with E. Lan-
sing's 22 Cave Gods as warm-up.
Love Tractor is a four-piece,
traditionally-instrumented (2 guitars, 1
drummer, a bassist) band who hWas,
taken that one step beyond the usual
and into the realm of the unusual: their
music is warm, thoughtful, melodic,
danceable but not adroitly so, and
basically lax in the vocals department.
Not to insinuate that the vocals in Love
Tractor are bad - they just aren't
there - for, as you see, or soon shall,
once you hot-foot it down to Joe's,
vocals don't play as big a role in their
music as most bands deem required
nowadays. But then again, that's how
it's always been.
These four gents - Michael Rich-
mond (guitar and voice), Mark Cline
(guitar, banjo, bass and V), Armistead
Wellford (guitar, bass, piano, clarinet
and V), and Andrew Carter (drums and
V, replacing Kit Schwarts) - have
styled a unique music that defocuses
attention from the words and refocuses
it on the interplay between instrumen-
ts. They consistently deny the term
"instrumental band" as an apt descrip-
tion, but that seems to be about the size
of it. I think they're afraid that term'll
turn-off a bunch of potential listeners,
but what Love Tractor do is far too fun
and engaging to be so easily dismissed.
Gone are the stock detective show rif-
fs and reverb-plus guitar licks echoing
'60s surf music, often the immediate
roots bands like the Raybeats hook in-
to; as a result, they end up sounding
like revivalists, and boring the hell out
of their audience in the meantime. Not
so with Love Tractor...if any influences
need be cited, then theirs would be
more akin to the Penguin Cafe Or-
chestra, or the Feelies, but with oodles
more balls. Take their second LP, on
the tiny-but-well-stocked DB Records

Love Tractor bulldozes into Joe's tonight.

label of Atlanta, Around the Bend: not
one slouch amongst the 10 tunes
present.
"Highland Sweetheart," the opener,
is a beautiful song with vocals used in
conjunction with the other instruments;
the mix of voice and music are almost
equal. "Spin Your Partner" has more
vocals, and with a decidedly-Southern
twang, but the words don't go far
beyond an utterance of the title - fuel
for the fire. "Paint" is, indeed, as
coined by Richmond, a song that sounds
like a cross between Public Image Ltd.,
and Miles Davis:..hearing is believing,
folks, and the hybrid is nice. ' And
"Pretty" about sums up that song, and
most on Around the Bend.
There's more, and running through
the LP song-by-song won't help make
up your minds. Around the Bend is

every bit as hot as the band's first
release, mysteriously dubbed Love
Tractor, and is already perking up the
critical ears-at-large, as did their
debut. Word is that Love Tractor is a
different kind of experience live, what
with some rearrangeing of tunes and
the general excitement that a large
crowd can generate for a band on-
stage. So don't sit there - Love Trac-
tor plows through our homeland
tonight and they're only one of an up-
coming flood of new and worthwhile
music to be spotlighted by Joe's. If you
value unpretentious and emotional
qsic, music that speaks without the
efit of a lead voice, then Love Trac-
tor (with 22 Cave Gods),is the double-
bill for you. Phone 665-5637 for more in-
formation.


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TO WRITE HOME -

SIX DAYS A WEEKI

rmmmmmmmm mmm mm mmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmmmm mmm
Dear Mom and Dad:
I 1 thought you might like to know what school is like for me every day. The Michigan Daily
is the University's newspaper. It brings the most complete coverage of campus news six $
days a week... not to mention sports, features, editorials, and its newest feature, the I
Weekend Magazine. This appears every Friday and includes special feature articles, I
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coming week. 1
Just fill out this form and mail, with your check to: i
The Michigan Daily/420 Maynard/Ann Arbor, MI 48109
That way, we'll have lots to discuss about living in Ann Arbor, and my days at Michigan,
1 the next timelI come home.
Love, Arthur1
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A NEW
MISSJi

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oR,


Saturday, October 1
in the Miss J Shop,

from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
lower level, Ann Arbor

Celebrate the Grand Opening of our Miss J Shop.
A special gathering place where friends can meet
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need to create exciting, innovative looks for
your active lifestyle. Come see all the fashion
apparel and accessories and allow our experts
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that will take you from an afternoon football
game to school, a pajama party or the prom.

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