Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 7, 1987 Records (Continued from Page 7) burner in typical Suns fashion,1 combining the whoosh of John Williams' guitar with the shimmy- shimmy-thump of Jeff Wiegand's1 bass with the scratchy-throated c witticisms of drummer Peter Prescott : "I'm a collector of stuffc that most folks ignore/You know 1 that one man's ceiling is another man's floor."t Prescott draws on the rush of intense energy that his former band, Mission of Burma, used to create, but adds the new dimension of. hooks that are as instantly hummable as the cadence of a Xerox machine. The Suns have the ability to start a song with a slow burn, such as the laid back intro churn to "Sounds Like Bucks," then spin suddenly into a speedy assault of supersonic proportions, leaving both Prescott and the listener gasping for breath. Maybe a little too much of the album fires ahead at this frenetic pace; a song like "Ride the Cog," for example, crosses the fine line between adrenalin rush and formless thrash. Another cut, "Room With a View," lopes along as if it were going to go someplace but actually goes nowhere at all. Still, All Night Lotus Party is a solid effort, and if not a definitive improvement over their great debut,The Bright Orange Years, it at least makes moves towards atoning for the sins the band committed during their lackluster August show at the Blind Pig. When all their spicy ingredients are combined in the proper stew, the Volcano Suns make Kilauea look like just a big pimple. -Mike Rubin Jason and The Scorchers Still Standing EMI America I often find that in the course of becoming acquainted with a record, one track will stick out in my mind; sometimes a fave and sometimes a real dog. Backgammon Table Soccer Table Tennis Bowling Chess Darts Pool ACUI Campus Games Tournament Well, when I think about Still Standing, I'm haunted by the spectre of its cover of "19th Nervous Breakdown," a rhyth - mically leaden rendition topped off by what (I hope to God) will go forever unchallenged as Jason Ring - enberg's worst vocal performance. Unfortunately, although this is the clear low point of the record, Ringenberg's vocals are often detrimental to the success of the songs - not only does he sound painfully strained on several tracks, but the force of his voice is lessened by its anonymity in the mix. The authority and the swagger of Jason's vocals are largely absent - Still Standing captures the worst of all possible worlds in this regard. With all my carping, however, I still don't view this record as a disaster; only as a disappointment. Jason can still compose good songs, and they have got several gems tucked away in their portfolio - surely the well hasn't dried up. What concerns me more is the growing distnace from their country roots (what price MTV?) and the nagging question of whether Jason's voice might be shot. Naaaaaah. - Jeff Stanzler The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy Distressed Gentlefolk Big Time The Jazz Butcher, or Butch as he is affectionately known, had been stewing in his creative juices for too long to continue to go unnoticed. Having developed something of a cult following back at home in England, Big Time Records brought a sampling of his work with his Conspiracy stateside Michigan Daily ARTS 763-0379 in the form of Bloody Nonsense, an eclectic disc culled from his numerous EPs and LPs which was released last summer. A national tour was in order, and its success this summer showed that the Jazz Butcher was more than merely a local phenomenon. All of which sets the stage for Distressed Gentlefolk, the first JBC record made readily available to the now eager American consumer. "Haven't heard of 'em," you say? True. There are still many people who have yet to be eager for a new Jazz Butcher record. But haven't you heard that eccentric, charming Englishmen are in fashion these days? Gentler in affect than some of the more overtly twisted ramblings of the brilliant and now luminous Robyn Hitchcock, Butch's (whose real name is supposedly Pat Fish) humor is dry and softly ironic. His influence is the Velvet Under - ground, not Syd Barrett. Dropping the fiery R&R abandon that characterized songs such as "Caroline Wheeler's Birthday Present," Butch and Co. get a little refined on Distressed, with a success rate only they could pull off. The album is a hodgepoge of musical styles. "Falling in Love" ("a real bad case," they say) is a standard loner's romantic tune; "Big Bad Thing" rocks out, but it's entirely suppressed by its fear, guided only by a steady thump instead of a full drumkit. The joyous dance of "Hungarian Love Song" ("I'll be your breakfast/I'll be your dinner/You won't go hungry/You won't get thinner") perfectly matches the soothing drone of "Who Loves You Now?" while "Still in the Kitchen," with its dreary melancholy, shows they haven't forgotten the Velvet Under - ground. And "Domestic Animal," an ode to our sexually neutered pets, is Butch at his frivolous best. The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy won't be the big stars of '87, and it's doubtful you'll ever see them on MTV. But with a rapidly grow - ing popularity, this new album is even more good reason to love 'em. of ' Register at the Billiards & Games Room Second Floor Michigan Union Regionals February 20 and 21 at University of Cincinnati IV Whatever the assignment, Pilot has the formula for writing comfort and precision. Pilot's Better Ball Point Pen, in medium and fine points, lets you breeze through long note-taking sessions. In fact, we've made writer's fatigue a thing of the past! 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