FEBRUARY 198
16 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER
16 U THENATONALCOLLGE EWSPPER EBRARY 988
SEI 0RR IE1W,,
Darklands
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Warner/Reprise
The intense pressure to improve on
initial success often results in poor and
even wretched second albums.
The Jesus and Mary Chain was as
ripe for this so-called Sophomore Slump
as any other hip and cool British under-
ground group. Their first album, Psy
chocandy, gained critical praise and
substantial college following for its
amalgamation of styles that caused a
love'em-or-hate'em reaction. Those who
got migraines from the rough mix of
60s-style melodies and acidic guitar
feedback, and loved the simplehBeach
Boys-type tunes and neo-psychedelic
lyrics of fraternal founders Jim and Wil-
liam Reid, will thrill to JMC's second
album, Darklands.
The Chain has avoided the dreaded
Slump, but just barely. The druggy lyr-
ics and surf-dude melodies are left
intact. But the distinctive thrash guitars
of JMC's first record have been toned
down on Darklands.
The band starts off skimping too
much on the guitars, leaving a squishy
melody forgettable at best. The lyrics
delve into the "ooh, my life is a burning
hell" triteness of the post-punk music
world.
The rest of side one, however, is sol-
id. "Nine Million Rainy Days" is the best
song on Darklands. William Reid's
matter-of-fact bitching about his
possessive-obsessive relationship with
some girl who "sends shivers to my
head " evokes hallucinatory images,
delivered in a low, menacing whisper.
Side two is not quite as impressive.
The dance club hit "April Skies" and the
surging "On The Wall" are excellent
songs, with vivid imagery and gooks
galore. The other three tunes are pass-
able. In all, the group appears to have
survived the Slump with regular, not
flying, colors. Steve Crawford, The Daily
Texan, U. of Texas, Austin
Renaissance
Branford Marsalis
CBS
At 27 years of age, saxophonist Bran-
ford Marsalis has played in a wider var-
iety of musical contexts than most vet-
eran jazzmen, from backing Sting to
playing with the English Chamber
Orchestra.
Throughout his gigs, Marsalis period-
ically switched from alto to tenor to
soprano saxophone, often being criti-
cized for not finding his own distinct
instrumental voice rather than praised
for diversity and experimentation.
On Renaissance, Marsalis' new
album, this proves to be in the listener's
favor. He switches styles effortlessly,
going from harder, free improvisational
numbers to introspective ballads. On
"Just One of Those Things," he's remi-
niscent of Charlie Parker, bending the
opening riff through a million different
rhythmic patterns. But "Those Things"
also has a good dash of Sonny Rollins
thrown in-the song never completely
loses its melodic quality, even when it
bops its hardest.
The young sax player shows his
maturity by retaining some sort of
pleasing melody line in his explorations
of structure. But during the ballads
Marsalis' ear for riffs really comes out.
The expressiveness of"The Peacocks," a
longer piece composed by drummer
Tony Williams, makes it the highlight of
the record.
With his quartet of Williams, bassist
Bob Hurst, and pianist Kenny Kirkland,
Marsalis has a group of musicians who
can keep up with his improvising. While
he still might not be considered a very
innovative musician, Branford proves
on Renaissance that that might be
irrelevant-as long as you can blow
with heart. Mark Tarallo, The Daily Tex-
an, U. of Texas, Austin
For the Country
Dumptruck
Big Time
At first listen, the Northeastern band
Dumptruck sounds like any other
Quirky-Pop band following in the wake
of R.E.M.'s success. It has the j-word
guitars, the folkish melodies, the muted
vocals and disjointed lyrics. But Dump-
truck is very much its own band.
Dumptruck's For the Country is a
fairly impressive album. Rarely does it
succumb to cliches of the Southern-pop
genre. After the first cut, "Island,"
degenerates into a strident nasal whine,
the album is solid, sometimes spectacu-
lar. "Going Nowhere," on the second
side, is a wonderful country-flavored
song in the best cow-punk tradition. nality and fervor.
"Wire" is an urgent, raucous song, The Red Hots have integrated the
possibly the best on the album. A obvious funk and rap influences, along
charged rhythm guitar drives the cut as with some country-and-western, 60s-
lead singers/guitarists Kevin Salem and influenced paisley pop, "hard core, hard
Seth Tiven shout "tear down the wire, rock, hard facts and stain fighting pro-
tear down the rope," a desperate cry to teins."
remove the barriers of communication On such tracks as "Fight Like a
in a busy and uncaring world. Brave," "No Chump Love Sucker" or
Most of the time Dumptruck man- "Walkin' on Down the Road," the Red
ages to create very good songs, while at Hots successfully combine all these ele-
the same time incorporating the energy ments, winding up with some monster
of their live shows into their mus- toe-tappin', knee-jerkin', bone-breakin'
ic. Steve Crawford, The Daily Texan, U. of tunes. Lyrics like "Get on your knees
Texas, Austin and shake your ass to the jam that is"
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan help out a little, too.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers The Uplift Mofo Party Plan puts the
EM/Manhattan best elements of the Red Hots' debut
On The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, The album, True Men Don't Kill Coyotes,
Red Hot Chili Peppers make no bones and Freaky Styley into a blender, creat-
about the fact that they rip off such ing one of the sweatiest, funkiest dance'
black artists as Bo Diddley, Howling thrash albums of the last few years. The
Wolf, Larry Holmes, and George Clin- Red Hots are truly funkin' awe -
ton, who produced their 1985 album some. U Robert Wilonsky-The Daily
Freaky Styley. But they do so with origi- Texan, U. of Texas, Austin
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