Page 20 -The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 7,1990
Records
continued from page 19
Phillip's Mexican-Indian character,
Chavez, and he was not Christian.
So who are they about? Jon as Billy
if he had written the script?
And then as songs themselves,
they are uniformly boring. "Blaze of
Glory" is the best of the lot but that
isn't saying much. The music isn't
that great even for Jon. One of the
few redeeming qualities is Jeff Beck
performed almost all of the guitar
solos and guitar on one or two tracks
well. The bridge between Lou Dia-
mond Phillip's chant to the actual
song "Justice in the Barrel" sounds
intriguing. But these few high
points cannot compensate for the
rest. Especially when Jon gets really
thoughtful and writes things like
"And a snakebite's not my en-
emy/But it taught me how to fight"-
excuse me? This does not make
sense. But then none of it does. This
is a sign of a very good or a very bad
concept album. Blaze of Glory falls
under the latter.
-Annette Petrusso
Hetch Hetchy
Swollen
Texas Hotel
Bulging with arty pus, this
earthy-folky/alternative poetic duo
plus their Troubadours paint an He-
len Frankenthaler-like canvas. The
splotches of color blend into art, and
sometimes you can even discern a
figure formed by accident. The
women create atmosphere vaguely
reminiscent of the Throwing Muses
but the songs are musically textured
more like Cocteau Twins. The dense
sounds are somewhat intriguing but
the songs end up, like Frankenthaler,
seeming too self-consciously
sculpted. Even the linear notes fea-
ture blurred black and white photos
and some of the song lyrics and cred-
its that are barely readable.
They, Jay Totty and Linda Lim-
ner (n6e Stipe), are caught between
this artistic desire and a hankering to
be more straightforward folk musi-
cians. The simpler songs like
"Commonplace" and "Perfect Puz-
zle" on this sophomore effort are
just too overdone to be effective
messages of the latter kind of ex-
pression. The more self-indulgent
pieces tease with some exotic noise
but end up being overwhelming in
their quest to be weird and eccentric.
Despite this drawback, the poems, at
least the few printed lyrics that you
can decipher, are very quotable. But
of the rest comprehension is limited
to those you can make out because
Linda has a mumbly vocal style.
At least, the weirdest cuts stand
out. "Mango Weinie" juxtaposes
recorder (or is it flute?) to the stan-
dard bass, guitar, and drums to some
background sounds like what could
be a dog imitating a chicken; "this is
the inside line/my guy is not
uptight." The best cut on the album
is heavy-handed "Erotic CPR," fea-
turing screeches in the beginning,
chanting, mechanical sounds,
squeaks and what sounds like seag-
ulls. It rises and falls in waves of
dark enravishment. It could easily be
a mood piece for the soundtrack of
an art film. The chanting and other
voices blend together better than
anywhere else on the album.
The last song on the album, a
very short coda of sorts, " . . ." (
that's really the name) is a less
packed "Erotic CPR" plus church
W"
ml
I
Second Hand
Rose
Ann Arbor's oldest and largest
vintage clothing store, specializing
in items from the 1890's to the
1950's, including costume jewelry.
Open Wed.-Sat. 12-5
331 E. Huron (Near Division)
Look-it's Jon Bon Jovi, the stud of pop metal, playing with a real man's topic, the old west. Of course he
doesn't do it right at all considering it's attatched to that way excellent flick, Yound Guns II (the sleeper hit
the season). Here, we se him posing like a real modern western breeder should.
organ and what sounds like slam-
ming. It's kind of a short
"Revolution #9," but as is the al-
bum as a whole, seems like me-
diocre mixed media art. Pop the
blister and a promising concept band
lies underneath. -Annette Petrusso
1
. f 11 i ghtue... fit thQ BORDE R -
.NOW OPEN 24 HRS W, Th, F .
615 E. University
at the corner of E. Univ. & S. Univ.
Dread Zeppelin
Un-led-ed
I.R.S.
What is a novelty record?
Stupid Weird Al Yankovic
paradies that are never funny? Or
Alvin and the Chipmunks doing
"Witchdoctor"? Hooked on Classics?
Rick Dees doing "Disco Duck"?
Then Dread Zeppelin is by far the
most thought out, well-produced,
amusing and intelligent novelty
record in the history of rock.
What is a cover band?
Most cover bands never seem to
do anything except play in boring
clubs where people want to hear live
music but nothing they've never
heard before. The few exceptions -
Ciconne Youth- were one shot.
deals or flukes and never that great:
Dread Zeppelin claims it will be
around for a while. By choosinrg a
band with 10 albums to their name
to worship, they can repackage foi at
least 10 years.
The album, for what it is, is
pretty damn good. The whole co ,
cept of a white reggae band that dl
Led Zeppelin covers led by an Elvis
imitator who calls himself Tortelyis
is hilarious. And this isn't cheap
tacky imitation either. They caress
the songs, adding more subtlety than
the hard rock/heavy metal originals,
coaxing them into interpretive forms
of the classic hits. Tortelvis's Elvis-
like voice and the placing at points
of a few Elvis lines in the middle*
songs like "Black Dog" enrich the
covers further. While Weird Al prob-
ably would change "Black Dog" into
a stupid parady like "Black Frog,"
Dread Zeppelin takes the music just
seriously enough to do it well. The
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listener can snicker to him or herself
but appreciate the relative genius.
-Annette Petrusso
The Revolting Cocks
Beers, Steers and Queers
wax Trax Records
Well, if you're still reading this,
then you obviously haven't been
scared off by the name, like most
people. But if it does bother you,
then just think of the band as
"Revco." Consisting of five mem-
bers, including Al Jourgensen and
Paul Barker of Ministry, and Luc
Van Acker (ex-Shriekback), a*
Cocks have an unmistakable deadjn
sense of humor. I suppose WPu
would have to torname your band-as
such. They are also totally uncom-
promising when it comes to their
work-a stance that creates sqo1e
great music, although none of it Will
end up in the Top Forty.
The record opens with a dialeiue
between two people deciding if
want to go to the bar to see$-d
Cocks, although they are wor d
that the band may turn out to b a
"male strip show, male stripper."
The title track then begins, satirizing
Texas for its beers, steers and quors
in a hilarious rap: "Texas Hoedown/
This is the low down/You're full'of
shit/Destined to go down."
The record is full of hidden hu-
mor, such as the seven-minute guy
solo in "Get Down," which.is
somewhat serious but yet a wonder-
ful parody of those overblownb-v
strumentals '70s art rock bands wire
so fond of. The single is "(Let's Get)
Physical," a song that was dela$yd
for about a year due to a threateped
lawsuit from Grease star Olria
Newton-John.
The best and most accessible
song is "Stainless Steel Providen,
a great dance tune that they even
play once in awhile at the U-lub
(and only a few people leave 14he
floor).
Clocking in at just under an
hour, Beers, Steers and Queers is a
great record-full of innovative-
dustrial music, deadpan humor, some
great samples (the best being
"Groovy" from Evil Dead II) R
above all, some good beats courtps
of William Rieflin's drumming.
Should be a hit, as long as peojile
get over the group's name.
-Mike Molitor
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