ARTS The Michigan Daily; Monday, September 9, 1991 Page 5 Brits take on 'Sheriff Fatman' Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine: more than just a funny name by Annette Petruso first offive parts *British Pop has traditionally had an appeal, if not a profound effect, on American popular music ever since the Beatles invaded in '63- '64. Since the Fab Four, numerous bands have hit our shores in search of a larger audience,from the Kinks to the Sex Pistols to Def Lepard to Judas Priest to Iron Maiden to Duran Duran to Siouxsie and the * Banshees to the Smiths to the five bands featured this week. Chances are you haven't heard much about these five guitar pop bands profiled this week (unless you've listened to Windsor's radio station, the Cutting Edge 88.7 FM, or seen the occasional video on MTV). All of the bands have just re- leased their first records in the States in the past few months, and #some have just completed their first tours. They're established in Britain, and most only know about America from what they've seen on television. "They censored the word 'the' on Top of the Pops (a British music television show) in England. They left the word 'Sex' in, but they called it Carter, Unstoppable Sex Machine," explains Jim Bob, one half of the duo named Carter, the Unstoppable Sex Machine. He spoke in a droll drone on the telephone from the Chrysalis offices in New York City. Carter USM (as they are affec- tionately abbreviated), a pair of du- eling guitars and samples, make complex yet eclectic music. The other half of the pair is Fruitbat: 0"I'm very short-sighted, I got big ears and I like hanging upside down," he says. On their album, they flesh out their basic electric- stringed crunch with sound samples from life, and occasionally from records. Their songs, as on their first American release, 101 Damnations, tell stories and mold characters, with a church bell here and small detail there. Carter isn't preachy, but they aren't afraid to confront issues they feel are stimulating. "When we wrote these songs, although they ac- tually are about social issues or whatever, politics and stuff, it's just because that's the kind of thing that makes me want to write songs. There's no great master plan or any- thing to change the world... There's nothing worse than musicians... telling you what you should do while you're sleeping in a cardboard box or whatever... you should be voting for this person or that per- son. So we try to avoid that as much as possible," Jim Bob explains. Simultaneously, it's the charac- ters they create that make the songs so potent. Jim Bob says "An All American National Sport" on Damnations is "a true story about this tramp in London." "These two guys, they brought him some food and stuff and were nice to him and then when he was asleep, they came back and set fire to him," Jim Bob says. "And it was a pretty horrific thing, obviously, and I mean at the time it was reported in all the media in England..." The song itself takes the point of view of the' homeless person: "I unpacked my troubles/ from an old Safeway bag/ under- neath Cardboard City lights/ these two characters brought me sup- per..." Though the songs often refer to British problems and situations, Fruitbat points out that "obviously some of the place names and nick- names of things won't be under- stood, but generally there's poverty in America, there's alcoholism in America. The general idea of things is going to come across..." Jim Bob adds, "We can't write things specif- ically for certain countries. 'Cause that's part of the appeal, I would have thought, you know, that it is very British." This kind of music live seems like it would be atrocious, a cross between Milli Vanilli and Janet Jackson. Carter performs to a back- ing tape, with no full live band, Fruitbat says it's not really that bad. "It's a lot better than it sounds, let me tell you," he explains. "It's not a trick. We don't make any pre- tense, we just say we play to a back- ing tape. But it's probably the livest music you'll ever hear... We both See SEX, Page 8 Jim Bob (front big nose, funny hair) and Fruitbat (rear, surname Carter, hence the band's moniker) of Carter USM, which, slightly rearranged, is USMC. "Like a satanic message that we're trying to get people to join the Marines," says Jim Bob. THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO BECOMING A NURSE IN THE ARM. And they're both repre- sented by the insignia you wear as a member of the Army Nurse Corps. The caduceus on the left means you're part of a health care system in which educational and career advancement are the rule, not the exception. The gold bar, on the right means you command respect as an Army officer. If you're earn- ing a BSN, write: Army Nurse Opportunities, P.O. Box 3219, Warminster, PA 18974-9845. Or call toll free: 1-800-USA-ARMY, ext. 438. 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