The Michigan Dailyf ARTS Friday, September 13, 1991 Page 5 England's got a brand new bag Ned's Atomic Dustbin: da godfodders of Brit pop? Wharlie Meadows (John Goodman) tries to calm Barton Fink (John Turturro) after Barton endures too many lanxieties. Among them: dripping wallpaper paste, a vicious mosquito, a scotch guzzling hack novelist, and a dead... oh, never mind, go see the movie. Barton goes to H'wood by Annette Petruso fifth and last part « don't think we sound like any- body else," says Alex Griffin, 20, one of the bass players of the dy- namic young guitar band, Ned's Atomic Dustbin. I spoke to him on the telephone from his hotel room in Beverly Hills, Calif. "We're from a place called the Black Country, which is ten miles outside of Birmingham in England," says Griffin. "And even though it's only ten miles away from Birming- ham, it's a completely different sort of place. It's just very regional - our humor, our attitude." But God Fodder, the band's compelling American debut album, while thick with reflections of such insular attitudes, sparkles with the charisma and disgust that only young musicians can produce. The lyrics, written by John Penney, the oldest member of the band at 23, in- tensely portray what goes on in the minds of young adults. From "Kill Your Television" ("She said/ 'you don't know shit/ because you've never been there"') to "Cut Up" ("Did you think that if you shout you can sort it all out?") to "Your Complex" ("Don't go telling me it's gone wrong/ don't go telling me on the phone/'cause the only voice I hear is my own"), Penney and company eloquently express anger, fear and a point of view rarely drawn so vividly. "John's lyrics are mainly about his experiences or somebody else's," Griffin says. But the wordsyaren't arrogant. "We don't include politics because that's unfair of us," he says. "If somebody likes your band, then they're more likely to listen to your views about politics, and therefore you've swayed somebody. And it's up to people to make their own minds. And none of us agree on each other's politics anyway, so we can't." Ned's is also a strong guitar- based outfit. On disc, their music sears with noisy but melodic gui- tars, sounding like reined frustra- tion seeking out a focused, con- trolled expression. The six- stringed- and four-stringed-guitar- based music supersedes even Penney's words in its assault, dodg- ing to and fro between mountain tops and valleys, resonating, with- out overwhelming, the lyrics. Part of this strength comes from the band's use of two bassists. "Me and Mat (Cheslin) both wanted to be in the band and we both happened to play bass," Griffin explains. "And John said, 'Well Mat could join,' and Mat got going in the band the week before me, and I said to John, 'Oh, do you still need a bass player?' and he said, 'Well, Mat joined.' And I said, 'Oh, you bastard, like, I wanted to be in the band as well, so why don't you have two bass players as well?' And he said, 'Don't be silly,' and then the next day he came back and said, like 'Yeah, go on, we'll give it a go.' "I play chords and stuff, and Mat plays just like, low bass. But I play what a rhythm guitar does and stuff. It makes the sound full and big." Live, Ned's (which also includes See NED'S, Page 9 Barton Fink ir. Joel Coen by Michael John Wilson ,Boy, those French sure have lousy taste in movies - but at least they're consistent. Last year, David Lynch's freakish and pretentious American film Wild at Heart won the Palme d'or at the Cannes Film 'Festival. This year, the festival's three major awards (best actor, di- rector and film) all went to the equally freakish and pretentious American film Barton Fink. Though both films entertain in quirky and original ways, they're ultimately hollow at the center. Fink is the fourth film by Joel and Ethan Coen, a writer-producer- director team whose credits include Blood Simple and Raising Arizona. Their flashy film-school camera- work and offbeat sense of humor were the stars of these films. After last year's Miller's Crossing, the Coens seemed to be on the verge of a great film, one that would balance their unique stylization with an equally excellent story. Unfor- tunatly, Fink isn't it. Instead of a mature effort, the *film represents their most indul- gent and pretentious work to date. Yes, the beautifully lit, finely to plan HOMECOMING KOne Fish, Two Fish, Maize Fish, Blue Fish" Monday, September 16 @ 7:00pm 2105 Michigan Union For INFO: call UAC @ 763-1107 crafted look of a Coen film can be pleasurable in itself, and yes, it's fun to watch the camera enter a drainpipe and do other crazy stuff, but, as with Lynch and Tim (Beetlejuice) Burton, their distinc- tive atmosphere of bizarre charac- ters and dark humor is also enough to keep our interest... up to a point. Eventually, though, the Coens have got to get on with the story. And that's Fink's weakness. John Turturro (Miller's Cros- sing, Do the Right Thing) plays the title character, a leftist playwright who, after scoring a hit on Broad- way, heads to Holly wood to earn money by writing screenplays. There he runs into all sorts of Hollywood types, from the friendly bellhop named "Chet!" (Steve Buscemi) to the Hollywood mogul (Michael Lerner) who "expects great things." There's also the wacky reighbor, played by John Goodman (Raising Arizona), an af- fable insurance salesman with an X- rated tie, and Barton's only friend. Barton is hired to write a wrestling picture. Then he gets writer's block. And the film stalls. Our initial meetings with each formidably acted character are, however, quite fun. Goodman's big, smiling, cartoonish face is espe- cially apt for Fink's world of exag- gerated characters. Other Coen regu- lars like Buscemi and Turturro also work well, with their nervous, hy- per quality perfect for the film's edgy atmosphere. The rapid-fire Hollywood speak of Ben Geisler (Tony Shalhoub) also welcomes us into what begins as a hilariously en- tertaining black comedy. While Barton struggles to write, the Coens pile on the weirdos and the eerie shots of empty corridors. And peeling wallpaper. And oozing glue. And nothing happens. And we get bored. When something finally does happen (and does it ever hap- pen), it's so unexpected and incon- gruous with the comic tone of the first half that we're completely thrown off, unsure whether to laugh, cry or scream. The film never recovers, tailspinning into a hope- lessly obscure ending. Fink ends up as just another amusing but ultimately unsatisfy- See FINK, Page 8 I 'e .. .". .m~lniRNR~iMNEiRe Ned's is, clockwise from bottom left, Mat Cheslin, Dan Worton, Garath Pring, Alex Griffin, and Jon Penney. Griffin says of their album's title, God Fodder, "Actually we're speech therapists that go around listening to people who mispronounce words, and then we turn them into album titles." "BEST POSTERS in Ann Arbor" --The Michigan Daily 1991 poll " " " *" * * 0 * * "**" *** **# We will beat any price on official Grateful Dead 0 " 1" " merchandise!! .....«......... ee'ee e I Lutheran Campus Ministry Lord of Light Lutheran Church, ELCA 801 South Forest at Hill Street Phone: 668-7622 Sunday Worship 10 am Welcome Picnic 5:00 pm Wednesday Bible Study 6:00 pm Evening Prayer 7:00 pm Rev.John Rollefson, Campus Pastor University Activities Center t e a t r e 1991 pm Monday 9/16 Wolverine Room in the Michigan Union Impact Dance Theatre is for Co-Ed Non-Dance Majors For more Information, call UAC @ 763 1107 4 -HAVEN OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK !!! Mon-Sat 11-7 Sun 12-6 340 1/2 S. State (upstairs) '#994-3888 L Symposium on The Changing Supreme Court and the Future of Civil Liberties Saturday, September 14, 1991 10 A.M. - 12 Noon Presentation by Nadine Strossen National President American Civil Liberties Union Panel Discussion .i -A