ARTS The Michigan Daily Friday, December 6,1991 Page 8 The Thrill Kill Kult revamps music scene Less industrial rock concept worships Satan 0 by Nima Hodaei Let's get something straight. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and the Bomb Gang Girlz is not a band, at least not according to Buzz Mc- Coy, the keyboardist for the Chicago-based industrial/dis- co/dance act. In his opinion, the Kult is a concept. "Well, I think bands are musi- cians ... and share the same sound and goal in music, and are musically in- clined," says McCoy, "whereas a concept is more like - I don't know - you have your painters who go to art school all their lives and are still bad, and people who have never picked up a brush and then become famous artists. None of us (in the band) can claim to be good musi- cians, and it's more an attitude. And I think that's what makes a concept - (being) more artistic rather than music oriented." Concept or band, the Thrill Kill Kult has been shocking, annoying and frustrating parents and censor- ship groups around the country since its inception four years ago. With songs that contain a wide array of references to Satan, Jesus and, on the new album, sex, TKK has continu- ously made fun of everything that goes on around it. Song titles like "Kooler than Jesus" and "The Devil Does Drugs" have proven that the Kult takes practically everything with a grain of salt. "The shocking thing is little old ladies off the street handing us pamphlets that say 'Christian zom- bie vampires' on them," explains McCoy. "These little old ladies are handing us this and we're just spew- ing it back out and they think we're the ones that are crazy, or Satanic, or whatever?!" The members of TKK, who all go by pseudonyms - McCoy, Groovie Mann (vocals), Levi Levi (bass), Trash Kavity (guitar) and Adam (drums) - originally met in Chicago to form a movie sound- track. Although the film was even- tually scrapped, the team of McCoy and Mann decided to use the film ti- tle and start a band with the music they had composed. A record deal with the Wax Trax! label soon fol- lowed, resulting in a number of 12" recordings and albums, including 1991's Sexplosion - a disco-ori- ented album that shocked a lot of older fans who had been expecting the former heavy industrial and techno-sound from the band. "With the new album, we de- cided we wanted more of a concept instead of a bunch of different ideas," says McCoy. "Groovie and myself said, 'OK, let's write an al- bum we feel is really sexy to us.' The mid-seventies was when we were growing up, and that's the mu- sic we'd hear in clubs all the time, and go home to, and do whatever. I think that's why it took on a disco feel, 'cause that was our origin." McCoy laughs when he's asked about censorship. However, to orga- nizations such as the P.M.R.C. (Parents Music Resource Center), there is no joke to what the TKK does. The P.M.R.C. recently placed the Kult on its infamous "hit-list," which is a compilation of bands the group considers to be "dangerous" and "obscene" for young listeners. Once again, McCoy laughs, "Censorship has no effect on us," he says. "Our basic philosophy is, if it makes them (P.M.R.C.) happier, if it for some reason makes their life a little better, we don't care. If they want a sticker on our album ... I'll put a sticker on it, because it doesn't matter either way. I think I'm the nicer guy just trying to give them an easier life. It sucks that a sticker has. to be there ... but the kids are going to buy it anyway." Nope, it's not Squeaky Fromme's autobiography. But My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult (with back-up singers the Bomb Gang Girlz) ain't exactly a band, either. The bizarre outfit is more of a ... concept. Yeah, that's it. Known for extravagant, cabaret- style performances featuring female back-up singers, the Bomb Gang Girlz, the TKK has had to strip things down a bit for its opening slot on the current Siouxsie and the Banshees tour. Nevertheless, Mc- Coy is still full of adjectives in de- scribing what fans will see. "They can see forty-five minutes of Las Vegas, sex, sexplosion, danc- ing, fun, glitz ... just an overall forty-five-minute orgasm," he ex- plains. With a move away from the darker industrial music of other bands in the business (such as Min- istry and Front 242), the future of the TKK, once this tour is finished, remains largely a mystery. "Tentatively, I want to get back to the visual aspect, which we never really explored too much, meaning video, etc.," says McCoy. "Hope- fully, the next album will be long format video, where there's a video for every song, and maybe every song tied together, sort of like a rock-opera." Regardless of what comes out of this production, it can safely be as- sumed that the TKK will continue to terrorize the authorities, while touching base with its loyal legion of fans. After all, not taking itself See KULT, Page 12 Jazz drummer Max Roach blazes on at 67 Charles Dickens joins Bert Hornback for Christmas fun by Josh Mitnick In the mid-'40s, Max Roach, to- gether with Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie, revolutionized the jazz world with be-bop, bringing controversial new melodic concepts and exciting improvisational tech- niques to American music. As Parker redefined the alto sax and Gillespie the trumpet, Roach transformed his drums from their traditional supporting role in the rhythm section to instruments just as capable of creative improvisa- tions as any horn or piano in the jazz ensemble. Almost 50 years later, Roach continues to explore new formats and new sounds, composing music for ensembles featuring non-tradi- tional jazz instruments. M'Boom, a group Roach has nurtured for the last 10 years, utilizes over 100 per- cussive instruments, while his dou- ble quartet combines a string quar- tet with his traditional quartet. Jazz shouldn't be confined to the regular combination of trumpet, sax, bass and drums, Roach said. "It's very narrow to think that jazz is confined to that instrumental configuration," he explained. "You're constantly searching for ideas. It's a creative art," said Roach, explaining why he has exper- imented with so many different mediums and formats. "At least you're doing something today that you didn't do yesterday." You would think that juggling so many ensembles and projects all at once might make for a lot of con- fusion, but Roach says working on several different projects at the same time actually heightens the level of excitement he brings to the music. "It means that I don't have to depend on one musical format to survive artistically," he said. Roach Nowhere is this demonstrated more than on Roach's latest release, To the Max. Featuring original compositions performed with M'Boom, his quartet, his double quartet, and his chorus and orches- tra, the album samples Roach's broad experience of musical explo- ration within the jazz genre. As if this wasn't enough, Roach has gone outside of jazz perfor- mance, composing music for theater See ROACH, Page 12 by John Morgan C ontrary to popular belief, Charles Dickens remains alive and well. Recalled to life for his annual performance by University profes- sor of English Bert Hornback, Dickens will be reading A Christ- mas Carol at the University Art Museum tonight and tomorrow night. The version that will be per- formed has been shortened from the original to fit a one-hour time span, although Hornback has added two new scenes to this year's perfor- mance. Hornback has given well over 300 readings during the past 16 years, from Jackson Prison (where he was made an honorary inmate) to St. Paul's Cathedral in London, travelling with a replica of Dickens' specially-designed velvet-covered reading desk on hand, and always performing in full Dickens regalia. Hornback admitted that during his London performance, he felt less natural in the part, describing the streets of the city - a city where he himself was a foreigner - to its own inhabitants. "That was the only time I knew it was a fraud," Hornback said. "The Art Museum is always the most fun," Hornback continued. "The audience is more responsive to the positive aspects (of the read- ing)." Hornback was inspired to do the revival by Dickens himself. During his lifetime, Dickens travelled throughout England and the United States, reading from his own work, often doing so to assist charities. As he did in the 19th century, the resur- rected Dickens will begin his up- coming reading by briefly dis- cussing current problems in the world. The reading will be preceded by a performance of carols by the Adult Flute Ensemble of the Ann Arbor Studio of Performing Arts, directed by Penelope Fischer. Afterwards, the Residential College Singers will lead the audience in Christmas carols. Donations will also be ac- cepted for Oxfam, the family relief fund founded in Oxford. Hornback stressed the continued timeliness of the themes in Dickens' work, particularly in A Christmas Carol. "Dickens argues against greed. It's in all of the novels," he said. "Every year, we keep promis- ing to make the world a better place. If we stop doing even that, it's all over." As Hornback concluded, "Christmas doesn't belong to Christians alone." CHARLES DICKENS reads tonight and tomorrow night at 7:45 p.m. at the University Art Museum. The doors will open at 7:15. Tickets are available at the Michigan Union ticket office, free of charge. 5TH AVE. AT UBERTY 7614700 $ DAILY SHOWS BEFORE 6 PM $3.NTUES.RETNS IN JANUARY) STUDENT WITH I.D. 60 GOOORICH QUALITY THEATERS GIFT CERTIFICATES MAKE GREAT STOCKING STUFFERSI AVAILABLE AT OUR (R)3I B ELACK R R9BEEM . l Present this coupon when Purchasing a large and receive one 0 UAC/ VIE WPOINT LECTURES PRESENTS Gender Issues: Today and Tomorrow BETTY FRIEDAN LEADER OF THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT CELEBRATED AUTHOR OF THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE Tickets Available at all Ticketmaster s'ruD NT~s University -u-I U 0