SARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, March 11;1992 Page 5 Ofzihee we sing f Hfypnoics kick out thee Motown jafms $ b Nima Hodaei The music of the '60s and '70s has influenced, in some shape or form, many of the bands that record music today. For England's Thee Hypnotics, time might just as well have stood still at that point. Drawing heavily from the sounds of bands such as the MC5 and the Stooges, Thee Hypnotics' drummer, *Phil Smith, quickly makes his rever- ence for the Detroit music move- ment known. "The whole excitement that it generated at the time is pretty hard to equal," says Smith. "The Stooges were more of a sex thing, which I think is really important in rock 'n' IPeople in England have said that if we had been from Seattle or New York, we'd be huge.' - Phil Smith Thee Hypnotics roll. The MC5 were more of the po- litical thing ... I don't know man, fuck, did they know how to motivate liveness! They were like living art. "The whole idea of the Motor City sound to us, is music which changes gears. You start off in first gear, you hit second, you hit third, by the time you hit fourth, you are gone. That is what we aim for. We just love those bands for what they did." Because Thee Hypnotics was not around playing music during the '60s and '70s, the press has been try- ing to fit the group with today's movement of guitar bands (Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and the British guitar wash bands). This task has become increasingly difficult, since Thee Hypnotics does not fit the mold of many of these other performers. Combining the soulful, Morri- son-like vocals of James Jones, the bluesy, classic rock guitarwork of Ray Hanson, the thumping rhythms of bassist Will Pepper with Smith, Thee Hypnotics clearly hearkens back to the days of Iggy, Rob, and the rest of the scene. Yet, at all times, the band stays refreshingly unique. "I don't think we're part of any single movement," states Smith. "When you think of the new wave of guitar bands, the reference automati- cally goes back to the earlier days of Sub-Pop. We had a record out on Sub-Pop (Live'r Than God - a half- live/half-studio release), but we don't really sound anything like those bands. "I think we have a bit more rootsy-ness about us. We listen to a lot of blues. It would be nice to think we could be (part of a movement). People in England have said that if we had been from Seattle or New York, we'd be huge. But because we're from England, the press kind of automatically stereotypes us. It's kind of a hard stigma to get rid of." Thee Hypnotics' stint with Sub- Pop was short-lived once the band decided to make the transition onto a major label (RCA's Beggars Banquet). They have released two albums on their new label: 1990's Come Down Heavy, and their latest recording, Soul, Glitter & Sin. This latest offering from the band is a concept album of sorts. Produced to sound like an American gangster movie soundtrack, each song delves into the heart of Americana, which the group experi- enced firsthand on their tour of the U.S. a couple of years back. Thee Hypnotics sit, like the Mafioso, in the corner with their backs to the wall, eyes on the door. Notice the all-American Marlboros on the table. "We wanted it to sound kind of like a movie soundtrack simply be- cause some of the lyrical content has got a bit of depth to it," Smith ex- plains. "It's a listening record and in or- der to make it (one), more than an average rock record, we wanted kind of a movie soundtrack production. It was something that felt right at the time. Rather than do something that was 'hip', we thought we'd do something that we wanted to do for ourselves. American people seem to pick up a lot more on the movie theme probably because it's Amer- ican sounding." The band should be afraid of be- ing labeled 'retro', with all these classic rock references and Amer- ican motifs running through their albums, but don't tell that to Smith. "Even our own record company, in places like Germany, have called us 'Those retro-rockers from Soho,"' he says. "I mean, for fuck's sake, why aren't Guns N' Roses called retro for sounding like Aerosmith?! "Rock 'n' roll is rock 'n' roll. It has been going since Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry. 'Retro' - we deal with that tag all the time. OK, so we wear flairs, we play with wah-wah pedals, and vintage equipment, but we still make a different kind of sound." Thee Hypnotics' "different kind of sound" comes to Detroit tonight, the city most responsible for their start in music. Like the previous performers they admire from this area, the band expects the audience to come alive and ready to jam. "It's a ritual," Smith says, in de- scribing the group's live perfor- mance. "When it happens, it seri- ously fuckin' happens! People can- not come and just expect to watch. Because if they do, then they are not going to get their money's worth. It's a celebration. Any rock gig should be a celebration. People should just freak out, dance, have a good time, and walk away feeling kind of drained." THEE HYPNOTICS perform tonight at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit. Doors open at 9 p.m. Call 961- MELT for more info. - Crim Just *doeskn't pay 'o even with a wiener dog Brief poems of i by Karen Talaski Once UponA Crimel dir. Eugene Levy by Marie Jacobson hat do Richard Lewis, Sean Young, Cybil Shepherd, James Belushi, John Candy and George Hamilton have in common? They all headline in Once Upon A Crime, the latest Naked Gun-type knock-off directed by Club Paradise star Eu- gene Levy. * Set along the balmy shores of the French Riviera, Crime tracks the hi- larious cover-ups surrounding the mysterious murder of a wealthy Monte Carlo countess. Although we have no idea "who-dunnit," we do know who didn't - and that's where the fun begins. Lewis plays a down-and-out American actor who finds himself Hairstyling to Please! 6 Barber Stylists- No waiting DASCOLA STYLISTS opposite Jacobson's 668-9329 John Candy plays the same role in Once Upon a Crime that he plays in movies like Who Killed Harry Crumb and, come to think of it, Uncle Buck, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. A character actor. Uh-huh. When it comes to describing her own work, poet Eli- zabeth Spiresis not one to give any easy answers. "The poet is not one to describe their style. The reader should do it," Spires says. "If you have read any of my poetry, you can describe my style as well as I could." Spires' poetry collections(Globe (1981), Swan's Is- land (1985), and Annonciade (1989)) contain adult con- fidence mixed with child-like confusion. In "Tequila," she writes, "Bragging I told them I'd go back / to any year in my life / and live it over. I lied / and said nothing had ever scared me." Through her poetry, she communicates the universal fear of growing up. Death is a common theme in her work as well. "Death Dress," describes how grief and death touch ev- eryone. Spires shows them as inescapable realities. "You were not buried in it. / It is not a dress to be buried in. / You wore it, and now to give it to me." Spires also writes historical poetry. In "Salem, Mas- sachusetts: 1692" she speaks for the victims of Matthew Hopkins' (the infamous witch-hunter) torture, "We were death, tequila responsible for it all. / We were waiting for you, Matthew Hopkins, down there / under the dull pond water." Spires knew she wanted to be a poet when she was twelve. "I read a lot as a child and as a teenager. I thought I was going to be a short story writer until I started writing seriously when I was an undergrad (at Vassar College). "But I liked writing poetry better because of its brevity," Spires said. "Poems are shorter which makes it easier. When I write, I do a lot of drafts: I like to play a lot with phrasing, tinkering with them endlessly." Spires' work has been inspired by many different poets, including Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and' Elizabeth Bishop. Also, art has been a big influence on her poetry. "Usually, a photo or painting is the starting or depar- ture point for my poems. I like to use a visual base as. much as possible," Spires said. "They are rendered as, much as possible in visual terms with a lot of imagery.": Along with writing poetry, Spires teaches in the Wri- ting Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and in the See SPIRES, Page 8 helping an eccentric Young return the countess's missing dachshund. But when they discover the coun- tess's body in the garage, the couple bolts, fearing that they're the prime suspects in her murder. At the same time, Shepherd and Belushi are on vacation. After Be- lushi loses his shirt at the casino, he steals a suitcase in desperation. Un- fortunately, it's the suitcase Lewis and Young left at the villa, and someone has stuffed it with none other than the countess's chopped-up corpse. Gotta hate it when that See CRIME, Page 8 PSI CHI THE PSYCHOLOGY HONORS SOCIETY PRESENTS A FREE FILM SHOWING THURSDAY, MARCH 12th CYBIL: a film about multiple personality disorder 2413 MASON HALL at 7:00 pm NOTE: Film is open to all interested (and free!) I it'll send little shakes down your spine l ittle earthquakes V Take the time to say thank you! ! Submit your nominations for The University of Michigan Student Recognition Awards 1 9 9 2 To honor outstanding student contributions Her voice will set you reeling. Her piano and lyrics will shake your soul.- This is the first solo album from an extremely talented artist. Features the first single "Silent All These Years," "China" and "Crucify." s