's Cranes set standards in sound British band refuses categorization with enchanting and powerful mix of styles By ANDY DOLAN It's truly refreshing to see a band like The Cranes bursting into the music world. It seems like it has been so long since a band has come along whose music not only refuses to be catego- rized, but creates its own wonderful standard of sound and emotion that most bands would not dare attempt to imitate. The music of the Cranes does just that, with a beautiful sense of simplicity that is both enchanting and powerful. With their second full-length LP, "For- ever," The Cranes follow in the footsteps of bands such as the Sundays, Sebadoh and Pavement by creating music that shrugs off the growing shadow of pretentiousness that looms over the world of "alternative" music and mystifies listeners with its wonderful simplicity. Their honest, fresh ap- proach to writing songs often allows them to tug at every imaginable emotion with little more than a simple, repetitive piano motive or two chords on an acoustic guitar. As vocalist/bassistAllison Shaw explained, "There has to be some sense of true- ness about it... If we do a recording that sounds like we didn'tmean what we were singing or what we were playing, then it doesn't work at all, especially on the more minimal songs... If a song is only based around three notes, the atmosphere is really important for it to work and to sound real." While the group's brilliant debut LP, "Wings of Joy," received mostly rave reviews from both the British and American music press, some reviews unfairly labeled The Cranes as just another doom-and-gloom gothic band, a descrip- tion which the band takes exception to. "Some of the songs sound a bit melancholy or sad," admit- ted Shaw, "[but] there has to be a sense of there being a way out of that... we wouldn't ever want to glorify that sense of sadness; there has to be some positivity so that it can have more of an uplifting effect." By comparison, "Forever" is somewhat more diverse in sound, from the lazy calmness of "Cloudless" to the screeching guitar noises of "Adrift," and this tends to add to the range of emotions that one feels through their music. "I hope that ['Forever'] is the sort of album you can listen to from beginning to end. The mood was pretty similar throughout 'Wings of Joy,' but I think this album is slightly different in that way. With each record we always try to do something that you haven't done before, but without chang- ing direction altogether," explained Shaw. The band made their first trip to the United States as the opening act for the Cure's "Wish" Tour. Despite playing only a thirty minute set, they were received very enthusiastically by Ameri- can audiences. "We were surprised that we got any reaction at all on the Cure tour," Shaw recalled. "It was really great when we felt that people accepted the songs that we played ... Sometimes it would have been nice to play longer, but we can do that now when we're doing our own tour." The contrast between sounds on "Forever" and "Wings Of Joy" allows the Cranes to build a fascinating live show. On The Cure's tour, few could have been prepared for the breathtaking mood that they would create in the stadium set- ting. "Sometimes our quieter songs seem to fill a large space more than our noisier, guitar-based songs," observed Shaw, "but we try to create a contrast of atmospheres when we play live so that things don't just happen on one level ... you can have a really peaceful section and more of a sense of friction at certain points in the set ... that gives a sense of the set going somewhere." Not surprisingly, The Cranes are extremely excited and a bit overwhelmed about their first headlining American tour. "It's really great to be able to come back by ourselves and play clubs and have people come and see us!" Shaw exclaimed. The last time the Cranes were in"town, they managed to put on an amazing live show in just thirty minutes. Now that they're headlining their own tour, their unique sound will be allowed to flourish within the amazing atmospheres that they create, an experience that is sure to leave just about anyone excited and a bit overwhelmed. The Cranes will be performing this Thursday at Industry in New Pontiac. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are just $3. Call 334-1999 for more information. Following a successful opening slot on the last Cure tour, the Cranesnow headline. " Nirvana stays true to itself By NIMA HODAEI 'Oh well, whatever... nevermind' -"Smells like Teen Spirit" (1991) 'Teenage angst has paid off well Now I'm bored and old.' --"Serve the Servants" (1993) While teenage angst has certainly paid its rewards to Nirvana, the band sounds anything but "bored" or "old" on its latest release "In Utero," the long anticipated follow-up to "Nevermind.""InUtero" silences crit- ics who were so quick to cast Nirvana Nirvana In Utero DGC Songs like the crash and burn "Tourette's" and the poignant "Milk It" are vintage Niryana circa the "Bleach" days. Guitarist and vocalist Kurt Cobain along with bassist Krist (formerly Chris) Novoselic and drum- mer Dave Grohl have finally gelled together as a cohesive unit without forgetting (or ignoring) their collec- tive pasts. They're sensible enough not to retread old turf, but wise enough to appreciate those roots nonetheless. Cobain's lyric writing has also come together here. He delves into literature with "Scentless Apprentice" based on Patrick Susskind's novel "Perfume," slams the ape mentality in all of us on "Very Ape" ("... if you ever need anything please don't hesi- tate to ask someone else first ...") and even finds time to sniff some glue on "Dumb." The usual bits and pieces of incomprehensible poetic phrasings are missing from the album, although the lyric sheet certainly doesn't hurt ei- ther. Steve Albini (Big Black) record- ing this album is not quite the mistake many people originally predicted. His infamous "anti-melody" approach fortunately fails to rear its ugly head, although his sharp sense of noise does work into several tracks like the afore- mentioned "Tourette's." For the most part, however, songs like "Serve the Servants," "Dumb" and the first single "Heart-Shaped Box," are some of the most melodic tunes Nirvana has ever written. For older fans of the group, the inclusion of the tongue-in-cheek "Rape Me" and"PennyroyalTea" will be greatadditions on this album. Stan- Unlike some few and far between moments on "Nevermind," "In Utero" never lacks punch or drifts into mindlessness. Call this a "coming of age" If you will. dards on Nirvana's set list for years, only now do both these songs get the treatment they justly deserve in a proper recording. Nirvana is definitely wiser and generally more mature on this album. Unlike some few and far between moments on "Nevermind," "In Utero" never lacks punch or drifts into mind- lessness. Call this a "coming of age" if you will. In the final verse of the album, Cobain sings, "all in all is all we all are." Sure, Kurt. We couldn't have said it better ourselves. aside after its meteoric rise to success a couple of years ago. The new album's success can be attributed to its sheer musical diver- sity. It is at once loud, soft, crude, witty and melodic. Far from being a confused bouilla- baisse of random sounds and ideas, the group focuses these seemingly contradictory styles into a cleverly constructed whole, which says a lot for a band that had a world of expec- tations piled on its shoulders for this new release. The Cure Show Elektra/Fiction The Cure's new release, "Show," could just as easily have been titled "Wish: Live." Of the 14 tracks on the album, 8 of them are from the group's last release in 1992. This fact alone, however, should not necessarily be reason enough to stop you from pur- chasing the band's first official live album (ignoring the countless boot- legs available) in quite a while. Recorded right here at the Palace of Auburn Hills during the group's two-night stop in July 1992, "Show" brims over with new Cure favorites as well as a few older classics. "Pictures of You," "Just Like Heaven" and "Inbetween Days" all make their ex- cellent, although obligatory, appear- ances, along with more recent radio hits such as "High" and "Friday I'm in Love." The sound clarity on this album is terrific for a live recording, although more than one song actually comes across as a bit too over-produced, giv- ing it an almost studio quality. While Robert Smith and troupe have hardly ver snnndeA no enod live, the soonta- skeptics would have you believe, they're cooler, better and tastier than ever. .F 5 5 I2 HEL.O additions to alive album that stretches no further back than songs off "The Head on the Door." Perhaps the lack of older songs is indicative of the Cure today. When these songs fail to attract interest in an album it speaks loudly about the newer wave of young fans at their concerts. "Show" is coming out in conjunc- tion with a future video release of the band's two shows in Detroit. People interested in older Cure live material should be sure to also get "Paris" which comes out next month as the companion set to "Show." These two albums put together should provide fans of the group with a definitive live collection of the Cure's 15 year re- cording history. - Nima Hodaei The Boo Radleys Giant Steps Creation/ Columbia What could jazz great John Coltrane and British dream-pop band the Boo Radleys possibly have incom- mon? They both have created land- mark works called "Giant Steps;" and, happily, they are equally successful at what they set out to do. "Giant Steps"