8 - TheVichigan Daily - Monday, January 31, 1994 Vaughn plays old-time rock 'n' roll By TOM ERLEWINE Like many other rock 'n' rollers, Ben Vaughn fell in love with music as a kid, listening to his AM radio and playing his favorite records over and over again. Over the years his love for music grew from a passionate hobby to a full career. Back in the early '80s, he drummed with the Philadelphia punk band the Sickidz; a few years later, he formed the critically acclaimed Ben Vaughn Combo which garnered a large following in Eu- rope. Even though he been in the business for nearly 15 years, Vaughn is finally receiving some long-deserved attention with his new album, "Mono U.S.A.," a glorious, loving homage to forgotten songs from the '50s and '60s that he has always loved. "In my mind, every one of those songs should have been a hit on the radio," said Vaughn. "They all have enough hooks in them and they're cool enough and they're easy enough to understand, lyrically." Vaughn recorded the entire album over a period of five years in his basement studio for the cost of $140. "Mono U.S.A." was recorded on his 8-track tape recorder, which became a 7-track during the course of the album. While "Blues on the Ceiling" was being mixed, a bolt of lightning hit the house and blew out one of the tracks on the tape recorder; there is an audible zap during the second verse of the track. Vaughn played all of the instruments on the album, choosing to mix the album in mono for a more authentic feel; the album does sound similar to the classic rock 'n' roll sounds of the late '50s and early '60s. In Vaughn's mind, "Mono U.S.A." is not solely a tribute to some of his favorite songwriters, but it "kind of like a catalog, as if I was a publisher and actually owned those tunes or something. It's a crusade for those songs to be heard and taken seriously, because they are great songs. Now they have less of a chance of slipping through the cracks forever. Now they're breathing again and maybe somebody else will cut them too and they'll become valuable copyrights. As a writer, I think about that stuff a lot. When I hear a great song, (I) think there is some poor guy who never made money on this tune and it's a great song. Because I'm sitting at home, not making any money either! And I've written songs." Although he is a talented, prolific songwriter in his own right, Vaughn's records have never sold much in America. Other artists, including Marshall Crenshaw ("I'm Sorry, But So Is Brenda Lee") and Barrence Whitfield & the Savages ("Apology Line"), have recorded his songs suc- cessfully and now Vaughn himself is becoming known as a cover artist himself. "Actually, that's the ironic thing - I'm actually a writer, you know, first and foremost. My record which is getting a lot of press is all covers." Besides writing and recording his own music, Vaughn is active in other fields of the music industry. Recently, he has recorded a 7" single with Dean Ween, worked on Johnny Otis, Joe South and Gene Pitney compilations and written some reviews for "Hollywood Rock," a book about rock 'n' roll and the movies. More impor- tantly, Vaughn is an accomplished record pro- ducer. In addition to working on the new Barrence Whitfield record, he produced the last album the late R&B legend Arthur Alexander ever made. Vaughn is currently on tour with the cult legend Alex Chilton. "Me and Alex are starting to write together and this tour was put together so we could spend more time writing," explained Vaughn. Although he performs solo, audiences should still expect a wild, careening show. "I never really make up set lists, I just wing it," said Vaughn. "I have acoustic guitar and drum machine and it kind of sounds like an Eddie Cochran / Alan Vega / zydeco record." More importantly, his concerts are a good, old- fashioned, rock 'n' roll extravaganza because "music is escapism. Who cares about anything else? If you've got a good record on, or if you're seeing a good show, or if you're playing, you know? It really works for me." BEN VA UGHN will be opening for Alex Chilton at the Blind Pig Tuesday Night. Tickets are $7.50 in advance and doors open at 9:30. Ben Vaughn promises a "wild, careening' show on Tuesday night at the Pig. RECORDS Continued from page 5 The Spinanes Manos Sub Pop The Spinanes are a boy-girl, drums-guitar duo that purvey college rock along the lines of Madder Rose or Belly: clean, pretty, feminine vo- cals, some churning and/or jangly guitars and understated drums. On "Manos," there's nothing to really differentiate them from the legion of bands that toil away under the banner of "college rock." But that's not to say that "Manos" does not have bright moments; the near-folk "Entire," the bouncy "Un- easy," "Spitfire," "Dangle" and "Basement Galaxy" have a special quality entirely unique to the Spinanes. Much of this quality can be attributed to singer Rebecca Gates' voice, which is stronger and fuller than many of her Kim Deal and Juliana Hatfield- wannabe competitors. "Manos" is a strong debut from a band that should continue to develop a unique sound. - Heather Phares Karl Hendricks Trio Misery and Women Fiasco The Karl Hendricks Trio is not an immediately loveable band. It is hard to find the hooks amidst the dense fury of most of the trio's release, "Misery and Women," and the vo- cals, which arrive in a strangled, Thurston Moore-ish wail are not well- suited to arena rock grandeur. Like- wise, Karl's lyrics, which paint raw portraits of emotional helplessness, are not standard top-40 material. On songs like "Do You Like to Watch Me Sob" ("is that what gets you off?") and "You Can't Argue With Cash," Karl asks the most basic of human questions over a minimalist wall-of- sound and finds the answers neither easy nor complete. But there is charm here. The noise is never employed in a pretentious, overbearing manner; rather, when the distortion pedal is hit, it serves to propel the song forward over the gal- loping (and barely controlled) bass and drums. And when the band down- shifts into the slow pathos of "Ro- mantic Stories From the War" and "You're a Bigger Jerk Than Me" the effect is immediate. Desolate though it may be, "Misery and Women" is enjoyable to an extent that belies the record's themes of lost hope and un- easiness. -Dirk Schulze Nick Heyward From Monday to Sunday Epic Nick Heyward, the ex-leader of seminal New Wave band Haircut 100, has released one of the most perfect British power-pop albums of this short year, "From Monday to Sunday." Virtually every song is a little gem, filled with hooks, smooth vocals and toe-tapping rhythms. The album is reminiscent ofMorrisey's finest work, early Squeeze, and is on a par equal to Crowded House, one of the other bril- liant Anglo-pop bands of today. The genteel, refined, and oh-so- British sound of "From Monday to Sunday" is exactly what makes it such a treasure; songs such as "He Doesn't Love You Like I Do," "Mr. Plain," "Caravan" and the single "Kite" are clean, catchy, proper and completely devoid of grunge. At its -best, this album has beautiful, classic pop mo- ments; at its worst, it is merely pleas- ant background music. Either way, it's thoroughly enjoyable. -- Heather Phares Freestyle Fellowship Innercity Griots Island Recently, some of hip hop's origi- nators including Grand Master Flash and Mellie Mel have voiced their dis- pleasure concerning the direction that rap has taken. They believe that hip hop used to be a forum for open ex- pression whereas now rappers are more concerned with potraying an image than sending a message. Actu- ally, modern hip hop is more mes- sage-oriented than old school rap which dealt more in boasts than in substance. Rap will never be pure poetry because its most redeeming quality is its form, not its message. Freestyle Fellowship works be- cause, much like ATribeCalled Quest, they have the proper mix of form and substance. The group uses real instru- ments on most of the cuts which sound great under the intricately articulated rhymes. The Fellowship is very influ- enced by the "old school" rappers as evidenced on "Cornbread" which asks "Where in the hell did the hip hop go?" Many of the raps are about noth- ing, but keep your interest anyway because the rhyme flow is interesting. There are a lot of funny raps reminescent of De La Soul. Although the Fellowship does not stress a mes* sage, social commentary is slipped into the raps in a roundabout and thoughtful way. This description may match a lot of rap that is on the market these days, but two songs on this release should set Freestyle Fellowship apart. "Innercity People" and "Park Bench People" havejazz oriented backtracks with incredible vocals - an amaz-O ingly original combination of sing- ing, rapping and even scatting. The jazz/rap thing has been done before, but it has rarely come close to the mesh of styles created on these two songs. If only for these two songs, this disc is worth your time. - Gianluca Montalti Totally Hot! ! 15 sess ions $29.s95 CYPRESS TAN 74 7 - 9 4 0 0 1220 S. University Above McDonalds Exp. 2-13-94 C10 Keep an eye out for the Spinanes, a boy-girl, drums-guitar duo which made a strong debut with "Manos." I ANIRORIS2 5th AVE. AT LIBERTY 761-9700 THE PIANO (R) - Mon, Wed, Thurs: 4:55,7:25,9:45] Tues:12:25,2:40,4:55,725,9:45 6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION (R) - Mon, Wed, Thurs: 4:45,7:10,9:35 ] Tues: 12:15,2:30,4:45,7:10,9:35 BARGAIN MATINEES $3.50 BEFORE 6 PM ] STUDENTS WITH ID $4.00 EVENINGS Present this coupon with purchased ticket thru 2110/94 L, rn-----n-------r---rnrnrn-..rnr r Ge tep Dacily ta " CU s>. ' 01 University of Michigan Men's Rugby Mass Meeting r r " I I