The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 8, 1994 - 9 'Keely' sure to spark debate By ROBERT YOON Abortion is murder. Keep your laws off of my body. What Jane Martin's provocative play "Keely and Du" promises to de- liver tonight when it opens at the Purple Rose Theatre is the passion and dramatic tension inherent in the divisive abortion debate, but without the shouting and placard waving that often drowns out any thoughtful dis- cussion. "Theplay itselfdoesn't take stands on one side or another," said director Newell Kring. "It's a great platform for both sides to very eloquently speak their minds, but it doesn't proselytize one side or another." While it explores the most hotly politicized ethical debate of the past 20 years, "Keely and Du" is less a play about abortion and politics, and more an examination of forgiveness. . It explores how far one can go before forgiveness becomes impossible. Keely (played by Suzi Regan), a pregnant rape victim, is kidnapped by a pro-life group and forced to carry Sher child to term. During her captiv- ~-ity, Keely is cared for by Du (Bee Vary), a kind, elderly nurse who firmly believes in her group's cause. The two women form an unlikely bond Slowdive 10Souvlaki SBK / Creation Slowdive's second LP proves that the destruction of the "shoegazer" hype left them with something of an identity crisis. Of course, it's not as if Slowdive wasn't due for a major re- vamping, especially after the 45- minute yawn that was their debut LP, "Just For A Day." But it's just too bad that in their efforts to sound desper- ately unlike Slowdive, they often end up not sounding like much of any- thing. Fortunately, tracks like the soar- ing, swirling "Machine Gun" and the purely bizarre ambience of the Brian Eno-produced "Sing" show that Slowdive still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Even better is "Souvlaki Space Station," where delays replace sustains and reverbs as the guitar ef- fects of choice. Add a groovy dub bass line and the amazing vocal melo- dies of Rachel Goswell, and the result is a track still worthy of the term "blissful." The next four tracks, which round out the album proper, are four of the most boring, spiritless tracks the Drop Nineteens never recorded. Songwriter Neil Halstead's ego seems to have gotten in the way on these tracks, as he takes over the vocals with unin- spired, almost monotone dronings, reminiscent of the Nineteens or Paul Court of the Primitives. Of these, "Altogether" and "Melon Yellow" do contain some nice guitar textures, but they are buried far be- neath the atrocious vocals. "Dagger," on the other hand, is the kind of two- chord acoustic guitar strum that ev- eryone who's ever owned a guitar has written at some time in their lives. To be fair, this album was re- leased in England almost a year ago, and the four domestic bonus tracks seem to indicate that Slowdive may and develop a mutual respect for each other. "These characters are confronted with very forbidding issues and they're struggling to know what's right," said Vary. "These are very real people who have strong convictions." To prepare for the great range of emotions involved in these roles, both Regan and Vary consulted rape coun- selors and survivors. "(The roles) are emotionally draining. (Keely) is hand- cuffed to a bed. That just physically is pretty demanding," said Regan. "There are emotions flying all over the room." "I'm destroyed nightly," said Kring. "It's exhausting to watch this because you're pulled in every direc- tion." Unlike most pro-life / pro-choice confrontations, this play portrays both sides of the debate in compassionate, human terms. "This isn't theater to incite. It is stimulation to examine the issue," said Kring. "These characters are not taking a political stance. It is a play about a politicized issue, but it's not a political play. They're not being required to preach a viewpoint." Although it focuses on the thorny abortion question, the driving force behind "Keely and Du" is clearly the characters. "Both of these roles are huge," said Regan. "These are meaty women roles, and you don't find them that often. We literally have to bite into these roles." The identity of the reclusive play- wright who penned "Keely and Du" is unknown. She or he uses the pseud- onym "Jane Martin" and has written seven plays under that name in the last decade. With Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, the architect of the Roe vs. Wade decision, announcing his retirement only two days ago, "Keely and Du" could not be more relevant. Said Kring, "This seems to me what theater should do. It raises ques- tions, but doesn't provide answers. Our audience ... will be forced to examine their own feelings about this issue. Hopefully, it will result in a great deal of conversation and debate at the local bar immediately after the production." KEELY AND DU plays tonight through May 22nd at the Purple Rose Theatre (137 Park Street, Chelsea). Performances aren p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 2 and 7p.m. on Sunday. Tickets range from $10 to $20. Call 475-7902 for more information. Ten High, featuring lead singer Wendy Case, is one the cool local bands on the Happy Hour record label. Happy Hopour at the Blind Pig Local record company espouses ideal ofminde rock. have found themselves in that time. "Good Day Sunshine" and "Missing You" are naive but fascinating excur- sions in, of all things, ambient dance music. These tracks would not be out of place on the Orb's "U. F. Orb," and, if nothing else, win Slowdive the award for biggest crossover of the year. "Souvlaki" shows that there is life after the shoegazers for Slowdive, and, in many instances, it also shows that they've still got some of their old magic left in them, as well as some new ideas for the future. Despite a gaping lack of inspiration on some tracks, "Souvlaki" still remains a worthy sophomore effort. - Andy Dolan Entombed Wolverine Blues Earache / Columbia Although a lot of bands have shown the ability to write creative, super heavy riffs, it is effective com- positions that have eluded death- metal. A "riff over song structure" focus has been an inherent part of the style that has been emulated over and over again by newer bands. Entombed opts for more thoughtful and logical song structure - an approach that is long overdue. It would be incorrect to classify "Wolverine Blues" as strictly death- metal, a genre which the band name strongly connotes; rather, it is a com- bination of Helmet, Biohazard, Cor- rosion of Conformity and Black Sab- bath. These bands all spring from the same source and Entombed feeds on the similarity of these supposedly contrasting influences. What really sets this release apart from the pack, however, are the surprisingly com- prehensible vocals. Although Petrov's voice is far from melodic, it has a gritty appeal and is unlike the stan- dard death-metal vocals that make most cringe from their sheer stupid- ity. His vocals combine the rasp of Lemmy, the power of Al Jourgensen and the energy of Page Hamilton - a mighty fine fusion indeed. The best thing that can be said about "Wolverine Blues" is that it is real. It is straight ahead, heavy as hell, and no questions asked. This is the record that the genre has been waiting for since its inception. - Gianluca Montalti Southern Culture On The Skids Peckin' Party Feedbag Goout to your record store of choice immediately and throw down your dough for this steaming hot slab of six scorching blues / rockabilly / garage-rock sizzlers. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Do not pass up your chance to own this collection of "6 Poultry Poundin' Slow Twistin' Finger Lickin' Tunes." If the record store does not have a copy (Feedbag records probably aren't in wide dis- tribution), special order it. Buy it on 10-inch vinyl if you're still one of the few to own a record player. Just do it. Definitely the surprise of the last few months, Southern Culture On The Skids' "Peckin' Party" serves up a platter of delicious, down-home rock 'n' roll cookin' in a wacky package. "Run Chicken Run" is a Link Wray instrumgental that squawks feverishly for a minute and a half. "Eight Piece Box" does the blues admirably with an excellent slice of saxophone heaven. And after dinner, you can limbo along in half-step with "Kudzu Limbo." Andjust to make sure your belly is stuffed full of nourishing sweets, Southern Culture has made the sec- See RECORDS, Page 11 By TED WATTS In these tumultuous times, you've surely asked your- self, "What is indie rock now, anyway?" Don't waste your time wondering if the new major labeled super group of the week is indie. News flash: once a band has a major label's powerful promotion department selling them hard to anyone who cares to listen, they are not indie anymore. "So," you may well ask, "what is indie in rock?" Well, look at local label Happy Hour Records. Founded last November by Wendy Case of Ten High and Freddy "Fortune" Munchinger of Fortune and Maltese, Happy Hour has four vinyl platters out, one from each of their local bands, with a new Fortune and Maltese release coming soon and, hopefully, a new Ten High single. They work on a small budget, produce music they love and do it at local facilities. To celebrate, they are about to have a roundup of their bands at the Blind Pig. This is local rock that lives on the support of locals, something that might otherwise be known as indie. The really kooky thing is that HHR breaks the con- straints of what many consider to be the sound of indepen- 'The label is really an open forum and we're not limiting ourselves strictly to the retro sound.' - Wendy Case Co-founder Happy Hour Records dent rock. The bands on the label are diverse, but they all have at least some retro feel to them which is mostly ignored by the rest of today's music world. Fortune and Maltese come across as mid '60s pop sensations who dress real snappy; the Hentchmen are a '60s garage band- type act who wallow in organ sounds (as do Fortune and Maltese and Ten High); Ten High is more of a '70s chord mashing monster; Kiss Me Screaming sounds like an older "sonic power pop." But it would be wrong to pigeonhole Happy Hour as a retro label. "At this point we are (a retro label), but only by reason of the fact that we've gotten together with friends and bands that have styles we like," said Happy Hour co- founder and Ten High vocalist Wendy Case. "But the label is really an open forum and we're not limiting ourselves strictly to the retro sound. We're definitely open to all kinds of different things." The label is currently trying to get local group Whiptail to record something for them. So don't try to type HHR because of the current profusion of Farfisa organs: "It's not what the label stands for, but since we're all into that sound, we all have organs in our band." One can only hope that all future releases, no matter what the sound, will be as beautiful as the existing catalog of Happy Hour discs. While the clear and blue 7-inchers of Kiss Me Screaming and Fortune and Maltese are nice, the grape purple Ten High single looks positively tantaliz- ing. "It looks like you can eat it. It looks like fruit roll-ups. It's fun," said Case. Not to mention that it can be done fairly easily and locally. HHR presses their vinyl at Archer in Detroit, an old label that still has pressing facilities. This accessibility speaks to a lot of what Happy Hour is about. "The purpose of the label is not that it is a money-making venture. It's a very cooperative effort between us and the bands. Our only real purpose is to spread the word, to tell everybody that Ann Arbor has some happening sounds," expounded Case. The label seems to have gained some success at "spread- ing the word," considering that they have gained interest from as far away as France. Notice has been taken domes- tically as well. "The Ramones label -Radioactive -has called us and wanted the catalog and has expressed big interest," she said. "For being around such a short period of time, we've really done tremendously well." But Radioactive may be too late. The Hentchmen have signed with Norton Records NYC (the label on which the evil-but-in-a-good-way rockabilly giant Hasil Adkins re- sides) and Ten High with Marilyn Records in L.A. Things seem to be happening around this label, as expressed in the release this month by Marilyn of a Ten High 10-inch. Labels expressing interest better get it in gear. This is all part of a growing Metro Detroit music scene as well. Perhaps it has something to do with a reclaiming of its ancestors. Discussing Ten High's influences, Case explained that they enjoy, "lots of Detroit music. Stooges, MC5. The guys in my band love Kiss, they worship Kiss. I love the Seeds. I'm a big fan of Kim Fowley, the guy who wrote the liner notes (to our single)." Perhaps that's a reason why the label's bands are good - they take the best of the past while doing it in their own way. Case ends asking for no more than she is willing to do. "I encourage everyone to come down and support the local scene because that's the whole drive behind this label, to bring Ann Arbor to the rest of the world, because there's so much cool stuff happening here." The HAPPY HOUR RECORDS ROUNDUPfeaturing Ten High, Kiss Me Screaming, the Hentchmen and Fortune & Maltese occurs this Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Blind Pig. Call 996-8555. KOREAN CUISINE A good atmosphere -- perfect for dates b Oarry-Out for only (313) 662-9303 113 E. Huron Ann Arbor t l Aloha Entertainment's On State at Liberty Adults $5.00 StateTheatre StudentswlD $3.00 24 hr INFO LINE - 994-4024 Winner 3 Academy Awards Holly Hunter - Anna Paquin The Piano 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:30 2:00 Show Sat & Sun Only mo 4n V t Does waiting in line bug you? We have all the services to get you in and out FASTI " Automated machines that collate and staple * Report bindina while you wait m