The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. - Friday, November 4, 1994 - 7
*Oasis quenches
rock 'n' roll thirst
By TOM ERLEWINE All of this have made the band
Tonight, Liam Gallagher is a rock somewhat legendary in the UK. Since
'n' roll star. the release of their first single, "Su-
The night is October 15, and personic," in April they have been on
Gallagher's band, Oasis, is preparing a careening, non-stop rollercoaster of
to play St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit. rock 'n' roll and fame. Even before
While the rest of the band - with the the release of "Supersonic" - a
noticeable exception of Liam's gui- trashy, snarling guitar-driven single,
tar-playing brother, Noel - is in the powered by the phrase "I'm feeling
Shelter beneath St. Andrew's, it is supersonic / Give me gin and tonic"
Liam that everyone wants to talk to. - the group was the talk of the Brit-
All of the groupies hang around Liam. ish music press. Like other English
All of the press and radio people too. bands, it was only partially for their
n America, he's the one star in Oasis. music; after all, Oasis was deported
ack in England, all of the band are from Holland in March, after a
superstars. drunken brawl.
Oasis have become famous in the After all the dust has cleared -
past seven months in their native Brit- and the band has been calmed down
ain. Following the release of their since they've began their tour of
debut album, "Definitely Maybe," America - nearly every magazine in
Oasis have become the biggest band the UK praised the band for their
in the UK. "Definitely Maybe" is the remarkable songs. Unlike most mu-
fast-selling debut album in history in sic being made in either England or
England, selling over 150,000 copies America, Oasis' songs are genuine
within the first three days of its re- pop songs, in the vein of classic bands
lease. like the Beatles, Stones, the Who, the
Now, Oasis is attempting to do Kinks, the Jam and the Smiths. All of
what no other British band has done Oasis' material is written by guitarist
since the days of Duran Duran and all Noel Gallagher, arguably the finest
of the New Romantics - make it in single British pop songwriter to
America. emerge since the Jam's Paul Weller.
Think aboutit. Noteven the Smiths Gallagher's songwriting fuses pop
or the Stone Roses had much Ameri- traditions beginning with the Beatles
can success when they were actively and Burt Bacharach, running through
-ecording. None of the bands involved T. Rex, the Sex Pistols and the Jam
Z the Manchester scene (Happy Mon- and ending up with the Stone Roses
days, Inspiral Carpets, Charlatans) and the Smiths. The result is a loud,
were successful in America. Ride and throbbing and distinctive roar, pow-
all of the shoegazers didn't make it. ered equally by melody and riffs.
And Suede - once considered the Oasis have always claimed that
last hope of British rock - were their music deserves to ranked next to
humiliated in the States. First they the greats. "It's like the Beatles or the
were usurped by their opening act, the Stones or the Sex Pistols," explained
Cranberries, while on tour and then bassist Paul McGuigan, "(it's) classic
they had to change their name to the songwriting. You can play it fifty
*deous 'The London Suede,' thanks times and you'll still love it. It's like
to a lawsuit from an obscure jazz-pop how I know 'My Generation' is a
singer called Suede. classic song or 'Day Tripper' or any-
But all of that turmoil leaves the thing like that. A classic song is a
scene ripe for Oasis. Unlike most classic song if something hits you
British bands, they are hardly fash- inside when you listen to it, if it does
ion-conscious. As they proudly point something. And that's the reason I got
out, they are lads, they are regular into a band, because it did it as a kid to
guys. They drink. They trash hotel me self. I'm in a band because of it,
rooms. They fight. They fuck. and all our songs do that to me."
Like a big of mess of water to a dehydrated man, Oasis is a refreshing treat that you are sure to enjoy. Hey, is that a satellite crashing on them?
Not only do their songs recall the
spirit of many great bands, but Oasis
manages to create a sense of excite-
ment as well. "People say, 'People
don't buy records anymore, you can't
break the Beatles or the Rolling
Stones. Those days are gone,"' said
McGuigan. "Well, we've always said
since day one, we're the best band
around. People will go buy music if
it's good."
McGuigan believes Oasis can
make it in America, because they are
simply better than their competition.
"There's only two people in England
that I'd go see," he said, "and that's
Paul Weller and Verve. Other than
that-bollocks! Blur-comedians.
They make me laugh, honest to God;
I can't take them seriously. And
Suede, they're not even a band,
they're some sort of political state-
ment about anything that might cause
a little bit of controversy."
Although McGuigan and the rest
of the band have a fierce belief that
they will succeed in America, they're
not afraid if they don't make it. "At
the end of the day it doesn't really
matter," explained McGuigan. "It
doesn't matter (if we succeed) in En-
gland, it doesn't matter anywhere. It
doesn't matter if we didn't have a
record contract. Even if we got
dropped off the record company, we'd
still play. We were playing before we
had one, so why wouldn't we play
after? I love playing soundchecks and
all that. I don't want to play with
anyone else. I don't want to be in
another band."
Unlike their idols the Stone Roses,
Oasis doesn't plan to wait five years
to follow-up their acclaimed debut;
have already prepared material for
their second album. "It's definitely
different," said McGuigan. "It's got
the same sort of vibe, some of it.
We've recorded our Christmas single
and that's completely different al-
ready. We're almost 18 months ahead
of what we're releasing, anyway. All
the stuff we've got now, is what we
recorded in the years before we got
signed."
Hopefully, Oasis will stay together
long enough to record another album.
In the past couple of weeks, the band
have gone through several intense
fights, which forced the group to can-
cel a couple of shows in Los Angeles.
"It's hard to keep a band together,"
McGuigan admitted. "There's ten-
sions between everyone because we
know each other so well. You've got
to work at it; it's like you're married
to four other people. Hopefully, we'll
get our six or seven albums done in
the next four, five, six years. Bands
shouldn't go on for more than seven
years because they lose it. The Beatles
didn't last seven years. The Kinks lost
it after seven, the Stones lost it before
that."
If everything goes according to
plan, Oasis will make records for the
next six or seven years and then split.
"Everyone's got a similar opinion
about it," explained McGuigan. "Even
if we stayed together that long, it'll
become too easy. We won't be chal-
lenging ourselves as much. Hopefully,
there'll be some young bands to come
along and kick our asses off anyway."
"It's possible to bigger than the
Beatles or the Stones," said
McGuigan. "That's the goal, other-
wise I wouldn't be in a band."
'Come' into the future with independent bard
.
By JENNIFER BUCKLEY
Come is not the world's cheeriest band. And that's okay, because out of
their misery comes some of the most primitive, panic-stricken, bitter, desper-
ate, depressing, unusually moving songs you will ever hear.
Singer and guitarist Thalia Zedek snarls, "I don't remember when I crossed
the line" on their new album "Don't Ask Don't Tell." She's not kidding. Come
ossed that line long ago, kept going, and are never coming back.
"Some of our songs have sort of a sad feel to them," admitted guitarist Chris
Brokaw.
Massive understatement. While Brokaw argues that Come "doesn't play
traditional blues," the combination of Zedek's edgy, guttural wail and the
thunderstorm of guitar sounds she and Brokaw create certainly find a groove. A
depression, if you will.
Where in God's name did all this hell come from?
Boston, according to Brokaw, who is formerly of the band Codeine. "We
first started playing together ... in 1990. Thalia and I met in 1988 and started
jamming together around that time," Brokaw recalled. "We did that on and off
for a couple of years. Live Skull (Zedek's former band) broke up in '89. I
hooked up with Arthur (Johnson, the band's drummer) and Sean O'Brien, our
bassist, through friends. Thalia came back to Boston, and we were a band."
See COME, Page 8
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Come don't look very happy. They should listen to music and feel better.
soce mer-ih
is an important Jewish dae.
1
" Environment - Helped lead the successful efforts to save
the Oakway Oaks.
Housing - Co-chairs the City's Housing Policy Board;
strongly supports affordable housing efforts.
" Downtown - Led efforts to turn the vacant Ann Arbor Inn
into senior housing.
" Human Services - Serves on the City's Human services
Task Force and the Commission of Disability Issues.
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