10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 5, 2003 ART S 4 I The triumph of Keep It Together is that while Rosenworcel has embraced more conventional meth- ods of drumming, Guster has taken the depth of their instrumentation and songwriting to the next level. The result is a richly textured pop album that's more rewarding with each listen. Some tunes suggest urgency. The lead single, "Amsterdam," is a pop gem that borders on emo (take the beat behind OutKast's "Hey Ya!," speed it up and add some wailing slide guitar and layered vocals). "Red Oyster Cult" uses a drum roll and a generally '80s feel to create one fun song with an intriguing outro and a message of resignation ("Call your mom on the telephone/ Tell her you're coming home / Tell her there's not a chance you're ever going to change the world"). Other songs invoke calm: The harmonica part over strings and piano at the end of the reflective "Backyard" feels like bed at the end of a long day. "Jesus on the Radio" is a back-porch jam with banjo and organ pulses. "We have a soft spot for country," Rosenworcel explained. Guster's current live show does the new record justice. New tour- ing additions that will take the stage with the band at the State Theatre tonight in Detroit include Joe Pisapia on bass, a number of keyboards and, of course, a drum kit. These tools help Guster flesh out their old tunes and recreate the new ones. "We're more like an indie rock band where we're swapping instru- ments every song now," explained Rosenworcel enthusiastically. "The live set is definitely more eclectic than it's ever been." Courtesy of Ersatz Audio Stand proud and tell 'em you're from Detroit! Local electronic duo brings life to the Stick By Andrew Gaerig Daily Arts Writer Courtesy of warner Wait, guys. We didn't fall asleep In front of an ocean, did we? By Laurence J. Freedman Daily Arts Writer As percussionist Brian "Thunder God" Rosenworcel explained, the Drum kits and rock bands have a long history of sharing a stage with one another, yet this typical instru- ment had been absent from folk- pop band Guster's lineup for the first decade of their career. Howev- er, that changed when the Boston trio hit the road this year in sup- port of their fourth studio album, Keep It Together. band immediately to go through the process of recording the new album "having aban- doned all the rules." The main guideline Guster knew it wanted Guster Tonightat 6:30 p.m. At the State Theatre Clear Channel of Ryan Miller and Adam Gardner. This arrangement served the band well in both settings. On the road, Guster became one of the most popular college bands in the country, touring relentlessly and selling out large clubs time and time again. Their 1999 break- through record Lost And Gone For- ever succeeded in recreating Guster's live sound in the studio with the help of famed producer Steve Lillywhite, who has done the same for both U2 and the Dave Matthews Band. had previously played by was to only use hand-percussion both on record and on stage accompanied by the acoustic guitars and vocals CONCERT PREVI EW Whatever you do, don't call Detroit's Adult. retro. "Can't you pick a better word than retro?" exclaimed vocalist Nicola Kuperus. "There obviously are things that are retro about our music, because we use keyboards." Her hus- band, programmer and bassist Adam Lee Miller, is equally frustrated. "It's just weird because synthesizers only Adult. have one point of Tonightat.m. reference in history At the Magic Stick at this time. Jack ClearChannelJ White can write Led Zeppelin-esque blues-based rock and he's a genius, and we write some- thing that also references a past period and gets called Flock of Seagulls. What the fuck?" While it can be easy to identify what the band isn't, describing what the band is can be an exponentially harder task. Adult.'s sound is confrontational, throb- bing clash of styles. Born out of early British industrial music and Detroit techno, the duo are "dance punk" in only the most disparate sense: Kupe- rus's staccato punk shouts sit unevenly over shifty electronic beats. There is precious little integration, yet the sound is distinctly addicting. The band grew out of Miller's frus- tration with the music industry. Courted by popular electronic label Rephlex Records, he grew tired of waiting. "I took the courage from knowing that they liked it. I was like, 'They do like it, so if I put it out on my own shouldn't I do ok with it?' That's how it started." Originally just an electronic act, Adult. took its current form when Kuperus joined, adding her emotionless vocals and assisting with the programming. They started a label - Ersatz Audio - to release their own records. Kuperus and Miller are unique in an underground community that has grown increasingly dependent on major- label distribution and corporate booking agencies. "We were really into the true 'do it yourself' aesthetic, peo- ple like the Minutemen and Black Flag. It really means a lot to us," Miller said. "It's like the time I was on stage at the Bowery Ballroom in New York and it was sold out, 600 people, and I was going 'We did this.' What you see is what you get. It's just two people mak- ing music and putting it out." Unlike many of their electronic peers, Adult. strive to bring grit and energy to the stage. Miller said, "It's one thing to go see some DJs mixing their own beats and keeping a continu- ous thing going, and it's another thing to be in a rock club just looking up at somebody behind a laptop. We're quite reactionary toward a lot of the early laptop stuff. We really try to put on a show and make it fun and energetic." The group's manic, aggressive energy hits the Magic Stick tonight, and while the band defies categoriza- tion, their goals remain clear. "We certainly don't make music for every- one, and we hope that we somehow scare away some of the really normal people. I don't think there's enough of that in music these days," said Kuperus mischievously. Consider yourself warned. Salmon find safe haven on the road By Neal Cohen For the Daily The lounge on board Leftover Salmon's second replacement bus of their current tour is cramped ... yet it's surprisingly cozy. Before Vince Herman goes on stage for another sweat-drenched evening of music, the emphatic guitarist takes some time to relax. His serene composure is in stark contrast to the outlandish antics and spontaneous gibberish that he supplies for the band's per- formances every night. Leftover Salmon has been churning out its "polyethnic Cajun slamgrass", a variable stew of bluegrass, Cajun, calypso, polka and other brands of music, throughout the country for almost a decade. The term, as Herman explained, "was to indicate the variety and the aggressive attitude (Leftover Salmon) have toward the music. Plus, it's kind of fun to say.". The jovial atmosphere at their per- formances and their penchant for improvisation has sometimes had them labeled as a jam band, an inclu- sive term that speaks nothing about Leftover Salmon's music. For Herman, it merely makes reference to their fan- base. He notes, "(They call us that because) people with long hair come to the shows." According to Herman, live music is a true asset to today's society. He char- acterizes its role as "a tool for bring- ing people together." "There aren't a lot of (those) in our culture anymore," he said. "There's sporting events, churches and music. The exchange between people is what (performing) is all really about." Functioning as a vital force for Leftover Salmon, audience interac- tion continually propels them to new destinations. Herman notes that, "tough nights are when there doesn't really seem to be that energy coming back at you." It is because of this that he's relieved to be done touring the North- east and away from what he calls "New England stoicism." For the remainder of the tour, "in the Mid- west, down South, out in the Rockies and on the West Coast," he claimed, "people get rowdier a lot easier, which adds to the shows." Even on the most difficult of nights, Herman always succeeds in giving the crowd a spirited show, a tribute to his intense work ethic and spirited sense of humor. When such occasions occur, Herman claimed, "I just have to chuckle at the fact that I make a living doing this. Really, that's the be-all, end-all and cure-all of it. Sure, there may be seven people in the crowd, but I'm playing music, so it's fine." Courtesy of Compass Herman tears through another jam. I ;..rr. ...... 0