The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, February 26, 2010 - 5 'Brave' garage rock "I'm looking for this wall. Have you seen it?" How not to make a t elevision 's how By EMMA GASE For the Daily If Little Steven Van Zandt ever needs a poster child for his obscure Sirius Satellite Radio rock station Underground Garage, he need look no further than The Strange Boys. **-% The Austin-based group fits in seamlessly with the The Strange garage-rock titans of the B past, while at the same B~ time churning out enough Be Brave unique tunes to carve a In The Red niche of its own. Be Brave, the band's follow-up to its 2009 debut LP The Strange Boys and Girls Club, has just enough bluesy lo-fi charm to be relevant in a genre that's nearly half-a- century old. Be Brave has a strong opener with the appealing and sunny "I See." The harmoni- cas and swinging rhythm are a promising start to a rousing album. Lead singer Ryan Sambol croons aggressively, "Tonight's din- ner /Is tomorrow's shit / Soenjoy it /Before it stinks," commanding our attention (and our accompanyingcynicism) at the start. The song sounds right out of the early '60s, evok- ing the same effortless cool of garage staples like The Kingsmen. However, The Strange Boys aren't with- out a few tricks up their sleeves. "A Walk On The Bleach" starts out with a slow, mel- ancholy guitar accompanied by Sambol's crackly vocal intonation, and plods on with- out hinting at any climax or hook. About two minutes in, a pleasantly surprising and furiously spastic melody kicks in that drives the song home in an onslaught of organ and guitars. While The Strange Boys have built on their ragged sound since their debut, there is only so much of the garage style that's open to innovation. Most notably, the addition of a gritty sax solo on title track "Be Brave" pro- vides a welcome and rowdy change of pace. Sambol's voice, suited perfectly to loud, slop- py rock songs, drips with slacker charisma when his snarky laugh crops up right in the middle of the track. While garage rock may be more depen- dent on authenticity than song quality, The Strange Boys do the genre proud on both accounts. "Friday in Paris" uses jangly gui- tars and an underlying organ that provides originality, but not without an ode to early electric Bob Dylan. The band adds enough quirkiness and personality to its mid-tempo, drawling rock songs to keep it away from pure formula. Unfortunately, the Austin rockers lose their momentum in the second half of the album. The Strange Boys are best heard in the throes of their clanging guitar call-and- response choruses, not in a lazy attempt at slowballadry.Sambol's scratchytone,as abra- sive as it is endearing, just doesn't translate to slow acoustic songs. On tracks like closer The Strange Boys bleed authenticity. "You Can't Only Love When You Want," the listener is forced to endure more than three painful minutes of Sambol's nasally screech wringing out a love song, accompanied by his awkward noodling on an acoustic guitar. After cringing when his voice cracks for the umpteenth time, the appeal and enjoyment of the first several songs is nearly forgotten. Unlike The Strange Boys's debut, which was impressively stacked with 19 tracks and very few duds (if any at all), Be Brave is short on high-quality volume. The winners are definitely jewels ("Friday'in Paris," "Da Da"), but there are just as many sub-par acoustic monstrosities ("The Unsent Letter," "All You Can Hide Inside") on the album's latter half. Perhaps Be Brave would have been better served as an EP or a mini-album containing only the standouts. Either way, The Strange Boys will keepbleeding authenticity from a garage near you. HBO's latest is exactly like 'Entourage,' but with the pretension of New York City By NICK YRIBAR Daily Arts Writer Why, New York City? What more do you want fromus? How much more do you expect us to give? Why is it that everywhere we look in American fiction, you're there, How to towering over the rest Make it in of the country like that hip, older cousin who is Al enCa willing to buy us alco- hol? Sure it's cool, but Sundays at its starting to get a little 10p.m. sad, no? A little desper- HBO ate? We know what you're going to say: "It's the biggest city, bro! 8 million people! Deal with it!" But nobody is buying it. There are 292 million of the rest of us, and we're not taking it anymore. It was one thing when you had the likes of Scorsese, Lumet and the Wu Tang Clan singingyour praises, but "How to Make It in America," HBO's newest show, is the last straw. Set only in the hippest, most visually dynamic parts of contemporary NYC, f "How to Make It in America"-follows the exploits of two young men as they try .to make a buck. Ben, played by Bryan Green- berg ("October Road"), is the charming, affable nice guy who is foiled by his less scrupulous sidekick Cam, played by Victor Rasuk ('ER"). Together, the pair traipses around New York, from gallery openings to after-parties to street markets, with vague aspirations of becoming "The Man" without having to submit to the shame of getting a job. Sound like puerile nonsense? It defi- nitely is. And the worst part is, we're supposed to buy it because it's set in New York City. The smug hipness dripping off every moment in "How to Make It," is punctuated by b-roll "urban" photog- raphy to remind us of the setting: street vendors, taxicabs, subways, graffiti, blah, blah, blah. Sure, these stock characters are uninteresting, their relationships are tacked on and predictable, their antics are snotty and obnoxious, but we're in New York! Look at the homeless people. It's mad real, son. "How to Make It" is brought to you by several of the same producers that gave us that other HBO show about hip fame- seekers, "Entourage," and the similari- ties don't end with the production staff. A boyish white guy who can't seem to get over his ex? Check. Said white guy doesn't know what to do with his life amid the success of his peers? Check. Dudes having "real talk" about bitches and sexual longevity while on their way toward another misadventure? You bet- ter believe that's a check. But while "Entourage" has the film industry and all of its nuances and intrigue to fall back on, "How to Make it" has only a super- ficial veneer of the NYC "underworld," with inexplicable black-market salesmen hanging outon the docks and "shady-ass" cousins/loan sharks. These elements, one can only assume, are supposed to lend an air of street cred to the proceedings, but are so transparently contrived that they are baffling to watch. There are a few moments of relief. An Hasidic kid with sidelocks giving Cam a ride on the back of his bike; another kid hustling for change with rehearsed frank- ness on the subway; both of these provide some interesting, though unexplored, images and sentiments. And the title sequence and song is pretty cool. But all of those city-soaked moments take place within the first three minutes, and they leave the remaining 25 all the more cloy- ing and hollow. Of course, it isn't New York's fault we're being submitted to this kind of dumb-wit- ted bullshit. New York City is obviously an amazing, diverse, fascinating place and entertaining stories are being concocted there every day. But "How to Make It in America" isn't one of them. Rather, this crap is just riding on NYC's coattails, feeding off the myth that doing nothing in New York is better and more interesting that whatever it is you're doing, wherever you happen -to be. But if we ever needed proof that life in New York can be just as dull and pointless as in the flyover states, we don't need to look any further than "How to Make It in America." VH1 delves into the details of tabloid deaths yet again COURTESY OF IN THE RED The sun exploding is ruff. By LINDSAY HUED Daily Arts Writer What can be said about Tupac's death that hasn't already been discussed? While "Famous Crime Scenes" doesn't offer any new insight into the death of the infa- Famous mous rapper, it does present an informa- Cne SCenes tive overview of the Fridays at events that transpired 9P.M. before and after the shooting. VHi VHl's new celeb- rity show is basically a knock-off of "E! Investigates," only there's an entire sea- son of celebrity murders to investigate. In the premiere episode of "Famous Crime Scenes," the show uses interviews from past and present, old photos, graphics and cheesy reenactments to help recre- ate what happened the night Tupac was murdered. Upcoming subjects include Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Selena, Marvin Gaye and Notorious B.IG. Ifthereis somethingyou missed about any of the celebrity murders, this show has got you covered. Every single aspect of these cases is examined, includingthe events leading up ton the death and thoise that occurred after. High-profile "celeb- rity" witnesses and friends explain what they think happened, while police offi- cials from the crime scenes help to veri- fy how authorities responded. Get ready for some more of those annoying people you remember hating from the news coverage - Howard K. Stern included - who are probably looking for one last outlet for their everlasting 15 minutes of fame. Real-life recreations of the scenes, using maps and actors, help to visu- ally place the viewer at the crime scene. From toxicology reports to ballistics, DNA evidence, suspect profiling and more, this show is basically a virtual tour of the night these infamous celebs kicked the bucket. Computer-generated (and somewhat lame) visual aides explain what is going on inside of the bodies. Doctors who took the calls are interviewed and they explain exactly how the bullets were lodged in Tupac's body and the combi- nation of drugs that Anna Nicole Smith consumed. Luckily, each episode is only 30 min- utes. Any longer and it would have been searching for content and dragging out a story everyone knuws about. While it is interesting tin review famous murder cases, this show doesn't really have any staying power. Most of the cases were covered so intensely when they actually happened, that you'd have to be living under a rock to not know at least a little bit about what occurred. Future episodes, for example, are about Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson. What could we possibly learn What more is there to say about M.J. and Anna Nicole? about those cases that hasn't been plastered all over the news? "Famous Crime Scenes" might have more suc- cess 20 years down the line, because it would be geared toward a generation that wouldn't know as much about those deaths. For now, it's going to "go behind the crime-scene tape," and take us all to a place we've been many, many times before. 'Ruby': 350 lbs. of smiles By.LINDSAY HURD Daily Arts Writer Imagine going most of your adult life not being able to do a simple thing like put on a pair of jeans. In the season three premiere of her self-titled show, Ruby Gettinger finally * does that for the first time in years.b 'Style Network's take on R the healthy weight-loss Sundays at show is "Ruby," which 8 p.m. follows the 34-year- Style old southern belle who weighed over 700 pounds. Through diet and exercise, Gettinger now weighs about half that. As Gettinger pre- pares her meals, goes to the gym and lives her normal life, the cameras are there to document her journey. Southern belle deals with obesity and busts overweight stereotypes. On the positive side, this show breaks several stereotypes about overweight peo- ple. Gettinger is not an unhappy person. She seems happy with every other part of her life, except for her weight. She is not a loner, but has tons of friends who are always at her side throughout the show. Also, she is not lazy. She has experienced past trauma that made her turn to food. She is always going for walks, going out with her friends and doing normal activities. While the show does poke fun at the gross amount of food Gettinger once ate, this isn't the primary focus, nor is "Ruby" about exactly how much weight Gettinger losing. Instead, "Ruby" takes you into the life of an obese woman who has ups and downs during the everyday struggle of maintaining her weight. In the first episode alone, several different parts of her life are examined in relation to why she overeats - and how she can stop it. She is shown at home, cooking her own food with friends. Instead of making mashed potatoes with cream and butter, Gettinger chooses to make asparagus. When she goes out to eat with some friends, Gettinger worries about what the chefs put into her food. One irritating moment, however, is when she talks to her therapist about her mental health. Gettinger claims she can't remem- ber any of her childhood before the age of 13. Whether or not this is true, Gettinger's battytherapist's advice is tostay sober with her food and that her memories will come back. Could that be any vaguer? The most difficult part to watch was when Gettinger flat-out denied she had an addiction to food. You just wanted to slap her upside the head through the TV to make her have her "ah-ha!" moment. Finally, with a push from both her friends and the loony therapist, Gettinger comes to terms with her denial. Despite the fact that "Ruby" doesn't present any new revelations about weight- loss, Gettinger is a caring and charismatic gal who you want to see persevere. She is just so flipping nice - it's almost nauseat- ing how much everyone will want to see Gettinger win the battle over obesity. SPRING BREAK JUST ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT APPLYING TO DAILY ARTS. E-mail join.artsyumich.edu for an appjication.