Arts The Michigan Daily Wednesday, July 15, 1981 Page 7 ," - The Plasmatics The Plasmatics-'Beyond the Valley of 1984' (Stiff America)- "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been one month since my last confession." "Go ahead, my child." "Uhm.. . I got angry at my parents twice and had impure thoughts three times . : . and I listened to the new Plasmatics album, Father." "I know it's hard to keep a pure mind today with the influence of the media, my son. There are greater sins, after all. Have you done anything to resist the temptations of this record?" "No. I ... enjoyed it, Father." "Heaven help us." "It's not like that, Father. I didn't want to enjoy it. Sure, I listen to new wave now and then. But the B-52s never prepared me for anything like this. I couldn't stop myself. I didn't want to like it, but all those chainsaw guitars and that pulse-rate beat. They really know how to get a rock and roll fan at his weakest." Magazine Magazine-'Play' (I.R.S.)-Howard Devoto, lyricist and vocalist for Magazine, slyly prefaces the first song on Play with the understatement, "And now, three little words," then the band launches into a scathing version of "Give Me Everything." For Devoto everything means much more (and at the same time less) than it might seem on the surface. Words, images, and events are pulled into and out of shape PLAY. MAGAZINE as Devoto fiddles with the concept of "real life"- playfully but always with an underlying sense of desperation. Play functions both as an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with Magazine and as an interesting restatement of Devoto's themes/ob- sessions for those familiar with their first three studio albums (a fourth, Magic, Murder, and the Weather has just been released). FOR A START, Play sound than almost a have ever heard. The1 and clear, the instrum and crisp-sounding,- present but unobtrusiv In "A Song from 1 boards," a 1980s Dostoyevsky's Und lashes out in a mixtu helplessness, "I know life/It doesn't help me the answer doesn't pro just makes reality tha live with. "Permafrost" open keyboard, like dry ice over the ground. Devo and slippery, a sugar. around bitter words w system and begin to h effect only after t ingested. "MODEL WORKER dustrialization, is anot song. While indicting indulgence and pa mockingly comes to te weaknesses: "I'm no 'hegemony./I know tl look after me." The melody while the' k merrily about. In a world with few ts, Devoto manages to it's better to keep our e one step ahead of reli fronting our own inef this is real life. y has a far better ny live album I vocals are strong rents are distinct the audience is e. Under the Floor- incarnation of erground Man ire of anger and the meaning of "Yes, my son, the devil always knows our greatest weaknesses." a bit." Knowing "Yeah, it really gets me there." vide a way out, it "Where is that, my son?" t much harder to "You know, down there, Father." "Uhh .. . wash yourself in holy water and say three Hail Mary's." a with an eerie "But that's not all, Father. I have dreams at night after listening to this vapor spreading record." to's voice is sleek "Do they trouble you, my son?" -coating wrapped "Not exactly, Father. I can't get over the lines in 'Sex Junkie' that go hich seep into the ave a deleterious 'Yourflesh is hot. hey have been You cringe with fright. You perspire through your clothes. 3," a paean to in- Your thing, it grows and grows and grows. her double-edged Sex hormones drop out of the sky. himself for self- ssivity, Devoto Millions orgasm until they die. rms with his own Squirmingflesh ... ' t too worried by "Un-huh. That's quite enough, my ...." hat Reagan will "But I was just getting to the good part, Father." bass carries the "I've heard enough to understand how these words could easily inspire eyboards cavort impure thoughts in your young mind. Are there any other verses that trouble you, son?" genuine comfor- "Not really, Father. I can't make out most of the words" convince us that "Well, thank the Lord for small favors." eyes open, to keep - "What's that, Father?" ef while still con- "No ... nothing, my child. It seems to me that saying an Our Father fectualness. Now every time you want to listen to or think about these Plasmatics creatures would solve most of your problems. Perhaps you could put on another -Karen Green record, instead ... something that will draw your attention away from the weaknesses of the flesh. .. say, a nice Anne Murray album or some Bob Dylan ... ?" "Uh, I'm afraid that it's not that easy, Father. I bought tickets to see the f e r Plasmatics this Friday at Masonic Auditorium. I'm so excited ...." "Try a cold shower and a Hail Mary." "No, I mean I'm excited ... like anticipation ... about going to see them. already one step I can't wait to hear Wendy 0. retch her way through 'Headbanger.' And I can ng music. They just see myself ripping those little pieces of electrical tape off her... Oh, material wasn't sorry, Father." heir disco songs "That's alright, my son. I was just thinking that we may have to see this use some funky trying period through together. Maybe you'd better come back on Friday em come across) and we'll pray together until this whole Plasmatics trial is over. But, for de-clawed and your penance now, I want you to say three Our Father's and pray for guidan- ce out of this quandary of turpitude. I'll be back to discuss this with you fur- step out of their ther ina minute." -on their salsa "Yes, Father. Pater noster qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum; ad- nd the Coconuts, veniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas omni maximus tua sicut in caelo et omni Alive"-they end maximus Plasmatics omni naximus Plasmatics omni maximus . . ." ly self-righteous -Mark Dighton sly humorous. ts only. Thanks to Schoolkids Records for the use of some of the albums -Mark Dighton reviewed in our records columns. Manhattan Tran Manhattan Transfer-'Mecca for Moderns' (Atlantic)-This is a really impressive album. But that only makes it harder-not impossible-to dislike. What Manhattan Transfer have achieved on Mecca for Moderns is an unbelievably wonderful mixture of the Andrews Sisters, Phil Spector, and disco. The harmonies are so forcefully produced that their heights will find the center of your head no matter where you're located in relation to the speakers. BUT MAYBE their failures are im- plicit in their successes. These kids are so damn fresh-faced and clean- sounding that they're removed from exciti could be Abba if their so weak, but even t (which could really nastiness to make th sound completely vacuous. The only time they sugary wall-of-sound' tribute to Kid Creole a "(Wanted) Dead or) up sounding affected instead of spontaneous For premature adult