The Michigan Daily - Friday, August j,, 1986 - Page 11
Records-
(Continued from Page 10) Although Animal Boy lyrically has
response, questions , progress, sonething for everyone, musically it
building "towers" which battle the is not for the faint of heart. Sure, "She
natural confines. We reach for the Belongs to Me" is a soft, mushy love
stars, but R.E.M. has another angle song, but the rest of Animal Boy. is
on these aspirations: Buy the sky, animalistic to the ears. "Somebody
and sell the sky, and lift your arms Put Something In My Drink" features
up to the sky, and ask the sky, and the raunchiest singing Joey Ramone
ask the sky, don'tfall on me... can muster, and, played often can
"Cuyahoga" and "The Flowers of cause permanent ear damage. Dat ist
Guatemala" are languid, folksy gut! as are slamdancers "Animal
pieces, with beautiful acoustic guitar Boy" and "A peman Hop," two sad
playing. The former is the perfect and funny tales of isolationism.
example of time meeting place; "Freak of Nature" meanwhile, is an
echoes of the Indian past combine assault on your eardrums and your
with the voices of the present over a mind, 92 seconds of comedic hatred.
river site: This is where we walked, The star of this record, however, is
hunted danced and swam but bassist Dee Dee Ramone, whose
against the future pioneers, they songwriting is improving by leaps and
clearly answer we are not your bounds. His tribute to Sid Vicious and
allies... "Flowers..." - while equally girlfriend Nancy Spungen ("Love
atmospheric a piece, dazy and hazy - Kills") is a scream, and the anger in
is tragically marred, albeit briefly. "Eat That Rat" has to be heard to be
The electric guitar solo on the bridge believed: You get the monev
reeks of AOR/MTV stylisms, the most And you shoot it up/Those are the
benign and yet contemptuous of pop breaks/Its a chance you take/Get
music. Far too ordinary for anything it together for your children's
by this band. Then again, this is their sake.
rock and roll record, right? Well, They do lapse into seriousness with
R.E.M. proved that one already on "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down
"Hyena" (previously reserved for (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)" which por-
live performances) and the explosive trays a deep frustration with Reagan
"Just a Touch," which flails about the and how helpless one can feel with
listening range with crashing cym- 1986 in general.
bals, roaring vocals (Stipe's a wild One wonders why the boys didn't do
man), and even a piano gliss or two. an entire album with serious, political
For a more humorous touch, there intentions, ditching the laughs and
are two additional tracks which are guitars. Ramones making a
not listed on the ten, out-of-order ones statement for 35 minutes? Yes, they
on the back of the album jacket. "Un- could do it. And, yes, it could be good.
der the Cabana" steals a typical But, alas, it wouldn't be the Ramones.
hispanic guitar ditty and adds some -Mark Borowsky
wacky underwater sounding vocals. -Mark_________
And their cover of The Clique's
"Superman" is just hilariously goofy.
It's alate'6slove song, something entirelyS .
atypical for this band, yet it works. Steve Stai-The Brain Feels
It's mighty refreshing to hear No Pain (New Alliance
R.E.M. experimenting in such an Records)
upbeat musical direction. After all,
"Life's Rich Pageant" is 'an ex- Stain plays guitar, bass, synth,
pression of the great inspector sings and makes noise. He was
Clousseau, of Pink Panther fame. brought up on a diet of early Pere Ubu
This new album proves that the band and it shows. His vocals are in the
can use their best resources - in- David Thomas vein, wildly expressive
telligent songwriting and deft and often unintelligible. This is his
musicality - to the best advantages, main instrument in this raw and
tying it all up in a glorious, crazed rock and roll. Understandable
celebratory pageant of their own. And lyrics are about street directions and
that'sthe whole idea. poor, misunderstood Lucretia
-Beth Fertig Horgia's pets. Everything goes down
________________________the drain in "Vice Grip Heiress:"
metal percussion and casio cycles
The Ramones-Animal Boy along with breaking glass and sax
(Sire) honks, reminiscent of Ubu's "Sen-
timental Journey"; it ends with "tub
Production on a Ramones album? sucking." Bubbles, tribal drumbeats,
Say it ain't so. Yet five cuts into and weird guitars follow and a real
Animal Boy, the Ramones' ninth noise hit, "Piece Got Teeth." A drum
studio LP, one is eased into "She pulse and treated vocalsdbringstto
Belongs To Me," in which Joey mind cata in a meat grinder, or the
Ramone wails against a sea of syn- wartime screams of pilots going
thesizers, acoustic guitars, and a wall down. Not for the timid. (New Allian-
of background harmony that pleads ce Records, P.O. Box 21, San Pedro,
"don't tell me how to love my baby." CA 90733)
Slick, indeed.
But say it ain't good? No, nein, - Chris Dunn
nada. Even though the Ramones all
will soon hit 30, their sense of humor is
arrested at 19. The result is the best-
Ramones album since Rocket to
Russia, which means this is very No one faces canceralone.
good. Da. Animal Boy hits about every Call us.
band of the rock and roll spectrum: AMERNC ES T
love, violence, politics, death, drugs,
mental deprevation, social rej-
Here are the Ramones-Richie, Dee Dee, Joey and Johnny back
in black action.
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