12 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, June 5, 2006 Goats' EP can't climb Mountain By Chris Gaerig Associate Arts Editor When all is said and done, John Darnielle (lead sing- er and mastermind of The Mountain Goats) will go down as one of the best The songwriters of our generation, but right Mountain now, he's been thrown aside by main- Goats stream media and has become under- rated by many critics (a position that Babylon Blur frontman Damon Albarn has been Springs EP in for years now). It's inconceivable 4AD Records how both continue to get tossed aside while they release album after album of resoundingly excellent material. Even after The Goats' last full-length The Sunset Tree, which found Darnielle writing more accessible material, they were shunned by Clear Channel radio - possibly because of the heart-wrenching subject matter of tracks like "Dance Music," or because of the lo-fi recording. But Darnielle perseveres. His latest effort, an Australian-only tour release - which is remarkably easy to find in the United States - the Babylon Springs EP, boasts five tracks of the angsty, lo-fi guitar pop we've become accustomed to from The Goats. It seems impossible that Darnielle will continue to go unnoticed after this release, with cuts like "Ox Baker Tri- Life after the curtain Courtesy of A4t Records "Is that guy still over my shoulder?" umphant," another narrative track filled with The Goats' signature razor-sharp imagery ("I'll crawl my way back inside / To the guts of the building, where my enemies / Hide in the dark like roaches!'). But what else would you expect from the group that can write masterpieces like "Going to Georgia" (perhaps one of the best songs writ- ten in the past 20 years)? But Babylon Springs relies too much on abstract emotions and concepts (something they're generally able to avoid) and gets bogged down at points. And though there aren't any total failures there also aren't any transcendent ones. Even so, it's inevitable that The Goats will continue to be a cult favorite, because if everything they've released thus far won't get them noticed, Babylon Springs cer- tainly won't. By Ted Chen Daily Arts Writee It's common knowledge that no per- formance ever runs perfectly. But.be it a wrong note or an unspoken word, the show must go A Life in the on, and only after Theater the curtains fall are performers able to Thursday through laugh about it. "A Sunday 8 p.m. Life in the Theater" $24.50 to $32.50 is an ironic tale of Atthe two professional Performance Network actors shining comical light on their own life. The play,writtenby DavidMamet,pre- miered almost 30 years ago at Chicago's Goodman Theater. Apart from the mind- warping twist of reality, its unorthodox direction to focus less on plot and more on intense characterization is indicative Mamet's style. Leading the show is Robert (Loren Bass), the experienced performer who passes himself off to be a wise sage offer- ing direction. Behind him is John (David Wolber): middle-aged, insouciant and more socially active. In 26 short scenes - another one of Mamet's unconvention- al methods - there's a slew of reenact- ments on stage life: forgotten lines, shared makeup, zipping each other up and argu- ing over scripts. This mentor-student, father-son rela- tionship can fuel an endless philosophical debate,but thankfully director John Seibert does not let it rule the play. Seibert creates a balance by fusing comic elements with the more serious tropes. From banishingecritics to helping one another look perky,hardly a scene goes by without a laugh or two. To provide the illusion of a play within a play, Seibert splits the stage into two segments: the pseudo backstage where Robert and John interact, and the perfor- mance area where they perform in front of an imaginary audience. Though not an original concept, it helps to make the play more convincing. Like stranded travelers, Robert and John's return to the wider circle of life sees their relationship wither. The aging Robert is confined to the world he knows best, and tries to impart life lessons into the greenhorn John. Although John is courteous andreceptiveultimately he iso- lates his personal life away fromhis work, which also includes Robert. OncuewithMamet'sstyle,youshouldn't expect an ending that wraps everything up. "A Life in the Theater" may not be the funniest or deepest of playsbut if you can enjoy all the jokes on stage and appreciate the irony of artists mocking themselves, you might be able to take away real life lessons from an imaginary world. can Restem 1930OWhittakerRd. Ypsil~anti, M4 9 734) 961..664 Fax: (734) /dr. Best Margaritas in Town Margarita Special every Tuesday - $5 (small), $7 (jumbo), $9 (monster) Less thn 15- mnue drimve %sfrom capu in Pan- r k aa(Exit 13-i9E SHORT TAKE S 0 THE VACATION BAND FROM WORLD WAR ZERO WARNER BROS. The Vacation's latest release portrays a duct-taped microphone in the crotch of vocalist Ben Tegel. This sums up the album well, a grungy, gritty sounds-like- AC/DC band with four dudes unabashed- ly rocking from the seat of their acid-wash jeans. The jeans fit, and the boys steam flat their white marks of rock hubris to parade them out for the listener. The outfit is simple in its energetic beauty. "Spiders" comes in with a chop- ping, creeping electronic sound, as Vocal- ist Ben Tegel vibrates "I see the spiders creeping around my bed / When I was sleeping spinning me into their web" over obligatory clapping, guttural screams and lacerating guitar licks. The boys skip across the surface and avoidmurky depths with "Cherry Cola'" a bouncy quick-stop that makes the important statement that "Oh yeah, for the moment, it's all right." "Destitute Prostitutes" demands the lis- tener raise the fist of rock to the building electric guitar heroics and pound to the pull of a steam-roller guitar solo running over the steady-quick tempo. The Vacation is not AC/DC, but a rather quick reminder that you should always keep a microphone in the pants. Go from the gut. Don't stopbelieving. As "No Hard Feelings" runs, "We had some fun, but / Now I have to quit it." There's not much more to say. Jerry Gordinier 0