Monday July 9, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
artspage@michigandaily.com
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American music'
that never gets old
The healing powers of soul.
A tamer Cat
A little Memphis soul renews the Power
By MATT RONEY ing their solo records, that is.
Daily Arts Writer Their fans are better off for it.
"Blister in the Sun," the lead single
A lot of bands have a hard time from the Femmes's 1982 self-titled
realizing when they have a good debut, remains one of the few songs
thing going. The thatcan get an entire party clapping
past several'years The Vioent and twitching on cue. And songslike
have seen a num- Femmes "Add It Up" find new homes in the
ber of lackluster hearts of angsty youth with quirky
releases from leg- July12 senses of humor every day.
endary bands - DOOSopenat If you're thinking that that's
even the Stooges, 7:00 p.m. some pretty impressive staying
the pride of Ann $27.50 -$49.50 power for songs that are pushing
Arbor, have put twenty-five years old, you're right.
out a record disap- Atthe Royal Oak The Femmes's music is timeless in
pointing enough to Music Theater the best sense of the word - their
mar their catalog jittery, frenetic rants on high-school
in the minds of many of their fans. alienation and unrequited love have
Not so the Violent Femmes. After a multigenerational appeal.
the less-than-stellar reaction to the The core of the Femmes's sound
band's last album, Freak Magnet, is the acoustic bass guitar of Brian
the Femmes decided to say goodbye Ritchie. Ritchie's bass lines are
to the studio. Now they play the part groovy and intricate, propel-
of international troubadours, end- ling the music forward like a jet
lessly touring their tried-and-true engine. Of course, Victor DeLo-
favorites - when they're not record- renzo's ultra-barebones drum-
ming can't be overlooked. He has
played since 1981 on a snare drum
and a homemade "tranceaphone"
- a steel bushel basket overturned
on a five-dollar tom-tom. And,
unlike most drummers, his habit
of playing standing up allows him
to be the kinetic centerpiece of the
show as he hops around behind his
stripped-down kit.,
But it's Gordon Gano's distinc-
tive vocals that make the Violent
Femmes's music instantly recog-
nizable. His biting, sarcastic lyrics
brim with innuendo, and his voice
often sounds like he is sobbing
and sneering at the same time. His
scream of "Everything! Every-
thing! Everything!" at the climax
of "Kiss Off" is one of the most
cathartic moments in rock.
Plus, any Violent Femmes show
comes with the added bonus of the
Horns of Dilemma, the Femmes's
touring horn section. The Dilemmas
See FEMMES, Page 10
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By ANNA ASH reinvented approachto performing
Associate Arts Editor (gone are the days of mooning the
audience and shouting obscenities
badass pedestal may be one at the techies) weren't hampered
most lionized positions in by the delay.
ndie-rock The new Cat Power still balanc-
but some- Cat Power es her ostensible melancholy upon
sobering and Dirty smoked vocals and sparse chords.
om grace On The Greatest, though, with the
invent a Delta BlUeS addition of veteran soul musicians
an in the Mabon "Teeny" Hodges, his broth-
of ways. J:lyp3, er Leroy Hodges and Steve Potts,
though 8 Cat Power's music is laced with a
Power's $20 bit of gingham twang and spiced
Marshall) with a subdued shuffle. But even
life was At The Majestic with a heady fix of Memphis soul
ng and Theater, Detroit backing her up, Marshall retains
ing with that element of heartbroken, for-
imalist instrumentation and orn despondence that made her
mental excursions, it merely such a hit in the black-lined eyes of
.in the prevailing winds of the indie-rock crowd.
he has done since her most Although this album and Mar-
album The Greatest. shall's subsequent breakdown
ner of the 2006 Shortlist didn't initiate her rebirth as a
Prize, The Greatest under- soul musician, it, and her tour-
wo album releases. Just two ing with the Memphis Rhythm
before its initial release in Band and now the Dirty Delta
y 2006, Marshall's badass Blues, have undone the hems of
began to deteriorate and her self-imposed and off-putting
4-year-old southern belle public persona. The entertain-
herself at Mount Sinai ment factor of a fucked-up rock
al Center for alcohol abuse star can only go so far, and con-
.ychiatric treatment. Noto- cert reviews from the past year
for her unpredictable and have taken note of Marshall's
en behavior on stage, Mar- transformation on stage.
ad unfortunately reached a This Friday there may still be
ismal place. "I was looking a few awkward moments of overt
h, I wanted to die," she said casualness, but the chances of
06 interview with The New Marshall abandoning the Majestic
imes. Theater mid-song are significantly
cever, though Marshall's lower than what they were a few
1 issues postponed her tour years ago. And instead of break-
e Greatest and instigated a ing off into a tangent of rage after a
ase of the album, the success mistake, the chances that Marshall
cognition she has received willjust smile, apologize and move
th the album itself and her on are thankfully quite high.
II