The Michigan Daily -Thursday, January 10, 1991 - Page 7 RECORDS Continued from page 5 on it or on the back of the case, is about a desire to drive a Zamboni machine. "Now ever since I've been oung/ it's been my dream that I might drive a Zamboni machine/ ... all the kids would look up to me." 1 The manager of the local arena won't let him, but how many songs about Zambonis exist in this world? -Annette Petruso The Trash Can Sinatras Cake Go! Discs/London "I'm old/ not wise/ just weary," claim these young Popsters in their song "Best Man's Fall." They aren't that old but The Trash Can Sinatras make acoustic guitar-based music aimed at tired, self-pitying young adults. The first clue is their sleeve blurred photos which obscure the serious young men in dark gear with fashionable haircuts. Some of Cake's sounds defy this parody of solemnness by being upbeat. The Trash Can Sinatras try to make themselves obscure yet accessible, direct yet enjoyable, and they actually succeed. Cake sounds superficially lush, like waterfalls of beauty, by fashioning many layers and noises, exploring the same territory as the Dream Academy's debut album (especially "Life in a Northern Town"). The acoustic guitar jangles .long with the electric guitar, VIDEO Continued from page 5 a"It's good to watch, but know _that other people are watching you. -At school, at home, even in the O bathroom." or "Let me tell you a story: I was afraid of the dark when I was your age, but then I grew up to be a big strong man. Isn't that a good story?" or what could be the motto of the era, "Real grownups don't get up- set." Oh yeah, and it has one of the classic song titles of all time, "The Meatloaf Mambo." - Mike Kuniavsky The Year Without A synthesizer, some strings and a tambourine. The vocals are usually muffled, buried in the involved mix, but the vocalist is bland and forgettable so it doesn't matter that much. The lushness adds to the over- all melancholia or drivenness, depending on the song. But even the bouncier numbers have some elements that create a subdued air. The annoying but amusing parts of Cake are the band's lyrics that make them sound like they feel so sorry for themselves in their pathetic life. "Thrupenny Tears" sounds musically reflective and has such pompous lines as "another perfect song of grief," as well as a bad pun for a title. Oh, my life is over and I'm only in my early 20s. The other bad pun titled song, "Only Tongue Can Tell," features a cowpoke riff, and says something about being "short on wisdom" and "the urge to get rich quick has never been so hard to reach." "Best Man's Fall" alleges "I'm looking twice my age" and the gem at the beginning of this review - all for no apparent reason save love or self-condolence. Cake is still a mighty album, though. Songs like "Circling the Circumference" shake with a driven acoustic sound, accented by a bam- bum-bump in the background and touches of electric guitar. Overlooking the fact that the opening riff seems lifted from the Stone Roses, "Circling" is a pleasing number. The lyrics wear thin, but then most college-age students can relate and the words are hard to understand anyway. All of Cake's songs are catchy and pleasure-giving, but the Trash Can Sinatras don't seem to realize one grows wise with age and lamenting about their lack of it is rather tedious. -Annette Petruso Renegade Soundwave In Dub Mute/Elektra This is some of the best back- ground music I've heard in a long time. But that's the problem with this new largely instrumental release from groove masters Renegade Soundwave - there's not much here that really gets one's attention. Al- though most of the tracks here are excellent musically, even the best instrumental dance music gets monotonous after more than a cou- ple of songs. Just try to listen to an entire record by 808 State. Another problem is that the record recycles many old RSW songs instead of creating new ones. For ex- ample, "Recognise and Respond" is basically a remix of "Cocaine Sex" and "Black Eye Boy" is just a differ- ent version of "Blue Eyed Boy." Are these guys running out of songs af- ter just one full-length record? Even the two CD-only tracks from last year's Soundclash are included (in remixed form, of course) on this disc. There are, however, some new tracks here. But in the end, the beats rule. Renegade Soundwave and producer Flood pump out some groove-heavy tunes that any sane house DJ would The Trash Can Sinatras actually look (gasp!) happy here. But they can't be. Cake is so somber and self-pitying and emotionally drab. They are probably just posing. welcome as fodder for the turntable. This nondescript music could easily be mixed into any house jam and it appears as if that was the main purpose behind In Dub. Perhaps this disc would have been better released to just house clubs and DJs instead of the general public. But hey, if you really get into (background) house music... -mike Molitor Your Summer Job more than Just emplOyment. _lld . ilYL 1ViiiVl Story Ever Told. Narrated by Shirley Booth as the voice of Mrs. Claus, Year tells of the time that Santa, suffering from depression and ner- vous exhaustion and a general disen- chantment with all of the little girls and boys of the world, decides to hang up his red suit for a year. Two loyal elves, Jingle and Jangle, are sent by Mrs. C. to Southtown, U.S.A., where they must find proof that the spirit of Christmas is still alive and well and thus inspire the now cynical Claus. Of course, Year has not been re- membered for its shades of Sodom and Gommorah plot, nor for the great existential questions that it raises ("There's no question in my mind that he does exist, just like love, waiting to be missed," sings Santa himself in the "I Believe in Santa Claus" number). No, The Year Without A Santa Claus is clearly the best Christmas special to come out of the famed claymation period of the mid-seventies for two specific reasons: Heat Miser and Snow Miser. "Here he comes now, the big ham," Mrs. Claus warns us as the cheesy horns kick in and Snow Miser enters his Ice Castle to sing his wonderfully obnoxious tribute to himself, complete with a line of miniature Snow Miser clones echo- ing backup. Does this catchy tune sound familiar? (Da Dump Dump Dump Daaaa Dump Da Dump Dump...) I'm Mister White Christmas, I'm Mister Snow, I'm Mister Icicle, I'm Mister ten below. Friends call me Snow Miser, Whatever I touch, Turns to snow in my clutch, I'm too much. The only comparable animated heroes for kids today are Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer, but Snow Miser and his brother, Heat Miser, who re- places words like Icicle with Heat Blister in his similarly untouchable song, are much cooler, much more talented prototypes without the silly outfits and excessive sampling. Happily, the special has not lost any of its charm with age. Mickey Rooney does a nice job as the voice of Santa, and the minimalistic clay- mation effects work well and serve to bring the viewer into a simpler world. Little details are abundant, like when Vixen is forced to wear brown socks on his antlers and pre- tend to be a dog, or when a cop gives the elves a ticket for "wearing funny-looking suits on a Sunday." There are also plenty of great lines that you'd never appreciate as a kid, like the scene in which the little boy who helps Santa and the elves intro- duces himself. "My name is Igna- tious Thistlewhite," he says. "Everyone calls me Iggy." The life-affirming resolution, ri- valling Jimmy Stewart's ecstatic cry of "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" at the end of It's A Wonderful Life, shows us all of the children of the world, from every race and culture, joining together to sing a song of love for good old Saint Nick. And this was at least a decade before Hands Across America and "We Are the World." - Mark Binelli Sae the P! O Daily Arts Lm"folo Working with'children2 in the outdoors. 1 Cuselors, superVI~Sar Couf neorsuevisors, administrative staff and other leadership positions, L Santa Claus dir. Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass Have you been told, did you ever hear, Of the furious furiousfidgety year, When Santa unhitched his sleigh, And vowed he was taking a holi- day? These immortal lines open The Year Without A Santa Claus, the r Rankin/Bass claymation epic that to many children of all ages will al- ways be the Greatest Christmas Interviewing at Hillel: Wednesday, January 16 Other Dates: 1/24, 1/29, 2/11, 2/19, 3/7, 3/20, 4/9, 4/17,4/25 Sign up: Call Hillel, 769-1500 F- Questions? Call Lew Hamburger at 661-0600 -----"Fr T'1' a --odNMNuNEWn Tamarack Camps are Jewish resident camps directed by the Fresh Air Society of Detroit. :r Campus essentials. u r_ r 1 t t ;*-- , 'r:. t, .. , - .,Y ,y r t r..." 'i 4. ".£i, -f .-- /1 A few hints for getting through college: study hard, bring your laundry home on weekends and get yourself acquainted with Michigan National Bank. Aside from being the number one provider of student loans in Michigan, we offer services with students in mind. Like Independence Checking, alow-cost, no minimum balance checking account. And the Michigan Money" card, free with your checking or savings account. So stop in or phone 1-800-CALL-MNB. We can make campus life easier. Student banking. It's just one more way Michigan National is doing what it takes.