The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 29, 1991 - Pegs 9
Galaxie strums sounds of stasis
Ia Michael Paul Fischer
G alaxie 500 mainman Dean
i'kreham has his reservations about
thq way rock idol Jim Morrison was
depicted in Oliver Stone's '60s rock
epic The Doors. "I thought it
so-ked," opines Wareham bluntly
frdm his hotel room in Houston,
whftere the Boston-based trio has just
finished the first of a 15-date tour
supporting England's Cocteau
Twins. "I just can't believe someone
'ust walks around spouting poetry
11 the time."
I'm trying to convince Wareham
that Stone's grandiloquent, largely
humorless incarnation of the Lizard
Kihg is maybe justified as a symbol
f6t how the '60s counterculture,
after losing focus, scuttled its de-
sire for change by turning inward,
resulting in mere self-destruction.
But then again, it's understandable
hot Wareham should hold a certain
sylnpathy for the singer's more hu-
nian side.
The Doors, along with the
Velvet Underground (Galaxie 500's
primary influence), once exempli-
fied the apolitical dark side of the
'60s, eschewing - peace/flower
cliches in favor of avant-garde in-
trospection.
Galaxie 500's third and newest
record, This is Our Music - which
sounds like the Velvets stuck in
first gear - may be the definitive
expression of the current genera-
tion's equivalent: a self-conscious,
post-collegiate anti-movement
characterized by ennui, inertia, sta-
sis. "I want to melt away," sings
Wareham in one song, with a defi-
antly untutored Lou Reed/Neil
Young vocal quaver. His protago-
nist in Music's uncharacteristi-
cally lively opener, "Fourth of
July," can't even muster enough en-
ergy to head outdoors, much less
break on through ("I pulled the
shades so I didn't have to see the
sky/I decided to have a bed-in/ But I
forgot to invite anybody").
And like the tension separating
decision and action, it is a fascina-
tion with the act of moving between
chords - usually about two per
song - that distinguishes the
Galaxies' deceptively minimal
songs. Wareham strums his clean
guitar to the drone of Naomi Yang's
bass with a mesmerizing joy in repe-
tition, while drummer Damon
Krukowski's deliberate tempos wa-
ver ever so slightly; then, the layer-
ing of mini-solos and nervous drums
build each song up to a climactic
ending. The monumental effect, over
an album's length, manages to sus-
tain and then reverse that unnerving
moment when the batteries in your
Walkman begin to die out and the
music becomes a haunting blur.
One of Wareham's favorite
groups is the now-defunct outfit
Spacemen 3. But he doesn't expect
most listeners to catch the fact that
his band's moniker is inspired less
by space travel than by a 1960's
Ford, a model I remember from very
early childhood as having some
pretty cool tail fins. "Anyone
who's over 35 seems to know," the
frank yet rather cordial Wareham
chuckles knowingly, betraying the
slightest New Zealand accent (he
moved when he was 7).
It all fits with the ultra-'60s hip
of Music's title - stolen from an
album by jazzman Ornette Coleman
- and the album's slick cover art,
designed by bassist Yang. But don't
the incessant (and justified) Velvet
Underground comparisons that
Galaxie 500 also elicit bother
Wareham? "I happen to like that
band," he explains. "It's when we
get compared to, like, the Cowboy
Junkies that I say, 'wait a minute.' I
think we're sort of a more frenzied,
electric band."
Given the themes of resignation
in his songs, though, it's not hard to
imagine Wareham as a stage per-
former taken perhaps to turning his
back - A la an early Morrison - to
his audience. "I used to do that too,
once in a while," Wareham con-
fesses. "It's just nervousness. It's
just being terrified, I think."
"We're little more extroverted
now," he adds, cautiously. "Don't
jump around too much, though."
GALAXIE 500 opens for THE
COCTEAU TWINS tonight at the
Michigan Theater. Tickets are $18
(p.e.s. c.) available at
TicketMaster.
Bennet u DriS heart
For some singers, their voice is the message; for others, it's the song
that's sacred; for Tony Bennett, it's both. Bennett's profoundly smooth
voice is the vehicle for the song, not the other way around. Avoiding an
obsession with technique, Bennett presents the song's melody as it is,
allowing his audience to make its own meanings. It is this ability that
has led 01' Blue Eyes to call him "the best in the business." In his
concerts, Bennett creates an aural landscape of American song that
stretches from Tin Pan Alley to Ellington's Cotton Club. Bennett plays
Hill Auditorium tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. as a benefit for the Ann
Arbor Summer Festival. Tickets are $24.50, $21.50 and $18.50 (p.e.s.c) at
TicketMaster.
- 25
" 25
Copies an Resu
Matching Blank
ime
Paper
Sheets
- 25 Matching
Envelopes
A ~A-iR-51&2
5TH AVE. AT LIBERTY 761-9700
s2.7J DAILY SHOWS BEFORE 6 PM & ALL DAY TUESDAY'
STUDENT WITH I.D. '3.50
The Nasty Girl
- PG-13
Cyrano De Bergerac
PG
~ OkPRESENT THIS COUPON WITH
PURCHASED TICKET TH RU
4/15/91
ONLY $600
k inko's
the copy center
We 500 (the band, not the hot set of wheels) attempt to out-Morrissey each other in their promo poses.
Open 24 Hours
540 E. Liberty
761-4539
Open 7 Days
Michigan Union
662-1222
Open 24 Hours
1220 S. University
747-9070
B
Ht'
'.1
I,:
I,
A.
rU
0f
ia
p
i ' /
Before the big basketball game comes on TV,
make a fast break to White Castle! You'll score
big on 100% U.S. beef hamburgers steam-
grilled on a bed of onions-plus those fries
and soft drinks you love!
70th Anniversary
Uhite Elastle
ANN ARBOR NEEDS A
NEW SENIORS' CENTER
The needs of seniors are growing rapidly. There are 12,000 seniors today, over
60, in Ann Arbor. Public services for seniors are scattered in the city, making
them inefficient and limiting their use.
The present Brns Park Activity Center cannot provide services for
more than 800 people weekly. Many are being turned away.
A new multi-purpose center would provide a central location where
senigrs-
Can participate in educational classes and physical education
programs
Get help with medical, tax and legal forms and personal problems,
Share professional and life skills with others,
Visit us at Packard & Carpenter Rd. in Ann Arbor!
I. - ---- --- o E
.A mwhito Ineflo* .
I