-- r _.

The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 6, 1995 - 15B

RECORDS
Continued from page 14B
Bush
!ittle Things
rrauma/Interscope
Yup, Bush is pushing into the next
rontier with one of the new line of
CD-ROM singles. While featuring.
hree audio tracks, including a live
ersion of "Little Things" and the
reviously unreleased "Bud," the most
nteresting stuff on this is the multi-
nedia portion.
The interface is clean and easy to
nderstand. The six separate sections
f the CD-ROM are easily identified
md accessed. The Jukebox section is
yrobably the most interesting, as it
:ontains brief audio clips from every.
;ong on Bush's "Sixteen Stone" al-
,um, brief clips explaining the cre-
itive process on the songs, the com-
)lete videos for "Everything Zen"
md "Little Things" and the lyrics for
ll the songs. It also contains annoy-
ngly brief live clips. The only thing
Aorse than not seeing a live clip of a
sand is seeing only a portion of a live
:lip. Other than this guaranteed ag-
ravation, the Jukebox is pretty use-
S l.'
Other portions of the CD-ROM
nclude the profiles section (self ex-
lanatory), a video puzzle section, an
'On the Road" section where you can
xplore the band's bus, a section full
)f useless clips and directions to
Bush's World Wide Web site.
If you like Bush and have a CD-
OM player(Mac or PC), spend the
noney and get this.
- Ted Watts
The Pholds
Mushyheadedgoogoomouth
Ng Records
Everybody likes to root for garage
bands. We hope against hope that
they'll learn another chord and make
good. It's the same sort of phenom-
enon that has supported The Ramones

for umpteen albums.
When I sat down to listen to
"Mushyheadedgoogoomouth," I said
to myself "Okay, now. Indie label,
low production value...maybe it'll
knock my socks off. A new Pavement
or Sonic Youth." No such luck.
The first two tracks ("Sound" and
"Splinters") are, quite simply, unten-
able. I hoped against hope that vocal-
ist Joe Calabro could shake off what
sounded like a horribly dry sore throat
and breathe some life into the fairly
standard pseudo-punk riffing. And
then, a marvelous thing happened:
maybe he drank some herbal tea, but
the rasp disappeared and a few songs
actually started to gel. "Fass Out,"
"Old As I Am," and "Lil' Suzy" are
all pretty hummable tunes that stay
away from the shriekyness of other
tracks, and "After All" just rocks,
plain and simple.
"Mushyheadedgoogoomouth" is a
decent album, as long as Calabro re-
frains from screaming/rasping at the
listener. The Phoids could be a good
band if he took shouting lessons from
an inveterate rock shrieker like Paige
Hamilton of Helmet or Zack de la
Rocha of Rage Against the Machine,
adding some angst to those wails and
wringing some catharsis from what
are, at present, hollow shouts. And a
few more chords couldn't hurt.
- Gordon Smith
The Verve
A Northern Soul
Vernon Yard
It's ironic that the Verve call them-
selves the Verve. Ironic because, apart
fromthe attitude and swagger wielded
by, the four members, one would be
hard-pressed to find much verve in
their music. Even a couple years back,
when the band was supposed to be
one of the few bastions against the
faceless, tuneless shoegazing drone
that emanated throughout England,
they weren't really all that different
from their opponents: no clever gui-
tar hooks, no sing-songy melodies,
no catchy, concise, three-minute

Even if the Verve's new album isn't their best, at least the band still has their sharp looks.

songs,- just melodrama and a bit of
ambiance.
1995. Pop has made a consider-
able comeback, but the Verve still
aren't that interesting. "A Northern
Soul" has a harder edge to it than any
of their previous work, and singer
Richard Ashcroft's vocals are more
up-front than they've ever been in the
past- both modifications likely re-
sponses to the band's chumminess
with fellow hotel-Crashers Oasis-but
unfortunately, the music isn't any
more melodic nor the lyrics any less
bland, by any stretch of the arm around
Noel Gallagher's neck.
Sadly, "A Northern Soul" is an
ultimately forgettable record. Doubt-
ful? Just try and hum any of the 12
tracks (with the exception of "His-
tory" which, to be fair, is actually
alright)back to yourself after a listen.

Notice that? No clever guitar hooks,
no sing-song melodies, etc. Yes, you'll
find the most important characteris-
tics ofpop music conspicuously miss-
ing.
- Thomas Crowley
Various Artists
Bad Boys Soundtrack
Work/Sony
Like the old saying goes, be-
hind every great movie lies a great
soundtrack (or something like
that). In the case of the hit sum-
mer film "Bad Boys," this saying's
validity is undeniable. The
movie's main characters are well-
known actor/comic Martin
Lawrence and rapper/actor Wil
"Fresh Prince" Smith. The
soundtrack features some of the
most well-known artists of the

day, primarily in the field of rap,
performing some of their most
popular singles. Contributors in-
clude Dogg Pounder Warren G
("So Many Ways," also featuring
Dramacydal), mama-loving con
man 2Pac ("Me Against the
World") and a Notorious B.I.G./
Da Brat tag team ("Da B Side").
In the movie, Lawrence and
Smith can be seen in never-before
seen ways, truly acting instead of
just acting crazy. The soundtrack
touts a fair number of outstanding
newcomers including balladiers
Keith Martin ("Never Find Some-
one Like You") and John b
("Someone to Love," also featur-
ing Babyface) and reggae per-
former Ini Kamoze ("Call the Po-
lice").
Also to be found on the

soundtrack are a heart-stopping
piece of R&B work by the
Jermaine Dupri creation Xscape
("Work Me Slow"), Mark
Mancina's "Bad Boys Theme
Song," the music to which the
movie opened, and the dope beats
of Call 0' Da Wild's first single
"Clouds of Smoke." KMFDM's
"Joke-Joint Jezebel," the house
music which played at the movie's
Club Hell, can also be found here.
Ignoring the hideously wack
cut "Boom, Boom, Boom" by
Juster (rhymes with Buster), you'll
be quick to note that the huge
majority of the 15 different songs
and raps contained within the "Bad
Boys" soundtrack are legit.
- Eugene Bowen
See RECORDS, page 16


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