Record Reviews: July 1996

Doug Wintch
Wooden Nickels
LuDella Records 

A lot of people go on and on about how great the local music scene is, but I don’t see a corresponding increase in print coverage. A few might have noticed a review missing beneath Kyle L. Wullie’s name last month. Ask the publisher. Wullie’s CD is a social commentary on life in Salt Lake City set to music. I guess I should probably review the music someplace else because the presence of an acoustic guitar bans it from SLUG’s pages. Ask James Stewart. Doug Wintch is another local musician. He writes some pretty cool tunes and he enlisted to help some of the most famous local musicians. Wullie did the same, but it didn’t help him any at this paper. How about having a listen to Wintch’s “Dizzy Darlene”? Steve Braithwaite blows chilling sax as Wintch sings the words and Steve Wesson plucks away on a stand-up bass. Then there is “Maybe love” featuring Megan Peters on harmony vocals and Jay Toups on banjo. There’s blues, rockabilly, country western and is rock and roll. “Timmy’s Rockin’ In The Kitchen” is of course my favorite song on the disc. Who knew Peters could sing like Laura Jones? More local commentary set to music by the town’s finest. Doug Wintch will play at the Bluegrass Festival in August. The CD is available at the best stores in town. —Wa 

Universal Vagrants
Get Hip 

It is interesting to view American culture as foreign residents defecate it back onto our shores. This band is French. The first song on the big blue slab is boring; “Entertainment” it is not. It sounds like the French Buzzcocks. Unlike a typical American “product,” they put the filler at the beginning. Don’t despair; these moptops have further inspiration, like Ronnie Montrose, for example. “Rock The Nation” is the first cover. There is nothing like a good thrashing of a Montrose song for gaining attention. Well, well, well. The band has now entered the garbage pile. Hey boss, how come you didn’t keep this one or pass it off to Helen? You don’t own a turntable? Helen doesn’t work here anymore? I’m thinking Teengenerate is about to give their farewell concert as well. What is punk rock? Universal Vagrants are punk rock you idiotic fools. Deftones, Korn, The Cure? Punk rock is dirty, nasty and in your dull, pimply face. The very sound of it makes the white ones spew puss that you have to wipe off after every kiss. (There is nothing like a cliché in SLUG.) Universal Vagrants play garage punk. That means raw. If the difference between raw and polished, power-pop or “alternative” has passed you by while purchasing a night in a Super 8 with an older woman, you will know raw. Who but the French would teach tactics – socialist motherfuckers that they are.—Dick Saxon 

The Reverend Horton Heat
Martini Time
Interscope 

Do I dare review a new CD by the good Reverend in the pages of SLUG? A better question might be: if I review it, will they print it? The music is called psychobilly in the press release. A better name is the one Sub Pop coined – thrashabilly. The Reverend hates both terms. He does what he does without worrying about what to call it. Rockabilly music is now censored from these pages. At this time, let me insert a quote from Jim Heath: “AC/DC in their wildest dreams could never part as hard as Jerry Lee Lewis. Jerry Lee Lewis was punk rock when they didn’t even know what it was. He’s crazy! He shot his bass player then bitched him out for bleedin’ on his new white carpet… he’s a character along the lines of something like GG Allin.” 

Things begin in the customary fashion. Some thrash and an instrumental before “Crooked Cigarette,” a song about… you figure it out… that is damn near traditional. What is the good Reverend up to? Oh, he did it on the last album? Next up is a cover played in fine traditional style. “Rock The Joint” sums up the Reverend live better than anything. How about some country (oops, another word banned from SLUG)? Relax, “Cowboy Love” gives the boys in the pit (What did I just write? The song was inspired by a visit to a gay cowboy bar.) a breather before things start heating up again. 

Al’s gone, and so is Gibby. This time, the producer was Thom Panunzio, who has produced U2, John Lennon, Rocket From The Crypt and now the Reverend Horton Heat. Taz is gone as well; he has been for some time. In his place is Scott Curilla. His industrial experience doesn’t show much on the record. In fact, the cat can do jazz as he proves during the country-swank lounge number “Or Is It Just Me.” If Liquor In The Front drove off a few with its heaviness, it at least gained the band some new fans. The new ones will find Martini Time surprising. Old-timers already know that the Reverend is just the Reverend, no more and no less. It ends with a surf-inspired instrumental and another “lounge” ballad. Sorry, he didn’t jump on the trend. He’s been doing it for years. —Cowboy Willie 

The Cure
Wild Mood Swings
Elektra 

There are several things about Elektra and The Cure’s publicity firm. These people are much more important than the artists they represent. I know it is their job to guard the gates, but Jesus Christ. Every time I call Elektra, they treat me like a big fat liar. The Cure has a new CD out. Due to the fact that the publicist also thought I was a big fat liar, he sent an advance cassette. It says “limited edition, promotional copy, not for sale” right on it. Does anyone want to buy it? I hate advance cassettes, and I’ve almost stopped listening to them altogether. Send a recorder or a CD, but forget the tapes. 

The band is a cult group. They have a solid fan base who will buy anything after Boys Don’t Cry, the Americanized version of Three Imaginary Boys. The singer, I can’t remember his name (go ahead, send letters), sounds all dreary and mopey. The music was recorded in an English manor. Is that a surprise? Strings and horns add to the pleasure of the pleasant vocals from Robert Smith. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that the poor man was actually happy when he wrote “The 13th.” He is so happy that he nearly launched into the bah, ba, bah, ba, dah thing his countrymen are so in love with. It’s a good thing he didn’t. There is a Spanish influence followed by something approaching old-fashioned calypso. What… has Smith found love and riches? Hey, I’m into it; the new Cure is actually good. “Strange Attraction” is my very favorite song of… the last hour. “Do it all the time / I know we should.” “Round & Round & Round” sounds like a rewrite of some other Cure song, or maybe it is the sex and drugs, or maybe it is simply trademark Cure. 

The second side of the tape turned me off completely. Too many strings and too little rocking material. I nodded off more than once only to have my sleep interrupted by some irritation from Smith. Well, there are about five or six good songs. If the radio would pick up on them, The Cure could sell some records. Otherwise, it is just another Cure CD to add to the stack of Cure CDs. It is a little sad in a way. There are a whole load of less-talented, more boring English bands at the top of the Billboard charts at present. According to my sources, The Cure will visit Denver and skip Salt Lake on tour. Nearly everyone except dinosaurs skips Salt Lake. What does that say about the promoter monopoly? —Ian Maclot 

The Adults
Action Street
Mekkatone Records 

Throwing it on I found the opener quite engaging so I listened to the rest. I’m hearing a serious rockabilly/garage influence. It appears that the band wears Burger king crowns and feathered boas when they play live. There is a lyric sheet included, but the songs don’t make any sense. The Adults will probably appear on next year’s High Times tour because drugs are a factor. No one could write those lyrics or play this music if they were straight-edge. After that sentence I read the newspaper. Wait a minute. Mormons (okay ex-Mormons) are straight-edge and look how weird they are. The Adults are weird, but they can’t touch that one. Teenagers are prosecuted for fornication in Idaho while adults are allowed to do it with whoever…say the bishop’s 18-year-old daughter? As long as you swallow the seed baby. Sorry running long again. The Adults sing about adult topics. Listen to “Quadriplegia” or “Garbonzo Beans.” They are located in Texas and as a result they have a little of that Tex-Mex influence spread through their garage/punk/psych. Rockabilly is only an afterthought. A small label project sounding good. Write them at P.O. Box 3191, Austin, TX 78764. —Ned Dire 

Super 8
Hollywood Records 

Super 8 played somewhere last month, I think. No one I knew could find out the exact date or venue. Too bad the record label fucked up because the CD is excellent. The band is fronted by Bronx Style Bob. He worked with Afrika Bambaata’s Zulu Nation, among others, before relocating the L.A. where he fronted Trulio Disgracias. Trulio Disgracias is one of the nutmeg groups (see Fishbone). He won Rolling Stone’s “Best New Artist” pick when he released a solo album. Now he’s in Super 8. John O’Brian is the songwriting guitarist. The second guitarist is Joel Shearer. John Steward drums and Heming Borthne brings his Norwegian heritage to the bass. Friends of the band include Rage Against the Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers players. That should explain the music. Heavy, funk-based rock and roll for the entire disc. Better than the last one from the Chili Peppers and less devoted to politics than Rage, Super 8 is a band to watch. Children of casualty might want to check out a few songs at a listening station before springing for better known products. You will be the trend setter of the block when the rest of the country wakes up next year and Super 8 are stars. —Corporate Whore 

Soundgarden
Down On The Upside
A&M 

Have you heard the whining about K-Beer? The station is playing more “grunge” than hair. Where is my AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Scorpions? Time marches on, plaited black T-shirts displaying a beer gut and Levis tucked into unlaced high-tops remain fashionable only to those who married too young due to unplanned births. Here are some millionaires, formerly of both Sub Pop and SST, who have never denied their roots lie more with Zeppelin metal than Black Flag. When do you think they’re touring with Metallica? Here’s the news for Poison and Skid Row fans. Down On The Upside is heavy metal. It has every trademark lick every heavy metal band has strived for ever since Page left the Yardbirds. I could use a little more of the Blue Cheer influence in my metal, but fuck it. Soundgarden reinvented the “hit” metal ballad with “Black Hole Sun.” There isn’t one of those here. Five years from now, unless they become more punk, they’ll co-headline a twelve step benefit concert at the Sage with Stone Temple Pilots. By the way, I like the new one. Of course I can remember when MC5 and Blue Cheer played the Fairgrounds and Led Zeppelin opened for the footnote in rock history – Vanilla Fudge. As Ty Cobb would say, “fuck you all.” —Mr. Gump 

Sludgeworth
Losers Of The Year
Red Scare

Believe it or not, power-pop-punk has a long history. Tell that to the local skater crew. The Sludgeworth material presented dates from the late 80s and early 90s. The band was gone by 92. Their base was Chicago. In 92 Losers of the Year sounds like everything else. Does anyone realize how fucking sick I am of listening to the same three chords played over and over again. How about the tedious sing-a-long anthems. Oh and the speed. Listen to how fast the tempo is. For fucking Christ’s sakes can we move on. Imagine a fourth generation (your inbred children) standing on a stage parroting the lyrics and pretending they are on the cutting edge. Punk rock is idiotic. Everyone who listens to punk rock is a moron. How many thousands and thousands of recordings of the same, same, same, does “one” actually require? Why not buy about two and memorize them? That’s what Sludgeworth did. They changed the words – just like every punk rock band around today has – but it all sounds the same. For those educated by individuals who feel they are underpaid for working six hours a day – you don’t get it, do you? That proves the point. —Riley Puckett 

Etta James
Deep In The Night
Bullseye Blues 

The CD was recorded in 1978. The liner notes were written by Jerry Wexler. The publisher of this paper knows all the names, the readers don’t and that is probably why I am once again wasting my time writing about blues for a punk rock magazine. Jeff Porcaro, Chuck Rainey, Larry Carlton, Cornell Dupree…the names continue, should I? Etta James never stooped to covering Gershwin. She’s a blues girl. On the CD she covers a lot of material. Janis Joplin made “Piece Of My Heart” famous, but man… James slays Glen, Don, Richie and Randy when she does “Take It To The Limit.” They might have written it, but they never sang it this way. California country rock, now named “young country” done by an African American as blues? I fell to my knees to worship Elvis. A couple songs later, after some extremely nasty shit she covers Hank Williams. Hank didn’t write it but he sure as hell made it famous. “Love Sick Blues” is more country done as R&B. And then there’s the gospel. “The Gospel” doesn’t always mean old Joe and his book. What state is this anyway? Etta James is at the top of her form right now. Go ahead and buy her newer BMG distributed product. It will knock anyone with an open mind out. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, there is this older recording from the indie side of the game. —Blues Boy Willie 

Poetry Thugs
Neesh Records 

A white sleeve featuring the band’s logo and containing a lyric sheet but little else. These are the kind of CDs I love. I absolutely and totally love this shit. Poetry Thugs are a local band in San Francisco. Local Salt Lake City bands receive little exposure in SLUG anymore, unless they’re named Lugnut. I still love them. A local San Francisco band sends a CD and receives a write-up: as the other guy would say, “go figure.” Their CD sounds like a local band with all the charm that brings. There are only three of them and the minimalist aspects are at the forefront along with some seriously intense rhythm. The dominant singer is fairly reminiscent of Peter Murphy. Every now and again the second singer, Shawna, who wrote all the lyrics slips her voice in. The opening song is the best, after all that is the current custom. “Sandy Stone” is deeply sexual in nature. Call Poetry Thugs a semi-goth, or…to be “oh so hip” and clever, a post-goth band. They have the little funky “post-punk” guitar but they can never escape that voice. I’m thinking that due to the reprise of the opening song at the end, the lyrics, and the fact that the band is a trio there is something a little twisted going on. “(blonde on blonde on blonde) sometimes I want Julian, most times I want to be fucked by a lover in between. (blonde on blonde on blond) oh my dark angel, (repeated numerous times as the chorus) I want to make you cum.” —Dismal Glitter 

Perfume Tree
A Lifetime Away
World Domination 

Actual drug music. Trippy, hippie, ambient soundscapes painted with female vocals and all kinds of live and electronic devices. Don’t even think techno, Perfume Tree has moved past that faster than the fastest BPM’s. They come from the great Pacific Northwest. No, dummy, that doesn’t mean Seattle. Vancouver B.C. is their home and they have received some radio play in Canada. The airplay is well deserved. Deep rumbling bass from Mel used as a background for ethereal vocals from Jane, a variety of beats programmed by Pete when he isn’t playing guitar and Bruce, who does some kind of thing when they play live. The live show is your everyday performance art as theater. What else could it be when something as atmospheric as A Lifetime Away is played live? Words escape me for once. They always do when dub is the subject. The goth hounds had better give it up. Perfume Tree combines dark with light, chants and laments, putting Enya and any others completely in their place. Without a doubt the best experimental batch for this month. —Budd Brain 

Pere Ubu
Beach Boys See Dee Plus
Tim Kerr 

I’m not qualified at all to review the band or the CD. Numerous agents of the United States government and big business have conspired against me for untold years. The result of their endeavors is a life fueled by macaroni, cheese, potatoes, onions and ground beef. I’m lucky to have a computer. I don’t have a CD ROM player so I can’t view most of the disc. My first mistake was to go against the male dominated patriarchy and engage in a court battle for my rights as a father. The next thing I knew the IRS had snagged me in their net. Several years ago Mike Leavitt sent a fund raising letter to my home. He requested that I donate the sum of $100 or more to the campaign fund of Enid Green. I fired off a venomous reply and the next thing I knew Dee Dee’s enforcers had hit me with a blizzard of parking tickets. There are government agents parked on my doorstep waiting for me to leave my house right now. It’s another conspiracy, where are my Thorazine capsules? David Thomas continues to impress with music that has influenced thousands, yet somehow failed to reap much financially for the originator. Montana is a state of mind to be sure. Ask Frank Ruffolo. Is that him playing accordion on the disc? Anyone who worries about the mark of the beast should refrain from purchasing anything containing a barcode. As my dear departed friend, the cross-named poseur with a virgin hole in his/her backside informed me; all bar codes contain the numbers 666. The mark of the best has descended upon us and I can’t fight it. The chip implanted into my left nut won’t let me. Pere Ubu never has and never will sell much music. Go buy some. —Ezra B. Vinson

KMFDM
XTORT
TVT 

KMFDM makes me laugh. They know exactly what they’re doing and no one gets it. These Germans are laughing all the way to the bank with the American dollars they haul in. There isn’t a talented individual in the band. There never has been. They release the same re-titled re-mix over and over again and people snap them up. The latest re-mix is called XTORT. Blatant motherfuckers aren’t they? Since the band doesn’t have any talent they enlisted the aid of even lesser talents to help divert the funds from the pockets of suburban American teenagers. Even more amazing than KMFDM themselves are the copy cat bands. They copy an entire KMFDM disc to their hard drive and re-mix it. The next thing you know there is yet another re-mixed KMFDM by a band not even named KMFDM. “KMFDM” makes my day! Or…how about my next record? You gotta love it Mr. Industrial Freak. Is XTORT the best re-mix yet? I’ve been slammed every time I listened to it. XTORT is copied to my six giga-byte hard drive and I’m waiting to capture some video if and when they appear at any of the ridiculous local venues. Naked male and female dancers are invited onto the stage for the upcoming first video from the new local band Pigfart. A local CD + re-mix of XTORT will make Pigfart bigger than the Obvious. —Hank Horton 

Heavy
Motion Picture Soundtrack
TVT 

Yes! The movie won “Grand Jury Prize For Best Direction” at Sundance. The original score was written by Thurston Moore. The record label is known for their hard-edged industrial music. I offer this soundtrack as proof of…I don’t know what. A new trend perhaps? Guess who’s on here? Rosie Flores, the Vidalias and Ben Vaughn each get a song. Who in the hell are they? “They” are part of a pleasant little form of music that seldom appears in these pages anymore. Freddy Johnson, the Connells, the Plimsouls and Evan Dando round the soundtrack out. Five of Moore’s compositions are also included. The soundtrack is actually reminiscent of the one recorded for Dead Man Walking. The music is melodious and it is probably targeted for mature ears. Teenagers have too much going on in their bodies and brains. Moore’s instrumentals almost touch on ambient and they blend quite well with the new trad of the first three artists mentioned. Dando is probably better off experimenting on independent labels than the most recent cut-out from his band. The important thing to remember is the music is an important element of the movie. That is the objective of a soundtrack album. In this case it succeeds admirably. —Ernie K. Dough 

Brainiac
Hissing Prigs In Static Couture
Touch and Go 

I thought the Electric Eels were a band made up of future Pere Ubu and Cramps associates until I read in the Private Eye that Brainiac was coming to town. Their critic claimed that Brainiac sounds like someone trying to stuff a really loud electric eel down your eel. I wonder which one? I’m not real good with the French, but if I were in Brainiac I’d probably tell the critic to chupa mi verga. As for the Electric Eels? I could take someone trying to stuff them all down my ear, especially if they were really loud. I guess if it isn’t Cast, Pulp, Blur, Oasis erc., it isn’t any good. I’m a noise addict. I’m fairly new to the music business so I haven’t heard everything out there yet. To my still developing musical taste Brainiac sounds different and new. The screeching of the female and the shouts of the male reminded me of many a cat fight outside the rural home of my youth. I guess that is why Hissing Prigs In Static Couture struck a nerve. Other songs brought memories of grade school choruses, beginning orchestra lessons and “world beat.” Some grow up to create products. Others retain the creative vision all children have. They create. Brainiac are creators. As with most art, some hate it, others love it. There isn’t much in-between. Extreme music for extreme tastes. —Baba O’Reilly

Read more 90s record reviews from the SLUG Archives:
Record Reviews: February 1996
Record Reviews by Sausage King: May 1996