Page 10
Daily Nebraskan
Thursday, September 16, 1982
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EP attacks status quo
Photo by Dave Bentz
Jim Jacobi
By Pat Higgins
In a world unduly dominated by the
ideals of Respect, Duty and Order, the
sensitive man's reaction is explosive
and rebellious. - credo of the German
Expressionists
That madman Jacobi is at again. A
new six-song EP is out, containing
maybe his best stuff yet. Along
with his fine band the Crap Detectors
(a term lifted from Hemingway), Jim
Jacobi continues to make the aural
equivalent of a punch in the eye -he
means it, man! This is a full dose
of rock 'n' roll, art and the plain
label experience. Also, you can
dance to it.
The problem with Jacobi is that
he cares too much. Why doesn't he
wise up and become desensitized like
everybody else? This boy hates pre
tense and artificiality, which has the
welcome result of threatening the
status quo - yeah!
The new EP with no name has six
songs, all of which are rockers. He has
been known to delve into electonics
weirdness on his four previous records.
Per usual, band members come and go -except
for reliable sidekick Craig
Kingery who plays Mr. Spock to
Jacobi's Captain Kirk.
Kingery is an impeccable bass player
and helps old reliable Phil Hammar
on the production, making for the
best sound of any of the Crap
Detectors' records. The sleeve says,
"Warning - This is almost commercial."
Well, not exactly, but Jacobi is a
lot like a .300 hitter in baseball who
could be woken in the dead of night
and get a base hit. Jacobi can write
catchy riffs at will - no problem.
However, the message is the medium
with Jacobi, even though he craftily
buries the lyrics so you have to make
an effort to figure out what this
sucker is up to.
The song titles can clue you in some
what. "I Want To Survive a Nuclear
War" - how timely can one get -with
the lunatics running the asylum.
A mutant like Jacobi would find a way
to live through apocalypse now.
Remember kids, when nuclear weapons
are outlawed, only outlaws will have
nuclear weapons. "Equal Opportunity
Paranoiac" - as somebody once said
(maybe Richard Nixon), even paranoids
have real enemies, and Jacobi casts a
jaundiced view toward every bandwagon
that's rolling down the street.
Remember in the middle of
"Absolutely Live" when Jim Morrison
screams. "Wake up" - Jacobi is trying
to put across the same concept. Be
yourself, and do something with it.
Turn off your TV and get into reality
therapy, Crap Detector style.
Jacobi doesn't want to be the Rolling
Stones. He is closer to being the Corn
husker Sex Pistols, or maybe a Lou
Reed who cares.
Is this the age of narcissism? Well,
if the '70s were the Me Decade, the
'80s look like the me-myself-and-I
era. People like Rod Stewart and
Foreigner are comparable to soap
opera figures for all that they matter.
Jacobi is worth a million of those
fools.
"No one is ever ahead of his time,
everyone else is just behind it. -Edgar
Varese
Jim Jacobi - not insane.
Ripchords back in action, this time as 'Singles
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Photo by Craig Andrn
Singles in Action: (from left) lim Robson, Wide Maurer and Dave Fee
By Pat Higgins
Singles in Action - great name if not
concept, right? Three of these four guys
previously were in the beloved Ripchords,
and were able to fill clubs in a single
bound. The question today is, "Can they
do it again?" The returns aren't all in
yet. but last weekend at Larry's Showcase
the potential was as apparent as watching
Jeff Smith going around right end.
"Our influences are eclectic, and Elvis
Costello is the pop god," guitar player
Dave Fee said. Fee, Wade Maurer on bass
and drummer Jim Robson are the Rip
chords alums. The new kid on the block
is John Cudlacek on keyboards and synthe
sizer. As an indication of how hot
Cudlacek is, you can't figure out who
he's stealing from. Now, that's class.
Former leader Danny O'Kane is gone
but not forgotten.
"The Ripchords owed a lot of their
success to Danny's personality and a lot
of luck," Fee opined.
"It helped that we smiled a lot," Maurer
added.
The name Singles in Action comes
from watching the audience at play, the
boys in the band said.
"What we want to know is where are
the girls." Fee said.
Don't ask me.
"I'd like to give this town a kick in the
butt and get something going," Maurer
said.
"I really don't care about the scene. I
just want to rock,' Fee said.
What motivates a clean-cut bunch of
lads to become rockers?
"We're all social misfits. We're old
enough to be cold, but young enough
to have fun," Fee said. "Actually our
songs are about the usual emotions -aggression,
fear, spite."
"There are a lot of dynamics in this
band because everybody is writing,"
Robson said, "except they won't let
me sing."
"One thing people don't realize,"
Maurer said, "is how hard it is keeping four
guys together making music without
beating each other up."
The foursome wants to make a record,
and they want to make it now so they
can beat the posthumous Ripchords re
lease. "We're ready to be put on vinyl for
the annals of history," Fee said. "This
is a great chance for any college entrepre
neurs out there."
The trying economic times have had
an effect on Singles in Action. Nobody
can afford to buy records anymore.
"John is lucky because he works at
Pickles. He's able to hear all the new
stuff." Robson said.
"There are all kinds of good new bands
out there, but who can keep up with all
the records," Maurer said with a shrug.
"I've been watching a lot of MTV, and
what it shows me is how innocuous
and fatuous rock music has become. When
I listen to FM radio I get sick," Fee said.
"Wait a minute. What about Dave
Meile's show on KZUM?" Robson asked.
"Yeah, but that takes a certain amount
of civic responsibility to listen to," Fee
said.
"Even if you can't hear all the records,
if you have the right attitude, you know
when something is good," Maurer said.
"Yeah, but people can build up such
misconceptions," Fee said. "I mean people
used to think that the Ripchords were
punk, but we were actually preppies. You
can print that."
OK.
What is the difference between Singles
in Action and the Ripchords?
"Well, it's not like the old days of
milk and honey financially, but then it's
not as much as of a business, either,"
Fee said. "Success for us would be making
records and the rent."
"John really makes a big difference
because he's a music major. He translates
a lot of stuff for us," Robson said.
The late Ripchords used to be well
known for their rendition of Eddie
Cochran's "Teen-age Breakdown" tune.
Yet Singles in Action has said good bye
to the teen-age idol.
"We left those songs in the dancchalls
of the past," Fee said. "But they're still
great songs. We'd still do them on request
though."
"We had to move on and forge a new
identity," Maurer said.
"People are more into the dance beat,
instead of hearing the words," Fee said.
"They'll hear the words when the
record comes out," Robson said.
Just what is the future of Singles in
Action?
"I want to play Creek parties. Those
guys know how to party," Fee said.
"We're doing a lot of our own tunes
now," Maurer added. "The old Ripchords
hands arc stronger and better.'