8
Daily Nebraskan
Wednesday, Ma-rh 9, 1983
A
WIS 6t
Album
Review
nteincainment
Rugged 'Action'
suffers translation
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The LcRoi Brothers
Check This Action
Amazing Records
The problem with the LeRoi Brothers'
Check This Action is similar to the one
Charlie Burton encountered with his Is
That Charlie Burton ...Or What? LP. Like
Burton, the LeRois are kings of the bar cir
cuit in Austin. Texas, just as Burton is the
king of Lincoln's. Because of this, many of
their arrangements are geared toward live
performance, which is fine when the songs
are performed on stage, but which sounds
awkward at points on vinyl. Ultimately,
though, like Burton, the LeRois' material
and talent are both strong enough to with
stand the stage-to-studio transition.
Actually, the similarities with the Cut
outs are many. Like the Lincoln group, the
LeRoi Brothers have been forced to form
their own record label to put out an album
(Burton's label may have been "Wild," but
the LeRois' is "Amazing ").
The band is a four-piece outfit, like the
Cutouts, consisting of Don Leady and
Steve Doerr on guitars and vocals, Mike
Buck on bass and Keith Ferguson on
drums. (Ferguson left the LeRois shortly
after this album was completed to join the
Fabulous Thunderbirds.) And like Burton,
the material is primarily up-tempo, neo
rockabilly, played with so much spirit and
fire that it's infectous to even the most
skeptical listener.
The album kicks off with "Are You
With Me Baby (Say Yeah)" and flies
through the 1 1 remaining numbers at
breakneck speed. Besides the aforemen
tioned number, standout performances in
clude Muddy Waters' "I Can't Be Satis
fied," the instrumental "Cotton Pickin',"
"Til It's Too Late" and "Ain't I'm a Dog."
"Steady with Betty" is another well-done
selection, and one, incidentally, often per
formed by the LeRois' Lincoln counter
part, Charlie Burton.
While the comparisons to Burton's al
bum are obvious, Check this Action is no
. . . Or What clone, nor are the LeRoi
Brothers Cutouts copycats. There is more
diversity on the LeRois' album. There are
two lead vocalists instead of one (of the
two, Don Leady, who sings on "Ain't I'm
A Dog," "Steady with Betty" and "Ballad
of a Juvenile Delinquent," among others, is
the stronger vocalist and the LeRois also
utilize extra instruments and voices for
added depth.
Also, the LeRois place less emphasis orP
their own material. Burton, too, does songs
by other songwriters but on vinyl, he only
does original material. However, the Le
Rois have accepted their creative limita
tions and have learned how to adapt out
side pieces of material to their own brand
of music.
Unfortunately, the LeRoi Brothers have
one more thing in common with Charlie
Burton and the Cutouts. This album will
never gain widespread acceptance and it's
more than just the small label. There's a
low-budget feel to this album: the mixing
is shoddy, the balance is off. Wlule primitive-sounding
music can be enjoyable (it is
here), it is almost never commercial. Until
the LeRois smooth out their sound, they
will never be national superstars.
Of course, there's something to be said
for being local superstars, as Charlie Bur
ton and the Cutouts will vouch. Burton's
LP has gone out of print. The LeRois'
Check This Action probably will, too. If
you didn't get the Burton LP, don't make
the same mistake twice. Check out Check
This Actum. Is this good music ... or
what?!
- Mike Frost
Triumph venture
'mindless' failure
Never Surrender
Triumph
RCA
For those of you who think I like every
thing I review - listen up - you're in for
a shock.
This album and this band rub me the
wrong way. And the way it's rubbing me
is toward the bathroom to be ill.
With all the talk against mainstream or
corporate rock cropping up these days, it
seems odd to me that Triumph's name
doesn't pop up very often. My only answer
is that this band is so bad that they aren't
even worth bitching about.
Never Surrender is mindless vinyl (I
refuse to call it music) at its best - or
worst - depending on how you Iook at
things.
A concept album about the world we
live in and how we shouldn't let it get to
us (original idea, guys), the record's only
salvation comes in the title cut.
Out in the streets inspiration comes
hard
Vie joker of the deck keeps handin'
me his card
Smilin 'friendly he takes me in
Then breaks my back in a game I
can 't win
Jivin hustlin', what's it all about?
Everybody always wants the easy way
out
Thirty golden pieces for the Judas kiss
What's a nice boy doin' in a place like
this
They are right about one thing. Every
body does want the easy way out.
They should know.
Instead of taking more time and writing
something with some remnant of substance
to it, they run into their own private studio
and bang on keyboards, drums and strings,
and, viola, the barely pubescent males of
the country are happy.
What a bunch of crap.
e
line'
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These three Canadians do less for
rock 'n' roll than Tiny Tim.
Songs like "Battle Cry," "Too Much
Thinking" and "All The Way" are an
insult to the good mainstream bands.
When Triumph started out, they made
S795 a show in the bars and clubs of
Toronto.
They were terribly overpaid, and still
are.
One good thing about the release of
Never Surrender - it will be at least a
year before the next Triumph release.
And believe me, they can't get much
worse.
- Randy Wymore
is full
of 'schlock' rock
Time-Line
Renaissance
IRS
Some people sound great together,
like Dave Edmunds with Nick Lowe, or
Elvis Costello with Glenn Til brook. Under
standably, some combinations are just too
sickening to imagine, like Abba with
Foreigner. With this combination, you
come up with the sound of Renaissance.
Renaissance is a band composed of
three people. They are together under the
guise of playing music. Annie Ilaslam does
most of the vocals. Jon Camp and Michael
Dunford are in charge of the various guitars
used. Why a session drummer was used, I
have no idea. It looks to me as if Haslam,
Camp and Dunford may have been session
s
people, too. The music they create can be
summed up in one word: schlock.
The album they have released is titled
Time-Line, and there seems to be one
thing that is consistent throughout the
album. There is nothing outstanding
about it.
I can understand music geared for 12-year-olds.
I can understand music geared
for people older than 12, even when it
sounds the same. I cannot understand
who Renaissance could possibly appeal
to. I simply do not know of anyone who
could enjoy this schlock. My personal
opinion is that it must be the English
version of rock Musak.
What has been put on vinyl borders
on being un-music. Time-Line relies on the
non-existent vocal abilities of Haslam. She
does, however, do an invariable imitation
of a Go-Go singing with Abba. Believe
it or not, the music is even worse. The
album was produced by the group, which
was a mistake. The bass is overpowering,
but matches the keyboards fairly well
when they both drown out the lead vocals.
When the lead guitarist can be heard,
he shows no outstanding features. As
for the percussion, ditto. Accompanying
instruments are strictly session work.
There is no doubt about this album.
Do not buy it. It was a mistake to release
it in the United States. If this is serious
music in England, then let the real music
fans live in peace. Enough said.
- Todd R. Tystad
Cross takes time,
does music right
Another Page
Christopher Cross
Warner Bros.
Does the world really need another
sympy singersongwriter to tell us about
love and all that other gooey, drippy stuff?
No.
Okay, next question. What do we do
about all those romantic little buggers
that are already running around? I think
we should weed out the crop, as it were.
Now, who you choose to weed out is your
own business. But I do think there is one
of these people that does warrant recognition.
Christopher Cross.
Cross's first album in two years,
Another Page - his second overall -
doesn't differ that much from the first.
The high voice, soft melodies and orchest
ral backgrounds are still there and as
infectious as ever.
This is not drunken party music. This
is soft candlelight and fine wine music.
For instance, let's take "Talking In My
Sleep."
Days turn into weeks
Still she's not with me
Still my secrets hare to keep
A little while longer
In my heart where they 've been
For so long I can't remember
Now which one of us can't understand
what Cross is trying to say? Even the
hardest party rock V roll animals can
relate to this music. They may not admit
to it, but there is a little Chris Cross in all
of us.
As with his last album, Cross is backed
by a list of art ists as long as your arm. The
inner sleeve drops names like Michael
McDonald, Carl Wilson, J.D. Souther,
Don Henley, Art Garfunkel, and Karla
Bonoff. Instrumental, he's got probably
some of the most famous and sought
after session men in the business - Jeff
Porcaro and Steve Lukather of Toto fame.
On "All Right," Cross' current single,
the master of soft pop sings:
Just when you feel helpless
Nothing left to say
Love will find us
Vie past behind us
Tli en we 're on our way
The thing that most likely makes
Cross' records so appealing is that, while
it would be very easy for a man of his
talent to just crank out this type of music
hand-over-fist, he takes his time and does
it right.
The best place for this album and
Cross' other music? In a car on a warm
spring evening driving down the highway
with someone special in the passenger
seat.
This symp is no symp.
- Randy Wymore
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Wheel reunion
fun while it lasted
Lucky Steels The Wheel
Lucky Oceans and Asleep At
The Wheel Review
Blind Pig Records
Someday, and we may as well face up
to it now, we'll all be invited to attend a
reunion of one sort or another. Events
like reunions give us an opportunity to
spend some time with our old friends,
talk about old times and brag about what
we've dene since "the old days." In short,
a fine time for nostalgia, but hardly some
thing one would want to go through too
often.
Lucky Steels the Wheel is a reunion of
sorts for many of the former members
of the late lamented Asleep at the Wheel
The Wheel, as it was affectionately known
was the first group of musicians to'
seriously explore the musical genre of
Western swing since Bob Wills and his
Texas Playboys. Their seven al
bums, released between 1973 ana 1980
were excellent efforts, showing real
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