The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, March 09, 1983, Page 8, Image 8
8 Daily Nebraskan Wednesday, Ma-rh 9, 1983 A WIS 6t Album Review nteincainment Rugged 'Action' suffers translation . n ' ' 3 v 4 k ' 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' " ' -..ii n i ,n..ni inn r . . , rl 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 ... , , v. CO) f; -';':C:v'::v, v."-.:; j ' 1.-; ''Jf' '''' "vi"'- ,; , 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 Continued on Page 9