t
Thursday, November 7, 1985
10,000 Maniacs play
pure, fresh folk sound
By Charles Lieurance
Senior Reporter
It's taken a long time for modern
folk music to recover from the verbose
aesthetics of Bob Dylan. Those who try
to pull folk music back to the purely
simple casualness of rural storytelling
are usually pushed into irritating obs
curity by some pretender to the "poet's"
throne.
10,000 Maniacs' completely winning
folk style and the off-center delivery of
lead singer and irresistible wood sprite,
Nancy Merchant, makes "The Wishing
Chair" a stunning debut LP.
Record Review
The lyrics, written mostly by Mer
chant, have the cool, unadorned sim
plicity of the best of John Prine's work.
Occasionally they take the listener all
the way back to Woody Guthrie, Pete
Seeger and Ronnie Gilbert.
Most of the time, the music, pure as
the best unrecorded mountain music
and sometimes an invitation to clog
dance, is a delicate and gorgeously
layered pastiche of mandolin, pedal
steel guitar, accordion, organ, piano
and hammer dulcimer.
You might well doubt the folk purist
ethic of a band with a name like 10,000
Maniacs and, I'll admit, the band often
"lapses" into the jangly rock made
popular these days by R.E.M., Let's
Active and 28th Day.
Merchant has a strong voice that
would be suitable for straight ahead
rock 'n' roll but the miracle of the band
is how well it works on the folksy
tracks.
Merchant sometimes sounds like a
hybrid of Emmylou Harris and Pat
Benatar.
"Scorpio Rising," co-written by
R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, with itsPlimsouls
like guitar riff Ls the hardest rocker on
the album and Merchant's voice, all
guts and no compromise, whips out the
hook:
"If I could calm or restrain
Merchant
Weekend...
WEEKEND from Page 8
MOVIES
Cinema 1 and 2, 13th and P
streets "Streetwise," 5:15, 7:15 and
9:15 p.m.; "Krush Groove," 5:30, 7:30
and 9:30 p.m.; Sneak preview of "Once
Bitten," Saturday at 7:15 p.m. in place
of "Streetwise."
Douglas 3, 1300 P St. "Jagged
Edge," 5:30, 7:35 and 9:40 p.m.; 'Target,"
5:40, 7:40 and 9:40 p.m.; "That Was
Then This is Now," 5:20, 7:20 and 9:20
p.m. ,
East Park 3, East Park Mall
"Plenty," 5:10, 7:20 and 9:30 p.m.;
"Deathwish III," 5:40, 7:40 and 9:40
p.m.; "After Hours," 5:35, 7:35 and 9:35
p.m.
Plaza 4, 12th and P streets
"Better Off Dead," 5:30, 7:30 and 9:45
p.m.; "To Live and Die in LA.," 5:45, 7
and 9:30 p.m.; "Deathwish III," 5, 7 and
9 p.m.; "Journey of Natty Gan," 5, 7:15
and 9:30 p.m.
Stuart Theatre, 1 3th and P streets
youfor the sake of pitysave the
pistolsave the cynic's tongue
save the cool white stareand
treat me to an honest face some
time. "
Moving from this to the ornate bal
lad, "Lily Dale," with its sweeps of
acoustic guitar and mandolin, Mer
chant's voice does not lose an ounce of
strength but the power becomes per
fectly benevolent.
Images of the bucolic and arcane are
so strong in Merchant's lyrics that one
can almost smell the lace tablecloths,
oak stairways, attic treasures and mag
nolia. Like R.E.M., who they opened for at
Tuesday night's concert in Omaha,
10,000 Maniacs are heavy on atmos
phere. They perform haunted music,
echoes and patches of the past, slowly
dispersing and losing their inherent
melancholy.
There are some flaws on "The Wish
ing Chair." Some of the music Mer
chant writes is derivative, almost to the
point of plagiarism.
"Maddox Table" for instance has a
hook lifted straight from Crosby, Stills
and Nash's "Wasted on the Way." This
is not a good place to be stealing your
choruses. Merchant's sea shanty in
flected "Arbor Day" also is dead weight
and the lyrics on this one are not much
more than a parade of slogans.
Then there are the victories. On
"Back O' The Moon," a beautiful single
released last year, Robert Buck's
acoustic guitar and mandolin play a
quick, almost ska riff and an organ
bubbles up between verses. The song is
completely unique and the sound is a
trumph of songwriting, musicianship
and production.
The opening track, "Can't Ignore the
Train," is similarly the work of a band
full of ideas and a gambling spirit.
There are so many fine things on
"The Wishing Chair" that listing flaws
seems completely nit picky. Melody
and substance make the album a tri
umph and 10,000 Maniacs is another in
a refreshing series of American bands
with truly indigenous visions.
; - : i
L -
' pi f '
.
V ij
David CreamerDaily Nebraskan
"Back to the Future," 5:20, 7:30 and
9:40 p.m.
R.E.M. Southern
dream sequence
R.E.M. from Page 10
"Had a dream one nightthat
the tree had lost its middleso he
built a trunk of chicken mireto
try to hold it upbut the wire
turned to lizard skin... "
Peter Buck's guitar playing is as
intricate as the weaving on some
ancient quilt. Old hands, knuckles
smooth as marbles, twitch and make
stitch after stitch. His guitar jangles
like a pocketful of old confederate
coins, the hypnotic pangs of memory...
"Thanks," says Michael Stipe. He's
gone.
"Wait Lemme just finish
this here dream this here"
Carson McCullers, 'The Heart is a
Lonely Hunter."
Daily Nebraskan
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Page 11
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