Arts & Entertainment
Two West Coast bands jamming here tonight
Got the midweek blues? Wed
nesday should be a happening
night in Lincoln with two bands
appearing on the Lincoln bar
scene.
The William Clarke Blues
Band will be at the Zoo Bar, 136 N.
14th St., and National People’s
Gang will appear at Duffy’s Tav
ern, 1412 0 St
The William Clarke Band is a
group of musicians dedicated to
preserving the sound and feel of
traditional and contemporary elec
tric blues while maintaining its
own sound and original interpreta
tion of new and classic blues mate
rial.
Featuring William Clark on
vocals and harmonica, Alex
Schultz on guitar, Willie Brinlee
on bass and Ed Clark on the drums,
the band has been featured in clubs
and blues festivals on the West
Coast.
The band’s first album, “Tip of
the Top,’’ was released in early
1987 on Satch Records, and the
European label, Double Trouble
Records.
The album was nominated for a
W.C. Handy award in the Contem -
porary Blues Album of the Year
category. The band was nominated
for Blues Band of the Year, and
William Clarke was nominated for
best Blues Instrumentalist.
The second album, “Rockin’
the Boat,’’ was released on the
Rivera Record label in December
of 1987.
Several critics have noted that
the William Clark Blues Band has
a fine way with the harmonica.
The music starts at 9 p.m., the
cover charge is $4.
Also appearing in Lincoln to
night is the National People’s
Gang.
Courtesy o» Dr. KtrMm he cords
National People’s Gang will appear at Duffy’s.
The band is said lo embrace the
line between avant garde and ap
proachable, and it works with vis
ual ideas as well as music. The
band has just released its debut
album, “The Hard Swing,” on Dr.
Dream Records.
The NPG started out in Califor
nia’s club scene. The band!s bi
zarre and unpredictable live shows
combined with powerful songs
earn the band a loyal following.
Vocalist Chad Jasmine has a
range that goes from airy pop dit
ties to frightening punk howlings.
Chad Forrello’s guitar also
swings from ultra-clean jangle that
is the base of the alternative music
sound to a hard, grinding guitar
line.
Anthony Arvizu takes over the
drums, and Chuck Morris adds to
the rhythm section with his bass.
According to Jasmine, the band
name may sound political, but it’s
the idea of a rock band as a com
mon link between nations and
people.
The show starts at 9 p.m. at
Duffy’s and tickets are $2.
Courtesy of the Zoo Bat
William Clarke will perform at the Zoo.
The Fixx takes leap backw ard with mediocre album
By Lisa Donovan
Senior Reporter
The Fixx
Calm Animals
RCA
Perhaps The Fixx should go back
to the factory by the Thames River in
Southeast London where they prac
ticed in the early 1980s. This was
before notoriety and before the
band’s latest release, “Calm Ani
mals.”
Sadly enough, Cy Cumin and the
gang have taken leaps backward with
their fifth album. With a few decent
tunes, w hich will only get air play on
Q102 and Z-92, “Calm Animals”
redefines mediocre.
me ursi iracic, i m liic, is
apparently attempting chaotic sound.
It fails miserably. Not only is the
melody irritating, but the lyrics ...
There is no doubt that the next
track, “Driven Out,” will reach the
Top 40. The tune is fairly digestible.
It is a simple song about how people
have destroyed the world by pollu
tion, media and selfishness. The
message is one of awareness:
“Driving in my car/I used to be
able to walk this far/now I turn on the
bghi/I used to be able to sleep at
night/l’m cooking with microwaves/
to warm up my food that has not seen
the soil plugged into my TV/used to
the lies they’re telling me.’’
The song essentially talks about a
person who is being “driven out” of
the mainstream - in spirit. But he or
she is too comfortable and perhaps
one of the persons destroying the
planet The melody and lyrics arc
more interesting, not to mention a
welcome relief from the disco hits
currently polluting the airwaves.
The neat release “Subterranean”
is, needless to say, a real “yawner.”
In this one Cumin and company are
trying to be too poignant:
“There’s a mood but no legisla
tion/no guarantee it’s a tabloid real
ity/people making good connections/
write, write, write.. .it up for us all.”
“Precious Stone,” the third re
lease, is a nice little song about how
one can’t put a price on love. This
may be the one that saves the entire
album, as far as its commercial value
i.s concerned.
Although the lyrics falter at the
close, the song has a strong and fresh
beginning. “Precious Stone,” speaks
of the carefree feeling one has when
there is mutual love, but the doubts
and questions that often plague rela
tionships:
*‘I danced in the surf/at the edge of
an ocean/could have been someone
else/could have been anything at all/
don’t deny that you ask yourself/how
do you weigh in this precious stone?”
The title track ‘^alm Animals” is
OM*Mfr«»L scar
a boorish piece that compares the
animal to man. It is the theme, per
haps of the album, that although
people are free, they must be aware of
and responsible for the consequences
of that freedom.
It would have been a much smarter
move for The Fixx and RCA to re
lease the two best tracks on “Calm
Animals” -- “The Flow” and
“Cause to be Alarmed.”
The former is in the spirit of The
Fixx’s 1983 LP, “Reach the Beach.”
Like its title, “The Flow,” is a
smooth and dreamy melody about
getting carried away by life:
“Back in the flow/carried by the
flow/just look how far you’ve been/
look how far you’ve come/all the
things you’ve achieved/don’t try and
find any reason get carried by it/ jump
in the flow.”
The song seems to mock and ac
cept mainstream, at the same time.
‘The song seems
to mock and ac
cept mainstream,
at the same time.’
“Cause to be Alarmed,” is yet
another plea by The Fixx for people
to be aware of what the world is
becoming:
“We are pumped up fantasies/
until the world is disarmed/fly bird
high bird/go see bird and tell bird/that
a love bird got shot/heard the lead
bird’s a dead bird.”
Ick! Only Peter Gabriel and Sung
have the knack of cranking out meta
physical lyrics with dynamic accom
paniment
None of the musicians really were
dynamic on this recording, but The
Fixx returns with its usual cast: Cy
Cumin, lead vocals, guitar; Jamie
Wesi-Oram, lead guitar, vocals;
See FIXX on Page 8