Arts & Entertainment
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Connie Sheehan/Daily Nebraskan
Brian Schur sits among mst a few Batman items sold at the
store he owns, Cosmic comics.
bam! batman s back
invading local shops
By Bryan Peterson
Suff Reporter
Break out the Bat briefs, boys
and girls.
Batman is back, bigger than
ever, according to Lincoln mer
chants.
Stores in Lincoln arc filled with
Batman merchandise and collect
ibles to fill the needs of a new
generation of Batman fans.
Larry Lorenz, owner of Trade
A-Tape/Comic Center, 227 N. 11
St., said he has seen a great surge
ol Batman interest. He said a new,
younger audience has joined the
older core audience.
“He’s always been a popular
character, but there is a bu/z about
it now for some reason,” he said.
I’ve always liked him. The
comic quality has varied. When
done right, he is a good charac
ter.”
Cosmic Comics, Last Park
I’la/a, carries a wide variety of
Batman paraphernalia, including
boxer shorts, watches, lunch
boxes and two dozen t-shirt de
signs.
Brian Schur, the store’s owner,
said he is expecting much more
merchandise soon.
Schur said Batman’s popular
ity rose with the appearance of the
1982 book, “The Dark Knight
Returns.” In the book, a 50-year
old Batman came out of retire
ment to battle urban blight in
Gotham City.
The interest in Batman has
continued to rise since then, being
fueled by two monthly comics, a
series of graph ic novels and antic i
pation of the movie “Batman,”
which will open in Lincoln on
June 23.
The movie will feature Mi
chael Keaton as Batman and vet
eran bad-guy Jack Nicholson as
the Joker. Schur said long-time
Ba# .an fans were skeptical at
first, especially concerning Kea
ton’s portrayal of Batman.
Now that he has seen clips from
See BATMAN on 8
Attack of the new releases
Well, ili in is it: the last summer of
the 1980s.
Music anil other trends shape soci
ety's perception of an era -- and are
usually the most powerful in the latter
half of a decade. All the great 1960s
classics were recorded alter 1965.
Most trashy 1970s disco, which is
currently being revived in under
ground clubs, w as recorded in the late
’70s.
But during these identity-lacking,
rctro-cra/ed 1980s, most of the inter
esting music was recorded before
1984 - when the second British inva
sion and MTV opened doors for
groups like New Order, Bauhaus and
The Smiths.
t
Relentless nostalgia and haby
boomers’ arrogance shot a sedative
into the arm ol pop c nil tire in the mill
HOs. And we re still leeling the el
lev. is as oldies radio stations and
powerful yuppies saturate the air
wa\os and media w nh the sounds and
styles ol ihe ' Big Chill generation.
It has been hard lor new bands to
get breaks because programmers and
record label exec mixes would rather
re hash the Beatles and Jellerson
Airplane than listen to people who
don't I eel sentimental alter xxaichmg
an episode of "thirty something."
But the SOs artists ate finally
lighting back Asa few of the follow
ing new releases prove, it s not too
late to end the <S()s with fresh ideas
and have this decade remembered as
something more than a paean to yes
teryear's paisley.
Love and Rockets, Love and
Rockets!" (RCA):
England’s Love and Rockets have
finally risen from their subterranean
days in Bauhaus and Tones on Tail.
And they arc destined to be embraced
by the black-wearing trendies and
frat boys who slaked a claim on REM,
U2 and The Cure. Thiscponymously
titlcd, fourth effort from Daniel Ash
and company is now No. 1 on the al
ternative and college charts in the
U.S. Don’t ask why, for their sound is
basically the same -- lots of reverb
(sometimes too much), psychedelic
drum and guitar arias and flat, dron
ing vocals. As usual, Ash leaves in
numerous dramatic pauses between
vocals, but for.no real reason. Other
wise, few of the band’s old preten
sions abound: no heavy lyrics about
old world mysticism, no peace and
love pleas. Evidently, these are sim
pler days ol darkness for Love and
Rockets. Ash has said the album is
about "motorcycles, leather and
girls.’’ And he’s right. Trucks like
‘‘Motorcycle’’ pack on a driving
beat, copious industrial noise, the
ever-present Jesus and the Mary
Chain fuz/tonc bass -- and seem to be
mm*-r<tm §m* mam'** ..*
m KmBEsmk*.
Courtesy of RCA Records
Loveana HocKets: suDterraneans sunacing intotne main
stream.
about nothing more than cruising the
streets on a Harley. "The teardrop
( ollcclor" and I heel Speed" are
slower, baroque and closer to Ash’*
work m I ones on l ad. But that
doesn t matter to the trendies. I he
Rockets have the right haircuts lor
the inevitable, upcoming photos ol
themselves >. lift Bono ami Michael
Stipe arriving it Hollywood pre
mieres. Hu e re ready lor their ,veli
deservedclose up Mr DeMdlc.Stay
tuned. litimU : H +>
Debbie Harry, “Once More
Into the Bleach." tt hrysalis):
Re-mives ol both oid and new
songs are always a gamble because*
they usually strip most ol the original
hooks from a tune and add endless
ilrnm 111:11 huii' ih il tut itn l.tr >
millennium. Bui dial s hardly the
ca>e with this re mixed retrospective
ol Blondicand Debbie Marry classics
from the late ID7()s and early S(K.
Blondie hits like “Heart of Glass,”
“Call Me,” “Atomic” and “The
Tide is High” -- as well as Harry's
solo efforts “Feel the Spin” and
“French Kissin’ In the U.S.A.” - arc
all included with just enough high
tech, synth-pop polish and techno
house sampling to give them a mod
em feel. And the re-mixing wasn't
done by some corporate sound engi
ill'll, i wui} aiiu iiu iiuMiaiiu, v.im.s
Stein, did all the studio work. The re
mix of “Rapture” makes Harry’s
golden oldie sound like the latest
favorite on Brooklyn and Bronx
homeboys’ bealboxes. The “Rap
ture” re mix, with its funked-up,
throbbing 1989 bassline, could easily
be re-released and sell even more
copies than the 1981 original. Ditto
for the re-mixes of “Backfired” and
“Rush, Rush.” Musical deja vu has
never sounded this fresh. (Grade: A
+)
Cookie Crew, “Born This
Way.” (Poly(iram):
Cookie Crew, Britain's answer to
Salt ‘N Pepa, scored two hip-hop hits
the past few years w ith the feminist
rap “Females (Get On Up)” and the
the U.K. house track “Rok Da
House.” On their l .S debut, these
two South London homegirls prove
lhal trenchant rap anil hip-hop
doesn't have to eome Imm the bor
oughs ol New York City. The> ma\
ha\e to lake a Hr»>ii\ an.cm to sound
nit hem ic bin unlike most rappers,
they rel\ lesson electronic sampling
and scratching and more on tapping
to produce a heal. \iul ihe Cookies
aeei deal ol singing about the sexist
stx-ixoixpes their male xonnterparis
wallow in. On cuts like "I rom the
South' and 'Black U the Word,
ihx- Cookies come oil sounding
cheesx. cme and streetwise simulta
neous!} BomlhisWjv islurther
proo! that these daxs. more ol the
interesting Max k soul is coming I'rom
the U.K. instead ol New York.
< (■ ratio: B i
Swing Out Sister, “Kaleido
scope World." il’olxdrami:
Swing Out Sister, the lashion
posing British duo that hit the H.S.
I op 10 in l()X6 with "Breakout," is
hack with a second I..P. ol inoffen
sive pop. Their sound is described in
the press kit as "ja/./y pop," but
tracks like "Wailing Game" and
"Forever Blue" sound more like
postmodern Mu/.ak. Fortunately,
British colleagues like Everything
But The Girl exist - and that group
does more for the power Mu/.ak
genre than Swing Out Sister’s
bouncy, annoying pap could ever
hope to. However, there’s a bright
side to ‘ ‘ Kaleidoscope World" if one
just looks at the jacket cover: fash ion
victim/vocalist Corrinc Drewcry
wears enough eyeliner to make her
resemble a cheerful, bubble-gum
version of Siouxsic Sioux, (tirade: C
-)
Swans, “The Burning World.”
(Uni):
New York's Swans, along with
Coil, Sisters of Mercy and Sonic
Youth, have created some of the
decade’s best dirges and art school
pretensions. On “The Burning
World,” Swans' debut on Urn Rec
ords, Manhattan’s inert leaders of the
funereal have created another beauti
ful, wrist-slashing, hyper-poetic trib
ute to death, darkness and mysticism
See BEATBOX on 8
