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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1989)
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A A AAA llltiAiAAl *Trust’ hooks old and new fans By Mark Hain ' Staff Reporter Chris and Cosey “Trust” Nettwerk-Capitol Records Eurythmics “We Too are One” Arista Records In 1982, two innovative electronic duos, both fronted by charismatic female vocalists, recorded a duet. For Chris and Cosey, recently emerging from the disbanded pio neering industrialists Throbbing Gristle, the duet was surprisingly tame. Rather than a primordial murk of unsettling sounds and white noise, it had identifiable melody and rhythm. For the Eurythmics, recently emerging from the ill-fated progres sive pop group The Tourists, the duet was an exercise in expansion. The traditional pop format was aban doned. The result of this ad hoc quar tet was the raw, seething single “Sweet Surprise.” But now, seven years later, Chris and Cosey have remained clinging to the cutting edge while the Eurythmics has degener ated into bland, ersatz-soul medioc rity. Chris and Cosey’s recent output has ranged from experimental noise to harsh, percussive disco to seem ingly innocuous pop ditties that were actually chock-full of sinister sub liminal messages. Although most of their music was challenging and interesting, it didn’t inspire the rabid fandom that their former Throbbing Gristle cohorts Psychic TV did. At least nobody shaved heads and got cranial tattoos or pierced genitals for Chris and Cosey like the more ex treme Psychic Youth did. Still, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti have built up a strong underground following, and their lat est release, “Trust,” remains just industrial enough to satisfy the old fans but still is accessible enough to maybe hook a few new listeners even without the added help of subliminal seductions. “Trust” opens with the wonder iMrv fully obsessive “Deep Velvet,” si multaneously disturbing, danceable and as aurally rich as the title fabric. Cosey, who’s never had a particularly strong voice, is more effective than she has been in the past, and for once the singing is nearly as well done as the rhythm and noise engineering. “Illusion” particularly benefits from her newly expressive singing, and the insistent beat of “Watching You” makes it perfect fodder for nefarious, avant-garde discos. More than any other of its recent albums, ‘ ‘Trust’ ’ harkens back to the glory days of Throbbing Gristle, in corporating the spiraling, circular saw-like guitar riffs and tuneless, muted comet blasts that became trademark T.G. sounds. The per versely erotic “Percusex” is espe ‘ daily reminiscent, referring back to the T.G. hit’ " Hot on tne hccis oi Love” in lyrical content like ‘‘1 let you caress my body/with bloody fin gcTc- quantity of good material on “Trust” is what makes the selection of “Rise” as the album’s first single so unfortunate. An unthreateningly ordinary dance floor rave-up, “Rise” at least incorporates enough sampling from “Barbarella” and uncharacteristic humor to add inter est. Although the general trend seems to imply that the longer a band slays together, the less innovative and more mild its music gets, Chris and Cosey generally have maintained a dark undercurrent and original sound to their music. It seems as it the Eurythmics either simply have run out of creativity or are ready to sub mit to the tempta tion of broader commercial suc cess. Down at the other end of the scale, the Eurythmics’ first release on Arista, “We Too are One,” slips further into an uninspired pop waste land. Up until this point, Dave Ste wart and Annie Lennox seemed to have reached their nadir with 1986’s “Revenge,” an album that practi cally bore a banner screaming “Synth bands can rock, too!” yet only offered a sludgy soul mish mash. The duo momentarily re deemed themselves with 1987’s “Savage”, however, by dropping most of the R ‘n’ B posing and con centrating instead on creating a ra zor-sharp concept album about a descent into blissful insanity. It was their most innovative album since the “1984” soundtrack, so of course ii didn’t sell. This is wny wc iw «»v comes as a not unexpected disap pointment. If this was a new band, it would be easy to dismiss, but there’s that excel lent carly-’80s material to consider. It seems as if the Eurythmics either simply have run out of creativity or are ready to submit to the temptation of broader commercial success. “We Too are One’ ’ features more guitars and real drums than usual, as well as pop-pap producer Jimmy Iovine. The result is generic top-40 radio spew -- seems like ol’ Dave ‘n’ Annie are really out to make a buck. The lyrics, which often contain wry humor and beautifully visual metaphors, are just as often plain embarrassing: the choruses of seven of the ten tracks are the song’s title repeated over and over. The album admittedly has its moments. The title track is undenia bly funky (the similar “Revival”, however, is a dismal clubfoot); “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “You Hurt Me (and I Hate You)” start out promisingly mournful and uncompli cated, but lose momentum by the chorus. The track that works best is “Sylvia.” Except for a weak chorus (again), its sweet, synthesized strings contrast with the brutal lyrics about a young prostitute. Ironically, it’s the only completely electronic song - further proof that the Eurythmics never were meant to chug away like Grand Funk. That’s not to say the band has lost its talent. Annie’s voice has a com pelling raspiness and maturity now, out someone should tell her that soul musk: has more to do with emotional commitment Until she realizes this, and the Eurythmics decide whether they want to keep on churning out boring, formulated, blue-eyed soul stampers or to return to its more innovative roots, the band seems doomed to join its “Second British Invasion” com panions Duran Duran and Culture Club in the “Where are they now?” file. wirifwwwwwitirirwinflfwifirir'Kwwwwwwwww'm-Kw ********** * t t £ * AT NEBRASKA DIAMOND * * OUR REPUTATION SPEAKS FOR ITSELF: $ * i * ★ £ SUPERB QUALITY £ £ UNMATCHED PERSONAL SERVICE £ TREMENDOUS SELECTION * UNBEATABLE PRICES £ 5 -* ★ * J Nebraska Diamond Is Well Known J As The Only Place To Go * * For Engagement Rings And Fine Jewelry * ★ * J * I * ★ J ★ * ★ * ★ * i i | NEBRASKA j { DIAMOND I ★ * * 865 NBC Center 13th & O i j Lincoln, Nebraska 68508 1 J (402) 474-6400 i ★ USA 1-800-334-GEMS i ★ THE PLACE for Engagement Rings 1 * & Fine Jewelry ] w r A- 1 i ' i A l ‘ V W •*. i • *,* y "W JL |pn 1 ★★★**★★★★*★★'****★★★★****★★**★★****★******1 BENES from Page 13 cent in style of Duran Duran or INXS. Benes is playing it safe writing and performing this style of music, and he’s doing it very well. And there’s nothing wrong with that In a way, it epitomizes the values and mood of a large segment of our generation, and it’s what a lot of people want. Anyway, Benes has a rich and sensual voice, and he estab lishes himself well in this genre of music on this tape as a creative song writer and a musician’s musician. The lyrics are the only weak ele ment of the music on this tape. The lyrics have a great sense of rhythm within the songs, but they don ’ t really provoke any images or emotions. They’re just words. But lyrics don’t AWAKE from Page 13 and writing music, he said. Benes began his music career as a vocalist, but soon picked up a key board and practiced at it "night and day," he said. For three years he played in original bands, such as One r Whisper and The Pedestrians, then r worked with former Finnster Ric Cowling on a recording project called ‘Things Happen." "After ‘Things Happen,’ I really wanted to get back to playing live," Benes said, "butyl wasn’t excited about anything I had going at the time. 1 wanted to do something new." It was at this point that Benes began the slow, deliberate process of rinding the members of Lie Awake, he said. "I looked for ability, altitude, and a kind of feel or groove for the mu sic,” he said. "I was very careful, and I’m real happy with the way it (has) turned out.” Besides Penes, Lie Awake cur rently is made up of: Ray Yarusso, bassist; Craig Enders, keyboards; Chris Varga, drums; and Jeff Carlson, guitar. Carlson is the newest member, having joined about two months ago after playing with Tipsy Alligator, another local band, Benes said. Lie Awake’s cover list includes play any significant role in this genre of music, so this isn’t really a prob lem. However, I can’t help but wonder. From listening to this tape, I get the feeling that Roger Benes and Lie Awake are a talented and sometimes creative bunch of musicians who could play in the pop music big league with bands like INXS, Mid night Oil and maybe even Prince. Only the lyric content sets diem apart. And that’s a wide gap to bridge. Still, I’ll give Roger Benes and Lie Awake my highest accolades for this tape by saying this tape has lots of commercial potential. It’s another good example of an outstanding Lin coln band that has as much right to be on MTV as those that already are. songs by bands like INXS, The Cure, New Order, Fine Young Cannibals and Oingo Boingo. The band looks for songs by “non Top 40-glut bands,” and songs that are not overly played, Yarusso said. They also play keyboard-oriented hits from the past, which have been forgotten by most people, he said. Lie Awake currently is playing enough shows in the three-city circuit of Lincoln, Omaha and Kansas City to make a "comfortable living” at music, Benes said. But some changes lie ahead for the band, he added. “If you follow the band, you’re going to see a change toward original music,” Benes said. “But we’re finding out we may have to live somewhere where original music is important.” Benes says that Lincoln is not one of those places. “The biggest thing here is foot ball,” he said. So the band members currently are toying around with the idea of mov ing their entire act to another city, Yarusso said. “It gets to the point where it's either move or quit,” he said. “People who think they can make it from the Midwest are fooling them selves. There’s no one around to sec them.”