Arts & Entertainment
Spring Break results in column catharsis
For all intents and purposes, Spring
Break started yesterday.
My attitude during the week be
fore Spring Break always tends to be:
“Hell, I get next week off so 1 may as
well put off everything I have to do
this week until next week.”
I'm going to kick back for the rest
of this week and wait until the end of
Spring Break to suffer the conse
quences of my immature procrastina
tion.
In keeping with this lethargic spirit,
I’m going to put very little effort into
this column. I’m just going to sit back
and let the words flow. Some of it will
appear disjointed and nonsensical, but
just go with it. I’ll clear my brain of
all the stuff that concerns me so that I
can be totally purged when my vaca
tion starts in earnest next Monday.
Call it column catharsis ...
•Teen geek Corey Feldman was ar
rested last week for possession of
heroin and cocaine. What a /.cro. It’s
time this loser figured out just what a
no-talent he is. Maybe a few weeks in
jail with a guy named Thag will clear
his pampered little ego right up.
• I hope the immature 18- to 20-year
old voters in and around Kearney
throw State Sen. Lorraine Langford
out on her butt during the next elec
tions. If so, we would be assured that
they definitely can make sound deci
sions. I think the only person whose
feelings have been hurt in this whole
affair is the mcga-dcfcnsivc senator
herself. And before she dismisses my
commentary as the ramblings of an
immature college student, let me say
that I’m 22 and much more mature
than my 20-ycar-old colleagues. You’ll
have to find some other backward
scheme to invalidate my opinion,
senator.
•1 saw a commercial Monday that
started something like this: “If you
have a bathroom used by men and
boys, you need new Lysol handi
wipes.” Either women don’t use bath
rooms or this commercial is a vicious
sexist attack on my bathroom habits
and hygiene. I suppose, I’m getting
used to this. All commercials for house
Jim
Hanna
hold cleaning products are based on
the premise that men arc sloppy pigs
who never do housework. I’m sure
many of you arc giggling smugly to
yourself “Yep, they arc, because it’s
true.” I assert that no matter how
“true” it is, it’s still rude and sexist.
Just for that, I’m boycotting Lysol
handi-wipes, and I encourage all of
you who despise prejudicial generali
zations to do the same.
Yeah! I finally have a cause.
•Does it bother anyone else that every
comer of the Nebraska Union smells
like char-broiled hamburger?
•Green beer is unnatural. It looks
like foamy toxic waste. Still, I’d like
to sec colored beers in honor of other
holidays as well. Pink for Valentine’s
Day, orange for Halloween, brown
for Groundhog’s Day and bile yellow
in honor of all the puking done on
New Year’s Day.
•I’m getting worried. There hasn’t
been a juicy Elvis sighting lor more
than a year. 1 hope that interest in
Elvis isn’t starting to wane. We must
continue to pay homage to King o!
sequined fat. If we forget about the
horrors of the Vegas Elvis, we may
sec the rise of another sweaty, washed
up, drug-chomping, rock and roll
legend. Remember, those who forget
the past are doomed to repeat it.
•Will “The Simpsons” ever get old?
God, I hope not.
•Burned-out. Drained. Wasted. Fed
up. Spent. Cashed. Tired. Washed
up. Bankrupt. Trashed. Done in. These
are all descriptions of the psychologi
cal state that inspires Spring Break in
the first place. I’m not sure I under
stand the basis of such a break to
begin with. There’s no real reason
why colleges and universities should
dump a week of classes so their stu
dents can gel tan and drunk. Not that
I’m arguing with it, mind you --1 just
don’t get its origins. In any event, I
don’t want to understand it, I just
want to enjoy it. And 1 encourage all
of you to do the same. Live it up (or
down) for a week. Think nothing of
this place. Enjoy a lavishly hedonis
tic excursion from reality and explore
any dimensions of your spirituality,
personality, sexuality, sensibility and
viability. Look at Spring Break as
your last chance of the year to prove
Sen. Langford right. My guess is she’s
just bitter she can’t go to playland
with us. We must all live for pleasure
with prudent restrictions, it is no
accident that Spring Break follows
National Orgasm Week.
Sec you in April.
Hanna is a senior theater major and Daily
Nebraskan Arts & Kntertainment columnist
and staff reporter.
Band's annoying drumline drowns out
vocalist's refreshingly emotional voice
By Michael Deeds
Senior Editor
A little while after national act
Thin White Rope finished at Duffy’s
Tavern, 14120Sl.,an MTV video by
the band appeared on the bar televi
sion.
The video was more interesting
than the live act had been.
Thin White Rope brought their
Davis desert-style sound to Duffy’s
in a swirling mixture of guitar jams
and eclectic vocals.
Thin White Rope largely depends
on Guy Kyser, the vocalisl/songwritcr
who offers a gravely, unique voice.
However, a smashing snare drum
combined with a low vocal volume
made lor a rather unimpressive night
of tunes from the surreal gloomstcrs.
It’s lough to enjoy Kyscr when he
can’t be heard.
Thin White Rope played an ex
tremely short 45-minute set of songs
primarily from “Sack Full of Sil
ver,” the band’s recent Fronticr/RC A
release.
Kyser, who grew up in the middle
of the Mojave Desert, still managed
to conjure up melodic landscapes of
Earth and sky while the bass lines and
annoying drums came through.
It is refreshing to sec a man with
such an oddly emotional voice front
ing an alternative band. These days,
almost everyone thinks they can sing,
as Lincoln’s own Red Max proved
earlier in the evening.
Thin White Rope concentrates on
brooding and building tension at the
same time. This they succeeded in
pulling off, thanks to Kyscr.
The small Duffy’s crowd sat and
watched throughout the show, an
exception to the more energetic bands
that have come through Lincoln lately.
Opening act Red Max’s speedy,
hardcore/grungc sound was hampered
by lousy vocals, though a chain saw at
the end of the show at least gave them
a bonus point for theatrics.
Next time they should use it on
Thin White Rope’s sound man.
The Jesus and Mary Chain capture
whirlwind of sounds on ‘Automatic’
Brian Meves
Staff Reporter
The Jesus and Mary Chain
“Automatic”
Warner Bros.
Listening to ‘‘Automatic” is like
flying a plane on autopilot.
“Automatic” is the fourth album
from the Scottish distortion group The
Jesus and Mary Chain.
The driving forces behind The Jesus
and Mary Chain are William and Jim
Reid. These brothers have been pro
viding the guitar feedback-drenched
sound behind The Jesus and Mary
Chain for almost six years now.
And by no means have their gui
tars cooled down one bit. On “Auto
matic” their guitars grind harder than
ever, with enough feedback to cause a
serious headache. It really makes one
wonder how these guys can create
this awesome, distinctive sound with
out overdosing on aspirin.
But there is a certain aura that
surrounds The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Not only will they blow brains away
with their intense distortion, but they
will capture what is left of the ears
with their very understandable vo
cals.
Their uniqueness and appeal defi
nitely lie in their feedback sound. If
the guitar feedback was taken away
and replaced with a semi-soft guitar
sound, The Jesus and Mary Chain
would fall into a giant vortex of Brit
ish mediocrity.
Thank God for feedback.
Even though fuzzy guitars and
vocals dominate the entire album, a
soft bass line and electronic drums
mesh in to create the whirlwind of
music. It is the kind of sound their
fans have come to love since their
1985 debut album “Psychocandy.”
After “Psychocandy” they were
deemed as ‘ ‘one of the most provoca
tive and controversial bands in the
modem, musical spectrum.” This
statement still is very true.
One disappointment, however, with
“Automatic” is the similarity among
some of the songs. The songs blend
well together, but sometimes it is
hard to tell where a new song begins
and the last one ends. Even though
the sound is monotonous at limes, it
really doesn’t matter because the sound
See CHAIN on 7
Courtesy of A&M
Del Amitri mixes rock
with twist of alternative
By Robert Richardson
Staff Reporter
del Amitri
*'‘Waking Hours”
A&M
There is a certain feeling a per
son gets stepping on a thorn. The
pain is sharp at first, but as time
wears on the pain becomes dull so
it hardly is noticed.
Welcome to the world of del
Amitri.
Right now, the band’s sound is
so middle-of-the-road it’s scary.
What is even scarier is that its
sound really is kind of refreshing.
With all the alternative bands scram
bling for their own “off the wall”
sound, it is nice to find a band that
Just plays music.
Of course, del Amitri does more
than just play music, but it is the
strong point of the band. The band
has a tight, clear sound kind of like
good rock and roll with a twist of
alternative - not the other way
around.
Take the Hooters with their fruity
style of acoustic sound, mix in
infamous R.E.M. with their “al
ternative holier than thou” atti
tude, add Bryan Adams just for
substance and the result is del Arnitri.
Soe WAKING on 7