Arts & Entertainment
The Junk Monkeys are (clockwise from left): Dave Boutette, Kevin Perri, Dan Allen and David
Bierman.
Junk Monkeys to shake Lincoln,
not blow people s heads off
By Michael Stock
Senior Reporter
Shaking the dirt of Detroit off of
their shoes, the J unk Monkeys have
been taking the country, city by
city and shaking the shit out of
them.
And Lincoln’s next.
Monday night will find the
Warner Brothcrs/Metal Blade band
the Junk Monkeys at Duffy’s, sup
ported by the Kearney-spawned
power popsters, Such Sweet Thun
der. Supporting Bob Mould and
Dinosaur Jr. on earlier lours, the
Junk Monkeys should feel at home
with the likes of Such Sweet Thun
der.
The Junk Monkeys formed in
1983 as a glam-rock band.
“If you can believe it,” said David
Bierman, Junk Monkey, singer and
guitarist, laughing.
In 1986, Bierman and company
disappeared for a couple of bands,
reemerging as the current Junk
Monkeys of rising power-pop status.
“Rock and roll is a very basic
thing,” Bierman said. “The three
minute rock song is a great vehicle
to express yourself.”
And what does Bicrman have to
say?
“It might be as banal as T like
my orange juice today,’ but you
can still write a song around it,’’
Bicrman said.
Since their realization of pop
music, the Junk Monkeys have been
compared to the Minneapolis greats
of the ’80s. Angst-driven power
pop greats, 1 ike The Rcplaccmcn ts,
Soul Asylum and Huskcr Du seem
to figure closely in the Junk Mon
key’s range of influences. ,
The band doesn’t seem to mind
the comparisons.
“1 like the bands. Soul Asylum?
They’re probably the preeminent
American rock band right now,”
Bicrman said. ‘‘You can’t write
pop songs anymore without being
compared to Paul Weslerbcrg.”
Isn’t that a compliment?
‘‘I think he’s cool. He’s taking
chances. I think he could have
written “Let It Be” every day. But
it’s going to bore the hell out of
you," Bierman said. “I don’t think
it’s fair to judge what he’s doing
now to what he was doing then ...
Like Dylan . .. They’re different
people.”
What about the Junk Monkeys?
“We’ve always been pop. I think
we’ve refined it a bit. Belieye it or
not. We’re learning to stretch out a
biton every song.We don’t have to
blow people’s heads off on every
song,” Bicrman said.
The future of the Junk Monkeys
seems to hold more of the same
pop promise.
“I’d like our next record to be
even poppier without forsaking
speed or volume of our songs. We
want to make a perfect pop record
that still has some balls to it,”
Bicrman said.
Detroit was not the easiest place
for an alternative pop band to be
bom, Bicrman said.
“If we were going to hear good
music, we were going to have to
make it ourselves,” he said.
Bierman said that Detroit still
isn’ t an easy place to be an alterna
tive band, even after being signed
to a major label.
“Detroit’s in a downward spiral
right now. There’s a total lack of
support ... for so-called under
ground bands. Bob Segerand Are
tha Franklin will get press until the
See JUNK on 14
Band 2 Below climbs
far above local level
By Robert Richardson
Senior Reporter
It’s not the first time, and it most
certainly won’t be the last lime that a
local band has tried to make the big
time. But 2 Below has as good a shot
as any to go far beyond the local
level.
A band doesn’t need glitter and a
flashy sound to go that extra mile —
it needs a good solid foundation to
build on, somewhere to start and
something to be proud of.
That and a little more is what 2
Below has to offer their audiences.
2 Below’s freshman attempt, “The
Next Door Zone,” isn’t so hot it could
cook an omelet, maybe an egg, but it
is a clear and intelligent musical ef
fort of Scott Rehling on keyboards
and vocals and Kevin Kiclian on guitar,
vocals and keys.
Most bands usually have several
songs that really stick out as favor
ites, songs that are clearly the best.
Not true with 2 Below.
All of their songs are solid, - not
similar - and offer more than just a
hint of diversity.
“Euphoria” pits Rehling and
Kielian’s voices together for a har
mony that will raise all body hair as
weU as eyebrows, and “Control” of
fers listeners a unique trumpet solo. 2
Below may be a lot of things, but one
category they have eluded is one
dimensional.
Band members prove they are not
I
2 Below
The Next Door Zone
Smooth Wool Records
Grade: B
afraid to try new instruments, sounds
and styles. By just coming out with
“The Next Door Zone” in Nebraska
where 2 Below’s style of music isn’t
as popular as in the east and west
coast, Rchling and Kiclian have shown
Nebraskans their true colors. Or rather
their true musical tastes.
Wondering which music category
2 Below fits into? It’s probably safe
to say alternative, but 2 Below also
fils into funk, industrial and pop. Which
alley they will pursue is as big of a
question as what they will do next.
Rehling said he hopes to continue
with his music and said the duo has
hopes of pursuing a musical career,
one that won’t end with “The Next
Door Zone.”
If there must be a power song on
“The Next Door Zone” it has to be
“Inside.of Me.” The echo effects and
See BELOW on 14
Book uses familiar ideas
to spark youngsters’ interests
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter
Norby and Yobo’s
Great Adventure
Janet and Isaac Asimov
Ace Books
Already one of the most prolific
science fiction publishers, Ace Books,
has just published its fourth “Norby”
collaborauon between Janet and Isaac
Asimov,
Isaac Asimov is well known as the
grandfather of American science fic
tion and the creator of the now fa
mous Laws of Robotics. With more
than 400 titles to his name, Asimov
now joins his wife in writing more
robot stories.
Norby is a stumpy, barrel-shaped
teaching robot who belongs to Jeff, a
cadet at Space Command under
Admiral Boris Yobo.
Norby is also a lime traveller, and
that ability forms the basis of Norby
and Yobo’s Great Adventure, a tale
written for younger readers whieh
takes the travellers back to Paleo
lithic limes in Eastern Europe and
almost to the same period in Africa.
Most of the classic questions and
paradoxes of time travel are here
J explored, and little new ground is
* covered, although the time-traveling
trio does arrive back only an hour
after departure, allowing them to live
the weekend twice: a familiar move,
but one still fascinating.
Along the way, the Asimovs util
ize opportunities to comment upon
environmental concerns and racial
harmony. Again, the ideas arc famil
iar but still of interest, especially to
the younger readers to whom this
book is directed.
The Asimovs also engage in a fair
bit of self-promotion, making refer
ence to several previous Norby works.
Aside from the Asimov name, there
is little to recommend this work to
readers except perhaps as a gift for
younger siblings or relatives.
Also recently released from Ace
Books is Crisis, the sixth book in a
shared-world military s-f scries, sort
of like crossing Thieves’ World with
Jerry Poumelle.
This volume features works from
Poul Anderson, Katherine Kurtz and
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, as well as an
awful alliterative poem/ song by Judith
R. Conly and a grand blend of Bushido
tradition with futuristic fighting by S.
N. Lewilt.
Shifting to the realm of fantasy,
Ace Books has also published Teresa
Edgcrton’s Goblin Moon, a romp
through magic, alchemy and the ubiqui
tous Knights of Mczztopholeez.
