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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1994)
Arts^Entertainment Courtesy of Sub Pop Records, Seattle Aaron Stauffer (left) and Clint Werner are two members of the band Seaweed, scheduled to play Thursday at Amnesty International’s benefit at the Culture Center. Other members of Seaweed are Bob Bulgrien, John Atkins and Wade Neal. Seaweed to give students a taste of punk rock of old By Glenn Antonucci Staff Reporter _____ Sub Pop recording artists Seaweed will stomp through Lincoln Thursday night, toting their old-tradition Pacific Northwest punk and tour beaten instruments. While “old tradition” may be too Jurassic a term for the youngest band on Seattle’s infa mous Sub Pop record label, Seaweed undoubt edly possesses the no-nonsense, melodic, in your-face punk rock of old. The band’s third and latest album is “Four,” released last September. Singer Aaron Stauffer said the album was his favorite. And with the escalating attention and expo sure the band is receiving, it seems rock music fans agree with him. “To a punker it may be less accessible,” he said, “but to the average alternative radio lis tener, it’s probably more accessible.” Moreover, “Four” is entirely homegrown, recorded in the band’s practice space in the basement of a house in native Tacoma, Wash. Guitarist Clint Werner set up the cellar studio in the house owned by his parents and engineered the project, while the band pro duced. Stauffer said the inside job allowed the band to spend more time recording, which, in Sea weed’s case, meant all of five weeks. “I like this album best because we did it on our own time,” guitarist Wade Neal said. “Be fore we had three days to record, racing against the clock in a big studio.” Stack on top of the new album near-constant touring in the U.S. and elsewhere, plenty of radio and MTV airtime for“Four’”s first single “Losing Skin” and another vidcojust in the can. Seaweed’s time may have arrived. Shortly after the release of “Four,” the Sea weed touring machine started up again. Tour Promoter Suzy Davenport said the band was happy to tour so much because the members were “young and durable” and friends since boyhood. Stauffer said touring was what sold records best. “We’re into the touring, working-class ethic Were into We touring, working class ethic of rock. —Stauffer Seaweed singer -ft of rock,” he said. With one U.S. tour already notched in the band’s belt since the album’s release, Sea weed’s Lincoln stop will precede another tour that begins Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C., with Quicksand. Overseas, the band recently played at Sub Pop’s Lamcfest in Japan, with two shows in Tokyo and one in Osaka. Unlikely place for all-American punk rock? Not really. “It was killer,” Stauffer said. “The crowd sang along to all the songs, danced... they were as responsive as they could possibly be.” Also on the bill were Seattle bands Supersucker and the Fastbacks, plus Japan’s own Suoersnazz. But Stauffer said it was good to get back to the United States. “I’d like to go back, but being in Japan is tike being in outer space,” he said. “I had to think more about things like money, language and food. I like to think as little as possible.” Since they’ve been back home in Tacoma, the band shot a video for Kid Candy, which Neal said took place in part at an abandoned mental hospital and in part at a kid’s* funplex. He said the video was stocked with teenage punk kids,“a blowtorch, an arcade, long stringy hair and AC/DC shirts.” Ah, the props of a rock band from T acoma on its way up. If Seaweed’s time hasn’t come quite yet. at least they’ll never be called lazy. Seaweed’s Thursday appearance at the Cul ture Center, 333 N. 14 St., is sponsored by Amnesty International. Omaha bands Ritual Device and ClayTace will open the show, which starts at 7 p.m. Admission is $5, with proceeds going to Am nesty International. ‘Wrinkles in Time’ brings cosmology down to earth George Smoot and Keay Davidson “Wrinkles In Time” William Morrow & Company Inc. The origin of our universe is a fast, beau tiful billion-year ride, as told in “Wrinkles In Time” by George Smoot and Keay Davidson. Not to be confused with Madeline L’Englc’s young-adult classic, “A Wrinkle In Time,” this non-fiction work will enter tain you. George Smoot is hot offthe lecture podi um, where he spoke of his latest success, the 1992 discovery of “cosmic seeds.” His re search has added new validity to the Big Bang and Inflation theories. Smoot combines with Davidson, a popu lar science columnist, to write the story of cosmology’s history in terms of his own experiences. The result is a lively and fasci nating narrative, even for readers who couldn’t make it through “A Brief History Of Time” by Stephen Hawking. “Wrinkles In Time” makes difficult con cepts, like antimatter and cosmic background radiation, exciting by presenting them as characters in Smoot’s life. The book allows the reader to sec a scientist grappling with abstract ideas and Spectrophotometers, turn ing what would normally be jargon into a plot device. As a text, “Wrinkles In Time” could propel a University of Ncbraska-Lincoln astronomy class into involved participation and would interest even the seasoned sky scanner. The real strength of “Wrinkles In Time” is the beautiful description of cosmological theories and our universe. From a “boiling sea of neutrons and protons” to a “primordial cloud of dust and gas,” Davidson’s writing communicates the poetic imagery ingrained into the scientific theories of past and present. The only literary downfalls in “ Wrinklcs In Time” arc Smoot’s odes to the machinery he used in his search for cosmic seeds, particularly his chapter on microwave radi ometers. While his love for his mechanical apparatuses is earnest, no amount of enthu siasm can make 20 pages of cosmic ther mometers fun. But these bulky sections can be skipped and should not deter anyone from reading an otherwise flawless book. —Patrick Hambrecht Courtesy of William Morrow & Company Inc. Courtesy Interscope Communications, Inc /Nomura Babcock & Brown Unit One Film Partners Charles Gitonga Maina (left) and Kevin Bacon in ‘The Air Up There.” Heroic sports film about more than slam-dunking basketballs “The Air Ud There” son”) Not just another sports film, “The Air Up There” is an entertaining tale of life, basketball and culture shock. Assistant college basketball coach Jimmy Dolan, played by Kevin Ba con (“Flatlincrs,” “A Few Good Men”), journeys to Africa to recruit a power player for his team. He finds Saleh—played by Charles Gitonga Maina in his film debut — a 6-foot-10-inch Wanabi warrior who is more interested in helping his tribe than playing college basketball. Dolan uses charm and bribery to attempt to win over Saleh and his stubborn father Urudu, played by Winston Ntshona(“A Dry White Sea uoian cnus up joining the Wanabi to help save their land from a power hungry rival tribe. Not surprisingly, the climax is a close basketball game. But the game is played in a small village in Africa, not a modem col lege court. This film deals with stronger is sues than just sports. Dolan finds out who he is in a dramatic and not too cliched entry into the Wanabi tribe. The Wanabi themselves are changed by Dolan and his sports-ccntcrcd ide ology. Director Paul M. Glaser, who played Starsky and directed “Starsky and Hutch,” has added another suc cessful film to his list that includes the hits “The Cutting Edge” and “The Running Man.” Joel Strauch