Courtesy of Radio iodine
Radio Iodine, from left, Steve Held, Anna Berry, Ellen Persyn, Tom Bramer and
Tony Persyn. The group plays with Heroes and Villains at the Hurricane Saturday.
Band provides potent sound
By Cliff A. Hicks
Staff Reporter
Saturday night, the Hurricane
features a band whose biggest fight
was for a name.
Originally called “9 Days Won
der,” Radio Iodine recorded an
album entitled “Garden Of Black
Roses.” After a
. ’ #*. * split with the
' - "' ' ' - band’s original
i Concert guitarist, Tom
- _l * Bramer and
Preview Anna Berry
; p I I' i' were added to
tne existing
I lineup of Ellen
I Persyn, her
I husband Tony,
■_A C* ~_
till U JtVVUl
The band was reborn, but it hit
a snag.
But believe it or not. Five other
bands had the name “9 Days Won
der.”
“It was bizarre,” Ellen Persyn
said. “It’s in the dictionary, but
still ...
“We wanted to get a name that
was unique to us. You even did a
search to find an original one. You
wouldn’t believe some of the bi
zarre names that are taken,” Persyn
said.
“Iodine’s a potent word, and we
have a potent sound, but we try to
be radio-friendly,” she said. Thus,
the name “Radio Iodine,” a name
unique to the group, was chosen.
With a new name came a new
sound. Even though no official
releases have been made under the
Radio Iodine name, a song from
the group has been put on the sec
ondcompilation disc from St. Louis
rock station, KPNT 105.7, in the
band’s hometown.
* “People who hear that and go
out and buy 'Garden of Black
Roses’ come up to me and say
'T|iis doesn’t sound like you do on
the radio.’ I tell them I didn’t say it
would,” Persyn said.
The sound of Radio Iodine
might be described as a combina
tion of Annie Lennox, whom
Persyn cites as a major influence,
and Nine Inch Nails.
Radio Iodine will be in concert
Sunday night at the Hurricane with
Heroes and Villains.
“We actually met Heroes and
Villains at the Hurricane in Kansas
City, and we liked each other so
much, we swapped gigs,” she said.
“Our main goal right now is to
get a regional base,” Persyn said.
“The last time we played in Lin
coln, they loved our show. It was
the rowdiest show I can remem
ber.”
“We’re playing in Kearney the
night before, and it puts us in front
of a whole new crowd,” said
Per&yn. “We hope to eventually
swap gigs every 8 to 12 weeks.”
The band is currently being con
sidered by both independent labels
and major labels, and will have a
five-song EP released indepen
dently in November.
Space Needle
“Voyager”
Zero Hour Records
Grade: A
Slipping quite nicely into the tracks
of earlier lo-fi pioneers, yet avoiding
direct contrivance, Space Needle,
well, ambles onto the scene with its
debut. Voyager.
It’s the result of many late nights
that the band, consisting of Jeff
Gatland on space guitar and Jud
Ehrbar on vocals, drums and organ,
spent in Ehrbar’s basement, chipping
away at creation until dawn.
The culmination is just what the
name suggests — a huge spacecraft
chugging through the universe, the
warm hum of the guitar pushing the
beast. It is indeed a journey and the
mood is a little dark and obtuse, filled
with electric wailing, occasional feed
back and odd melodies.
Nonetheless, it’s a wide landscape
that the duo creates, capturing levels
of sonic noise in songs such as “Sci
entific Mapp” and “Dreams” and
painting them with the rich voice of
tjjp organ. This experimentation is
unsuccessful in some instances and
may become a bit irritating to those
who like their sound catchy, but the
quality remains despite skepticism.
Midway through the album,
though, the path of the Voyager even
falls upon some more easily acces
sible, organic pieces, such as “Beer
in Heaven” and “Starry Eyes,” fol
lowing a more traditional format and
even waxing on Robert Pollard’s style
at some points. It should not be sug
gested that these are the only worth
while efforts, despite the fact that
they may be the album’s only radio
friendly tracks.
One thing is certain — whatever
the boys touch is packed with emo
tion, which is a function of both the
songwriting and the use of the four
track. Much like Steven Malkmus,
Scott Kannenberg and Lou Barlow,
Needle’s work is not limited by the
medium: They are comfortable in
these surroundings, they prefer them,
and the music benefits, becoming
more personal, more inviting, more
powerful.
\ - U i I
Everyone might be hopping onto
the four track, but they don’t all be
long in its realm. Space Needle does,
however; its pathos is amplified by
the chunky recording, the do-it-your
self format, making songs like “Be
fore I Lose My Style” and
instrumentals like “Put It on the
Glass” seem so much more meaning
ful.
And though the path of this musi
cal genre is not new, the footprints
that the hulking Voyager leaves be
hind are.
i. .
— Matt Kudlacz
. ' • •
*' 1 ;i*j , • *
Punk band
holds only
simple goals
From Staff Reports
Punk and youth make up the
group Welt, playing at the Cog
Factory in Omaha tonight.
While nobody in Welt is
older than 22, the band has al
ready released its debut album,
“Better Days,” an energetic *
punk rush, from Doctor Dream.
The mem
'--tiff bersofWelt
| grew up lis
Concert teni,ng to
i PreVieW, dards like 7
seconds,
The De- \
scendents
and Bad Re
ligion. Welt
- was iormea
because the band members
thought they could do it better.
After Jason Cooper, bass/
lead vocals, Matt Levine, gui
tar/backing vocals, Ross
Levine, drum/backing vocals,
and Jeff Lewis, guitar, tried
other bands, they came together
in Sacramento, Calif., to form
Welt.
The band has no global goals
in mind; It simply wants to play
good music, enjoy playing, tour
as much as possible and take
the music as far as it can go.
Welt plays at the Cog Fac
tory, 2224 Leavenworth St.,
starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $4,
and the other bands playing in
clude Recoil, Cons for Progress
and Tinhead Circus.
With
Birkenstock Footprint Collection
Offer Ends October 31st
IRKENSTOC
The Original Comfort Shoe
*\Vith any Footprint Collection Purchase
OOTLOOSE & FANC
1219 pST. PASG 476-6119
NOVEMBER 14 - 7:30 PM
THE LIED CENTER
On salt to students Monday, Pet. 9 wtlh taM P at Hw Ued Ctnttr 8ox Offlct (11-530 M-F).