Suicide Machines
"Destruction by Definition”
Hollywood Records
Grade: A .
Here’s a good recipe: Take four
cups of Mighty Mighty Bosstones and
add two cups of Rancid. The result is
Suicide Machines.
The Detroit band used to be called
Jack Kevorkian and the Suicide Ma
chines. At one show, when people
came to see the real Dr. Jack
Kevorkian, the band quickly changed
their name.
Several other bands have tried to
run this punk-ska thing into the ground,
but the Suicide Machines pull it off,
and pull it off well. “Destruction by
Definition,” beginning with the song
“New Girl,” starts off the album on the
right track. The thrashing song has be
come the band’s first single, and sums
up their style of melody with a hard
edge.
lne two-to-tnree-minute ditties tnat
make up the rest of the album keep the
record flowing at high speeds. “The
Real You” and “Our Time” have great
chaus lines, and “Hey” i§u great rep
resentation of the band's ska style, with
Vinnie Nobile playing the trombone
and Larry Klimas joining in on tenor
sax.
The song “Vans” shows the band’s
more humorous sjde, as members dis
cuss their favorite footwear. The tracks
“Face Values” and “Break the Glass”
are also album standouts, as the band
retreats back and forth from rock to
ska.
The Suicide Machines will be per
forming Nov. 24 at the Ranch Bowl in
Omaha, where they will join the De
scendants. If you like what you hear,
you may be interested in finding
“Skank For Brains,” a split album the
band did with San Francisco’s Rudi
ments. The record should be tough to
find, but with renditions of‘*New Girl,”
“Hey,” and “The Real You,” and songs
not appearing on “Destruction” such
as “Green World” and “Bonkers,” the
investment would be well worth the
trouble.
—Patrick Miser
i
ii
Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
“Live Art”
Warner Bros. Records
Grade: A
Although there is a glaring contra
diction in the recording of ah album
and then labeling it Hive,’ the Hues and
funk band Bela Fleck & The
Flecktones captures die fluidity and
spontaneity of their famous acoustic
live shows on a new douHe disc, “Live
Art”
Bela Fleck & The Flecktones is a
delightfully complicated group. The
group’s music revels in reggae, bops
with jazz and continues to spin in a
musical montage. This can frustrate
those trying to label their primarily
acoustic and solidly surreal sound.
Along with the three original band
members — Bela Fleck, whose main
instrument is the banjo (which he warps
into such grandeur that he leaves the
boys from Hee Haw shaking their
heads); Victor Wooten, bassist; and
Future Man who dons a synth-ax
drumitar — “Live Art” also features
jazz paragon saxophonist Branford
Marsalis and pianist Bruce Hornsby.
The giddiness and cosmic feel of
the band permeates all aspects of its
identity. A few of the many gems on
this album are “Flight of the Cosmic
Hippo,” a Bela classic; an emotionally
moving “New South Africa” and the
bluegrass ditty “Cheeseballs in
Cowtown.”
A catchy, seemingly three-dimen
sional cover of the Beatles’ “Oh, Dar
ling” is lengthened and a startling ver
sion of “Amazing Grace” both stand
out.
The energy of Bela Fleck & The
Flecktones is inspiring and boundless.
If you’ve ever felt the blues or grooved
to the soul of jazz, the fresh new “Live
Art” CD is a must-have.
— Bret Schulte
The Jon Spencer Bines Explosion
“Now I Got Worry”
Matador Records
Grade: B
Jon Spencer is no Eric Clapton.
That is to say, Jon Spencer is not
God — as Clapton has been coined.
They both sing, play guitar and are
unabashed white boys willingly
trapped in the blues genre.
But where Clapton idolized and
imitated the great blues guitarists,
Spencer idolizes and decimates equally
great blues artists.
So this short-haired former punk
rock kid named Jon Spencer is not
God. But he might be the devil.
As frontman of The Jon Spencer
Blues Explosion, a group that he fer
vently claims is NOT a blues band,
Spencer emits a widespread variety of
moans, wails and guttural squelches
that turn even the purest rhythm line
into a twisted amalgamation of punk
sneer and blues heartache.
It’s post-punk blues. And every
time a flash of sincere style begins to
creep in, Spencer and his cohorts —
drummer Russell Simins ami guitarist/
vocalist Judah Bauer—quash it with
a belch or a heavily distorted chorus
of screams.
On its fourth and latest release,
“Now I Got Worry,” the Blues Explo
sion explores an even more chaotic
take on the blues than usual. Whereas
their self-titled debut was nearly absent
of the blues—and their follow-up al
bums were more focused and tradition
driven —“Now I Got Worry” is a si
multaneously beautiful and ugly effort
that sounds like a car accident between
John Lee Hooker and Johnny Rotten.
The opener, “Skunk,” starts with a
heavy drum beat and Spencer ’s usual
wail, stuttered by microphone cut-outs
and Weeps of static. When thereal song
starts, it is typical Explosion fare: old
fashioned blues scales, offbeat drums
and alternately shouted and slurred
vocals.
Similar packages are presented in
“2Kindsa Love” and “Rocketship,”
among others. But the Explosion
reaches its peak in “Wail,” a solid and
tightly maintained blues number that
rings of the bluef revival genre that
Clapton led in the 1960s.
But Spencer can never be con
strained to tradition fa a hill 16 songs,
and the Explosion cuts loose on sev
eral occasions on this album, letting the
blues as it is usually known degener
ate into profanity-sputtering and con
trolled noise. These tracks are not as
easily accessible as the Explosion’s
other songs, but they can grow lovable
after repeated listenings.
As a whole, “Now I Got Worry” is
an ironic piece pf work—as Spencer,
Bauer and Simins have become more
adept at their instruments and the genre
they have chosen, they haven’t become
less chaotic. Their work only has cane
to display a more controlled chaos than
ever before.
—Jeff Randall
Van Halen
“The Best ofVaa Halen—Volume P
Warner Bros. Records
Grade: B
Usually, when a band puts out a
“Greatest Hits” album, it means
they’ve broken up. In Van Halen’s case,
it means the end of one era and the
beginning of another.
This is a chronological history of
the band;-begfening'in 1978 with the
tracks “Runnin’ With The Devil” and
“Ain’t Tfclkin’ ‘Bout Love” from their
self-titled album. (Conspicuously ab
sent from the disc are ‘Tee Cream Man”
and “Jamie’s Cryin’.”)
The rest of the David Lee Roth
years are covered, with such classics
as “Dance The Night Away,” “Jump”
and “Panama,’? the latter two from the
signature ’80s album, ‘1984.’
The entire album showcases the
signature Van Halen sound, right from
the opening track “Eruption.” But in
the first half of the album, the Roth
years, it’s easy to understand why Van
Halen was one of the highest-grossing
arena rock acts of the 1980s. Roth
wasn’t the best singer around, but he
lent the band a trademark attitude if
hasn’t had since.
The sound on the second half of the
album, the Hagar era, is more polished.
It’s not something you really notice
until you’ve got the songs back-to
back, but the difference is clear—the
bad boys went corporate and made
money with Sammy Hagar.
The ballads “Dreams,” “Why Can’t
This Be Love” and “When It’s Love”
are all there in the middle of the al
bum. The pace picks up with classic
tracks “Poundcake,” “Right Now” and
“Humans Being,” and it’s those songs
that make me miss Sammy.
Not that Tm not excited for new
singer Gary Channel I think he’ll bring
the zest and vitality (and considerably
less ego) that the band has sorely
needed. But it’s the last two tracks that
make me very glad Dave got die boot
—“Me Wise Magic “ and “Can’t Get
This Stuff No More” are not Dave at
his finest, to be diplomatic.
; All in all, this is a good piece to
add to the VH library — all the hits,
little of the filler and a good represen
tation of the band’s 12-album, 18-year
history.
— Ana Stack
Iowa artists to perform at UNL
Five artists from the University
of Northern Iowa School of Music
in Cedar Falls will perform at
Kimball Recital flail tonight.
The Northwind Quintet will play
a free recital at 8 pm. The quintet
consists of Roberta Huff, flute; Ton
Barry, oboe; Jack Graham, clarinet;
Thomas Tritle, horn; and David
Rachor, bassoon.
Four pieces will be featured in
tonight’s performance. The first two
will include standard wind quintet
repertoire by Anton Reicha and
Jean Absil.
In the second half, the artists will
play more popular pieces and ar
rangements by Justinian Thmasuza
and Troy E. Thompson.
In addition to their concert to
night, the Northwind Quintet will
present a master class for the UNL
School of Music this afternoon.
—Emily Wray
Box Office
Top 10
SOURCE: AP
Stay Safe
this Winter.
Drive Carefully.
Pupa Chubby Live!!!
Live in-store performance
Monday, Nov. 11, 4 pm
l^in <x O' St.
Popa Chubby on Sale!!!
lii'VB"8*
1 "Hitthe High Hard One"
I Once not enough?
I See Popa live at the Zoo Bar
Monday night, Nov. 11
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