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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1997)
Lan£ Hickenbottom/DN ERIK THE RED (from left, Chris PabiM|Hist, Rich Higgins and Shane Aspegren) makes its inaugural public appearance 9:30 tonight at Duffy’s Tavern. The freshly banded musicians, all veterans of Lincoln’s music scene, open for For Against and The Sheridans. r-- ■ — .. .. . ——■ .. ■■ —_ Ranch Bowl funks it up tonight By Patrice Miner Music Critic The music is right, so get your dancin’ shoes on, as the Ranch Bowl will be booty shakin’ tonight. Phunk Junkeez will bring their style of “Liquid Aggression” to the Omaha venue with Shootyz Groove and Incubus for a 9 p.m. show. The band is making its second appearance in Omaha since July and should give fans a gaze at mate rial from an album due out in November. “Adrenaline,” “Bones” and “Dead Beat” were some of the tracks played at the July^shbw that could show up on the new record. Phunk Junkeez have gone through some changes since their last album, having lost one Junkee, K-Tel, because of professional dif ferences, member Soulman said. DJ Roachclip takes on the addition al duty of rapping the lines former ly held by K-Tel. “The difference can be heard in the new songs,” Soulman said. “The new record will be much more positive.” Soulman said K-Tel was responsible for many of the nega tive lyrics in tracks such as “Snapped.” The departure has given the band a more positive atti tude about what it is doing, he said. Tonight, the Junkeez will play the usual hits and also might throw in a more lyricalfy “phunked” up “Song 2,” which Soulman said Blur “ripped off” from the Junkeez. Shootyz Groove will play before the Phunk Junkeez, and will give the latter something to live up to. The band’s blend of funk and hip-hop will get the crowd bounc ing and will be worth the $12.50 admission on its own. Incubus will open the show with a style similar to Korn and Limp Bizkit. The quintet has the standard vocalist, guitarist, bassist and drummer line-up, but Incubus also adds a spinster, DJ Lyfe. The lyrics on its latest record, “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.,” carry a positive theme in the end, but are too abstract. Vocalist Brandon Boyd uses ai pointless simile of being like a vitamin and the extended metaphor kicking off the album is about a human magic marker. When listeners aren’t dropping “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” into used CD recycle bins, the band will tour die East Coast with the Phunk Junkeez. However, Shootyz Groove and the Phunk Junkeez should be the highlight tonight, as they send funk and hip-hop into a crowd that sure ly will be sore the next day. as seen on \JQ \ along with the smash hit, “Hell” 9 -r HOT" available _ at fine ® record stores _ everywhere v Local rockers join forces in Erik the Red By Bret Schulte Senior Reporter Lincoln’s frequently incestuous rock scene has spawned once again - and this offspring already has a history. Local rock veterans Rich Higgins, Chris Palmquist and Shane Aspegren have combined their varied and eclectic musical backgrounds to forge Lincoln’s newest rock team, Erik die Red. Most Lincoln residents will get their first taste of the band at its show tonight at Duffy’s, 1412 O St., where Erik the Red will open for fellow local rockers For Against and The Sheridans, from Austin, Texas. n-_i_i__aL __ii__ uaiiu mviiiuvid Day uiv vuiivviiuh and combination of their past experi ences has helped create a sound unique to Lincoln’s local rock scene. “We don’t really sound like any body else in Lincoln,” Aspegren, the drummer, said. “Our band is more atmosphere. We utilize a lot of rhythmi cal things, a lot of melody and trance rock.” All agreed that atmosphere was a crucial ambition of the band. “It’s like a poetry reading,” Palmquist, the bassist, said. “We’re try ing to create a mood.” Although the name may suggest Viking house music and Swedish pom, Erik the Red sprung from more poetic origins. The name occurred to Higgins, Erik the Red’s guitarist, while he was employed at a local greenhouse and nursery. “It’s inspired by a particular flower,” Higgins said. “I was planting these Siberian irises, and I looked at the name tag. It said ‘Eriklhe Red.’” The other band members embraced the idea. “After three months (of being together without a name), anything sounded good,” Aspegren said. The band was conceived when Palmquist, a former member ofEamon, hooked up with Aspegren, a former member of Lullaby for the Working Class. Aspegren, whose past also includes a stint with the complex but extinct We’d Rather Be Flying, used his connections and contacted Sideshow guitarist Higgins about the project Bringing together their distinct x^ visions and separate influences, the local rockers created a communal cacophony that is heavy on mood and repetition. Together, members of the band decided to create a sound reflec tive of their backgrounds, but with an overall sound embracing more abstract ideas. “We’re a little more instrumentally based,” Aspegren said. “Lyrically, we go off ideas that are pretty ambiguous. (Higgins) seems to be coming more from thematic fragments and a rhyth mic base.” While all members or the band nave taken a departure from their previous styles?, Higgins probably has taken the largest leap. As a member of Ioca^ rock legend and emotional noise wall Sideshow, he has been allowed to explore different facets of his musical meanders. “This is my first time singing, and I’m trying to convince people I have something to say,” he said, laughing. “I think now I am putting more of my pop sensibility into it.” Aside from a few house parties, tonight’s show will be only the second public appearance for Erik the Red. But, members said, their brief summer tour of tlie Midwest allowed them the opportunity to tighten the band’s sound and create a greater cohesiveness. “We’re trying to find a happy medi um between pretentious alt-rock and stupid pop rock,” Aspegren said. Tonight’s show begins at 9:30 and costs $4. 227 North 9th • HaymaAet District | p .*y|I 99 if Weff Drinks and Buy One Pitcher, Get A Second One For A Penny! No cover charge before 9 p.m. Open Mon-Tfutrs: 5 p.m.-1 a.nu; Fri: 3 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sat: 12 p.m.-1 a.m. Home Football Gomes 8 a m. »l A