reviews
Reviews: book & music
BOOK
Lunar Park
By Bret Easton Ellis: Hardback, Knopf Publishing 1/2
Bret Easton Ellis is an archetypal example of the Wonder Boy Syndrome. His is a career that came too fast too early. In return for creating Patrick Bateman, he has spent much of the time
since American Psycho was released in 1991 being vilified and slandered for producing what Norman Mailer in Vanity Fair called "intolerable material." To be fair, Mailer was praising Ellis for his chutzpah. While Psycho will probably always define Ellis' career, Lunar Park, his first novel since 1998's Glamorama, is worth a read. In my case, it
ended up being about three reads to figure out what the hell was going on.
Lunar Park shows Ellis in the most peculiar of roles fatherhood.Having actually inserted himself into the novel as the main character, Ellis seems to come full circle. His first two novels Less Than Zero and The Rules Of Attraction detailed the highly sexualized, addiction-driven lives of wealthy college students in such a way that seeing him in an authoritative role in Park seems almost profane.
To be blunt, Park is bizarre. It's real, and yet it's not. Many of its characters are real publishing figures from Ellis'
life, and yet many others are totally fictitious (everyone's favorite American psycho has a cameo). The plotline has our resident author trying to overcome his substance abuse and celebrity in order
to form a closer bond with his wife and children. When young boys around his son's age start disappearing and murders start occurring in the area, the protagonist — Ellis' doppeganger — must save his family and convince his wife and therapist that he's not imagining the whole thing while on some sort of drug binge.
As you can see, it sort of defies explanation and is best read on one's own.
Ellis' gift has always been comedy of the blackest sort — the type of scathing, acidic wit that can make a person laugh at the most outrageous and offensive things. In this day and age, only Chuck Palahniuk and the boys of Fight Club can compare to Ellis' biting indictment of what it means to be young, well off and too complacent for your own good in America. Lunar Park, while lacking the fast living rush of his previous work, is a solid continuation of Ellis' theme of examining nihilism in the young elite.
-Kelsie Hayes
MUSIC
De Nova
The Redwalls
★★★
Beatles, anyone?
The Redwalls, a quartet hailing from Deerfield, Ill., will bring you straight
back to those good old sounds of the classic rock era with De Nova.
While listening to this album, it's impossible not to think back to those albums your parents grew up on during the '60s. Especially notable is the way brothers Justin and Logan Baren perfectly harmonize their voices.
there are plenty of tracks at your disposal. I recommend "It's Alright" because it embraces the rebellious spirit: "Well
"Front Page"
starts out with the same processed voice effects as The Beatles" "I am the Walrus" and has lyrics reminiscent of the disasters in "A Day in the Life." Other tracks have a laid-back feeling supplemented with a horn line and that '60s organ sounding keyboard that we all recognize. Care for something a little more psychedelic? Listen to "Hung Up On the Way I'm Feeling." If it's something with a little more energy you're looking for,
you don't want to go to school / It's alright / Oh you're so tired of playing the rules / It's alright." There's even an acoustic song. This album has everything.
My favorite song is "Falling Down," the track which earned De Nova's Parental Advisory Warning. Its sharp hooks enhance the biting lyrics that slam the
FCC and its strict obscenity censorship policy. The lyrics contain all the commonly-heard words that make the FCC (and newspapers) squirm.
De Nova really is an album that anyone and everyone can enjoy. I challenge you to resist this new traditional rock.
Chris Brower
MUSIC
Real Fine Place
☆☆☆
Sara Evans
Wave goodbye to the generation of coal miner's daughters, and say hello to the coal miner's wife. "I can't wait to get him home/ ain't gonna' have
nothin' but the supper on", Evans sings of her mining man on "Coalmine." It's all feisty banjo and chugging percussion — country raunch, but raunch, just the same. It's clear she wants to cut the subtleties. While the rest of Nashville's women play the traditionalist, coy persona, Evans bravely steps
tinged "Supernatural" and the personal "The Secrets That We Keep" speak of devotion, selflessness and shared intimacy between husbands and wives.The
forward. And if the lyrics are believed, we know what's kept her busy lately. Sex. Specifically, sex of the midnight, lantern-lit, rough-hands variety.
Evans never had issues walking the line between wholesome mother and sexpot wife. They're complimentary roles that have been as integral to her music as her Midwestern background. Songs like the stomping, Celtic-
light, acoustic "Tell Me" details the importance of open communication between partners. And parent-child relationships are addressed in the nostalgic "You'll Always Be My Baby," while the gently orchestrated "These Four Walls" becomes a testament to the fulfilling power of family.
18|Jayplay 11.03.05
It's all wrapped up in a pretty glorious package. Gleaming hooks, slick production and Evans' mega-rich alto abound. She's a woman made for Nashville. All hail the soon-to-be queen of contemporary-country music.
- Nick Connell
Plans
☆☆☆1/2
Death Cab for Cutie
After making 2003's Transatlanticism, Death Cab For Cutie had their work cut out for them. With Transatlanticism, they won over new fans and got rave
reviews from the music community, which helped to push the band to the top of the indie-rock world. So it must have seemed like no easy task when it came to making an album better than that one. Simply put, Death Cab successfully completed that task.
With Plans they have created anoth-
sings, "Sarah said, that love is watching someone die...so who's going to watch you die?" The theme of love and death continues on another classic from the
er album full of beautiful anthems. From the singer-songwriter feel of "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" to the dreamy, pop feel of "Your Heart Is An Empty Room," Death Cab continues their reign as the leaders of the indie-rock movement.
Throughout the 11-track album, Death Cab For Cutie delivers memorable after memorable track sure to please all of their fans, who should also enjoy Jason McGerr's excellent drumming with his
Once again, Ben Gibbard has penned his standard brand of intelligent and memorable lyrics. Some of the best lyrics lie in "What Sarah Said," when Ben
album, "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" where Bensings about a lover dying.
intricate offbeat accents and driving rhythms. The only real disappointment of the album is "CrookedTeeth," a corny, pop-rock track that should've been left out.
Bottom line: You should be able to find this album in almost any store, so go buy it.
- Chris Brower