}
Asylum Street Spankers Mercurial
courtesy of Spanks-A-Lot Records
Asylum Street Spankers are a band from Austin, Texas who play an odd blend of old time jazz, bluegrass, big band, country, folk and probably some other kind of music. The band consists of seven members who play instruments ranging
prising are their swing rendition of Paul Revere by the Beastie Boys and even a cover of The B-52s' Dance this Mess around. This gives the band a little bit more accessibility to the younger generations; even though I'm pretty sure that everyone liked the original versions just fine.
jazz The album also contains covers of Black Flag's TV Party and even more surfrom oboe, to banjo, to violin; the major brains behind the band being Christina Marrs and Wammo.
The band recently released their sixth album Mercurial. Most of the band's success and reputation comes from their raucous and eclectic live shows. The band's repertoire consists mostly of cover songs of classic blues and jazz greats like Bessie Smith (Sugar in my Bowl) and Fats Waller (It'a Sin to Tell a Lie). Surprisingly enough they don't just cover classic blues and
The band definitely is a strange mixture of styles
and influences that plays a strange mixture of songs. However, the band doesn't seem to have very much original material, they're a cover band that is weird enough to have the reputation that they do being just that. If this sort of thing is your bag; you should definitely check it out, but most would find it weird and annoying.
Grade: Cguitar-heroics of *Bends-era* Radiohead lies *Mander Salis*, the ambitious debut album by the arcane and obliquely named The Snake The Cross The Crown. At times invigorating and at others blatantly derivative, TSTCTC has latched on to the side-paneling of the ever-ascending Radiohead rocket along with other first-
The Snake The Cross The Crown
—Joe Sibinski
Mander Salis
Somewhere between the sonic landscapes of Dark Side of the Moon and the
The majority of Mander Salis is Bends pastiche. TSTCTC parrots the album's relentless guitar bombardment. "An Honest Misappropriation of Funds" and "A Gathering of Shades" could have been Bendsb-sides, though laced with the jumbled electronica of future Radiohead releases. Though their primary influence is obvious on these tracks, TSTCTC emugeneration acolytes Muse and Clinic.
lates it's heroes with songs worthy of comparison.
courtesy of Equal Vision Records
Mander Salis' greatest appeal lies in its deviations. "On the Threshold of Eternity" and the aptly titled "A Brief Internmission" are exactly what the latter implies. Both are acoustic respies with from the
other, more empowered tracks."On the Threshold of Eternity" even flirts with country-twang on the lead as an organ drones in the shadows.
The album's most noteworthy track however, is "Echolalia," a portentous nine-minute, multi-part prog-rock voyage that forecasts the future of the band.
Mander Salis, though not wholly original,
is an introduction to a band that could do
great things if they just ignore Thom Yorke
& Co. for a few minutes. Recommended
for fans of Muse's Absolution.
Grade: B
—Dave Ruigh