10 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MUSIC
THURSDAY,APRIL3,2003
SUA rocks back with concert tour
It's about time Student Union Activities did something that didn't suck.
REVIEW
After the past few jackluster years, SUA has come back with a vengeance, bringing fantastic events to campus such as Beck and The Flaming Lips, John Waters and most recently, The Advance Warning Tour, featuring Longwave, White Light Motorcade, The Raveonettes and The Mooney Suzuki.
It was a sparse crowd Sunday night in the Kansas Union Ballroom, but those who came out got rocked hard, whether they wanted it or not. With four bands for five bucks, it was one of the most cost-effective shows to hit Lawrence in a long time. After all, even if all four bands sucked, you'd still be out only $5.
Aaron Passman
apassman@kansan.com
But, for the most part, little suckage was found Sunday night, and New York City's Longwave started the night off with a strong thirty-minute set of oceanic, often dream-like indie rock. Longwave's vocalist/guitarist Steve Schlitz has a strong baritone voice, and songs like "Everywhere You Turn" and "Pool Song", both taken from their debut album "The Strangest Things", are at times reminiscent of the alltoo-short career of Joy Division. But the band also experimented with all sorts of noise, distortion and feedback, bringing to mind bands like Sonic Youth.
THE ADVANCE WARNING TOUR
Where: Kansas Union Ballroom When: March 30
LONGWAVE ... B
WHITE LIGHT MOTORCADE ... D
THE RAVEONETTES ... B+
THE MOONEY SUZUKI ... A+
OVERALL GRADE ... A-
Second on the bill was White Light Motorcade, a band so mediocre, it defies the mind. Aside from finishing, the most exciting part of Motorcade's set was the vocal harmonies on songs like "My Way." But for the most part, it was a 30-minute set of filler tracks like "It's Happening." White Light Motorcade merely plays the same kind of cock rock as Rye Coalition but without the attitude or the sense of humor.
The Raveonettes drew the biggest crowd of the evening, and they were in many ways the most interesting band. On their debut record "Whip It On," the Danish duo of vocalist/guitarist Sune Rose Wagner and vocalist/bassist Sharin Foo, whom, I might add, is stunningly gorgeous, set heavy limitations for themselves, keeping all songs under three minutes long, using no more than three chords in one song, and most impressively, writing all songs in the key of B-flat minor.
But despite these limitations, their live performance, which also included a drummer and a second guitarist, was impressive. Foo's and Wagner's dual vocals were strongly reminiscent of both The Velvet Underground & Nico and even a bit of The Breeders. Songs like "Chains," "Wanna Dance," and "Beat City"were heavy on the bass and combined both a garage rock and a surf guitar feel. The Raveonettes were easily the most understated band of the night, but in a way, that made them all the more interesting in contrast to the other three.
Let me put it this way: The Mooney Suzuki, the final act of the evening, is hands down one of the best live-bands I've ever seen. If The Who were a punk band on speed, they'd still have to work hard to compare to the Mooney Suzuki's style and
stage presence. With the looks of Lou Reed and the posturing of Pete Townsend, vocalist/guitarist Sammy James, Jr. strutted, jumped and danced his way across the stage for 45-minutes, with energy like a hyper-active 8-year-old with ADD.
"Gonna do it gymnasium-style tonight," James said to the crowd early on, joking about the Union Ballroom. "Rockin' and rollin' on a school night—that's how I like it!"
The Mooney Suzuki's set centered mostly on tracks from their most recent album, "Electric Sweat," and it included breakneck speed versions of "Oh, Sweet Susannah," "In A Young Man's Mind," and the album's title track. But the piece-resistance came at the end of the set, when James and the band's bassist came down from the stage and into the crowd on piggyback, playing guitar and dancing with the audience.
The Mooney Suzuki will be in Lawrence again on April 20, and if you know what's good for you, you'll show up. I promise you, you'll be hard-pressed to find a rock 'n' roll outfit this entertaining, no matter how hard you look. If The Mooney Suzuki is a religion, consider me converted.
Passman is a Towanda senior in journalism and film.
Hearts of Oak by Ted Leo / Pharmacists
Reviewed by Aaron Passman apassman@kansan.com
Put on your thinking cap, 'cos it's time for a riddle: What's rockin,' catchy, intelligent, witty and makes you want to shake your booty like no one's watching?
The answer, dear reader, is Hearts of Oak,the new album from Ted Leo/Pharmacists,and it's one of the finest records released yet this year.
After spending much of the '90s in the world of punk rock, Leo turned more to
pop-rock songwriting on 2001's The Tyranny of Distance, his first record with the Pharmacists. Leo's a singer/songwriter with a
Contributed art
difference, blending balladry, punk rock, classic rock and new wave styles all into one throughout the album. Leo's sound is something of a mix of all of the above, but with a hearty helping of both Morrissey and Elvis Costello thrown in for good
measure. The album's third track, "I'm a Ghost," opens with a brief guitar riff before cutting to Leo's Morrissey-esque moan, backed only by drums and a thick, fuzztoned bass. Both the song and Leo are all over the map, turning on a dime from the driving drums and palm-muted guitars of punk to arena rock style guitar solos.
On "The Ballad of the Sin Eater," the album's strongest track, Leo again centers the song around the drums and fuzz-toned bass. But what really makes the song great is how much Leo's lyrical wit and phrasing, along with the backing music, feel like something taken straight from the days of This Year's Model-era Elvis Costello. On that record, Costello and the Attractions (his backing
band) center most of the record around bass and drums, and Leo follows suit on tracks such as "Sin Eater," I'm a Ghost."
But Leo's wit is strongest on "Sin Eater" and "Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone?" his ode to the lost, happy-go-lucky days of ska.
Anymore it's hard to find an artist with both talent and brains, but Ted Leo/Pharmacist have it in spades, and Hearts of Oak just goes to show that there's still life left in the world of quality rock — you just have to dig a little bit to find it.
Take it from me, kids. It doesn't get much better than this.
Grade: A
Playing a show? Releasing a CD? If you would like to have your band reviewed, please contact Jayplay editor Brooke Hesler at bhesler@kansan.com or 864-4810.