Music
Section B • Page 8
The University Daily Kansas
Thursday, September 21, 2000
House of Large Sizes Idiots Out Wanderina Around
Listening to *Idiots Out Wandering Around* is like hearing snatches of music like walking, around aimlessly. And the album sounds like the title in the most positive sense of the phrase.
Idiots Out Wandering Around is a collection of 22 songs and wannabe songs recorded live from the band's various shows around the Midwest.
The band's lyrics are worth the effort to listen. With songs about Mata Hari ("Glass Cockpit") and a pun on independence/dependance ("Green Lighting"), the band draws from the unusual for its subject matter. Most of the tracks, such as "Mean and Hateful," aren't much more than a chorus, but what's there is fun.
The band has a lot of energy. With just guitar, bass, drums and vocals, it manages to have depth and power. The music isn't incredibly memorable, but it is a good time. House of Large Sizes — named after a clothing-store chain — will be performing tonight at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. Don't miss what promises to be a great show. This is a band with a future.
—Melitta George
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The Amazing Crowns Royal
The Amazing Crowns' new album *Royal* on Time Bomb Records has loads of enthusiasm and gumption. Unfortunately, they seem to have forgotten about originality and integrity
somewhere along the way.
The group sounds like it got lost back in the '80s, somewhere between The Clash and The Stray Cats. Its songs are too naive and simplistic to attribute much influence to The Clash. And although the band affects the same aesthetic as the Stray Cats, its hooks couldn't catch a grouper in a goldfish bowl, instead of carving its own niche in the still relatively hospitable alternative scene, the Amazing Crowns rely too much on older musical formulas that have outlived their usefulness.
Sure, they've got the requisite grease in their hair and an upright string bass, but the latter's inclusion appears more as a token response to the neo-rockabilly scene that they're trying so hard to fit into. The upright bass can be a real asset for some groups, such as Soul Coughing, but its unique sound becomes lost in the musical confusion of the Amazing Crowns. One bright spot is the nifty guitar work of J.D. Burgess, but it's simply not enough.
In all fairness, since the wild popularity of the movie Swingers, it's easy to see why this group became excited at the prospect of its involvement in a full-blow revival of the jump-swing/country-western scene. But retro movements always have cast a discerning eye on the modern-day hacks that dare lay claim to a particular musical trend. The Not-So-Amazing Crowns don't make the cut, and their new album is really just a Royal pain.
Derek John
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Various Artists - New Coat of Paint
New Coat of Paint pays tribute to idiosyncratic singer-songwriter Tom Waitis, best known for writing songs such as "Jersey Girl" (covered by Bruce Springsteen) and "Downtown Train" (covered by Rod Stewart). These popular exceptions aside, Waits' output hasn't been visited by many other singers. Waits is a gravely voiced eccentric, and his alternately whacked and romantic compositions combine into a bizarre whole.
New Coat of Paint attempts to take Waits' songs out of the context of his persona — a formidable task — giving them to diverse performers, old-timer screaming Jay Hawkins (famous for "I Put a Spell on You") starts off the disk, and by the time it's finished, Andre Williams, Botanica and Niko Case have done their best to put new spins on Waits' tunes of creaky melancholy.
That the album is only fitfully successful is no surprise. Wait's hobo character defines the songs he writes, and separating the two is like making Luciano Pavarotti sing the greatest hits of AC/DC.
What is pleasant to find, though, is that a select few of the songs are delightful on their own twisted terms. Lee Rocker and Floyd Dixon (covering "New Coat of Paint" and "Blue Skies" respectively) stick closely to Waits' craggy vocal delivery and uncover compelling tunes. Lyda Lunch and Nils Cline run in a salty, seductive version of "Heartattack and Vine" — turning a salon song into pure cabaret.
While the obvious intent of the album is to introduce unfamiliar listeners to Waits' work, novices would be better off buying Waits' own *Small Change* (the 1976 record that solidified his lounge-
lizard character) or last year's *Mule Variations.*
There's really no substitute for the real thing
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- Clay McCuistion
The Band — The Band
This release of the 1970 album is fitted with the extra fixings (digital remastering, bonus tracks) collectors have come to expect from such releases. But the most important part of this album's new form is that it's out at all.
The Band is a landmark album, notable because it occupies a place all its own in rock music. None of the Band's other albums sounded like this, and none of the music from 1970 sounded like this. The Band creates a world out of time, an odd conglomeration of main songwriter Robbie Robertson's Canadian childhood with southern motifs and a folkish sensibility.
"The Night They Drrove Old Dixie Down," "King Harvest" and "Across the Great Divide" all are catchy, multi-layered compositions that fuse singing, playing and writing into a spontaneous-sounding whole.
Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel are an impeccable vocal trio. Their widely differing yet complimentary voices play off each other on each song. Helm infuses "The Night they drove Old Dixie Down" with southern-gospel fervor, and Manuel's falsetto on "Whispering Pines" is spine-tinglingly beautiful.
Anchoring the whole affair are organist Garth Hudson and guitarist and songwriter Robertson — whose spare guitar licks add just the right amount of crunch to rockers such as "Look out Cleveland."
The instrumentation, chock-full of acoustic guitars, mandolins, accordions and creaky horn sections, conjures up an America of long ago — one that is probably more a fictional creation of this record than an actual time or place. But the creation itself is compelling and lovely.
In its own way, The Band is full of perfect music, an album that fulfills its artistic agenda on one hand and offers purely pleasurable listening on the other. It has melodic hooks, but also unique lyrical and performance touches that could be born from no other grouping of musicians. Those who have never heard The Band, or only vaguely know the group, should buy this CD.
Go out, buy it. You won't regret it.
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Clay McCuistion
A lack of fresh approaches is good reason for hard rock lovers to lament the genre's state. Two prime examples of this are Pitchshifter and Hed P.E.
Pitchshifter - Deviant Hed P.E. - Broke
Pitchshifter, though you've probably never heard of the band, has been around for eight years. Deviant, the band's fourth album, is another in a line of releases that attempts to fuse heavy industrial rock with lyrics of protest. Contrary to the album's title, there really is little
Contrary to the album's title, there really is little new musical territory explored on this album. While tracks such as the album opening "Condescension"
intelligently weave heavy melodies with thoughtful lyrics, the remainder of the album mostly is devoid of interest — not to mention that it's driven heavily by a hollow-sounding drum machine.
Hed P.E. E.: Call them a wolf in KoRn's clothing. The band sounds much like the other hard rock/rap groups exploding onto the market. Fortunately, instead of using the tired formula of seriously detuned guitars and snappy snare drums on every song from it's latest album, Broke, the band manages to vary its style.
Hardcore industrial metal, admittedly, is difficult to revitalize, and Pitchshifter adds little to the genre. On the other hand, with contributions such as Hed P.E.'s, the rock/rap flood-gates opened by KoRn and Limp Bizik, look to remain open for a while.
"Bardert, " which is receiving a smattering of radio airtime, features bluesy verses permeated with a crunching chorus. Other tracks such as "Stevie" and "Jesus (of Nazareth)" pay sonic tribute to rock/rap's forefathers, including the Beastie Boys and Bad Brains.
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— Chris Borniger
More information
For audio samples of these bands, go online at www.kansan.com
Live Music
Tonight:
House of Large Sizes, 8 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $5, 21 and older; $6 18 to 20
Tomorrow:
Full Feature, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus, 926-1/2-6 Massachusetts St. $3, 21 and older...
Sugadaddles, 10 p.m. at Jerseys Bar and Grill, 1105 Massachusetts St. $3, 21 and older.
Saturday:
Paw and Slurry, 8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $8, advanced, $10 day of show.
Dred I Dred, 10 p.m. at The Jazhaus, 926-1/2 Massachusetts St. $4, 21 and older.
Lance Fahy and Calvin Bennett, 7 p.m. at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. 2nd St.
Mike Watt, Sturgeon Mill and Brannock device, 8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $10.18 and older
Big Smith, 10 p.m. at The Jazzaus,
926-1/2 Massachusetts St. $4, 21
and older.
Sunday:
Le Tigre, Sister Mary Rotten Crotch, 6 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. All ages, $7
Isle of Q, 10 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $5, 21 and older. $6, 18 to 20.
Monday:
The Look Out Freak Out Tour with Mr. T Experience, American Steel and Eyeliners, 1.0 p.m. at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. $7, 18 and older
■ Jazzhaus Jam with the Spanktones, 10 p.m. at The Jazzhaus, 926-1/2 Massachusetts St. $2, 21 and older.
Phish, 7:30 p.m. at Sandstone Amphitheatre, Bonner Springs, $27.50, advanced tickets. $30, day of show.
Tuesday:
■ Union Underground, UPO and
Flybanger, 8 p.m. at The
Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire
St. All ages, $8.
Gatecrasher, 8 p.m. at the Granada,
1020 Massachusetts St. $10, 18
and older.
Wednesday:
Suicidal Tendencies, 8 p.m. at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. 18 and older, $12.50 advanced; $14, day of show.
The Draft, 10 p.m. at The Jazzaus,
926-1/2 Massachusetts St. $3.
21 and older.
PLAY IT AGAIN SPORTS 841-PLAY 1029 Massachusetts
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