== ISSUE 166 ==== CONSUMABLE ONLINE ======== [January 19, 1999] Editor: Bob Gajarsky E-mail: editor@consumableonline.com Sr. Correspondents: Daniel Aloi, Joann Ball, Bill Holmes, Tim Kennedy, David Landgren, Tim Mohr, Al Muzer, Joe Silva, Lang Whitaker Correspondents: Christina Apeles, Niles J. Baranowski, Tracey Bleile, Lee Graham Bridges, Jason Cahill, Patrick Carmosino, Krisjanis Gale, Paul Hanson, Chris Hill, Eric Hsu, Tim Hulsizer, Franklin Johnson, Steve Kandell, Reto Koradi, Robin Lapid, Linda Scott, Scott Slonaker, Kerwin So, Chelsea Spear, Simon Speichert, Jon Steltenpohl, Simon West Technical Staff: Chris Candreva, Dave Pirmann Address all comments to staff@consumableonline.com ; subscription information is given at the end of this issue. ================================================================== All articles in Consumable remain (C) copyright their author(s). Permission for re-publication in any form must be obtained from the editor. ================================================================== .------------. | Contents | `------------' INTERVIEW / CONCERT REVIEW: Buffalo Tom - Kerwin So REVIEW: Busta Rhymes, _Extinction Level Event_ - Joann D. Ball REVIEW: Black Crowes, _ By Your Side_ - Daniel Aloi REVIEW: Ani DiFranco, _Up Up Up Up Up Up_ - Jon Steltenpohl CONCERT REVIEW: Manic Street Preachers / Catatonia - Tim Kennedy REVIEW: Reel Big Fish, _Why Do They Rock So Hard?_ - Simon Speichert REVIEW: Hefner, _Breaking God's Heart_ - Niles Baranowski REVIEW: The Starseeds, _Parallel Life_ - Tim Mohr REVIEW: Evelyn Forever, _Lost in the Supermarket_ - Daniel Aloi REVIEW: Kenny Howes, _Back To You Today_ - Bill Holmes REVIEW: Smart Brown Handbag, _Little Things are Everything_ - Reto Koradi REVIEW: Bill Puddle, _Bill Puddle_ - Bill Holmes NEWS: Chemical Brothers, Chuck D. TOUR DATES: Black Sabbath / Pantera / Incubus / Deftones, Bluetip, Broadside Electric, City On Film, Dave Davies, Dots Will Echo, Jets To Brazil, One Minute Silence, Seaweed THE READERS WRITE BACK! Back Issues of Consumable --- INTERVIEW / CONCERT REVIEW: Buffalo Tom - Kerwin So In the midst of Buffalo Tom's nationwide tour opening for the Goo Goo Dolls in support of their recent album (_Smitten_), the band was able to spend some time talking with Consumable Online regarding their label, touring with the Goos, and more. Here are the thoughts from that conversation. Consumable: Why don't you tell me what's going on lately, are you switching labels or something? Bill Janovitz (Vocalist / guitarist): We switched to Polydor, which is under A&M. And then A&M just merged with Seagram's and MCA and so it might even change again. [Ed. Note: It's happened, it's happening as you read this, and there is tremendous fallout in regards to the personnel at all the labels under the umbrella, as well as artists who are employed under the merged companies] CO: Oh, good lord. B: Yeah, Seagrams owns MCA and Universal and Mercury, Geffen, all that stuff is under them. Then they bought Polygram which owns Island and A&M and all that stuff, so they're merging those 2 companies together now. CO: Oh really, I thought you were on Beggars Banquet? B: We told you it was a long story. We're signed to Beggars Banquet, but this is our last record with them. And that was only in the UK, they were licensing out to different labels in the States. CO: So, how's the tour been going? B: Going pretty well, we've done 15 shows with these guys. Some on our own. CO: They just asked you out to tour with them? B: Yeah. It's a lot younger audience than we're used to playing to. That's good, you know. CO: I read your tour journal online (at http://www.buffalotom.com ) B: Oh, that'll give you an idea. CO: That's something, yeah. It's really quite voyeuristic, but I really enjoyed reading it. B: Yeah, I'm trying to be as open as possible. I don't put in all the personal details and stuff like that but, you know what's going on and some of our feelings about what it's like to be out. I think near the end it started to get like, "We need promotion from the record company" and all. These guys [the band] haven't seen it all. CO: Oh really? Yeah, I think you were primarily the one who was submitting. B: Yeah it's just been me, I asked those guys if they wanted to, but it's just a matter of - I have a laptop. CO: It's great to be in the wired age, huh? Well for the fans it is, cuz there's a lot of things going on Tom Maginnis (Drummer): People are really interested in what it's like to tour, they're curious - but it's really not that glamorous. B: Not at all. CO: Yeah, people have these romantic ideas. I'm in a band (local San Francisco-based Hungry Hungry Hippos) but we've never toured - it seems like a cool way to see the country. B: Oh yeah, without a doubt it's still fun. And as we get bigger - I mean as we were getting bigger [chuckle]-- there's different aspects that are more fun. But it's a lot of work. It's way more work than a regular job, being on the road. There's a lot of time when we're just off, but we get 6 hours of sleep a night usually, 7 hours of sleep at best, and we have to go out tomorrow to this TV show and do some kind of local Good Morning America-type show, we're gonna be performing at 7 a.m. T: And then drive to L.A., do an in-store in Long Beach. B: But it's like, I'm not getting up at 7 A.M. to dig ditches or work a crane or something. It's still not like, sleep till noon, get up for a couple hours, start getting drunk and stoned and then go play and then get all the groupies. I mean for those guys [the Goo's] it might be. [Laughter] CO: So do you socialize with them a lot? B: Yeah. We haven't had a lot of time cuz they drive out to the shows usually in their bus and we usually meet up with them. But, in the dressing rooms, yeah and we eat dinner with 'em and kid around with 'em. We've kinda known em for a few years, crossing paths, saying hello, having a beer or something like that, but we haven't really known em that well. CO: That's cool. I'm actually a fan of both of your bands' music. Do you consider this a break at all, opening for such a well-known act? B: I don't. In some ways it is. T: I'm sure there's a lot of bands who'd want to be doing it. B: Oh, I thought you meant like a break, like a vacation. CO: No, no, no. I mean like an opportunity for prestige. B: Oh, without a doubt. I thought you meant like, is it easier. CO: No. [Chuckle] I could tell from reading your tour journal that it isn't. T: [Chuckle] B: In some ways it is, though. There's less pressure to bring in people, so there's no psychological thing on us like, "Oh man". T: Or "we have to carry the show" - like a burden. C: I don't know, I mean. A lot of people have these gripes against bands that are popular just because they're popular. So I have friends who, they're fans of you guys too, and they're like "Buffalo Tom should be headlining those shows." B: Well, we have. The thing is we will, again, but if were out on our own right now we wouldn't be playing the Fillmore, we'd probably be playing Slim's. And we'd probably do okay, but right now this record's not getting played in San Francisco, it's not getting played in a lot of places, and so, aside from a core group of fans which pick and choose which Buffalo Tom shows they go to anyway, not all of our fans go to all our shows. Especially as people get older, have kids and stuff. So it's a bit more of a pressure, you never know what's gonna happen, then you've gotta play longer - which I love to do, I mean that's what we're out there for, is to play. But this is like, we're on, we're off, the show's over, we can go back to the hotel, blah blah blah but it's more work because you're trying to win over their fans, so you've got to really concentrate on the set list. Whereas, if we're on our own it's like, well, let's throw in this song, that song not really trying to figure out which songs are the most effective and like [snaps fingers] keep goin', and you know CO: How's the crowd reaction been to you guys? Have you been winning them over? T: It's been pretty good. It varies, from place to place. I think we're stronger in certain cities anyway, but largely I think it is their fans. Everyone's pretty pumped up to see the headliners usually, but you get a vibe, you know, I think some places have been pretty good. B: There's been very few that have been dead. T: It's not crickets after each song. CO: That's good. B: Yeah but some places, like Seattle and Portland, those are good.. CO: Well, those are hip cities. B: But then like the little places, we played in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and Marquette, Michigan where, one of those towns literally hadn't had a band since Cheap Trick in 1988 or something. CO: So they were like screaming... B: Ah, it was crazy. As soon as the lights went down, they didn't even care if it was up to the Goo Goo Dolls yet. When we went on it was just like, "Ahhhh!" And then the Goo Goo Dolls came on and it went up that much further. CO: So have people been recognizing the "My So-Called Life" songs? B: Yeah I haven't really figured out I think people have recognized "Soda Jerk" a little bit. But it's hard to tell. When we started to play "Late at Night", I thought that this would be the age group, but we don't get as many girls swooning. [CO & T laugh] B: But when we do our own shows we've gotten this contingent of young girls that are waiting to hear that song, that's how they found out about us. Especially girls. Which is good for [bassist] Chris. Chris sings that song. CO: Do you know the next time you're gonna be heading through California? B: Well, we hope to get back in the spring. T: It's kind of, if this label stuff is able to settle down so we really know where we are. We're not sure, so... B: If and when our next single will come out and.. I think we'll come back either way because we'd probably make money going out on tour. Right now we're not really making money because we're opening for another band. But I think we could do a tour where even if we're the kind of band who's been around for so long that we have this kind of a core [group of fans] that we could still pull in people and still make a tour work. CO: Both of you guys [Goo Goo Dollss and Buffalo Tom] have been around for awhile. B: Yeah, we've been around as long as the Goo Goo Dolls. T: This is both our sixth albums. B: At one point though, their career really verged off. [Chuckle] And our career... CO: I've always been impressed by how you've kept the same core lineup since day one. Were there any times where you felt like just giving up or moving on? B: [instantly] Every day. [Laughter] CO: I'm sure you get asked that all the time. B: Yeah. CO: How do you deal with it? B: Uhm [long pause] it's uh it's a matter of on the road, you can't really judge anything from being on the road, even though that's where we spend most of our time. But it's just such a weird situation, you know you've got seven *guys* (without the crew or anything) in a van for five weeks and you've gotta be relaxed your mind a bit you know. With us three, we were friends before we started and I think we realize that we're friends and we wouldn't let the band it's come close. We've come really close to just saying, "Okay, let's just not do this anymore", but I think we just say, "Well, you know we're friends, let's not let the band affect the friendship," and you just start talking about whatever's bothering you and you realize that it's not that serious. CO: It's good to get that out; people build up grudges. B: That's exactly it. About intangibles sometimes, just little things sometimes it's just personality, you're just sick of everybody. There's nothing that anybody's doing that you can say, "Well he's doing *this*", you just don't want to be there, you just want to be home, Tom's got two kids now, we all have families. CO: Have you guys been doing any acoustic songs on the tour, where you [Tom, the drummer] get to take a break? T: Not with the Goo Goo Dolls, just cuz we only get 10 songs and we've gotta keep it compact. On our own shows and, we've been doing in-stores and stuff like that, which is really cool to do [in-stores] because you really get to see some fans again and talk to 'em and sign stuff. It's much more rewarding little thing to do. We've been doing Portland and Boise, Idaho which we've never even played before, and 150 people showed up to the in-store, you know? It's just like, wow. That night at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore auditorium, Buffalo Tom played an energetic and solid (but all-too short) set of new songs and old favorites, including "Taillights Fade", "Sodajerk", and a wonderful closing choice of "Larry." Their already great live sound was augmented by the presence of Phil, the new keyboard player. The band even encouraged the crowd, young and old, to jump and down to upbeat songs like "Treehouse"-- and it worked! The audience was quite diverse-- teenage throngs, kids with their parents, middle-aged rockers-- and they were mostly there to see the Goo Goo Dolls, but I think it's safe to say that all of them found at least a little something in Buffalo Tom's performance to enjoy. And for the band's part, they certainly put in the effort to win over new fans by introducing song titles, playing with a lot of heart, and smiling a lot. Here's hoping it pays off. Footnote: Buffalo Tom played the KRON Bay Morning TV show the very next morning at 7 am. They were given all of 20 seconds. --- REVIEW: Busta Rhymes, _Extinction Level Event_ (The Final World Front)_ (Flipmode Entertainment/Elektra) - Joann D. Ball We've heard for years (and will certainly be reminded throughout 1999) that the sky will turn purple and the party will be over when the year 2000 arrives. Well, that's nothing compared to what Busta Rhymes predicts. The hip-hop innovator offers a deeper, more intense, reality-based account of what the future will bring on his most ambitious release to date, _Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front)_ . While the final countdown to 2K will undoubtedly bring insights from a variety of artists, Busta Rhymes is the only one who can deliver genuine apocalyptic hip-hop. After all, the millennium has been an interest of his since his tenure in the pioneering rap group Leaders of the New School. Busta Rhymes has expressed his interest in the day of reckoning on his two previous solo outings, 1996's _The Coming_ and 1997's _When Disaster Strikes_. But _Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front)_ is the full text in full effect. Over the course of 19 tracks, the extremely innovative Busta Rhymes delivers his raw millennium message with a serious warning that it is "always better to be safe than sorry." Busta wastes no time getting down to business, opening his third solo release with "Intro-There's Only One Year Left." This spoken word track begins with a child innocently asking what the Year 2000 holds. The response includes a long list of crimes against humankind and nature, developments with which we are all too familiar. Busta steps to the mike himself at the end of the track, shouting out a loud wake up call about all the shit's that's already gone down and what is about to break loose. "Everybody Rise," is the global event warning that Busta sends out to all of the "niggas and motherfuckers" in his favorite American cities. With these choice terms of endearment, Busta makes it clear that he and his Flipmode Squad have our backs through the hell on earth that lies ahead. Not only is Busta rhyming with trademark fury on _Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front), _ he grounds his rapid vocal delivery in a host of mad sounds and quality samples. Of course it's all good, especially "Extinction Level Event (The Song of Salvation)" and "What the Fuck You Want!!" And lead single "Gimme Some More" only hints at how Busta is all about doing what he promises on track nine, "Keepin' It Tight." That Busta Rhymes approaches Y2K with his characteristic sense of humor (check out the skits which precede "Just Give It To Me Raw" and "Take It Off") is reassuring. And his dedication to making the best of the worst of times is evident on the phat rump shaker "Do The Bus A Bus." Another lesson we should learn from Busta is the importance of brother/sisterhood in the future. Busta practices what he preaches by enlisting the help of a few good musical soldiers on the _Event_. Busta gets his steamy R&B groove on with Janet Jackson on "What's It's Gonna Be," and serves up metallic rap with Ozzy Osbourne on "This Means War," a millennium remake of "Iron Man." And adding yet another dimension to the hip-hop flow are Mystikal, of Master P's No Limit Posse, on "Iz They Wildin Wit Us & Gettin Rowdy Wit Us" and the Flipmode Squad, who throw down with Busta on "Against All Odds." Busta Rhymes has always been a man on a mission. So it comes as no surprise that he has a lot to say about what's coming our way with the arrival of the big 2K. Busta's got a survival plan which is presented in great detail on all of the songs here, but especially in "Outro-The Burial Song." _Extinction Level Event (The Final World Front)_ is a record with a message that is not to be taken lightly, and we would be wise to listen carefully. --- REVIEW: Black Crowes, _ By Your Side_ (American/Columbia) - Daniel Aloi "Tighter than ever..." "Back to their blues-rock roots..." "... rocking with the abandon of The Faces and Exile-era Stones..." Yes, these and many other critical cliches will be thrown at the Black Crowes' fifth album. But _By Your Side_ actually proves all of the above and more to be true -- and I wanna testify! The band successfully channels a slew of late-'60s/early '70s influences, from the golden age of British blues, Southern rock and Memphis soul, to make one great party album for 1999. After flirting with psychedelia on 1996's _Three Snakes and One Charm_, and courting hippie audiences with long onstage jams while headlining the 1997 Furthur Festival tour (they'd headlined H.O.R.D.E. in 1995), the Crowes are back on the ground, in the bluesy element that first found them an audience with _Shake Your Money Maker_ in 1992. When drugs, divorce and inamicable departures put pressure on the band in 1997, they reassessed -- and decided to be a rock 'n' roll band again. So, if you've been following the band all these years, this new album is more _Shake_ than _Snakes._ Skinny singer/showman/shaman Chris Robinson sounds more than ever like the love child of Otis Redding and Rod Stewart. His guitarist brother Rich Robinson (the siblings' battles are as legendary as the Gallaghers' or the Davies') is at his best even when recycling old riffs from Led Zeppelin, the Allmans and more. Keyboard player Eddie Harsch provides Stax-worthy grooves (and piano playing off the singer's drama) and the Dirty Dozen horns and five background singers give a gospel-and-soul underpinning to the Crowes' dynamic vision. Original drummer Steve Gorman is still there to keep the whole enterprise moving, and it's all new bassist Sven Pipien can do to keep up. The music may be derivative, but it sure does kick. Columbia calls the album "a serious kick-ass, riff-a-rama rock'n'roll record" and nearly all of the 11 songs bear that out in spades. Producer Kevin Shirley gives the band more than enough room to be both rocking and dramatic, and can be credited with a clean sound that doesn't distract from the down-and-dirty vibe the band goes for. As ever, religion, drugs, and lovers on their way out are primary themes. "Go Faster," while ostensibly about sex, also refers to "the chemicals you like." Then there's "HorseHead," a plea to a junkie, and the fervent, organ-laced "Go Tell the Congregation," which both play like heavy Humble Pie. Chris Robinson begs a woman not to leave in the affecting "Only a Fool" and says to just go in "Stop Kicking My Heart Around." The most soulful tune comes at the end: "Virtue and Vice," following "Diamond Ring," a richly emotional call-and-response proposal. While waiting for American Recordings to change corporate parents, the band showed its renewed strength with a tour of small clubs, to coincide with the release of a limited-edition box set last August. _Sho' Nuff_ included all four of their previous albums digitally remastered. Each disc included two bonus tracks, a multimedia screensavers and full-length videos. The box also included a bonus live EP with five songs mixed by Shirley. For more information go to http://www.blackcrowes.com --- REVIEW: Ani DiFranco, _Up Up Up Up Up Up_ (Righteous Babe) - Jon Steltenpohl Ani DiFranco's latest album _Up Up Up Up Up Up_ takes Ani DiFranco to the next plateau in her career. Whether you like it or not, she continues down the same path she toyed with on _Little Plastic Castles_; a mish-mash of poingant commentary and quirky performance art. Singular intensity has given way to fragmented playfulness. The horns have been hauled away with a Wurlitzer dragged in, and DiFranco finally seems to be happy to be in a studio with a band. Where _Little Plastic Castles_ was somewhat tentative in its ventures, _Up_ takes big steps. Half the tracks are fairly solid, straightforward tunes which are touching, but fairly low on the DiFranco intensity scale. The rest fall into strange categories of varying degrees of songs, poems, and abstract musical art. DiFranco takes the enthusiasm she had "remixing" the legendary Utah Phillips into the 21th century and applies it to her own sound. Echoes and loops fight for attention while the trademark staccato blasts of the past are muted with a little R&B and an undercurrent of funky vibes. "Angel Food" and "Hat Shaped Hat" are poem songs with distorted vocals that bounce back and forth off the ropes and trade body slams and clotheslines as they wrestle for control of the sound board. While they sound like they were a lot of fun to record and create, the finished product still shows the rough edges of the studio jam sessions they were mined from. As such, their impact isn't nearly as remarkable as _Little Plastics Castles'_ "Pulse." Not that either track is serious on any level. They are, in fact, exuberant and silly. "Angel Food" ends with an audio attack by Andy Stochansky on the "pocket Cajun" which is both entirely goofy and exceedingly annoying. Your mileage will vary on these tracks, and versions of the same theme seep to the other tracks in the album. "Virtue" stalks and pounces like the dark cat DiFranco paints herself as, but the vocal distortions sneaking around the shadows of the beat just don't increase the value of the song. DiFranco was much more intense when it was Ani vs. the world instead of the Ani Band. In the middle road, DiFranco is finding interesting topics to write about which aren't soaked in personal agony. In "Everest", she sings of a trip to a gospel service with a friend whose silhoutte from a distance is "a lot like mine". "So I took a deep breath," reflects DiFranco of her arrival, "and became the white girl with the hair." But, by the end of the service, her heart is filled and her friendship focused. On the brilliant night as they walk and talk, "the moon was so beautiful that the ocean held up a mirror." DiFranco's imagery and focus are still as sharp as when she writes in turmoil even if the emotional impact to the listener isn't as strong. "Jukebox" and "Up up up up up up" are also solid songs musically, but, as with "Everest", the emotional tie-in just isn't there. "Trickle Down" and "'Tis of Thee" tackle societal and political issues with some success. "Trickle Down" finds DiFranco at the bottom of a deep well of desperation as she describe the slow destruction of a town under Reagan's trickle down economic theory. Her guitar bubbles up through an eeiry reverb and her vocals are whispered from far below. It perfectly captures the feeling of being trapped with no one out there to hear you. "'Tis of Thee" is a mournful, plodding track of despair about drug use, poverty, and racism aimed at those who would "criminalize the symptoms while [they] spread the disease." "Why don't you just go ahead and turn of the sun?," pleads DiFranco, "'cause we'll never live long enough to undo everything they've done to you." It's an impassioned resignation that is framed perfectly by DiFranco's earnest performance. The two best tracks on the album are the most personal and the most straightforward musically. "Angry Anymore" is a coming of age song. In it, DiFranco comes to terms with her broken home and forgives both her father and her mother. The banjo and accordian tinged intro feels a bit like a New Yorker's version of no depression music, but it doesn't distract from the song or the simple harmonies. "Come Away From It" is an 8 minute opus that is rapturous. DiFranco begs, pleads, and crys like a tortured diva. Over and over she pleads to her lover who's self destructing trying to find deeper and deeper highs. "Why don't you come away from it?", she challenges. Slowly her fear gives way to a slight hint of frustration at having "to put the training wheels back on your bike." Yet still she coaxes through the end. Taken as a whole, _Up_ doesn't really get you in the gut, doesn't bleed your emotions the way that DiFranco's breakthrough albums _Dilate_ and _Not a Pretty Girl_ did. In comparison, the pace is slow and subdued. Nearly plodding. When set along side the live versions of these songs, _Up Up Up Up Up Up_ is nearly flacid. Given the incredible recordings on her live album, _Living in Clip_, DiFranco would do better to re-record these songs live. It's not that _Up_ is a bad album or that the songs are lacking. On the contrary, it's pretty good. It's just that DiFranco has done so much better in the past and she performs these songs so much better in concert. _Up Up Up Up Up Up_ is, like _Little Plastic Castles_, an album Ani fans will enjoy but not treasure. --- CONCERT REVIEW: Manic Street Preachers / Catatonia, Manchester Arena - Tim Kennedy Catatonia's Cerys ambles onto the gargantuan stage of the MEN as if arriving at the pub. Cloaked in a bizarre dressing gown reaching to the floor and in a floppy fur helmet with earflaps, she seems unconcerned at the adulation of the crowd - many whom are clad in or waving Welsh flags. Not that this is a purely Welsh affair - most here hail from around the north of England. Cerys trades banter with the baying hordes then launches into a set derived largely from the hugely successful _International Velvet_. The band are not a great technical unit, but they serve as a reasonable platform on which Cerys can work her seductive charms. For she is a star. She is totally at home onstage, slouching around, or skipping about when the mood takes her. Her tunes are strong enough to make any shortcomings of the band marginal. Her lyrics are complex, whilst avoiding pretentiousness. Cerys has a happy muse and whilst she seems a tad drunk at times, it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable show, and perhaps some of us bloody English can feel a little Welsh envy. When she does her solo acoustic spot there is an unfeasibly warm and chummy atmosphere. The Manics arrive with considerably more lights and drama. The set is based around the _Design For Life_ album, with highlights from the latest offering _This Is My Truth Now Tell Me Yours_. "Design For Life" and "Kevin Carter" are still the great stadium rockers, and "Everything Must Go" is particularly incandescent. As always James is the dynamo, stage-left these days, punching out those superb power chords that drive the Manics along. Nicky is stage-right in combat pants instead of the dress that was his favoured outfit on the last tour, and waves his bass around like an overgrown stick insect doing a Peter Hook impression. Sean is largely hidden behind his drum kit, providing the backup for the guitar assault. The current album promotional material has looked a bit pompous, with much waving of the word TRUTH. The band still come across as they always did however, albeit without the slight figure of Richey James at stage-left. The new material live still displays the essential rock bombast that you'd expect from the Manics, and if there is a slight element of mid seventies prog rock in "I'm Not Working", as if to offset this the band launch straight into "Motown Junk" - the Manics at their most punky. Earlier material is also on show. We get "La Tristesse Durera" - a very fine version - from _Gold Against The Soul_. From _The Holy Bible_ we are treated to the excellent "She Is Suffering" and a blistering "Revol". "You Love Us" - one of their early singles, and from a time when the very opposite was true - is the inevitable encore, and Nicky sees fit to get his rope out and do a bit of skipping on his speaker stacks. Truly the Manics are the only true UK stadium band of their generation, but they manage to do it with such mad integrity that even the Richey fans in the crowd cannot but join in the general adulation. --- REVIEW: Reel Big Fish, _Why Do They Rock So Hard?_ (Mojo) - Simon Speichert Approximately two years ago, I had the good fortune to review this band's first release, _Turn The Radio Off_. From the first time I spun that CD, I had a gut feeling that the band I was listening to would make it to the big time; it is apparent to anyone who has followed them even slightly that they have "made it". Going from being starving artists playing at local parties to having their music played during the MTV awards is a big jump, and Reel Big Fish have handled it well. The title for the album is interesting. While two years ago, I considered Reel Big Fish a ska band, they have definitely made the transition into being almost a full-fledged rock band. There is, most noticably, a great deal less use of the horn section which comprises two-thirds of the band; also, more "rock" melodies and power chords are present in the songs on _Why Do They Rock So Hard?_. I semi-mourn the loss of the more "ska" feeling in Reel Big Fish's music. Don't get me wrong, it's still good music, still catchy as always, but in a different way. Fears assert themselves that Reel Big Fish will become "just another rock band". I doubt those fears will become reality, as Reel Big Fish's humor would never survive in a rock setting. However, we still (for now) have the great music from this 9-piece out of Southern California. Their songwriting is superb, with many a hook and catchy lyric. Some of the standout songs include "Brand New Song", "Thank You for Not Moshing", and "Scott's A Dork". Even their song titles evoke humor. Reel Big Fish seem to have jinxed the sophomore jinx with _Why Do They Rock So Hard?_. The songs are upbeat and catchy as always, and full of the band's trademark humor. If you bought _Turn The Radio Off_, pick this up now. If you're into ska, pick up both. If you want to hear a damned good rock/ska band, head down to your local record store now. You will not be able to take this album out of your CD player. --- REVIEW: Hefner, _Breaking God's Heart_ (Too Pure/Beggars Banquet) - Niles Baranowski The name is Hefner, as in Hugh, Playboy magazine and all things silicone. It's an odd image for a Scottish band that maintains a working relationship with Belle and Sebastian and advises its listeners to "buy more Beach Boys records." Surprisingly though, their full-length debut, _Breaking God's Heart_ manages to mix both sex and jangle pop into an addictive and dynamic first effort. While it is probably true that you can't throw a lump of haggis in Scotland without hitting a fairly promising guitar pop band, lead singer Darren Hayman's songs stand out from the cuddly, coy music made by many of his compatriots. There is a rough sense of real sadness here, a slight twang to "Love Inside the Stud Farm" and even a feeling of accelerating disintegration as "The Sweetness Lies Within" draws to a close. Fighting sentimentality at every turn, even the most lovey-dovey of the ten tracks-"A Hymn for the Postal Service" - is written to an expatriate pen pal who "let time slip through her skinny, skinny fingers." The album's standout cut is "The Librarian," a Neil Young-damaged lament about a patron who checks out smart-looking books to seduce the title character and fulfill the fantasy inside his head. He fails, of course, and the scenario is touching and incredibly funny at the same time ("He would never kiss her eyelids," goes the song's mournful final line, repeated many times. I'm sorry, man.). The mix of emotions in Hayman's voice is as heady as a second trip through puberty. There are other great moments, too, like the bass-driven bravado of "God Is On My Side" and "Stud Farm"'s dejected chorus, but _Breaking_ is about more than the sum of its parts. Unlike most of Scotland's single-oriented popsters, the album is complete and rounded in both its emotional and musical aspects. It isn't perfect, but it's whole and charming even in its imperfections. Sexuality comes through in both the lyrics and the music, making for a visceral blend of pop music. Less pastoral than Belle and Sebastian, able to look women in the eye better than Teenage Fanclub, Hefner may be Scotland's great white hope for twee-free music and sexually sane songwriting. --- REVIEW: The Starseeds, _Parallel Life_ (Millennium) - Tim Mohr Hush all you lonely, jaded scenesters, coming down, hungover, crying or kissing away lost moments of the past. Dubadelic waves of bass, hypnotic crests and troughs of synthetic whale noises, whispered confessions...a beat drifts in from afar: the Starseeds are playing. Way back in the early 90s, there was a school of music that formed a bridge between Primal Scream's _Screamadelica_ and the ambient dub of the Orb. Bands like One Dove and State of Grace put female vocals above slow beats - a style that over time evolved into things like Gus Gus, Sneaker Pimps, even Portishead. The Starseeds are students of this school as well, though they tend to sound more like the early masters One Dove than like more recent groups. Utilizing a very Orb-esque set of principles to guide their percussion, Starseeds add touches of twangy guitar that show their devotion to Primal Scream. Vocals - like the manipulated lines in One Dove's "White Love" - are often looped or cut up, used like all the other instruments that are loaded onto the computer. In many cases their programmed beats follow stubbornly early-90s patterns, refusing to grapple with more recent innovations. This means, of course, that the Starseeds are willing to allow attention to focus on the essence of their music rather than on any particular part (these days, typically some minor innovation of drum sequencing) - and their willingness is warranted by the genuinely effective soundscapes they manage to create. --- REVIEW: Evelyn Forever, _Lost in the Supermarket_ (Airplay) - Daniel Aloi First off, despite the borrowed title, this does not sound much like The Clash. It sounds more like... The Cars, Cheap Trick and Superdrag on an all-night coffee jag. Or something very much like that. New Jersey's Evelyn Forever makes precise and joyous power pop in the same league as those bands, as well as such respected farm teams as Splitsville and The Posies. Employing just about every power-pop trick in the book, they're melodic and catchy almost to a fault. Starting with "Crush," sing-along choruses and swirling guitar lines wrap around crunching rhythm riffs; and you're forced to dance around the room, what with all the punching basslines and drumbeats under those joyous harmonies. Two or three minutes later, there's another one, doing the same thing to you all over again. The band breaks with this format on two of the nine tracks, the mid-tempo ballads "Cry" and "Rockin' Chair" -- they're just as catchy as the rest, just not played as fast and loud. The guitars of Mark Sanderlin and Reef Fanous are the stars here, playing off one another in myriad ways for endless hooks. They're joined by bassist Ed Yoo on vocals, and the clever and memorable songwriting (the chorus of "Teenage L.M.S." spells it out: "Love, Murder, Suicide") is credited to the entire band. Producer Tony Shanahan plays up all their strengths, although Matt Wilson's drums could be a little higher in the mix. This is Evelyn Forever's second full-length release for The Airplay Label, and it's even more solid and fun than their critically acclaimed 1997 debut, _Nightclub Jitters_. Both albums are among the best you'll find on the independent power pop scene. As proof, E4E's "Magic of the Moment" (off the new album) was chosen to lead off the recently released _International Pop Overthrow_ CD, a 20-band compilation on Del-Fi Records. For more information, go to http://www.evelynforever.com or e-mail E4E@evelynforever.com --- REVIEW: Kenny Howes, _Back To You Today_ (A.A.J.) - Bill Holmes Rickenbacker-wielding pop star Kenny Howes is back with his third record, yet another collection of ringing hooks and earnest vocals. The lo-fi production has its charms and drawbacks, sometimes framing songs in just the right minimalist setting but occasionally losing something in the fog bank. Overall, however, it’s another solid effort that sees Howes depart from his past formula and take a few chances. The title track is certainly an example of his strong suit - bouncy chorus, solid hook and quick guitar break. This formula reaches its zenith on "Exactly Like You", a sing-along track that could lift a band out of the garage and onto a jukebox - even if it winds up being their only hit. The simple, fuzzy guitar break is perfect and you can almost see the audience swaying and hand-clapping along to the "Cathy's Clown" beat. And underneath it all, Kenny's trying to land a new girl by shredding all those losers he's hit on before - like THAT will work. Sometimes the stretches don't synch - "Something Really Great" sounds like Dylan doing the Monkees' "Randy Scouse Git", for example, and "Save You" is muddled angst. But "Never Left" sounds like the bonus track on the _Pet Sounds_ box set, and the epic closer "Free Tattoo" sounds like Moon and Townsend sat in on the session. Cohesive it's not - I think Kenny had a lot of snippets of ideas when he hit the studio and went for broke. Although you might find yourself skipping a tune here and there, there is enough immediate gratification to bring you back again, which is when you'll discover the chestnuts that appeal to you. Howes played everything but drums (kudos to Kelly Shane) and wrote all the songs, and is a talent deserving your ear time. For more information about Kenny Howes, set your browser to http://www.mindspring.com/~tchristoh/kenny . --- REVIEW: Smart Brown Handbag, _Little Things are Everything_ (Stonegarden) - Reto Koradi New trends may be coming and going, but Smart Brown Handbag are obviously firm believers that some of them were just too good to be forgotten. With their 5th album, they keep up the fine art of intelligent guitar pop that peaked during the 80s. The fact that the voice of SBH's brain David Steinhart has a striking resemblance to Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera only reinforces the fond memories. _Little Things are Everything_ does not quite live up to the remarkable predecessor _Lullabies for Infidels_ from 1997, but it still features 10 carefully crafted and catchy pop songs, with bittersweet lyrics mostly about unhappy and lost love. This might not be an essential or even ground-breaking album, but it certainly is thoroughly enjoyable, and you may find yourself humming some of the tunes long after you turned of your CD player. Ordering information and some sound files can be found at http://www.stonegarden.com --- REVIEW: Bill Puddle, _Bill Puddle_ (Huge Records) - Bill Holmes No, there's no poor sap with a name like that. Bill Puddle is actually a Toronto based four-piece that features good songs and an uncomplicated loose knit sound. Loose is good? Okay - think Neil Young jamming with The Replacements on "Ha Ha Ha" (all harmonics and loopy guitar lines), _Transformer_ era Lou Reed on "Family Tree" and the quirky folk-pop of Michael Shelley and Robyn Hitchcock on "Maybe Then". If you like those bands, you'll love these guys. Puddle's roots are obviously steeped in country and Stones riffs, but what makes the outcome so good revolves around Paul Emery's clever songs and Patrick Gregory's amazing range of guitar sounds. Gregory doesn't flash, he snakes his way around and through the material, catching your ear and acting more the navigator than the driver. The rhythm section is solid but never in the spotlight, much like the harmonies and background vocals never overwhelm Emery's effort. _Bill Puddle_ has many good moments like the lurching kickoff track "When I Let You Down", the folksy charm of "Saginaw" and especially the radio-ready "Making Believe". There are a billion records being released every day, and when I find something like this in the pile I remember why I love writing about music so much. An impressive debut. For more information about the band, set your browser to: http://www.hugerecords.com/HTML/bill.htm --- NEWS: > The Chemical Brothers will be returning to the studio this week to finish working on the follow up to the Grammy winning album, _Dig Your Own Hole._ Although the new record is not yet complete, the band have begun work on collaborations with Oasis' Noel Gallagher; Bernard Sumner from New Order, and Mercury Rev singer/guitarist, Jonathan Donahue. The first single from the untitled album is due out in May, with no set release date yet for the record. > Public Enemy's Chuck D. and his latest song, "Swindler's Lust", are available on the in MP4 format through the Global Music Outlet. The song, according to manager Walter Leaphart, is "A direct response to Chuck being forced to take down [from their website] the MP3 songs from his unreleased, "Bring The Noise 2000" remix project." The track, which will not be available until later this spring (on Chuck D's _There's Poison Goin' Down_ ) is available at http://www.public-enemy.com and http://mp4.globalmusic.com . --- TOUR DATES: Black Sabbath / Pantera / Incubus Jan. 19 Chicago, IL Rosemont Jan. 22 San Antonio, TX Alamo Dome Jan. 24 Dallas, TX Reunion Arena Black Sabbath / Deftones / Pantera Jan. 25 Houston, TX Compaq Center Jan. 28 Philadelphia, PA First Union Jan. 29 Pittsburgh, PA Civic Arena Bluetip Jan. 21 Richmond, Va Twisters Jan. 22 Columbia, SC New brookland Tavern Jan. 23 Orlando, Fl Go Lounge Jan. 24 Tampa, FL The Fortunate One Jan. 26 Gainesville, FL Covered Dish Jan. 27 Atlanta, GA The Point Jan. 28 Carrborro, NC Go Rehersal Jan. 29 Philadelphia, PA Stalag 13 Jan. 30 Washington, DC Black Cat Jan. 31 New York, NY Brownies Broadside Electric Jan. 23 Watchung, NJ Arts Center City On Film Jan. 19 Bakersfield, CA Jerry's Jan. 20 Santa Cruz, CA UCSC Campus Jan. 22 San Francisco, CA Cocodrie Jan. 23 Portland, OR 17 Nautical Miles Dave Davies Kink Kronikles Jan. 27-28 New York, NY The Bottom Line Jan. 29 Schenectady, NY The Van Dyke Jan. 30 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's Dots Will Echo Jan. 22 New York, NY Sidewalk Cafe Jan. 30 New Brunswick, NJ Plumb St. Jets To Brazil Jan. 22 New York, NY Mercury Lounge Jan. 23 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's One Minute Silence Jan. 29 Winston-Salem, NC Ziggy's Seaweed Jan. 28 Vancouver, BC Starfish Room Jan. 29 Seattle, WA Breakroom Jan. 30 Portland, OR La Luna --- THE READERS WRITE BACK! > I read your review of _Live on 2 Legs,_ Pearl Jam's new live album. I really think that you didn't give Pearl Jam the credit they deserve. It's a great album by one of the best rock bands you'll ever find. Your references to the loss of popularity and "fading out" were way off, in my opinion. Yes, Pearl Jam is not quite the same album-selling band as 5 or 6 years ago. You seem to forget that they had many sold out shows this summer, and let me tell you, no one there seemed to think of Pearl Jam as a band on its way out. Pearl Jam still has a very large and active group of core fans that will be loyal for years to come, because Pearl Jam will be rocking for years to come! - Dawn T., Ohio > As far as your review of Pearl Jam's _Live On Two Legs_ goes, Steve Kandell's review lacks elements such as actual song description and proper research. If I had never heard the disk, I would feel as if I had no idea of the style, feel or sound of the album at all after reading said review. There are no mention of lyrics (or subtle changes), very few specs on the way the music differs from the studio versions, and, as with every single review done on Pearl Jam by a non-fan, an underlying obsession with Pearl Jam having, or not having the crown of "World's Most Popular Band." They never had a torch, thay never passed a torch, there is no torch. The most interesting tidbit is Kendall's line about Pearl Jam shows not being as highly attended as in earlier years. Check ticket sales friends... there was not a show on this 47 date tour that was not filled to capacity. The band continues to evolve, creating richer, more personal efforts with each album, and the skin of writers grows thicker and thicker, unable to see over their stack of alt-rock post-Pearl Jam ripoffs. - Christopher P., St. Louis, MO > I would just like to comment on the review written on Pearl Jam's _Live on Two Legs_. It seems to me it was implying how Pearl Jam was a great band in past times but now slowly fading away. Pearl Jam is growing in popularity; sure they lost many fans after spending nearly 2 years in hiding, but they are slowly rebounding and their music is becoming more recognized for the maturity of its sound. - Mark T., Canton, OH (Ed. Note: From "Band Worship, 101" - Ignore all comments that don't support the position as greatest band ever to grace the earth, including "willfully abdicated the rock crown they never really asked for in the first place", ignore any facts (Pearl Jam sells less records today than before, Pearl Jam plays to smaller venues, and their records aren't all over the radio), and only accept kind words with a condition that the critic should live and breathe every second of every song performed by the band. Fortunately, passing Band Worship 101 doesn't require reading comprehension skills of the original article; otherwise, fans would have to take this class over and over again. In Band Worship 201, we'll talk about making fake backstage passes... --- Founded in August, 1993, Consumable Online is the oldest music reviews publication on the Internet. To get back issues of Consumable, check out: WWW: http://www.consumableonline.com (Delphi) Music Fandom forum; GO ENT MUSIC To subscribe to Consumable, send an e-mail message to consumable-request@westnet.com with the body of the message stating "subscribe consumable". To unsubscribe, send a message to the same address stating "unsubscribe consumable". Web access contributed by WestNet Internet Services (westnet.com), serving Westchester County, NY. Address any written correspondence to Bob Gajarsky, Consumable Online, 409 Washington St. #294, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030 ===