Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Jan. 28, 1993, edition 1 / Page 13
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MUSIC A techno twist for one-time Top 40 band Jesus Jones Perverse Food Limited/EMI Records Limited T esusJones’ thirdrelease, Perverse, is I the third incarnation of the band I— once again, they move away 1 from their previous sound in favor ' of anew approach. Perverse might attract anew audi ence for the band, while rejecting the new top 40 fans so easily converted by “Right Here, Right Now.” With Per verse, Jesus Jones steps into the realm of the techno sound, dragging their talent for melody in with them. Instead of offering a simple techno album, however, Jesus Jones attempts to fuse the violent static, noise and thrash of techno with the melody of pop and, of course, the rhythm of house and dance. “Zeroes and Ones” opens with gui tar-static and discordant techno key boards, ala Nine Inch Nails. The bass and drums quickly overtake the sample, however, and drive vocalist Mike Edwards’ look at how the binary lan guage of computers zeroes and ones circle and control the globe. Besides the well-known Edwards, guitar player Jerry De Borg, bassist A1 Jaworski and percussionists lain Baker and Gen give Jesus Jones their progres sive-over-disco sound that puts them in the ranks with other Manchester bands No cure in sight for Leary's annoying new album Denis Leary No Cure For Cancer A&M Records ••1/2 Denis Leary is that guy who works himself up into a good rant at the drop of a hat in between the videos on MTV. Apparently, enough people found his one-minute symposiums on topics rang ing from bell bottoms to drugs funny enough to give him an album. This doesn’t necessarily mean he’s that funny, however. Remember, the Chipmunks are still making albums. The album No Cure for Cancer is funny often enough to make it worth listening to. But when it’s not funny, it’s really lousy. The album opens with the song “Asshole,” a funny attack on that peculiar type of American who has made an indelible mark on society by being a jerk. Three other songs close the album. They go, in order, from tolerable to excruciatingly horrible. This only goes to prove that a comedian who insists on doing music (God knows why), is good for one song only. (Of course, Eddie “Party All The Time” Murphy’s forays into music haven’t even benefited from that law so, as you can see, life is pretty friggin’ unfair.) The stand-up routines raid the ware house of comedian cliches. The only topic left (mercifully) untouched is sex. Considering the long and boring tirades album MATT MORGAN such as the Stone Roses and Charlatans UK. Both “Magazine" and “Don’t Be lieve It" address the corrupted, biased media, as flip sides of the coin. "Maga zine” satirizes the stupidity of the typi cal “infotainment” magazine reader, while “Don’t Believe It,” lambastes the media for their irresponsibility and screams for a boycott of sorts. Both songs rip through the album like a strong gust of wind, especially considering their placement between boring numbers “Yellow Brown” —a song about pollution —and “Tongue Tied,” which addresses the tragedy of writer’s block. “The Devil You Know,” follows with its toy piano sample-loop introduction. The swirling keyboards and jangling introduction dominate this release, as Edwards announces the new sound to anyone who has made it this far into the disc. The next number, “Get a Good Thing,” continues the streak of good pieces of the album. Edwards looks at the consequences of a lost relationship, with a “tinge of regret/ but not what you would call/ real sorrow.” The synthe sized bass and keyboards dominate this potential single. Edwards tackles popular thoughts on decision making, personal and oth erwise, in “The Right Decision,” the seventh track. While most ofus view an album ALEX DeGRAND he gives on drugs, smoking, living in New York, etc., one doesn’t need to see another dead horse be beaten into pre chewed chunks. The traditional and “shockingly” rebellious stands are taken: I’m-a-smoker-and-l’m-proud, 1-did drugs-and-they-were-bad-but-only-be- cause-they-didn’t-make-me-cool-not- because-they’ll-kill-you. Leary also does political humor which comes straight out of the latest Gallup Poll numbers. He’s one of those countless comedians who would never dare to make a politi cal stand with even a whiff of contro versy. It’s these mantra-like recitations of the popular will which make one wonder what planet comedians like Lenny Bruce and Bill Hicks came from since they are obviously not from here, the Land of the Lemmings. Let’s consider the audiences at these shows momentarily. After every relent lessly unoriginal pronunciation is made, the audience laughs and claps like trained seals. They must have heard this stuff a billion times before on VH -1 spotlight and probably with better delivery. On the other hand, when Leary gives some stuff that (as far as I know) has yet to become fossilized on the comedic circuit (like comparing Jesus to Elvis), the audience sits there like clueless mice in a Skinner experiment. With that said, Leary gets two and a halfblobsj but-the audience gets asmack in the face. j f r f Jmßm Hv Doesn’t this guy work at Pepper’s? issue as having a right and a wrong solution, Edwards holds that either way you turn, you will incur both good and bad consequences. Kind of elementary if you think about it, but most of us don’t. If anything, this number bounces along as Edwards fills us in on some thing we already knew. “Your Crusade” pleases only as an anthem of angry defiance. “Include me out/I’m not part of your crusade,” Edwards scoffs as he derides “your safety in numbers.” The computer-generated jpp- P .JLm .■ He doesn’t hear us laughin’ beat and melody grates on the nerves, however, and no amount to listening will accustom the reader. With Perverse, Jesus Jones has proved technical mastery, while stylistic mas tery eludes the band for the moment. A good half of the album solidly grooves the listener; only the annoying bad songs keep me from recommending that you buy it for yourself. (They’re that bad.) The good half definitely deserves a listen, though, so find a friend who has the album. Page 5 DTH • Omnibus • Thursday • January 28, 1993 album brief Fudge The Ferocious Rhythm of Precise Lazi ness Caroline ♦• Underneath the layers of distortion, feedback and whatever else Fudge threw into The Ferocious Rhythm of Precise Laziness ... lies a little substance, but it takes a little bit of time to find it. This Richmond, Va., quartet’s grunge-guitar compositions won’t reduce you to your knees begging the stereo fat mercy, but after about 20 minutes of droning guitars and monotone vocals, listening can become a chore. Fudge builds “Wayside" and “Pez” on a sort of catchy-grunge sound that wharks, similar to a typical Nirvana song. One might also add “Mystery Machine” and “Peanut Butter” to the category of passable songs. One of Fudge’s weaknesses is their lack of originality and cre ativity —nothing really stands out on Laziness. Sure, the album can be fun to listen to, but nothing jumps out to grab the listener. Six-plus minute songs like “20- Nothing Dub" and “Astronaut” would sound much better with three or four fewer minutes, the former repeating the same bass line for what seems like an eternity. Even the otherwise solid “Way side” needs a little editing. The songwriting offers no pro fundity or poetry, unless, of course, one were to compare the lyrics to New Kids On The Block’s. But, like the music, it’s passable. In short, the album title appro- describes Laziness —a fe rocious rhythm infected with pre cise laziness. Put another way, lots of noise with only a little style. —Jennifer Durham • MwHMU Omnibus: Flan your time accordingly.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Jan. 28, 1993, edition 1
13
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