8The Daily Tar Heel Thursday, March 17, 1988
QtidU
Cradle's Irish party features Mary on the Dash
By ALLISON PIKE
Staff Writer
Cat's Cradle brings you pure rock
'n' roll this St. Patrick's Day with
Chapel Hill's Mary on the Dash and
Tennessee's Brian and the
Nightmare's.
Mary on the Dash has come a
long way in its short existence.
Rob Boyle (bass). Lawrence Cray
(vocals, guitar), David Liggett
(drums, vocals), and Frank Liggett
(vocals, guitar) formed Mary on
the Dash last summer and since
then have ventured out of North
Carolina to play from Washington,
DC. to Florence. S C. Their eight
song untitled demo tape, available
at Record Bar and Oasis in Chapel
Hill and Raleigh, has sold well
without much advertising or
marketing. Several cuts off the
tape, "Overdue" and "Chosen One,"
are played regularly on Bob Robin
son's "Future Classics" show on
WRDU.
Critics' and fans' attraction to
Mary on the Dash seems to stem
from the band's skill for playing
pure rock n roll, it's not a harsh
heavy metal sound, nor is it a pop
influenced R.E.M. sound. Mary on
the Dash's music is simply progres
sive Southern rock.
Frank Liggett's "Well Well" and
Cray's "Chosen One" are perfect
examples of the Southern influ
ence in Mary on the Dash's music.
The band brings to the songs the
same hard-driving Southern flair
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f
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as Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers.
Bassist Boyle and drummer
David Liggett provide a powerful
backing for the music and the
songs are lined with the raw
edged guitar sounds of Frank
Liggett and Cray who at times give
a sort of Stevie Ray vaugh flair
to the music.
Several major recording labels
have shown interest in Mary on
the Dash, but no concrete offers
have come up yet. "There's a lot
of waiting involved," says Liggett.
The band is leery, though, of
signing on with a major label right
away.
"A major label would probably
want to shape us. we'd like to
develop our own way with an
independent label." said Cray.
"We're not willing to make all
those compromises right now."
"We're writing all the time and
our set is always changing," added
Liggett.
Mary on the Dash has big sur
prises planned for tonight's show
surprises which Liggett says are
not printable.
"We like to play live," said Cray.
"We get excited about doing it
even though we play all the time."
So, if you want to mix some
good Southern rock 'n' roll that
you can dance to with the night
of Irish drink specials, catch the
band that takes its name from the
Virgin Mary figurines that hang in
the rear view mirrors of cars
Mary on the Dash.
Some new music for thought
By RANDY BULLOCK
Special to the dth
Now that Spring Break is over
and you've finished lounging on
the beach, it's time for you to
regenerate electrical impulses
throughout your brain. To aid in
this intellectual rebirth, here's
three new vinyl releases by bands
that aren't "content with" merely
reaffirming what you already
think. That's right, the dreaded
"thought-provoking" music.
The Jean-Paul Sartre Expe
rience Love Songs
(Communion)
This Experience hails from New
Zealand and the band members
look a little like geeks. So be it. They
are serious; they have probably
done more to advance the New
Zealand sound than any other
band to date. (That's a joke.) Really,
this band is quite good. Their songs
are slow, with fragile melodies and
thoughtful lyrics; they are like
songs created during a quiet, rainy
day at home. Love is often the
topic, but the approach stems
form the basic inability of anyone
to adequately understand it, as
opposed to the stance in "I Want
Your Sex." Nobody said existential
ism was going to be easy. Bonus
. kudos for the song "Fish -in the
Sea," which ends witrran intake of
breath, like the singer had some
thing else to say, but thought
better of it.
Gary Clail's Tackhead
(Nettwerk)
If you can imagine rap music
without any rapping, you have a
good idea of what is happening on
this record. Mix-meisters Adrian
Sherwood and Keith LeBlanc et al.
set up pounding, repetitious
rhythms and punctuate them
with vocals of various people
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talking, preaching, and generally
rousing rabble. Most of the vocals
are treated, so it is hard to tell
what to attribute to the band
members and what they've culled
from other sources. Anyway, all
the "-isms" are brought out, and
as a social statement, Tackhead is
quite "correct." As music, however,
it leaves me rather cold it is too
repetitious and the message is too
often lost behind the drums and
the electronic gurgles. However, it
would probably sound great blar
ing from the open window of a
Vega with Cragars all around and
a license plate that reads "LDY
KILLR." Food for thought.
That's that. You pay your
money, you take your choice.
Remember though, whether you
are picking out albums or a license
plate, it never pays to leave your
brain behind.
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