DTH Oti&tibiti 'Page S
Thursday September 10, 1992
Secretive, schizo Pavement soothes and shrieks
Pavement
with Zen Frisbee
andWingtipSloat
Friday, Sept. 11
Cat's Cradle
Tickets: $6, available at Schoolkids
For information call 967-9053
KEVIN KRUSE
ritine about Pavement is
frfl like dancing the Lambada
IV I extremely difficult to
I I do. and therefore, seldom
done. Pavement, the quin
tet from Stockton, Calif., is apparently
very reticent to reveal anything about
themselves. In fact, I believe they were
just recently taken off life support sys
tems when it was determined that they
were never actually m a coma, but "just
shy."
When they do happen to speak a
guru-like pearl of wisdom, it's generally
worthless, or, in some cases, a complete
lie. For example, the boys once told the
London Daily Mirror (the British
Enquirer) that they had appeared on
Be verly Hills , 902 I 0 and wound up beat
ing up teen heartthrob Luke Perry. I'm
not making this up. Someone actually
told me this.
So, apparently, this assignment was
some sort of joke on me, the new kid:
Oh well. As a neophyte to the musical
phenomena known as Pavement, I'll
try to tell you what I do pretend to know
about them. 1 do know is that they are
coming to Cat's Cradle this Friday.
The semi-nameless wonders behind
Pavement (known only as David B.,
BobN., Mark I., MarkO., and, of course,
"K-Pipe") have a sound reminiscent of
a Velvet Underground-era Lou Reed
possessed sporadically by our own local
yokels, Erectus Monotone. As odd as
that scenario seems, the band's sound is
really quite ... nice.
The mood swings alternate between
mellow pop droning to the occassional
grab-bag of ear-splitting wails, a la the
Pixies. The steady throb of the almost
spoken lyrics and hypnotizing guitar
patterns are punched up with the
occassional upbeat thrust of rhythm or
the sporadic " AAGH" that seems to say
"1 am Pavement, hear me roar" ... or
something like that.
These crazy kids have spewn out,
since 1989, three short EP records Shy
Tracks, Demolition Plot) -7, Perfect Sound
Forever, and one full-length album,
Slanted and Enchanted. Now, Slanted and
Enchanted is one of those infinitely
catchy alternative-pop albums that
make people our age air guitar in the
Undergraduate library likemiddle-aged
men hum Perry Como in an office el
evator. When I first heard "Summer Babe,"
the first cut on the album, 1 was mum
bling the refrain to myself for days on end
like an insane bag lady, eventually lulling
myself into a trance. Most of the album is
the grunge-pop equivalent of say, a Jane's
Addiction or a Pixies. Not monumen-
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Pavement hits the Cradle Friday. Sorry, no ice chests.
tally life-changing but really catchy.
The songs range from those sweet
intricate tunes typical of the psuedo
pop genre to wailing, thumping space
fillers like Two States" that are only a
step beyond those annoying Mike Man
chants at football games. Well, it's not
that bad. Generally, the album is remi
niscent of a concert held by a sweet
little boy with Tourette's Syndrome.
You know, he's singing these nice,
soothing songs for the most part. But
you never know when he's going to
scream "motherfucker" at the top of his
lungs.lt should be very exciting to
watch.
So I say unto thee: Go forth and see
Pavement, with their cohorts Wingtip
Sloat and the absolutely incredible
masters Zen Frisbee at the Cradle. It's
not exactly "Up with People," but I
haven't looked forward to anything this
much since the Monkees Reunion Tour.
It should be fun for the whole family,
with a promise of mellow and maniacal
and everything in-between.
Kev Bob says check it out.
The Veldt at the Cradle: so satisfying
you just might need a few cigarettes
The Veldt
with Plutopia
and Seventh Tribe
Sunday, Sept. 6 at Cat's Cradle
mum
Ml I 'm tired. My feet hurt. And
1E I if J -Jiz-lrt'frVinn est mi i-V cnirA
to fill, all I would say is
"wow." Actually, I could
probably find a better word
than that to describe the evening, but
I'm tired, and my feet hurt.
Sunday night's show at the Cradle
was definitely not for anyone who wished
to hang back and listen to music. Al
though the three bands played vitally
different styles, together they produced
a package which provided anything but
passive listening.
Going by what I have found to be
"Cradle Time," I arrived at the Cat's
Cradle at 9: 15, expecting the first group,
Seventh Tribe, would be just starting
up. Unfortunately, they were just wind
ing down, but not before I got a good
sample of them sight and sound. The
energy was unreal. They were so color
ful, confident, and in their element that
you wanted to dance to them whether
you can dance to rap or not.
The strong, pop-rap sounds were
complemented visually by a man whose
sole purpose was to dance his ass off.
And he did. He knew the music, pre-
UNDSAYLOWY
dieted it and interpreted it (backflips
and all) with such energy that he made
the show.
Following Seventh Tribe was
Plutopia, the original headliners of the
show. Their rhythms were smooth, the
drums were hard, and the groove was so
tight it hummed.
The set really gelled about three or
four songs in, with "Imagine A World."
Every sound was in the foreground, and
yet nothing was overpowering. The
whole room seemed to be riding one big
wave, moving with one motion. The
band was expressive, passionate and
very self-assured, providing, in Pluto's
words, "Music for your mind. Music for
your soul."
The audience was almost compelled
to pick up on the energy of the band
whether they wanted to or not. While
Plutopia has a buoyant, accessible
sound, at home in Brooklyn or in Myrtle
Beach. They made a point of ending
with a serious audience chant "Peace.
Love. Respect. For Everybody."
Where Plutopia drinks you in, The
Veldt makes you move. Listen to the
words if you can, but I guarantee your
primary compulsion is to just kick it. By
the time The Veldt entered the scene,
the Cradle was packed. (Very impres
sive for a Labor Day weekend show in
Chapel Hill, but then, it's the Veldt,
and they can do that.)
My lasting impression of them, just
as my first, is that they were loud and
aggressive and incredibly dynamic. You
don't dance to this music it dances
you. I forgot that I was the detached
reviewer during this set.
Some songs were driving, some pas
sionate and some just downright re
minded you of sex, with the glow of the
red lights, the feedback, the pulsing of
the drums and bass in unison and
Daniel's soulful voice. I felt like I should
smoke a cigarette after some of his songs.
He can move.
.A few songs into the set, Daniel
pulled a woman onto the stage and
asked her to name two important bleck
leaders in America. It took her quite a
few moments to respond with MLK and
Malcolm X, but she did win a spiffy
Veldt T-shirt and single. The fact that
she had to think about it seemed to
defeat the purpose ... or maybe that was
Daniel's point.
He came out with many statements
about politics and the state of blacks
today throughout the show, and chal
lenged listeners to think about them,
just as Plutopia in their set urged people
to vote, and fight racism.
Just goes to show, even a gig that
asks what family values mean to you
can be '""ry, very cool.
Welcome Hackl
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