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Runaway Cab Never Gets Going on Upside
By Russ Lane
Staff Writer
Local act Runaway Cab’s work is
consistently well-executed, but doesn’t
go for the extra mile of intensity. The
| CO Review
Runaway Cab
On the Ups ide
rrr
band’s new
album, On the
Upside , is full of
good songs
with unrealized
potential.
Basing its
sound in the
Vertical Horizon/Foo Fighters mold, On
the Upside lakes no wrong turns. None of
the album’s 10 songs are victims of poor
Streets Showcases the LOX's Hardcore Sound
By Shindy Chen
Staff Writer
“If you’re glad the LOX are Ruff
Ryders now” you better be investing 13
bucks in their latest album.
The rap trio’s sophomore effort, We
Are the Streets , showcases the hard-core,
cutting-edge sound for which the
Yonkers, N.Y.,
natives origi
nally gained
notoriety on
underground
tapes, back
when they
called them-
B CD Review
The LOX
We Are the Streets
rrr
selves the Warlocks, and current label
mate DMX was merely a twinkle in the
eyes of Ruff Ryders’ chief executives.
The album returns the group to a
Arts &
Entertainment
Calendar
MUSIC
Cat’s Cradle. 300 E. Main St, Carrboro. 967-9053.
Go! Rehearsals Room 4.100 Brewer Lane,
Carrboro. 969-1400.
Local 506. 506 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill.
942-5506.
Thursday, Feb. 10
■ Weekend Excursion w/ King Konga at
Cat’s Cradle.
■ Hopper’s Weasel w/ Hie Mertons at Go!
Studios.
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869-8555
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judgment, a minor miracle considering
how few albums today don’t include a
throwaway track or two.
Unfortunately, the album produces
no strong tracks either. Having mastered
the art of the power-pop song structure,
On the Upside sticks close to its comfort
zone and sounds too polished for
Runaway Cab’s own good.
It seems as if the entire album pro
motes the Runaway Cab live show
instead of vice versa. “The More That
You Take” steps beyond catchy and
becomes predictable, and is soon to be
the audience’s choice sing-along track.
While the balanced mix of guitar,
rhythm and piano works well, some
musical and lyrical comfort zone but is
also a product of months of contractual
disputes between the group and former
hip-hop mogul Sean “Puffy” Combs.
LOX felt disillusioned and artistically
limited on Combs’ Bad Boy label and,
on its debut album, Money, Power &
Respect, the group'was mostly rapping
about the commercial and material
aspects of hip hop on tracks like “If You
Think I’mjiggie.”
Tracks like these didn’t go with the
street reputation they’d worked to create
and maintain. The group was dissatisfied
with the project’s reception, which
labeled them as concerned mainly with
showing off the money they made.
After a revolutionary movement that
spawned T-shirts emblazoned with “Free
the Lox” and “Let the Lox Go,” the
group was allowed to sign on with Ruff
Friday, Feb. 11
■ Cary Pierce at Cat’s Cradle.
■ Sorry About Dresden, the Scaries, 20/20
and Stick Figure Suicide at Go! Studios.
■ Tad Dreis at the Coffee Mill Roastery.
■ Tom Maxwell and the Minor Drag w/
Lou Ford at Local 506.
Saturday, Feb. 12
■ Gran Torino at Cat’s Cradle.
■ Anthony Neff at the Coffee Mill Roastery.
■ Marsha at Local 506.
Sunday, Feb. 13
■ Flicker Film Festival at Cat’s Cradle.
■ Anna to the Infinite Power CD release at
Local 506.
Monday, Feb. 14
■ The Samples w/ Push Stars at Cat’s
Cradle.
Tuesday, Feb. 15
■ Southern Groove Society w/ Life Trip at
Go! Studios.
DIVERSIONS Music
tracks sound too mannered and
restrained, as if the band is rushing
through the studio work to unleash these
songs on tour.
In spite of its faults, however, On the
Upside shows hints of Runaway Cab’s
capabilities. Although the album’s lyrics
generally examine collegiate preoccu
pations with ambition and crazed rela
tionships, some of the song’s commen
taries are more clever than others.
“Money Bags” is a surprisingly edgy
critique of the rock star cliche and strays
the most from the band’s perfect pop
influences. On “Anything” and “Pride,”
the band writes about the great singer
songwriter subject of the ’9os - the
Ryders, a label the group felt would
allow more freedom in terms of music
and anti-flossing lyrics.
The LOX tells thugged-out street sto
ries of sex, drugs and violence, as relat
ed in the blazing single “Wild Out”: “I
get rap money, plus I’m in the hood wit
dimes/ And I ain’t got no felonies, I’m
good wit crimes/ Not all dat wit macs,
but I’m good wit nines/ Great wit
eights/ Nigga, I’ll heat ya face.”
The album is produced mostly by
Ruff Ryders’ main beat-maker, Swizz
Beatz, who somehow snatched the prize
of Source Magazine’s “Producer of the
Year.” Not surprisingly, the tracks not
mastered by Beatz are the hotter tracks
on the CD, and seem to complement
the LOX better in terms of lyrical style.
Just when Swizz’s music gets repeti
tively tired and choppy, P. Killer’s tracks
Wednesday, Feb. 16
■ Steve Forbert Band w/ Pinetops at Cat’s
Cradle.
■ Park Life at Local 506.
ART
■ “From the Molecular to the Galactic:
The Art of Max Ernst and Alfonso
Ossorio.” Through March 26. Ackland Art
Museum. UNC campus. 966-5736.
■ “Transatlantic Dialogue: Contemporary
Art In and Out of Africa.” Through March
26. Ackland Art Museum, UNC campus.
966-5736.
■ “Jim Kellough: 16 Paintings.” Through
Feb. 18. Hanes Art Center Gallery, UNC
campus.
■ Dorothy Gillespie: Recent Works.
Celebrahng the artists 80th birthday. Through
Feb. 19. Somerhill Gallery, Chapel Hill.
hopelessly co-dependent relationship.
“Sunny Side” proves the most sub
versive track on the album. It hints at
the quiet desperation of the Thursday
night party crowd after the bars close,
like a post-millennium “Closing Time.”
While all these songs are well-done, the
band sounds like it didn’t have the ener
gy or the time to take it all the way.
Subsequent albums will probably
eclipse the unrealized songs on On the
Upside. In the interim, check out
Runaway Cab’s live show to hear these
songs as they should sound on record.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
“Breathe Easy” and “Scream LOX” take
the album in a more soulful, bass-heavy
direction, while Premier’s “Recognize”
has smooth, head-bouncing appeal.
Timbaland’s club hit “Ryde or Die,
Bitch” provides a refreshing melody
laced with the LOX’s want ad style
lyrics describing their perfect “bitch.”
The LOX hopes its new album will
bring the success that the majority of the
Ruff Ryders artists have been achieving.
For fans who supported them from their
first album through all the drama of a
grass roots movement, We are the Streets
serves as a testament not only to their
freedom from the clenches of the music
industry, but also to their survival
impossible without loyal listeners.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
THEATER
■ “The Glass Menagerie.” Play Makers
Repertory Company. Through Feb. 27. Paul
Green Theatre, UNC campus. 962-PLAY.
■ “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.” Lab!
Theatre. Friday through Tuesday. Playmakers
Theatre, UNC campus.
■ “Tongue of a Bird.” Streetsigns Center for
Literature and Performance. Feb. 14 through
Feb. 27. Swain Hall Studio 6, UNC campus.
960-4299.
FILM
■ “Runaway Bride.” 7:30 p.m. Friday;
10 p.m. Saturday. Carolina Union Auditorium.
■ “Never Been Kissed.” 10 p.m. Friday;
7:30 p.m. Saturday. Carolina Union
Auditorium.
■ “The Parallax View.” 7 p.m. Tuesday. The
Carolina Theatre, Durham.
PLAN AHEAD
■ The Khac Chi Ensemble: Exquisite
German Teen Boy Band
Bombs Stateside Debut
By Erin Wynia
Senior Writer
Trying to capitalize on the ridiculous
popularity of teen sensations Backstreet
Boys, Christina Aguilera and Britney
Spears, First Love manages only to
make a mockery of what little talent the
aforementioned acts actually do possess.
This quartet,
assembled by
its mentor/pro
ducer in typi
cal boy band
fashion, hails
from Germany.
Remember all
CD Review
First Love
First Love
the stereotypes of German pop music as
hard-edged, industrial, but danceable?
Well, First Love provides even more
evidence that Germans should stick to
what they do best and leave pop cheese
to the Americans.
Let’s run down a list of how First
Love fails at the seemingly simple for
mula for achieving teen sensation status.
Catchy dance beats. First Love’s
stripped-down percussion tries to reach
the cool, grinding funk of Bell Biv
Devoe’s “Do Me,” but instead sounds
like a watered-down version of the
Mountain Dew Super Bowl commercial.
Beats me how these four will ever fit the
requisite choreographed dance moves
to unenergetic music.
Lusty ballads. New Kids on th(j Block
run circles around these guys. Normally,
when a group mixes high falsetto vocals
(think “I’ll be Loving You (Forever)”),
slow piano accompaniment and a low
voiced spoken message to pre-pubes
cent girls (think Barry White), the result
Music from Vietnam. Saturday. The
Carrboro Arts Center. 929-2787.
■ North Carolina Symphony all-orchestra
concert Saturday. Memorial Hall, UNC
Campus. 733-2750. “
a Primus w/ P.OJ). Tuesday. The Ritz,
Raleigh. 834-4000.
a 311 w/Jimmie’s Chicken Shack. Feb. 21.
The Ritz, Raleigh. 834-4000.
a The Brothers Creeggan featuring Jim
Creeggan of the Barenaked Ladies w/
Julie Doiron. Feb. 20. The Casbah at
Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte, N.C.
(704) 522-6500.
a Cher w/ Lou Bega and C-Note. Feb. 26.
Entertainment & Sports Arena, Raleigh.
834-4000.
a Smashmouth w/ Luscious Jackson & 22
Jacks. March 6. The Ritz, Raleigh. 834-4000.
Student discount tickets available,
a Dance Theater of Harlen. March 6-7.
Memorial Auditorium, UNC campus.
962-1449.
Thursday, February 10, 2000
is a guaranteed hit. But the members of
First Love possess neither the suave
style nor the gentle, intimate vocals
required to pull off a decent pop ballad.
Heartfelt lyrics. These posers manage
to sound as heartfelt as a third-grader.
With an average count of 44 different
words per song (not including the aver
age of 6.5 “Ooh baby” moans they inject
into each tune), the band's lyrics hardlv
stand up to the only slightly more
inspired prose of ’N Sync.
What’s worse, the words don’t even
make sense. An attempt at using literary
devices such as similes results in disas
ters like this: “I want to make love to
you tonight/Like the stars in the sky.”
What does slapping bodies have to do
with celestial bodies?
Silly hooks. To become a true teen
sensation, acts bank on one hook to
keep their name in listeners’ memories.
Backstreet Boys found it with the omni
present “Backstreet’s back, all right!”
But this debut sees First Love still
searching. Their best reach for a hook
involves the outright stealing of the New
Kids’ unforgettable “Right Stuff” “Oh,
oh, oh, oh, oh” chant. So unforgettable
that no one hearing First Love’s rendi
tion could accuse them of originality.
Admittedly, First Love does have the
cute faces and fashionably coordinated
outfits that must account for at least 75
percent of boy bands’ appeal to 13-year
olds. But without some sort of music al
substance, this band will discover it real
lv is hard to hang tough with even the
least discriminating of audiences.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can
be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu
> Friday @ 7:3opm
' Saturday @ 10:00pm
NEVER
BEEN
KISSED ig|
Friday @ 10:00pm
Saturday @ 7:3opm a
FREE with UNC argfiijiaMS#
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FORMOREINFORMATIONCAL^62^22BSj
300 E. Main Street • Carrboro
FEBRUARY
10 TH WEEKEND EXCURSION w/ King Kongo 1
11FR CARY PIERCE from Jackopierce ($8)
w/ Drifting Through
12 SA GRAN TORINO ($6) w/ Junk in the Trunk
13SU FUCKER (S3:B 30
14 MO THE SAMPLES" ($10) w/ Push Stars
16 WE STEVE FORBERT" (sl2) 8:30 pm
w / Pinetops
l/IH&IBFRmoe." (Sl2)
19 SA HOT WATER MUSIC" <S7)
20 SU DONNA THE BUFFALO" (S10)
22 TU REVEREND HORTON HEAT w/Hank
Williams III" (sll/513)
23 WE BLUE DOGS (S6)
24 TH LAMBCHOP" (S8)
w/ North Mississippi All-Stars
25 FR 20 MILES / Bob Log / Banaway ($7)
26 SA THE CONNELLS" (sl2)
28 MO KENNY WAYNE SHEPERD" (sl7)
29 TU JONATHAN RICHMAN"
MARCH
2TH CHESSIE, KIT CLAYTON & STEWART
WALKER
4 SA Hi Mom! film Fest.
9TH PAULA COLE" (Sls) 9pm show
12 SU the DONNAS" (8 pm)
21 TU PETER ROWAN / TONY RICE "8 pm
24 FR YO LA TENGO
26 SU THE SELDOM SCENE" (8 pm)
28 TU TEN-FOOT POLE (8 pm show)
SHOWS ® GO! Rehearsal. Room 4
919-969-1400
FEBRUARY
11 FR SCARIES, SORRY ABOUT DRESDEN
18 FR FIN FANG FOOM. OXES
19 SA SATURNALIA STRING TRIO
21 MO ALL TIME PRESENT
26 SA ALL SCARS
27 SU SEELY/KINGSBURY MANX
MARCH
10 FR Elf Power w/ Summer Hymns
23 TH Love As Laughter. Les Savy Fav
25 SA RICHARD BUCKNER
••Advance ticket sales at SchoolKids
(in Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh).
For Credit Card orders CALL 919-967-9053
www.catscradle.com
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