Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / April 4, 1991, edition 1 / Page 14
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Page 4 DTH Omnibus Thursday April 4, 1991 We've all heard Eleventh Dream Day Lived To Tell Atlantic Records 12 It is neat to see a well-distributed janglegrunge-guitar-driven band coming out of the Chicago area these days. The waxy glam acid-house head quarters is home to Eleventh Dream Day, a three-male, one-female 'pro gressive' rock band with looks remi niscent of early Talking Heads and Pixies. Unfortunately, the music is what matters, and Eleventh Dream Day's fourth LP and second major-label ef fort, Lived To Tell, has already been told and told, over and again. Sorry, but the 13-track album is crusty, gro tesquely cliche, relentlessly sterile and not moving at all. "Strung Up AndOr Out" is the second side's opener that sounds like Karen Carpenter was held at gunpoint and forced to sing, some high school acne-plagued rock god wannabe wrote the panzy chord changes, Michael Jackson played drums and Mr. Green Jeans produced it. "I wake up in the morning 1 really Acoustic guitar originals) racKunTson'i GJEIuiY SHORT (National Touring Act) 2L niClI M2ETSTUE I unrein inzzeaiTfiR V. V$i U shows start at 9 pm. No cover charge, 4CS 12 W. Iir.'TT ST. fmm THURSDAY NIGHT M.50 I 157 E. Rosemary SI B (Below Bub's) H 933-7777 Layton Croft can't avoid it ... Sometimes I get frus trated And I treat you kind of rough" are the words we get. Kind of unnec essary and overstated, like most of the music on the album. Their sound is way B-rate in progresso rock circles, clinging to the likes of the Smithereens, Guadalcanal Diary and Dreams So Real; It's just so rote, so predictable. In a word, out dated. This is unfortunate when drummer-vocalist-wife Janet Beveridge Bean and vocalist-guitarist-husband Rick Rizzo manage to strike some great harmonies, like on the upbeat, hillbilly rocker "Trouble," and sap ballad "It's All A Game." Rizzo, how ever, makes his band sound a lot like the Hooters when he sings alone. Check these lyrics: "Life is a burn ing flame And you are the wind," from "Trouble," or "You had angels' wings You weren't a bad guy," from "Angels Spread Your Wings." More rank than regular-flavored Quaker oatmeal, even if it's only been sitting out for two hours, this stuff makes this overslept quartet seem as though En- Paradoxical virtuosity in a Dinosaur Jr. Green Mind " Warner Bros, oooo h lovely, lovely angst. Di nosaur Jr.'s fourth LP, and first on Warner Brothers, is a very clean mess of stream lined noise and poised shouting. J Mascis, Dinosaur Jr.'s godhead, "produced, performed and wrote (except where noted inside)" Green Mind, making this arguable solo ef fort exceptionally cohesive. This is strikingly evident in the individual You've Heard About It... Now It's Time To For Yourself TAG TEAM TRICYCLE RACES (Come early for i Highballs $1.50 Domestics it before. 10 times over 214-16 ' f Douglas McCombs, glish is their third or fourth language, Gosh, listening to this band is not fun at all. I'd rather count telephone poles on a train ride across Yugoslavia after eating an actual dog hamburger in 95-degree weather. (I have done Layton Croft calamity and random explosiveness of each track. "The Wagon" is the first single, complete with MTV video, thanks to big ol' Warner Brothers, and it accu rately sets the raucous tone for the rest of the album. "1 really want to know you but you don't even know you" are vintage Mascis lyrics, indicative of his clever yet all the while skewed approach to subject, nevertheless confirming his conviction in it, screaming to get the words out. On the title track, which is last in order, he sings, "It's kind of lame to let it slide though either way I haven't tried," Mascis concludes an exhaus tive yet satisfying listen leaving a bit ter taste. What's up here? "Puke &. Cry" is the album's most likeable song on first listen, revolving around a catchy "Come on down" ff i - r i lip f OMNIBUS stra W. P0 022 CAMP Ik W - In, fta. roj 1 TDWWM Janet Beveridge Bean, Rick Rizzo and that and yes, I lived to tell ... ) So if you are a middle-of-the-road, tell-me-the-answer-because-I-don't- get-the-joke, I'd-rather-fart-really- loud-in-public-than-go-down-the- water-slide-first, pajama-with-the- whine-chorus atop rapid-synched snare cracks that instill contrasting images of head-banging with dance floor butt-moving. Moreover, Green Mind is bolstered by its fine production quality. (Hey, could it be because of Warner Broth ers' mighty big shoes ?) Never has angst sounded so clear. Part-time Dinosaur Jr. drummer Murph plays drums on three tracks, but his domineering power-style rhythm is kept consistent throughout the album, which is a big plus. Other than that, Mascis is the whole show, writing about nothing radical or earth-shattering, but al ways from a decisively genuine stand point. He is a little confused, a little hurt and best guess says he's a full bred introvert. Great, because that's the magic potion. Mascis' impassioned delivery trig gers Westerberg, Black Francis (Pix ies) and Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) comparisons, but he sounds more boyish and reverted than any of them. These are words from the album's best groove, a crispy funk guitar piece JI ... f I - J Li MUSIC -en jt n Baird Figi staring at us feet-attached-wearing, toothpaste- tube-squeezing-from-the-bottom- only-and-then-rolling-it-up type, this simpy record is for you. Otherwise, save your money and go see Silence of the Lambs. one-man show with sharp drums and a clinching fuzz bass backbone, "Muck:" "I know these things have passed you byI know it's tough to even tryIt's such a different kind of sceneI know you don't know what I mean ... Whenever you get into my faceThere's something strange I start to taste ..." Mascis sings this one much like the rest, as if he's been in a hot tub for three and a half hours sipping whisky sours while watching CNN reruns. The intrigue in such twisting and wrenching lyrics atop the palatable heap of guitar punch-rock just makes J Mascis, his band and this album in particular a superb plunge into pack aged virtuosity wrought with para dox, angst and loudness. Some may just say noise, but they're the ones with too much cheek cement, the ones who usually just skim the pool's surface with their toes, never taking the plunge. What a terribly dandy LP from Dinosaur Jr. Green Mind is a work of conceptual ambiguity and it's meant to be played very loud. Plus, no one can touch the cover sleeve ... O forget it OO wait for a bargain bin buy OOO taps it from a friend OOOO buy it OOOOO buy two copies r. s 1 u h h " " ii "i i; k . k u m v vi u h h ri g h k h r? ft w w ?.n
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 4, 1991, edition 1
14
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75