THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 4, 1994 TAG: 9406030095
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By Rickey Wright, staff writer
DATELINE: 940604 LENGTH: Long
``Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star'' (DGC), the Youth's new album, shows signs of disengagement from their noisy muse. Their highly original take on the culture surrounding them isn't conveyed as sharply this time out.
{REST} ``Self-Obsessed and Sexxee'' doesn't celebrate and critique newfound stardom as shrewdly as did, say, ``Kool Thing''; instead, singer/ guitarist Thurston Moore settles for a listless mantra of ``party party party'' that carries neither sufficient irony nor sympathy for its riot-grrrl subject.
Moore and singer/bassist Kim Gordon offer wordplay instead of the hard thought that made discs like ``Daydream Nation'' and ``Dirty'' so endlessly intriguing. Little is illuminated over the course of these 14 songs, though that doesn't keep ``Experimental'' from satisfying on a basic aural level.
For now, the banner of beauty and noise is carried with much more panache by Pavement, in the recent ``Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'' (Matador). Open-hearted singer/guitarist Stephen Malkmus pronounces on many facets of the music biz. The radio hit ``Cut Your Hair'' covers more ground (haircuts, effects thereof on commercial potential, musician-wanted ads) in three minutes than Sonic Youth does over its entire record. ``Range Life'' includes his droll musings on Stone Temple Pilots (``elegant bachelors'') and Smashing Pumpkins (``no function'').
The California-based quintet, which includes former Richmond resident and Contoocook Line member Steve West on drums, supports all this with some of the most exhilarating, powerful music heard lately. Combined with trademark Pavement wryness and trademark Pavement goofiness, the result is this band's best record yet and the most challenging rock album of the year thus far.
\ Dull disc from Byrne
David Byrne, ``David Byrne'' (Luaka Bop/Sire/Warner Bros.). The former chief Talking Head seems to be aiming at the airwaves. ``Angels,'' cannily released as this album's first single, shamelessly recycles the Heads' ``Once in a Lifetime,'' from the mock-portentous spoken vocal to the funk bass line.
But any connection between this dull solo artist and the loopy preppie who helmed deathless records like ``More Songs About Buildings and Food'' and ``Fear of Music'' is in name only. Byrne has stripped down his sound from recent large-band forays to an elemental rhythm section with annoyingly cutesy touches like vibraphone solos and generic Latin percussion. The result is a dull disc that begs the question of why Byrne bothers.
- Rickey Wright
\ Dramatic and demented
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, ``Let Love In'' (Mute/Elektra). Popular acceptance has eluded Nick Cave for nearly 15 years. And that's too bad. The Australian basso profundo's music-as-grand-theater vocals - by turns wrenchingly emotive and gratingly unlistenable - deserve a major audience.
A gripping song cycle exploring the dark side of romantic attachment - obsession, possession, violation, immolation - ``Let Love In'' is quintessential Cave and the Bad Seeds: dramatic, dangerous and just a little demented.
The band appropriates a wildly colorful range of sounds and idioms for this densely layered stew. Prickly percussion and a quavering oscillator mesh in the trippy exotica of ``Red Right Hand.'' Rabid guitars corrode the scary incantation of ``Loverman'' and galloping psychobilly of ``Thirsty Dog.'' ``Lay Me Low'' darkly burlesques bluesy gospel. Ominous white noise and string tones heave under most everything.
Cave croons, cavorts, stalks and screams with maniacal aplomb. Like fellow musical dramatists Tom Waits and Tav Falco he proves himself, though not a flawless singer, a captivating raconteur.
- Sue Smallwood
\ Sensitive-guy pop rock
Collective Soul, ``Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid'' (Atlantic). Cheese all around, from the clip-art front cover on down. Beginning with the hit single ``Shine,'' this Georgia pack deals in sensitive-guy pop-rock aimed at as many constituencies (R.E.M.'s, Pearl Jam's, even Pink Floyd's) as will bite. Hippie-dippy-drool lyrics complete the package, making it one of the least fun schlock-AOR successes in some time.
- Rickey Wright
\ Interpreting the Beatles
``Come Together: Guitar Tribute to the Beatles'' (NYC Records). With talk of a Beatles ``reunion'' on the wind, this Mike Mainieri-produced release is a welcome precursor. Mainieri, who was admittedly reluctantly seduced by the Fab Four's melodies and messages, has picked 11 guitarists and let them interpret their favorite Beatle tune. The result is an odd mix of styles and presentations - from the acoustic solo musings of Ralph Towner on ``Here, There & Everywhere'' to Mark Whitfield's electrified funk on ``Come Together'' to Allan Holdsworth's surprisingly boppish ``Michelle.'' The longest - and most venturesome track - is ``Within You, Without You/Blue Jay Way (Medley),'' where Nana Vasconcelos's percussion and vocalese almost steal the show from electric guitarist Steve Khan.
- Marvin Lake by CNB