THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 8, 1994 TAG: 9409080073
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
``IT'S VERY un-rock of me,'' Brad Shepherd admits.
The Hoodoo Gurus' lead guitarist is on the phone from the offices of the band's management in Nashville, tongue firmly in cheek, confessing a trip earlier in the day to ``a local mall. I had to buy some shoes. Running shoes.''
When not helping work the Gurus' voodoo garage magic, Shepherd finds it ``therapeutic to run. It sends some blood to the brain.''
The first show of the veteran Australian band's U.S. tour behind its new ``Crank'' album, which brings them to Hampton Bay Days this Friday, took place the night before Shepherd's shoe-shopping venture.
``It wasn't too bad for a first show, actually,'' Shepherd allows. They played a few Sydney gigs before their arrival in the States, he explains, but ``two weeks (off) is enough for us to lose it. But then, we never actually had it.
``There's always a solid core of people who dig the band,'' he says. ``We're doing a lot of songs from the new album'' - unreleased at the time of this conversation - ``and people were already singing all the words. There are some guys down the front who know them all. So either they're Australian and on vacation, or they're fanatics who went out and bought the record on import.''
``Crank,'' the Gurus' sixth American disc, belies Shepherd's modesty. A keeper in the mold of previous triumphs such as ``Stoneage Romeos,'' ``Mars Needs Guitars'' and ``Magnum Cum Louder,'' the record mixes a few pensive numbers in with a strong complement of catchy full-bore rockers.
Produced by Ed Stasium, who's worked with Living Colour, the Smithereens and the Ramones, ``Crank'' does a good job of capturing the Gurus' live energy. Still, Shepherd claims the stage is where they do it best.
``We sort of work ourselves into a lather,'' he notes. Still, this year's model is ``not as wimpy as some of our other records.''
The album is something of a breakthrough for Shepherd, who writes and sings four of the 13 cuts - his first contributions of that kind ever.
Of his new numbers, which run the gamut from an homage to Partridge Family-style pop (``You Open My Eyes'') to a two-minute punk barrage (``I See You''), Shepherd says:
``Those things just sort of drop on your head out of the sky. They just sort of happen. Everyone in the band has a very varied taste in music, so when we get together, there's an endless maelstrom of things you can draw on.''
One of lead singer Dave Faulkner's most inspired ``Crank'' moments comes with ``Hypocrite Blues,'' a smart reworking of the eternal ``Louie Louie'' riff.
``That was kind of a challenge David set for himself,'' Shepherd says. ``He heard some song where the riff was obviously stolen, and decided to try it. The trick is that the melody seems completely natural.''
Typical of the group's rock archaeology, the tune seems designed to prove a Shepherd maxim: ``That's the great thing about music. You can leave it forever, and then when you're ready for it, it'll still be there.''
As are the Hoodoo Gurus, whom Shepherd proclaims to be of ``advanced years, a bunch of crochety old bastards, us against the world. We do it for the love of playing music. And once you admit that to yourselves, you can just rock. We're much less inhibited than we've ever been onstage.
``The older we get, the gnarlier we get.'' MEMO: CONCERT FACTS
Who: Hoodoo Gurus
When: 8:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Hampton Bay Days, in downtown Hampton
How much: Free
Call: 727-6122
Tell me more: Bay Days is open noon to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10
p.m. Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. Music highlights include Willie
Nelson (4 p.m. Sunday), The Fabulous Thunderbirds (8 p.m. Saturday) and
Ruth Brown (8 p.m. Friday). ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO COURTESY OF ZOO INTERNATIONAL
Hoodoo Gurus, clockwise from top, Mark Kingsmill, Rick Grossman,
Dave Faulkner and Brad Shepherd, perform Friday.
by CNB