 The Dictators Busted in Germany Jayne County: Pagan Child 10 Years of Sympathy for the Record Industry Johnny Pontiac on The Saints Sit 'N' Spin 4 Girls on the Road Pet Advice by Dr. Rebecca General Smith USMC and Other Reviews Record Reviews Rock 'N Roll Book Reviews Blair's 60 Second Swinger Comics Officer Friendly Rock N' Roll Haiku Contest Issue #1 L.C.E. Message Board Table of Contents/ Masthead |
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Despite All the Amputations by General Smith, USMC OK, stay cool people!
In the 90's, just like poetry, painting, and architecture, music is rarely made to complete itself and become whole. Critics eulogize albums like Big Star's "Radio City" and The Rolling Stones "Exile on Main Street" for the simple reason that the quality and content of these recordings could never be mistaken for any of the thousands of attempts to duplicate them. Most music today is about "pieces" whether they be a cool style like Garage, a sound like Surf, a vintage Moog or even a friggin' mod haircut: the parts give the bands their identity. It is The General's belief that the few bands that work in the reverse of this condition are confusing to many listeners and difficult to categorize. The following albums, though they take cues from well established genres, evidence a clear desire to do something besides copy someone else's work. Spacehog "The Chinese Album" (Sire)
Hear Spacehog Lorrette Velvette "Lost Part of Me" (Veracity)
Hear Lorrette Velvette The General's 10 South Pacific desert island discs for the month:
All reviews based on listening levels of at least 95 db through The General's high-grade, military spec tube stereo system. ©1998 General Smith, USMC More Reviews Illustration by Fran Leadon |
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en or so years ago there was a fashionable trend in literary theory known as
"Deconstructivism." Most of the articles I read about this curious development
in the arts were almost impossible to understand, but I formed my own
interpretation of this word: "deconstruction" must be the opposite of
construction and therefore is a process whereby the end result becomes not "the
whole" but just the pieces that would make up the whole. Now maybe it's just me,
but who in the fuck would ever ruin their career in the arts with this sort of
horseshit. I just hate all these damn parts floating around; you don't need a
team of cultural scavengers digging up 60's or 70's memorabilia to write a rock
'n' roll song.
he General must confess that Spacehog is a bit of an anomaly as their second
full-length recording "The Chinese Album" is like a lost glam rock classic which
somehow sounds more alive than anything I've recently heard on a major label
(save the Muffs' three albums). Any fan of Queen, Mott the Hoople, or Mick
Ronson-era Bowie will simply stare in disbelief at the CD player upon their
initial listen. Royston Langdon's vocals are superb and no more derivative of
David Bowie than Bowie was of John Lennon. The band are extremely talented,
particularly in the songwriting and arrangement department. Personally I could
lose the first track "One of These Days" but the following three cuts are so
extraordinary ("Goodbye Violet Race," the Honaloochie Boogie-esque "Lucy's
Shoe," and the kick-ass "Mungo City") that The General could write a stellar
review of this album had they just quit at track four. The band obviously has
little in common with the NYC rock scene (they moved to NYC from England) as
they write chord progressions and piano-based arrangements that rival early
Queen. Hell, I didn't think any rock piano players even lived in NYC. The
General has just invented a new axiom for pop rock: the boys should sing high
and the girls should sing low. Congratulations Mr. Stein for getting behind
these boys.
orrette Velvette's second full length album is a fascinating retrospective of
where rock n' roll has been over the last 40 years while still retaining the
discipline not to tag on any fashionable crap from this miserable decade. The
General would ordinarily disapprove of a group covering such material as "Dirt"
by The Stooges or "20th Century Boy" by T-Rex but Lorrette's versions of these
songs may be even stranger than the original compositions. The songs on this
record are steeped in what can only be described as the Memphis "X" factor which
means super weird and soulful, like a really, really spaced and rocked out
Lucinda Williams. Lorrette has previously played with notable bands like Tav
Falco's Panther Burns, the fabulous Hellcats and Alluring Strange. The original
material is exceptional, with some brilliant production by Doug Easley and a
cast of Memphis sidemen that virtually guarantees an unconventional recording.
The songs "Sleepy Eyes," "Pretty Perfect Lovers," and "Sunday Best" are both
definitively southern and simply don't sound like anyone else that The General
is aware of. Unfortunately, for the readers of this column, this record is
nearly impossible to find as the German label that released it is not
distributed in the USA.
