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TAKE ONE-the occasional modern rock review
ISSUE #31-NOVEMBER 30, 1997
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THIS ISSUE: Everclear, Sarah McLachlan, Who Hit John, The
Interpreters, The Wannadies, Hurricane #1, Space Monkeys,
Longpigs, Duran Duran, _Live From 6A_.

FROM THE EDITOR

The Year-End Issue will be released as Issue #32 some time
around Christmas.  After that, I am going to steer the zine
more towards a shorter, more frequent format, as that has been
what many readers have requested.  There aren't enough five-minute
reads out there as it is, so I'm going to fill a niche.

To get a CD reviewed, simply e-mail me (address below) and speak
up.  It can be your band, a friend's band, a band local to your
area, anything.  All it will cost you is the postage to mail the
disc or tape.  I will review everything sent to me.  I also work
at a high-quality modern-rock college radio station, so a CD
(only) may very well end up on should it be found worthy and
deserving.  (To get an idea of the format of my station, go to
http:\\oak.cats.ohiou.edu\~acrn\ and click on the Music heading.

To write for Take One, mail me.  You get creative freedom and 
no editor-imposed deadlines, if no pay.

Peace and hair grease.  Or hair gel, maybe.

-Scott Slonaker, Founder/Editor
ss230495@oak.cats.ohiou.edu
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THIS ISSUE'S LYRICAL INSPIRATION

"I think you're blind to the fact that the hand you hold is the
hand the holds you down."

-Everclear, "Everything to Everyone"
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THE SCALE
*****= A timeless classic.  Rarely attainable by a current
release, since it is always hard to tell which records will
simply sell and which will actually influence movements and
sounds.
****=Excellent.  One of the best of the year. 
***=Solid, listenable, worth the price of admission.
**=Mediocre.  For diehards and those less discriminating.
*=Awful.  Cover your ears.

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THIS WEEK'S FEATURED ALBUM
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-Everclear, _So Much For the Afterglow_ (Capitol) ***1/2

(Originally appeared in Consumable Online, 11/13/97)
                                                             
After the platinum-plated success of 1995's _Sparkle and Fade_
and a hit that will be heard on radios in 2015 ("Santa
Monica"), the pressure is on Art Alexakis to prove that his
Pacific Northwest alt-rock trio isn't just a You-Know-Who Junior.
Such labels persist despite wide critical acceptance of _Fade_ 
simply due to the group's geographic hailings and musical modus
operandi, so it behooved them to attempt at least a mild
stylistic breakout with _So Much For the Afterglow_, their
third album.

The best thing about Everclear is Alexakis' ability to achieve
catharsis out of mantra-like statements (pogo-mosh riffs and
hooky choruses help too) that deal with problems in a way that
is much more therapeutic than just simply whiny.  Certainly, their
best songs all possess such a moment; without "we can live beside
the ocean/Watch the world die" ("Santa Monica") or "Just another
overdose!" ("Heroin Girl"), those songs are simply ear candy.
_Sparkle and Fade_ as a whole managed to keep that let's-
recognize-and-deal-instead-of-bitch vibe to it (drawing on
Alexakis' former decade-long addiction to drugs as subject matter),
which is the root of what made it work so well.

So, Alexakis tries to keep the lyrical strengths and branch out
musically on the follow-up, as strings, banjo, keyboards, and
mandolin find their ways into the mix.  Unfortunately, he's been
forced to look for new subject matter (at the risk of sounding
repetitive), so _Afterglow_'s lyrics deal with childhood memories,
fame, escape, and religion.  The problem is that Alexakis is not
near as articulate on these matters as he was about drugs, and so
the lyrical content often comes off sounding forced and trite.
"I don't want to be normal like you" and "You do what you do, say
what you say" are considerably more teenage-ish, which would have
been okay if not for the recorded precedents already set.
Exacerbating this is Art's tendency to reuse phrases ("dance
that stupid dance for me", "I heard the truth about you") from
previous recordings, which causes a certain sameness to hang
over a couple of the lesser tracks on the record.   The
exceptions are the bracingly frank "Father of Mine" and the
second-person introspective "Like a California King", where
Alexakis issues himself a terse warning against adopting rock-
star attitudes and trappings.

The good news, however, is that _Afterglow_, in a word, rocks.
The basic format, complete with the countrified undercurrents
that always gave Everclear distinctivity, remains intact.
Additionally, the aforementioned new elements go a long way
towards keeping the band's essentially second-generation-
Replacements pop-punk interesting.  "Everything to Everyone",
the lead single, utilizes a buzzing Cars-ish keyboard hook to
build the closest thing to a dance groove that Everclear's
ever recorded.  "Amphetamine" adds a pretty string postlude to
a thrashy hook.  The plucky banjo rhythms of "Why I Don't
Believe in God" recall Wilco or Son Volt.  "Father of Mine"
turns a familiar descending riff and leonine, impassioned
vocals into the band's best chance to recapture "Santa Monica"
heaven.  Similarly, the title track doesn't need window
dressing to cause whiplash.

Art Alexakis is a warrior, and if Everclear fails to hold the
brass ring it grabbed two years ago, it won't be for lack of
effort.  _So Much For the Afterglow_, despite its subjective
weaknesses, is an enjoyable effort from a band who is the real
deal.
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-Who Hit John, _Hey Buffy_ (Not So Permanent) ****

Merging the scruffy garage sensibilities of the Replacements with
the dreamy harmonies and bright hooks of classic '60s AM radio,
Nashville's Who Hit John have come up with that rarest of beasts,
a consistently entertaining and stylistically varied power-pop
record that scatters its best moments throughout all eleven tunes.

After the pacesetting opener "Smile Together", we quickly come to
high point number one on _Hey Buffy_: "Giving a Twist a Turn".
Driven home by drop-dead vocal hooks, the tune deserves to be
blasting from car radios right next to the Gin Blossoms' "Hey
Jealousy" 'till the cows come home.

Singer Chuck Tate (I think he's the main vocalist; it's unclear
from the liner) especially summons the Westerbergian ghosts on
tracks like "Fan Club" and "The Ballad of What Will Never Be", as
the band stomps out engaging rough-edged melodies, not unlike
Minnesota's finest.  However, Who Hit John has more than one mode,
as evidenced by the sweet power balladry of "Incomplete" and the
disc's best song, the Who-ish clapalong power-bop of "Somebody".
(Piano, harmonica, and 12-string guitar are tossed into the mix
for maximum retro impact.

Another pleasant touch is bassist Pat Meusel's comparatively
roughed-up vocal turn on his "Above the Fold".  To top off the whole
extravaganza, the boys roll out a reverent cover of another of their
musical forebears.  The rendition of seminal Nashville power-poppers
Big Star's "Don't Lie to Me" sounds just like the original, and
that's good.  Like the rest of the year's best power-pop album, it's
a class act.

For information on Who Hit John, check out the website at:
http:\\www.geocities.com\~whohitjohn\. 
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-Sarah McLachlan, _Surfacing_ (Arista) ****

Don't get me wrong; I loved Canadian chanteuse Sarah McLachlan's
last album, _Fumbling Towards Ecstasy_.  Yet, before her fourth
album hit the CD player, I found myself wishing that _Surfacing_
would sound like anything but its predecessor.  Too many artists
are afraid to mess with a successful formula.

Scratch Sarah off that list.  _Surfacing_ shows its stylistic
differences from the get-go.  "Building a Mystery", the first
song (and single), is more guitar-driven than anything on
_Ecstasy_.  "Can you look out the window/Without your shadow
getting in the way?" Sarah asks over husband Ashwin Sood's organic,
steady percussive cadence.  She speaks, almost free-association
style, of "crosses from a faith that died before Jesus came" and
her "beautiful, fucked-up man"; in other words, she builds a
mystery.  Sly.  The gorgeous and uplifting "Adia", the disc's
best track, details a failed romance amidst spare piano and
shimmering keyboards.  "We are both innocent/Believe me, Adia,"
Sarah declares at several points, thankfully disposing of the
blame factor that seems so important in today's breakup songs.
No finger-pointing or mudslinging here; she runs a clean campaign.
"Sweet Surrender", the current single, is another stunner,
deriving maximum mileage from pulsating synthesized bleeps and
a propulsive, rock-steady bassline.  (But where was that "dark"
video by the Marilyn Manson lady you promised on MTV Live, Sarah?)
Syncopated percussion bubblings keep "Black & White" interesting.

_Surfacing_ is a welcome island of respite from the recent gaggle
of angry guitar-wielding bleaters out for the blood of the
opposite gender and warbly, spineless folkies.  There is a way
to be both graceful and strong, and Sarah accomplishes both.
The minimalist bass throb of "I Love You" perfectly fits the
song's simple declaration without crossing the thin line into
"cloying" range.  "Do What You Have to Do" embodies sad resignation
with the simple line, "I have the sense to recognize/That I don't
know how to let you go."  "Witness" continues the spiritual
magical mystery tour that dots Sarah's previous efforts, asking,
"Will we burn in heaven/Like we do down here?"

Okay, so _Surfacing_ isn't really that stylistically changed
from _Fumbling Towards Ecstasy_.  Still, it *feels* different,
a whole separate entity rather than a continuation of a
successful franchise.  That makes all the difference.
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THIS WEEK'S FEATURED SINGLES
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-Space Monkeys, "Sugar Cane" (Interscope) **1/2

Welcome to another of this year's British one-hits.  While
Chumbawamba shares the stylistic stage with early Stone Roses,
a band that influenced everyone from Oasis to Orbital, Space
Monkeys travel the electro-pop spaceway inhabited by such
present-day flotsam as Jesus Jones and EMF.  "Sugar Cane" is
packed with energy, catchy as all hell, and as disposable as
Pampers.  It'll be huge.

-The Longpigs, "On & On" (Mother/Island) ***1/2

The obviousness of it all should have shot "On & On" at the
start; an Irish band who sounds way too much like _War_-era
U2,  even inhabiting their papas' vanity label.  Somehow, the
song carves itself a niche, the classic over-the-top, mannered
vocal hooks and epic strumming combining with unexpectedly
straightforward heart-on-sleeve lyrical sweetness to create
something new.  The rest of the Longpigs' debut album, _The
Sun Is Often Out_, is pure nostalgia (whether or not this is
good depends on your desire to relive 1982; for me, yep),
excepting this slow-burning gem.

-Duran Duran, "Electric Barbarella" (Capitol) ***

The flukey islands of 1993's "Come Undone" and "Ordinary
World" aside, don't-know-when-to-say-when '80s relics Duran
Duran haven't done anything worthwhile since before their
'89 greatest-hits collection, _Decade_. (Okay, okay, I'm a
slut, I kinda liked the cover of "White Lines".) The new
album _Medazzaland_ cuts the Duranies down to a drummerless
trio, which sentences the tunes to sounding like flavor-of-
the-month electronica dance-pop rather than the Synth
Zeppelin-boom that dominates the band's keeper hits.
"Electric Barbarella", the first single, does manage to
save itself, thanks to a classically huge choral hook and
unexpectedly propulsive beat percolations.  Perhaps there
is life in these old warhorses.  Perhaps not.  At least
their tunes are taking a turn for the better, somewhere
down Tolerable Blvd.  Could Decent Avenue be next?  Dare
to dream.
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QUICK CUTS

-Hurricane #1, _Hurricane #1_ (Warner Bros.) ***

Highly Oasis-esque Britpop is the general modus operandi for
the new project from Ride guitarist Andy Bell.  The sonic
similarities aren't a bad thing when the sound is merged with
a good song, such as the first single, "Step Into My World",
which the Gallaghers wish they wrote.  The crunchy "Chain
Reaction" and the string-inflected "Lucky Man" are also keepers.
_Hurricane #1_ also has the same drawbacks as _Be Here Now_:
too much guitar wanking and soundalike structures.  Still,
the vocals have the whiny edge sanded off, and one also
doesn't get the tiresome brotherly bravado bleeding through
the music to peck at the skull.  Those two factors lift
_Hurricane #1_ above those other guys.
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-The Interpreters, _Back in the U.S.S.A._ (Freeworld) ***

Philadelphia's Interpreters also drum up thoughts of a specific
time period in British rock music, but instead of the Invasion,
it's the mod scene of the late seventies, the days when the Jam
and the Buzzcocks harnessed the raw energy of punk into hooky
two-minute pop songs (for the uninitiated, think the Archies or
the Monkees after a _Child's Play_-style transformation.)  The
frenetic pace of _Back in the U.S.S.A._ recalls the Buzzcocks'
_Singles Going Steady_- the songs go by so fast they take
another listen for the thereafter-indelible hook to set in.
The songs generally run about two minutes and change; the
longest tune, the closing "Today and Every Day", is a 3:53
"opus". Some of the tunes are filler (come on, the band doesn't
have enough material for a best-of just yet), but the breathless
"Sellers", "Ironic...Blowout", the wistful "You Are The One",
the late-period (soul-inflected) Jam-ness of "Take it Away"
and the Beatles-on-fast-forward "Dogskin Report" are winners.
Supposedly, these three skinny guys in black tear it up live,
so if they're opening for your favorites, get there early.
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-The Wannadies, _The Wannadies_ (RCA) **

Germany is known for hard-edged industrial, Italy and France
for dance-club singles, and the British Isles for too many of
history's best-loved rock bands.  Sweden, however, is famous
for frothy pop of all varieties, whether it be of a lounge
variety (Cardigans), disco (ABBA, Ace of Base), or guitar-based,
the format of choice for the Wannadies.  First introduced to
America through the appearance of the saccharine "You and Me
Song" onthe _Romeo & Juliet_ remake's soundtrack, RCA has cased
up a compilation of the band's Eurohits as their American debut.
"Might Be Stars", the first single, is also the album's best
tune, melding chunky guitars and helium-packed harmonies.
Lyrics are sung in heavily accented English and often goofy
to the point of juvenilia.  That along with the overabundance
of keyboards and synths combine to hamstring many of the
essentially appealing hooks.  "Friends" is pleasant enough (a
slut for handclaps, I am) and the evident plantivity of "Oh
Yes (It's a Mess)" refuses to bow despite slatherous layers
of horns and tinkly chimes.  I want to like this album really
badly, but it is simply too cheesy to listen to for any
plurality of time.  This bothers me; usually a little cheese
is a good thing.  Downing a whole slab of Velveeta such as
_The Wannadies_ is not on the recommended list. 
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-Various artists, _Live From 6A: Great Musical Performances
from Late Night With Conan O' Brien_ (NBC/Mercury) ***1/2

This album is a collection of twelve tracks as performed live
on the only funny late-night talk show.  Most of the songs are
well-known singles (Bjork's "Human Behaviour", Cake's "The
Distance", 311's "Down") but a few curveballs sneak in, namely
Matthew Sweet's resouding cover of Electric Light Orchestra's
"Do Ya" (with Matty showing off a lot more machismo than normal),
and David Bowie's acoustic guitar-only version of the
techno-throbber "Dead Man Walking".  Jamiroquai and Squirrel
Nut Zippers contribute songs from their most-people-don't-own-it
older albums, and both, especially the Zippers' "Lover's Lane",
are strong.  (Evidence that Conan's band bookers know their
music.)  Elvis Costello and Jonathan Richman, two modern-rock
forebears, add some quiet, langorous moments to the package;
Costello's elegant "All This Useless Beauty" is especially
powerful.  The only strike against _Live From 6A_ is the
similarity of many of the songs' live versions to their recorded
counterparts.  Perhaps this can be blamed on overly fastidious
production.  (An exception might be Edwyn Collins' rollicking
"A Girl Like You", punchier here than on record.)  Nevertheless,
a fine collection, and a good deal more zeitgeist-representative
and interesting than the Letterman disc.
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NEXT ISSUE: The Year-End Issue, with my top ten favorite albums
and singles of the Year of Our Lord 1997.  Also, thankfully-brief
rants about stuff that sucked.  Stay tuned.

Take One is copyright 1997 Scott Slonaker.
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