albums

Rip It Up, Issue 177, 1 April 1992, Page 26

albums

VARIOUS ARTISTS Out Of The Yellow Eye (Yellow Eye Records) In 1981 the newly-formed Flying Nun put out the Dunedin Double EP featuring four young bands. At the time it embodied the burgeoning sound of Dunedin. Over the decade that followed the 'Dunedin Sound' was rebuilt, rediscovered, recreated and redestroyed by any one of the subsequent bands that sprang up in the wake of that early release.

Now in 1992 with the continued reluctance of Flying Nun to experiment widely on a lot of new bands, Yellow Eye records has filled the subsequent gap that has formed in Dunedin's music scene. Their main desire is to put a lot of deserving Dunedin bands on record, the first being Funhouse, Cynthia Should, My Deviant Daughter and the Wheetbix > Boy; the four bands that make up the Out Of The Yellow Eye compilation. All the tracks are relatively recent and, to a large extent, still part of the bands' current live sets. This gives the listener an accurate picture of each band, something most other compilations . can't claim to do, as they are often released more than a year after the recording of each song and the band may well have moved on in artistic style and development. ’ The oldest of the groups are the Wheetbix Boys and this shows through - in the fine production of their six songs. The best of are 'ln The Grey' and 'Full Cream'. Funhouse incorporate a nice wall of sound with slight melodic tendencies that leave the listener - wishing for more. The Clown' and 'Rescue 91 1 ' are shining examples of this. In contrast, Cynthia Should impress upon us their smooth perception of < . jangly pop. Strong rhythmical bass lines dominate and make up for any - ' . deficiency they have in recording technique. 'Holiday' though is a well polished song. The 'youngest 7 of the bands in terms of how long they've been around is My Deviant Daughter. A three-piece that have occasional appearances from local musician Victor Bilot, they occupy a niche of ambient noise distortion in white heat grunge that seems to effortlessly cut you in two from the tip of your mind to the crux of your stomach with no apologies. Sadly, the lead singer has just departed so this may be the last we hear from My Deviant Daughter in a while. Yellow Eye records has done itself

and the music of Dunedin justice by releasing this well packaged ■ . compilation. It is a neat little time capsule of the Dunedin sound circa 1991-2. RHYS BONNEY DEF LEPPARD Adrenalize (Bludgeon Riffola) After the much delayed dynamic Hysteria album in 1987, Def Leppard had planned to return to the studio and quickly got a new LP completed for the following year. Unfortunately when they eventually got off the road 18 months later they realised that one bandmate was coming apart quicker than the new songs were coming together. On January 7th 1991 there was tragic news — Steve Clark had died at just 30 years of age and once again Def Leppard looked like they were finished forever. With admirable determination they started afresh, recording the material they had

written with Steve along with some new songs and now Adrenalize is here at last.

The finished product is very good and a welcome fifth release from the group though it does fall short of matching the power of Pyromania or the heights of Hysteria. The harder edge guitar of Steamin' Steve is noticeably missing but Phil Collen plays all guitar parts well and it was obviously the right thing to do. Songwriting is of typical Leppard style as heard on the great new single 'Let's Get Rocked' and other highlight tracks 'Make Love Like A Man' and 'Stand Up'. Some songs are perhaps more

commercial than ever before but there's still heavier pieces like 'White Lightening' and the previously released rocker Tear It Down' (B-side of 'Animal'). Rick Allen does a fantastic job, utilising his specially designed drum kit for the first time in the studio and of course Joe Elliot's voice is in fine form. Steven Maynard Clark will always be sadly missed but it's gonna be a treat to see Def Leppard live down here in July, complete with guitarist. ; GEOFF DUNN BUFFALOTOM . ‘ Let Me Come Over (Situation Two) Evolution is great thing really, not just on the level of us being at the top of the food chain and all that, but also because it works with bands and stuff. Buffalo Tom are a fine case in point. Not so long ago they were a nice sounding band, it's just the nice sounds had all been done by Dinosaur Jnr. already. Now they've got a new record, and what do you know, they've got a new sound that's all their own without being too drastically different to the early stuff. ■7. 7 The term that springs to mind on hearing Let Me Come Over is 'college'. The Buffalo boys have toned things down a lot, made the melodies’* more upfront and gone overboard

with the acoustic guitars. There's still strong reliance on the trusty old waves of feedback and general punk rockness, a track like Torchlight 7 or

'Staples' is a classic of the genre with noise and wistful vocals coming

together nicely, but things don't get

totally out of hand. There's a whole lot of the stuff you'd call sensitive acoustic swill if you were feeling cynical, but in the context of the album it all works nicely, especially as it usually leads into something more raucous.

The whole feel on Let Me Come Over is just fine, there's echoes of all your favourites from Dinosaur Jnr. to the Replacements to the Lemonheads and a whole heap of things, but it dosen't actually sound like any of them, it sounds like Buffalo Tom have found their feet. If you don't believe me, play 'Saving Grace' about 1 0 times really loud, you'll love it to death. KIRKGEE THE CHARLATANS Between 10th And 11th (Situation Two) Who would have thought the Charlatans had another album in them? Certainly not I, and especially after Baggydom's rapid fall from grace. Between 10th And 1 1th, however, with its swirling guitars, Hammond organ and breathy vocals, is an album that shouldn't be dismissed. Some Friendly was a 'scene album', in the right place at the right time with the right sound. Their latest offering is a definite change of tack, bounding out of the Manchester stereotype like Super Ted on amphetamines. Despite the occasional mediocrity (such as 'I Don't Want To See The Lights') the Charlatans' sound has matured and expanded, with tracks like 'Subtitle' and '(No One) Not Even The Rain' focusing more on atmosphere than commercial hooks and hits.

Some of the improvement is due to

producer Flood, the chap who gave U2 a bit (just a bit mind) of street cred on Achtung Baby. Some of it is due to the Charlatans' inherent brilliance on tracks like 'Can't Even Be Bothered' (apparently a tribute to Teardrop Explodes), and The End of Everything', the best anti-war song since the Farm's 'All Together Now 7 . But it doesn't really matter why they've progressed. Between 10th and 11 th is the sound of a band taking risks and succeeding. JOHNIAITE THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES The Brand New Heavies (Hit) 7 ; A year or so back, there was this burst of British bands who actually played instruments, but weren't self-important shoegazers, they were basically funk/ jazz ensembles who had rediscovered what guitars and Hammond B-3's were. The 'style' magazines hyped them then quickly forgot them, which meant they could get down to the business of actually making records. The Young Disciples ' were first off the block with a very wonderful record, and now the Brand New Heavies have followed up with their offering, and it's a far more traditional item indeed. The Heavies have got that 60's jazz/ 70's funk schtik nailed down perfectly, there's elements of everyone to Jimmy Smith to James Brown laid out neatly throughout this record, in fact so neatly it's almost a tribute. There's a great

clean sound to the album, these folks might be lifting from old records, but they do it so well they can be forgiven.

Vocals are largely handled by N'Dea Davenport, and it's great to hear her ■ with material that gives her voice a chance to do what it does best. Tracks like 'Dream Come True' are just fine, > N'Dea warbling beautifully and the band setting up a great little groove, tight and funky, but without being flashy. Brand New Heavies may not be a creative milestone, but it's a very pleasant listening experience, and just great for that late night sophisticated jacuzzi listening I know all our readers are big on. KIRK GEE DOC SAVAGE (Doc Savage Sounds/ Metro) Well what's this? A local AOR album with class. That's adult orientated for those of you under twenty, but don't let that put you off. Doc Savage has style . and a massive talent in songwriting, . arranging, producing and performance. High praise, yes deservedly. His voice sounds like Tom Waits after a heavy night, raspy but eloquent, almost in a swamp pop vein. He sings about the hard side of life as all good blues does. Bad love, bad drugs, bad drunks and he does it with the feeling that he feels it too. Honest songs to ease your downs and bring you up again when you realise that you are not the only person on the planet feeling that way. Varying between slow mb and • : full-on rock, Doc and his band have a tighty punchy sound lead by his quite exceptional guitar, shifting from electric to acoustic and at times

reminding me of Lee Clayton (for those of you with soul). Initially the soft

spoken style of vocal was distracting but Doc knows his voice and its

limitations. The songs and the performance won me over. Faster material verges on 'rock ouf, the sort of thing that would set a bar crowd on fire, while the slower songs have a quality and feel not often produced on these shores. Some may say that rock and mb are old fashioned and

outdated (unless you are young, have long hair and a fast cut video) but hey at least he doesn't try and sing with an American accent or, praise the lord, rap. Honest music done well, what more can you ask for. There is no

excuse for this material not getting

commercial airplay as it as strong as similar stuff from overseas currently . entertaining our FM ears. Well, ok Mr PD, I guess there is one reason. It's not on CD, and that my friends is probably enough. JOHNPILLEY COWBOY JUNKIES Black Eyed Man (BMG) A friend of mine called this group 'ambient country for tired new agers'. Rather harsh perhaps, but you can see his point. Margo Timmins sings in a . voice that rarely rises above a fragile whisper. The tempo can be terminably languid and the predominant mood is of after-hours barroom melancholy. Two or three such tracks may provide a ■ welcome change in anyone's musical diet—but a whole album of the stuff? Well, to their credit the Junkies are varying the approach a bit. The second half of 'Oregon Hili', for example, moves beyond its gentle blues-with-piano-and-accordian by introducing some New Orleans-sounding tuba and

trombones. On another number Ms Timmins pits herself against croaky-throated John Prine in duet.

And — gasp, surprise — here and there the pace is wound up t 0... urn . mid-tempo. 'Southern Rain' and the title track might even be said to rock! (gently though).

As per usual, nearly all the songs are Michael Timmins originals and, again as usual, if some of his tunes may waft towards weightlessness, their verbal subjects are grounded in gritty reality. The title 'Murder, Tonight, In The Trailer Park' gives an indication. Several of the lyrics here show Timmins displaying the craftmanship of a good short story writer.

In the past Cowboy Junkies have covered eminent songs by the likes of Neil Young, Lou Reed, Patsy Cline and Rodgers and Hart. This time out the only two non-originals are by the considerably lesser-known Townes Van Zandt. Even so, the strongest songs, a couple of which are very beautiful indeed, are all Timmins' own. Maybe it's an indication that, with only their third album, Cowboy Junkies are confident enough about themselves not to feel the need to lure their audience by re-recording the famous and the familiar. PETER THOMSON PANTERA Vulgar Display Of Power (Atco) Pantera always have seemed a little suspect, what with an album called Cowboys From Hell, the band doing a beer-drinking rock lout impression very well and the singer seeming to cop his moves straight from Rollins. Once again first impressions were so far wide of the mark it's embarrassing. Lord knows what the Cowboys thing was about, but Vulgar Display Of Power is one seriously hard album, both musically and conceptually. Pantera play incredibly tough metal, all the really fast bits of the likes of

Slayer compressed down into aural punches that Mike T. would be proud of. Tracks like 'Rise' are among the nastiest I've heard all year, completely unrelenting, the drums alone are a wall of sound. Phil Anselmo's vocals are no rip-off of anyone, he has a great half growl, half scream that you'd expect from a metaller, but he also does a few near ballad tracks that let him sing as well as show he's capable of writing more than the standard 'Kill everyone, you all suck' stuff. 'Hollow' makes up for his digressions into the demons and

sixth dimension nonsense that sucks no matter how good the band is. Outside of that, Vulgar Display Of Power is an interesting album in a genre that is so often horribly cliched. There's one track that pretty much sums it all up, and that is 'Fucking Hostile'. Be warned, this certainly isn't Mr Big. KIRK GEE HELVELLN Helvelln (White Label) HAVE A NICE DAY Explore (White Label) Let's ferry across the Tasman and sample some Australian mediocrity. Melbourne trios Helvelln and Have A Nice Day sound as though they've

skipped a decade or two before surfing in on the supposedly wave-catching White Label. Helvelln, a name lifted by drummer Nick Green from an English tourist map, try boyishly to retread old Sports' out-takes, but end up sounding on tracks like T-Shirt and Cigarettes and Beer 7 like tired Exponents of powerless pop. Avoidance compulsory. Everything's relative and so by comparison the hard-ish rock foundations of Have A Nice Day are an improvement. With Kiss cited as major gurus and Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano's verbal support of the band it's not difficult predicting where their sonic rumbles are gonna fall. The turgid metallic cloak of 'Throwaway' opens but isn't representative and vocalist Fiona Maynard leads the band through the more kinetic, spacious and intelligent forays of 'Lisa Don't Answer 7 and 'Slipped Away'. But at the end of this not so nice day Explore is nothing more than a surge of competence from an undistinguished trio. GEORGE KAY GREEN ON RED The Best Of (China) Not really a 'Best OF as it only

features stuff frornthe last tFiree Cialbums, missing out the acheingly brilliant Killer Inside amongst others, but still a good little compilation. Green On Red are among the few suvivours of the early 80's 'cowpunk' (possibly A " the most banal musical classifaction : ever) boom, and they've actually got ? better and better as the years go by. The main reason for this seems to be the fact that they do this musical thing simply because they're driven, mainmen Dan Stuart and Chuck Prophet probably couldn't do anything else even if they wanted to, and this rock thing gives them a great outlet for whatever it is that makes them so screwed up. Thus we have here some of the best twisted Country rock around, music bom of some very bad heartaches and hangovers along with : some biting observations on human nature at its worst. Musically Green On Red shuffle around with some mournful and rough country rock, sort of like the Meat Puppets on downers, and occasional brighten things up with some very sixties sounding pop moments. For anyone new to the band, Best Of is a good taster and a fine place to work back from.

KIRK GEE