YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THE BLOOD RUNNING FROM THEIR EARS
What album would you play to get rid of unwanted house guests – or to prompt the surrender of a deposed foreign leader from his hideout?
In 1989, I naively assumed the responses to these questions would make a colorful article. I was wrong.
Head Talking Head David Byrne was so put off by the first question he declined to respond. Never mind that U.S. Army troops were, that same week, blasting ex-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega with various rock and rap records to try to force him to abandon his refuge inside the Vatican Embassy in Panama City.
Jazz guitar great John McLaughlin wasn't offended, but didn't grasp the concept of music speeding the departure of unwanted visitors. “I only have records I like,” he said.
I then explained that, while I much enjoyed Captain Beefheart's “Trout Mask Replica” and Philip Glass' “Einstein on the Beach,” both albums rarely failed to clear a room. McLaughlin pondered this, then mused aloud: “Well, maybe a heavy metal album, something by Iron Maiden. But I don't have any Iron Maiden. I only have albums I like.”
By design, the music created by the four members of Montreal noise-rock provocateurs AIDS Wolf, who play here Tuesday at the Casbah, could probably clear a room in near-record time. While not as sonically dense or demanding as San Diego's The Locust – a band whose unusually intense music rewards careful listening – AIDS Wolf is still able to provoke extreme responses.
Produced by Weasel Walter (of Flying Luttenbachers fame), AIDS Wolf's new 10-song CD “Cities of Glass” clocks in at just 24 minutes. But that's ample time to achieve one of the band's stated goals: If you can't convert 'em, make 'em run crying and holding their ears. There is no shame in being a bummer.
The manic, high-pitched vocal yelps of Chloe Lum suggest a mix of Yoko Ono on steroids, Lydia Lunch on a bender and Germany's Dagmar Kraus on, well, nothing. Drummer Yannick Desranleau (stage name: Hiroshima Thunder) produces lurching rhythms, while guitarists Alex Moskos and Arcade Fire veteran Myles Broscoe make an organized clatter that falls midway between Beefheart, Eugene Chadbourne and Throbbing Gristle. The absence of a bass, or anything else remotely predictable, is deliberate.
SQUEEZE PLAY: THE SO SO GLOS JAM AT, AND JAM INTO, POP! BOUTIQUE
The resulting intimacy should suit the in-your-face music of this young Brooklyn band. Clearly inspired by punk traditions, but not bound by punk's sometimes stifling orthodoxies, brothers Alex and Ryan Levine exude a brash enthusiasm that is matched by their bandmates, Matt Elkin and Zach Staggers.
Together, the four at times suggest a suitably high-octane mix between the early Clash and the early Strokes, by way of the New York Dolls and (however fleetingly) mid-period Beatles. The So So Glos' members proudly wear these artistic influences on their sleeves, but – given ample time to evolve – the group could mold its influences into something more distinctive.
Released last week on election day, their Green Owl Records debut album, “Tourism/Terrorism,” features nine songs that rush by in a heady 27 minutes and say just about everything the band needs to say, at least for now. Simultaneously heartfelt and snarky, The So So Glos rock with vigor but are also adept with understated ballads, such as “Love or Empire” and “There's a War.”
Then there's the rousing “Throw Your Hands Up (DJ),” whose “Radio Radio”-ish blast should make Elvis Costelllo smile. Ditto such choice lines as: Throw me through a ghetto blaster! and Come on, let's go war on the radio!
George Varga: (619) 293-2253;
george.varga@uniontrib.com
Tune in each Monday at 11:30 a.m. to hear George Varga's live music-interview program, “Fill in the Blank,” on SignOnRadio.com.
