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□ MUSIC
Releases represent best, worst selection
The Oregon Daily Emerald would like to thank Mike McAdams and the Record Garden. 927
Willamette St on the downtown mall for providing several of the albums reviewed below.
The Icicle Work*
If You Wool lo Ikifeat Your
h'nnmy Sing His Song
Beggar's Banquet
The Icicle Works have made a
lot of changes in its sound since
the hand released its self-titled
debut album a few years back.
That one consisted of an almost
minimal musical background: a
lot of guitars and basic drums.
And then- was a very nature
orientated theme throughout
By Carolyn l.ainberson
the album, as shown in the in
dividual song titles: "Whisper
to a Scream (Birds Fly)," "As
the Dragonfly Flies,” "Factory
in the Desert" and "Nirvana."
On “If You Want to Defeat
Your Enemy...,” the band
takes a different approach Mom
specifically, it makes a progres
sion from a band trying to find a
distinctive sound to one that
has found a distinctive sound
"The Icicle Works" was an
album that seemed to proceed
the recent (Hipularity of groups
trying to espout values of the
t>Os in both message and
musical style (like the Dream
Academy and most recently
10.000 Maniacs).
While "...Defeat Your
Enemy..." still has its basic
roots in the tiOs. this record is
much more rock n' roll that its
predecessor. Songs like
"Evangeline" and "Understan
ding lane" have that irresistible
beat that made the band a hit in
its native England,
Vocalist-guitarist Robert Ian
McNabb's intriguing vocals
highlight this record, as does
his guitar performance Bassist
Chris laiyhe and drummer Chris
Sharrock's steady, solid rhythm
section add the other important
component of any album with
groat success.
However, don't think under
all the rock there isn't a
thought. That's not the case at
all. "Sweet Thursday" sounds
as if it took many of its themes
from the John Steinbeck novel
of the same name. "Up Here in
the North Of England" is an in
sightful look at "life in a nor
thern town," so to speak
McNabb and company put the
national battle between the
Brilish political parties on a
local level, and make careful
observations at the difference
between countrymen.
All in all, this is a solid
American release from a band
who has hit it big across the
Atlantic. The Icicle Works has
avoided the dreaded sophomore
slump. And if this album
doesn’t break the band in this
country, all it has to do is keep
up the progression. At this rate,
the next record's going to lx; a
knockout.
Heroes
Here We Are
RCA
I must say 1 had some high ex
pectations for this record. Fron
ting Heroes is Darren Cost in,
whose departure as Wang
Chung’s drummer after the
release of that band's best
record "Points on the Curve"
seemed to trigger a degenera
tion from the interesting to the
mindless. Maybe Costin had
taken that old Wang Chung
sound and improved it, I
thought.
I was disappointed.
"Here We Are” started pro
misingly enough. The first
chords of "Driftaway” were
vaguely reminescent of Wang
Chung’s "Don’t last Go.” Hut as
the song progressed, things
went rapidly downhill. The
song is horribly over produced;
so much so one can’t even
understand Costin'* vocals. It’s
a good thing the record com
pany included a lyric sheet. As
the needle moved across the
grooves. Costin was more
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understandable, but a lot was
being drowned out in a sea of
monotonous drumming and
repetitive guitar.
The bad even reaches the
level of the ridiculous on "Liv
ing on a Time Bomb.” The
background music is complete
ly forgettable, but Costin isn’t.
His vocals reminded me of a
young George Michael and An
drew Ridgely trying to be tough
rappers on “Young Guns (Go
For It).”
As a matter of fact, a lot on
this album sounds vaguely
familiar — too familiar. “My
Heart Beats” could almost dou
ble for Wang Chung's "Let's
Go,” off of the latest “Mosaic"
record. But maybe that can be
attributed to the fact Wang
Chung's bassist Nick Feldman
co-wrote many of "Here We
Are" tracks with Costin.
Well, regardless of the rhyme
or reason of if, "Here We Are"
is no way to present a new hand
to the public. I suppose it'll
make good dance room fodder
Aside from that. Heroes take a
fall
Silencers
A l.elter from St. Paul
RCA
It's easy to see why Silencers
thanked Elvis Aaron Presley in
the liner notes of "A letter from
St. Paul.” The band's straight
ahead music owes much to
Presley, at least in the days
before he became a fat, annoy
ing Las Vegas celebrity.
The overall production of this
record is clean and clear And
the musicians: Jimme O'Neill,
guitar and vocals: Martin
Hanlin, drums; Cha Burns,
guitar; and |oe Donnelly, bass,
knit together an interesting lit
tle record highlighted by the re
cent hit "Painted Moon."
For a band that writes a lot of
up beat melodies, the subjects
of the songs are nothing light
and fluffy. "(]an't Cry" is a
desperate plea for attention
with McNeill singing "So I sit
here insane on the floor/And 1
make up my mind who to kill."
Pleasant thought, huh? Yeah,
well, "Bullets and Blue Eyes"
is even better. What starts off
sounding like a nice, pleasant
ballad turns to a fast-paced at
tack on violence in the home (a
child who plays with toy guns)
and the the consequence of life
in the nuclear age. However the
band isn't pretentious about it.
like so many politicized bands
these days.And even without
the message, the music itself
makes the song exciting.
These guys sure do seem
facinated with the spiritual
relm. Not that they are a Chris
tian band. The songs seem to
mention religion, God. angels
and the such but do not preach
or glorify. And they don't pre
sent a negitive position about a
certain belief either. It's simply
used as a base or subject. But its
there and it can be thought
provoking. That's refreshing in
these days when everyone is
ready to scream if someone so
much as criticized another per
son's beliefs.
Turn to Review, Page 15C