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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2000)
“We want to have the records and bands [be] as visible as possible, but re main underground,” says Owen. “I don’t want to go to the Warped Tour and see Jade Tree T-shirts as visible as Korn T-shirts. The motivation has al ways been to have respect and credi bility... that’s what punk rock’s about.” It’s also about not being perceived as a sellout—something that matters to Walters and Owen. “I definitely think there are times when they are far too concerned with what the vocal minority is saying about them—the really punk rock kids who can’t stand to let some thing [succeed],” says Promise Ring guitarist Jason Gnewikow. Still, he notes, “they’ve continued to grow with us, which I think has kept us together.” Despite jitters about becoming too big for their own good, there’s no ques tion Owen and Walters are looking to the long term. Their commerce-and commentary website (with its increas ingly active message boards) is as pro fessional as that of a major. They recently moved the label into an office building in Newark, Del., and hired ad ditional help—quite a leap for two guys who, just a year ago, were spend ing their evenings and weekends fill ing mail-order requests from their bedrooms. They’ve actually been able to make a living off of what Owen says began as a hobby: The Promise Ring’s Very Emergency and Jets to Brazil’s Orange Rhyming Dictionary have moved nearly 50,000 albums each. As for Morrissey? Well, The Prom ise Ring did manage to secure a re cent gig opening for the King of Fop. “We were instructed, ‘Don’t look at him, don’t talk to him, as soon as you’re done, everything has to be cleared up,”’ says Gnewikow. “There was a big barrier between us.” Sounds as if the singer isn’t ready for such indie-sent exposure. • • • Ml ' liffl m § E ml ® • * * *» * » *1 rtMlT# • #<►•••••• V* « * « • • • • • • • VAW*wW# **• • * * *v' SsK&teJ S«*!! is*; NO DOUBT Return of Saturn (Travma/lnter scope] Someone fi nally Heimlich ma neuvered most of that spueak toy from Gwen Stefani's throat. As she sinps about boyfriend trauma, you wonder whom she's talkinp about: Tony the bass player? Gavin from Bush? This album plays like a Behind the Music episode, complete with a fun soundtrack of peppy new-wave sonps. punky dirpes, and too many blah-blah ballads, but it's not nearly as addictive. B—Michele Romero SLTATTR-K1NNEY All Hands on the Bad One (Kill Rock Stars] Don't let those pen tie strinps on the openinp "Ballad of a Ladyman” fool you: Washinpton's fiercest three-piece haven't pone soft. But the proup's fifth album does find them smoothinp their punk edpe with pop polish: Witness the high-speed an them “Youth Decay" and the party-ready shout-along "You're No Rock n’ Roll Fun.” A- —BMR COMMON Like Water for Chocolate [ MCA ] Common's sparse arrange ments may allow for plenty of room for his sharp rhyming skills, but they also grow dull quickly. Despite the occa sional well-oiled groove [like the rol licking piano of "The 6th Sense”] and guest spots by Mos Def and D'Angelo. Water never emerges from its monotony-induced dry spell. C+ —BMR SPRING HEEL JACK Treader [Thirsty EarJ Whether warping “My Favourite Things" or sculpting their own subversive soundscapes. this electronica duo cre ates atmospheres so visceral and warm it's hard to imagine them springing from a computer. There's not a soul less second here, just jazzy horns, ser pentine beats, and symphonic spuall. If extreme daydream ing ever becomes a real sport, here's the soundtrack. A- —Lavra Morgan SONIC YOUTH NYC Ghosts and Flowers [Geffen/lnterscope] Sonic Youth's new disc is so evocative of Manhattan life that you'll feel like you've licked the floor of a yellow cab. It's yet another of the band's com pelling avant-trash punk epics, built on gritty cacophony, vaporous melodies, and ominous poetry. If you appreciate the seedier side of the city, this is one cool tour. B+ -LM SUPERGRASS Supergrass [lsland/Def Jam] If Ben Folds Five weren't such forlorn wusses they might have recorded a pop blast like "Moving," which jump-starts this British act's third album. But will U.S. airwaves em brace this band? Don't count on it. Su pergrass' trium phant songs [recall ing Bowie, the Beach Boys, and the Beat les] rely on a smart tunefulness that's out of step with rock's current meat head bent. B+ —LM TRAVIS The Man Who [Epic] Finally, a rock album fueled more by tears than beers. This Glaswegian foursome is blessed with Fran Healy. a frontman whose al luring tenor wan ders with melan cholic vulnerability for lonely stretches, then bursts into im mense euphoria. Nearly each track has the band punch ing life back into Healy before he flat lines. leading to some truly breath taking music. A —MR
