Pulse Editor:
Ryan Nyberg
Ryan Nyberg@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, June 24, 2004
— Oregon Daily Emerald
PULSE
Hot Picks
StopSignGo! rock concert
Saturday, June 26
7 p.m. $5 admission
WOW Hall
RYAN NYBURG
BUDGET RACK
Memorable
phrases let
emo bands
say it all
The non sequitur lends
itself to clever, unexpected
titles that fans favor
Non sequiturs have risen to promi
nence in this country. You can find
them everywhere, whether in the names
of rock bands, in the comic pages, in
political speeches or even in your own
home. It might be a sign of our
Attention Deficit Disorder-afflicted cul
ture's need for cheap, disposable enter
tainment, or the information age need
to convey as'many ideas in the least
space possible. As a political statement
"Damn the predicate" just doesn't have
the same kick as "Damn the Man," but
why fight the Zeitgeist? If this is the
direction the culture is going, why not
just make the best of it?
I find it interesting that the group that
has most fully seized on this trend is
emo bands. There seems to be nothing
that those sensitive young men like more
than a self-sufficient sentence, and
though I have become increasingly
bored with the trappings of that genre, I
must admit that they've crafted quite a
few clever non sequiturs. A few of my
favorites: Texas is the Reason, Drive Like
Jehu, Boy Sets Fire and l Love You But
I've Chosen Darkness. I'm sure that not
all of these groups are technically "emo,"
so if you feel insulted by their inclusion
here, let me just admit now that you are
much smarter and better-endowed than
I am. Good, now we can move on.
For all-time best non sequitur usage
by a rock group, it's hard to beat the
Liars. These snotty little noise-makers
have come up with some killer stuff:
Their two albums are titled "They
Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a
Monument on Top," and "They Were
Wrong So We Drowned." Their songs
run the same gamut of absurdity, with
titles such as "Atheists, Reconsider,"
"There's Always Room on the Broom,"
"Fins To Make Lis More Fish-Like" and
"Mr. You're on Fire Mr."
Digging even deeper into the cultural
detritus, we can begin to find the origins
of non sequitur madness (at least in
the form we use it in now) in the 1960s
comedy troupe Firesign Theatre.
The group's acid-baked comedy sound
scape albums contained a few of
the best examples of the form, with
album titles such as "Waiting for the
Electrician or Someone Like Him,"
"How Can You Be in Two Places at Once
When You're Not Anywhere at All?,"
"Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the
Pliers!," "I Think We're All Bozos on
This Bus," and my personal favorite
"Everything You Know is Wrong."
It is obvious that the non sequitur
Please see NYBURG, page 6
The Bijou Art Cinemas
holds special late-night
screenings of cult films
every Friday, Saturday
and Sunday. The shows
have drawn varying
attendance.
Ryan Nyburg
Pulse Editor
Bijou lures late-night crowds
For only a few dollars, night owls
can watch a kungfu flick, concert
film or cult hit
RYAN NYBURC
PULSE EDITOR
Late weekend nights lend themselves to bizarre
behavior. Being awake in a world that is asleep and
having the freedom that comes with a lack of obliga
tions the next morning can motivate people to do
things they might otherwise not. This might be why
film-going is a popular alternative, providing a safe
haven for those who want thrills without the spills.
Late night cult films reached a heyday during
the 1960s and 1970s, with Texas drive-ins and
New York City grind houses.
Now Eugene's Bijou Art Cinemas is trying to be
come a part of that tradition with late night offer
ings of cult, trash and exploitation films, as well as
other oddities from across the cultural spectrum.
The Bijou did late-night shows for years, ac
cording to manager Louis Thomas, giving films
a second run just as they got out of the larger the
ater chains. But that practice ended when the
Cinemark Movies 12 in the Gateway Mall began
showing second-run films exclusively.
"At the prices they were charging, we simply
couldn't compete with them," Thomas said.
But near the end of 2002, the Bijou's manage
ment decided to give the late-night shows anoth
er go, but with a twist.
"We started coming up with the kind of cult
films that people still want to see on the big
screen," Thomas said. "We've shown martial arts
films, 3-D movies and recent cult films."
The Bijou isn't just interested in offering films
though. According to Thomas, the theater is
trying to make seeing the films as much of an
event as possible.
"We've had musicians perform before concert
films, we've had martial arts displays before kung
fu movies, things like that,"Thomas said. "We're
planning on having free popcorn and poster
giveaways sometime in the future."
The shows so far have met with scattershot
popularity.
"The newer cult films do the best business," Bi
jou projectionist Morgan Nilsen said. "Films like
'Donnie Darko,' 'Fight Club' and 'Ferris Bueller's
Day Off have done really well."
Other films that have been shown as part of the
Bijou's late night series include "Pulp Fiction" and
'Taxi Driver," as well as concert films of artists such
as Miles Davis, the Beatles and Black Sabbath.
The Bijou's management is also working to
screen movies by local filmmakers. But Thomas
said that so far the showings have not received high
turnouts.
"We showed a local documentary a couple of
weeks ago," Thomas said. "It was poorly attended,
but we still have hope in the idea and are looking
Please see BIJOU, page 6
Albums fall short of greatness
Releases by acts such as I
See Hawks in L.A.
are worth a listen
despite shortcomings
RYAN NYBURG
PULSE EDITOR
Is rock dead yet? Some would
say yes, in the abstract sense, yet
new albums keep coming out every
week. Unfortunately, from what
can be gathered from the current
offerings, there isn't a lot affirming
the continued necessity of good ol'
rock 'n' roll.
The first is from the hyper
hyped emo outfit My Chemical
Romance, titled "Three Cheers for
Sweet Revenge." These boys
crunch a little harder than most
bands in their niche, but in the
end dull riffs and overwrought
lyrics don't add up to much.
The album has one saving grace
— or one fatal detriment, depend
ing on your point of view. Some
lyrics border on self-parody, sug
gesting that the band is aware of the
ing: If the band members know
how stupid it sounds, then why are
they doing it? And if there is no de
liberate irony, then some of these
lyrics are even more awful simply
for being in earnest ("Say good
night to the heart you break and the
REVIEW
supreme
silliness of
its music.
This per
c e i v e d
irony can
be infuriat
all cyanide you drank").
Even more irritating is that it
sometimes works. Coming so close
to being good is worse than just be
ing outright bad, because it means
the band will probably keep trying,
and more than likely failing, until it
gets it right.
Los Angeles-based indie rockers
the Bloody Lovelies suffer from a
similar dilemma: They seem to be
about as good as they're going to
get. Their latest release, "Some Truth
and a Little Money," follows a pretty
basic formula of piano-driven rock
structured around vocal melodies
borrowed from a wide array of in
fluences. The melodies are the real
stand-out ingredient in the mix, be
cause both the lyrics and the instru
mentation come off as dry.
There is nothing out-and-out bad
Courtesy
Alt-country band I See Hawks in L.A. will
perform at Cafe Paradiso on July 2.
about the music, which is all pleas
ant and rather inoffensive. But
"pleasant" and "inoffensive" are not
the most gripping of qualifiers.
Pretty good just isn't good enough.
But at least the Lovelies can write
complete songs, something
Please see ALBUMS, page 6