Reviews of
Other sorts

..continued from previous page

ping enough at times to keep me
in my seat. I found it unnecessary
to hold my bladder any longer,
and made a mid-movie lavatory
hiatus. Surprisingly, at the end of
the film, I realized that during my
impromptu departure, I’d missed
an important plot-twist that would
have perhaps enhanced the clever-
yet-standard surprise ending. But
not so clever that I would have to
forego my trip to the bathroom.
-Attilla Horvath

THEATRE

The Waltonsteins
Franny Sheridan
dir. Jessica Van Der Veen

Franny Sheridan has gone
through a lot in her life. She was
born and raised in Canada by her
parents, survivors of the
Holocaust, who subsequently
denounced the family’s Judaism,
and converted to Catholicism.

Her one-woman play, The
Waltonsteins, tells the story of
Franny growing up with her post-
trauma, split-personality family.
The stage is void of decoration;
sets are implied through mono-

logue, gesture and audience partic- —

ipaction.

She talks about her early years
growing up, with her father’s
constant reminder, “never tell
them you're a Jew.” Franny acts
out how her father would time and
time again recount the stories of
the Holocaust, of Crystalnacht.
Acting the personae of her grand-
mother, and the German soldier,
Franny tells the story of how the
Germans stormed the streets of the
city where her grandmother lived,
ultimately murdering her. Franny
gets the entire audience to stomp
their feet on the floor, evoking the
atmosphere of German troops
marching through the streets.

In her early 20’s, Franny tells
us how she began her theatre
career with performance art, open-
ing up for bands in Toronto. One
of her most memorable characters
was a bag lady who eats raw
chicken. “Centuries of persecution
has given me a strong immune
system,” Franny explains. During
last summer's Fringe Festivals,
Sheridan took her stand-up femi-
nist comedy entitled, “Butthole
Traumedy” across Canada. Franny
developed the material by making

fun of everything she was uncom-
fortable about in her life, includ-
ing being Jewish. Through this she
found her ‘voice’.

I was quite taken with the emo-
tional performance. It was power-
ful, sincere and moving. Look for
this play to be remounted locally,
and taken on tour in the near
future.

-JONATHAN LANDER

The Red Krayola at Starfish Room
sometime-this-summer review
plus Book Review:

The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker

In this book there are lots of
details. In this review there are
none.

Did you ever think about paper
vs. plastic drinking straws? Did
vou ever think about escalators
and shoelaces and tongue-brush-
ing? Well, isn’t it funny the way.
that things are written, like book
reports and books and lyrics? But
they also can be said out loud.

There were four bands.

1) Peter Jeffries, whom |
missed, but most people said they
hated and booed, but one person
liked him.

2) Sometny somethingBanana—
a punky Japanese band who were
very fun, with two boys and two
girls, and all the regular instru-
ments (what about kazoos—how
were those things invented?) The
girl sang in a very punky, choppy
way, and the boy played his guitar
in a very slidey way, so it was dif-
ferent and good and neat.

3) Smog. There was a very ner-
vous man with his back to the
crowd, so all you could see was
his ear, and his guitar. There was
also a girl singing. The lyrics
sounded like they might be very
good, but I couldn’t hear them, so
it is still an enigmatic mystery
(like a redundant redundancy).
Maybe they should’ve had an
overhead projector like in elemen-
tary school singing (aren’t those
overhead projector pens enigmat-
ic?) They [Smog] also sounded a
little like Billy Bragg, but more
saddish, and without the political
stuff (I think).

4) The Red Krayola. Very cool..
Lots of band people, and some
were verging on the geriatric (i.e.
45+), but very smooth and arty in
a faux-beret-y kind of way. The
crowd got tired and all decided to
go home early (or all in the bath-
room trying to pee), so they threw
out handfuls of uppers (oops—that
was my daydream). Actually, I did-
n’t have time to daydream, :
because they were so cool and
varied. All in all (such a general

sum-up), it was a pretty fun
evening, and even gave
me a beer. SHORTS ME YES!
P.S. The book is good too, and
both are highly recommended.
-THE LITTLE PEOPLE

Sugar

Besides

plus Bonus CD, The Joke Is Always On
Us, Sometimes

(Rykodisc)

The title is clever, but it’s been
done before (remember Marillion’s
B’Sides Themselves?). So have
albums full of B-Sides and unre-
leased songs. Despite all that,
someone at Rykodisc realized that
a compilation of so many out-
standing unreleased Sugar tracks
would make a great record, instead
of allowing the songs living their
lives on an archive shelf.

Bob Mould (former frontman of
Hiisker Dii, for those of vou pre-
grunge illiterates) has written so
many catchy, energetic pop-rock
numbers, that it’s almost impossi-
ble not to like at least something
he’s recorded.

Mould’s distinctive wall-of-gui-
tar sound is prevalent throughout
this album. There’s so much guitar,
and then when you least expect it,
another layer of guitar kicks in
(listen to Mind Is An Island,
track 10).

There are a few acoustic num-
bers, plus a bunch of unreleased
live tacks that really rock, includ-
ing a cover of The Who’s Armenia
City In The Sky, which was a
favourite encore number Sugar
played on tour. As well, you get a
modified version of that pop ditty
from the Copper Blue LP, [f I
Can’t Change Your Mind with all
the electric guitars and drums
pulled from the mix, leaving us
with a rendition of rich vocal
Mould harmonies, and voracious
strumming acoustic guitars.

Here’s the part about the Bonus
CD: If you’re lucky, you can buy a
limited edition Besides CD with a

bonus live CD, The Joke Is Always

On Us, Sometimes, tucked away
underneath the trap door. This CD
is the highest grade bootleg you
can get—it’s legit!

On first listen, I thought that
this off-the-board recording was

SEPTEMBER 1995 / PLANET OF THE ARTS ] ]

too clean, i.e. it sounds like they
didn’t twirl any knobs to ‘enhance’
the mix in the studio. I didn’t like
hearing the distinct jangle of the
hi-hats that had been indepen-
dently mic’ed. It all sounded too
separated and unnatural.

But the next day, I decided to
give it another try. I thought, “hey,
this is Bob Mould, who’s renowned
for playing live gigs at tinitus-
inducing volume levels!” So on
that note, I cranked the volume
knob on my stereo way up past
obnoxious-party level, put on a,
pair of headphones (cause [ hate
the noise from those obnoxious
parties my neighbours downstairs
have, and don’t want to be a vin-
dictive hypocrite), and proceeded
to blow my eardrums apart at the
seams [Ed. note: don’t try this at
home]. Wow! That sounds more
like it! Suddenly, I was right there
at that Sugar concert, recorded in
Minneapolis during the File
Under: Easy Listening tour some-
time in October 1994.

A full length, unedited Sugar
concert, including tune-ups in
between songs, and two and a half
minutes of an audience clearing
out after the show is what you'll
find on this CD. Now that’s a live
concert captured in digital bits if
I've ever heard one!

-JL

Southern Culture On The Skids
Dirt Track Date
(Geffen)

Well, unfortunately, this is one
of those bands that doesn’t seem
to come off as well on tape. I
mean, there are live bands, and
there are bands who just can’t pull
it off if there aren’t a hundred
screaming drunk people there,
drooling on them.

I'll tell you something though,
when these people do have a hun-
dred screaming drunk people
there... :

I'll put it to you this way:
Satan was in the room. I saw peo-_
ple full-on making out in the
audience. This was at the Starfish
room. I saw eight grown women
dancing on stage and eating
chicken at the behest of the lanky
frontman. I didn’t even have the
skills necessary to process this
information. I don’t know if it was
good or bad. I do, however, know
that Satan was in the room, and if
you agree with that kind of soul-
less abandon, you probably want -
to rush out and support this band,
and keep a close watch on the
entertainment rags to see when
they are next coming to town.

-Kacey MACDOUGALL

Rusty
Fluke
(Handsome Boy)

Okay, here’s a CanCon one for
ya. These guys are from Toronto |
think. And judging by the teeny-
weeny little ‘Factor’ logo on their
liner notes, I’d venture to guess
that these Rusty boys have gotten
some grant money thrown their
way. Hey, it’s nice to see that the
Canadian Gov't is actually giving
away money to promote loud
obnoxious music, over which your
parents would yell at you to turn
down.

This band still thinks punk is
alive and well (along with many,
many other bands) and are doing a
good job of keeping that notion
going. Personally, I believe it’s
been dead since ‘79. But that’s just
my opinion. Anyway. Not too
much new here in terms of musi-

cal innovation, but good, power-
ful, catchy punk-like-revival tunes
with a modern alternative formula
edge. They’ve got the requisite
false starts to one track. Like they
didn’t actually record 49 takes
anyway!?

Did I mention that they’re
opening for Collective Soul on
tour?

-JL

Urge Overkill
Exit The Dragon
(Geffen)

This is a band in crisis: they are
extremely weary, crawling through
the album as if it were a form of
punishment. Their delusions of
stadium rock are slowly fading as
they become more and more self-
aware. Not one thing they do is in
eamest. On previous albums they
would at least get into rockin’ out,’
but now even that passion has
dimmed. The album’s content is
actually quite strong, tracks like
This Is No Place and Blackie’s
Mistake are standouts. It’s a given
that they can write a good song.
What’s new is the fatigue which is,
in a way, quite exciting to see. It
gives them a new edge, albeit a
somber one.

-ERIN GILGANNIN

Gwen Mars
Magnosheen
(Hollywood Records)

Smashing Pumpkins. Need I say
more?
-JL

Wit’s End
The Town Pump
August 16, 1995

I thought I was at my wits end
when I saw a fellow walking
around the beach front with ski
gloves under his arms on the
opening night at this summer's
Symphony of Fire. My friend shot
a sharp glance at me and we both
cracked up! A good laugh to brush
off a chaotic week.

Even better was watching the
three-piece band, Wit’s End (from
North Vancouver), perform at the
Town Pump. They were a lot of
fun to listen to! Noisy, rebellious
sounds were heard as I entered the
place. To my surprise, the musi-
cians were blond and bronzed
guys who looked like they had just
came in from the beach. As fresh
from under the sun as they
seemed, they jammed up a storm.

In immersing oneself in their
music for just ten minutes, a lot
can be said about this band.
Vibrant, consistent energy shed
from them like a light bulb giving
off light. This is apparent in their
pieces throughout their 1995
release, Bla Bla Bla. They closed
their set with bursts of energy
playing the album’s title track.
Their sounds magnetized the
crowd’s undivided attention until
the very last note. :

Loud like the fireworks, Wit’s
End is a new up-and-coming
band. The audience listened with
keen intent to hear the words in
the music. Emotions are revealed
to steady beats, combined with a

‘touch of a raw edge. Their works

are fluid in that they can produce
songs with lyrics of a gentle
nature to lyrics set to an alterna-
tive metal mood. Talent and con-
sistency shines through these guys.
They showed what they’re made
of—hard rock!

- JOANNE GALEA

Reviews of
other sorts

amin rom pes pose

ping enough at times to keep'me
in my seat I found it unnecessary
to hold my bladder any longer,
‘and made a mid-movie lavatory
hiatus. Surprisingly, atthe end of
the film, I realized that during my
impromptu departure, Pd missed
an important plot-wist that would
hhave perhaps enhanced the clever-
_yet-standard surprise ending. But
rot so clever that I would have to
forego my tip to the bathroom.
-Attilla Horvath,

The Waltonsteins
Franny Sheridan
ir Jessica Van Der Veen

Franny Sheridan has gone
‘through a lot in her life. She was
‘born and raise in Canada by her
parent, survivors of the
Holocaust, who subsequently
‘denounced the family’s Judaism,
and converted to Catholicism.

Her one-woman play, The
Waltonsteins, ells the story of
Franny growing up with er pos
trauma, split-personaity family.
The stage is void of decoration;
sets are implied through mono-
logue, gesture and audience partic-
ipaction

‘She talks about her early years
‘growing up, with her fathers
constant reminder, “never tell
them you're a Jew.” Franny acts
‘out how her father would time and
time again recount the stories of.
the Holocaust, of Crystalnacht.
‘Acting the personae of her grand-
‘mother, and the German soldier,
Franny tells the story of how the
Germans stormed the streets of the
city where her grandmother lived,
‘ultimately murdering her. Franny
sets the entire audience to stomp
ther feet on the floor, evoking the
atmosphere of German troops,
‘marching through the strets.

In her early 20's, Franny tells
‘us how she began her theatre
‘arcer with performance art, open-
ing up for bands in Toronto, One
‘of her most memorable characters
‘was a bag lady who eats raw
chicken. “Centuries of persecut
has given me a strong immune
system,” Franny explains. During
last summer’ Fringe Festivals,
Sheridan took her stand-up femi-
nist comedy entitled, “Butthole
‘Traumedy” across Canada. Franny
developed the material by making,

fun of everything she was uncom-
fortable about in her life, includ
ing being Jewish. Through this she
found her ‘voice’

1 was quite taken with the emo-
tional performance. It was power
ful, sincere and moving. Look for
this play to be remounted locally,
‘and taken on tour in the near
future

JONATHAN LANDER

The Red Krayola at Starfish Room
sometime-this-summer review
‘plus Book Review:

The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker

In this book there are lots of
etal. In this review there are

Did you ever think about paper
vs plastic drinking straws? Did
You ever thnk about escalators
and shoelaces and tongue-brush-
ing? Well, isnt it funny the way
that things are written like book
reports and books and lyrics? But
they also can be said out loud.

‘There were four bands.

1) Peter Jeffries, whom |
missed, but most people sai they
hated and booed, but one person
liked him.

2) Semethe sredkigpanana—
a punky Japanese band who were
very fun, with two boys and two
fils, and all the regular instru-
‘ments (what about kazo0s—how
were those things invented?) The
fil sang ina very punky, choppy
veay, and the boy played his guitar
ina very sidey way, so it was di
ferent and good and neat.

3) Smog. There was a very ner~
vous man with his back tothe
rowed, 50 all you could see was
his ear, and his guitar There was
also a gil singing, The lyrics
sounded like they might be very
00d, but I couldn't hear them, so
itis sil an enigmatic mystery
(like a redundant redundancy)
Maybe they should've had an
overhead projector ike in elemen-
tary school singing aren't those
overhead projector pens enigmat-
{c2) They [Smog] also sounded a
litle like Billy Bragg, but more
saddish, and without the political
stuf think.

4) The Red Krayola. Very coo,
Loss of band people, and some
were verging onthe geriatric (ie.
454, but very smooth and arty in
a faux-beret-y kind of way. The
‘crowd got tired and all decided to
{0 home early (or all in the bath-
‘oom trying to pee, so they threw
out handfuls of uppers (oops-that
vas my dayéream). Actually | di
Ihave time to dayéream,
because they were 50 cool and
varied. Allin all (such @ general

‘sum-up, it was a prety fun
‘evening, and even gave
me a beer. SHORTS ME YES!

PS. The book is good too, and
both are highly recommended.

Sugar
Besides

plus Bonus CO, The Joke ls Always On
Us Sometimes

ytodise)

‘The title is clever, but it's been
done before (remember Marillion's
BYSides Themselves?) So have
albums full of B-Sides and unre-
Teased songs. Despite all that,
someone at Rykodise realized that
‘compilation of so many out-
standing unreleased Sugar tracks
wouuld make a great record, instead
of allowing the songs living their
lives on an archive shelf

Bob Mould (former frontman of
‘Husker Di, for those of vou pre-
grunge illiterates) has written so
‘many catchy, energetic pop-rock
‘numbers, that it's almost impossi-
bile not to like at least something
he's recorded.

Mould’s distinctive wall-of-
tar sound is prevalent throughout
this album. There's so much guitar,
and then when you least expect
another layer of guitar kicks in
(listen to Mind Is Am Island,
track 10)

‘There are afew acoustic num-
bers, plus a bunch of unreleased
live tacks that really rock, inelud-
ing a cover of The Who's Armenia
City In The Sky, which was a
favourite encore number Sugar
played on tour. As well, you get a
‘modified version of that pop ditty
from the Copper Blue LP, If 1
Can't Change Your Mind
the electric guitars and drums
pulled from the mix, leaving us
‘with a rendition of rich vocal
‘Mould harmonies, and voracious
strumming acoustic guitars

Here's the part about the Bonus
CD: If you're lucky, you can buy a
limited edition Besides CD with a

all

‘bonus live CD, The Joke Is Always
(On Us, Sometimes, tucked away
‘underneath the trap door. This CD
is the highest grade bootleg you
‘can get~it's legit!

On first listen, I thought that
‘this off-the-board recording was

Serrewser 1995 | Puaner or me Ans 11

too clean, Le. it sounds like they
didn’t twirl any knobs to ‘enhance’
the mix in the studio. I didn’t like
hearing the distinct jangle of the
hhi-hats that had been indepen
dently mice. I all sounded too
separated and unnatural.

But the next day, I decided to
sive it another try. I thought, “hey,
this is Bob Mould, who's renowned
for playing live gigs at tnitus-
inducing volume levels!” So on
that note, I cranked the volume
knob on my stereo way up past
obnoxious-party evel, put on

ir of headphones (cause { hate
the noise from those obnoxious
parties my neighbours downstairs
hhave, and don't want to be a vin-
dictive hypocrite), and proceeded
to blow my eardrums apart at the
seams (Ed, note: don't try this at
hhome]. Wow! That sounds more
like it! Suddenly, was right there
at that Sugar concer, recorded in
‘Minneapolis during the File
Under: Easy Listening tour some
time in October 1994.

‘A full length, unedited Sugar
‘concert, including tune-ups in
between songs, and two and a half
‘minutes of an audience clearing
‘out after the show is what you'll
find on this CD. Now that’s alive
concert captured in digital bts if
Te ever heard 0

‘Southern Culture On The Skids
Dirt Trock Dote
(Geffen)

‘Wel, unfortunately, this is one
of those bands that doesn't seem
‘to come off as well on tape. 1
‘mean, there are live bands, and
‘there are bands who just can't pull
it off if there aren't a hundred
screaming drunk people there.
drooling on them.

Tl tell you something though,
‘when these people do have a hun-
dred screaming drunk people
there.

Til put it to you this way:
‘Satan was in the room. I saw peo-
ple full-on making out in the
audience. This was at the Starfish
room. I saw eight grown women
dancing on stage and eating
‘chicken atthe behest of the lanky
frontman. 1 didn't even have the
stalls necessary to process this
information. I don't know if it was
‘Sood or bad. I do, however, know
‘that Satan was in the room, and if
‘you agree with that kind of soul-
less abandon, you probably want
‘to nish out and support this band,
and keep a close watch on the
entertainment rags to see when
‘they are next coming to town.

Kacey MacDouoatt

Rusty
Fluke
(Handsome Boy)

‘Okay, here's a CanCon one for
‘ya. These guys are from Toronto I
think. And judging by the teeny-
weeny litle ‘Factor logo on their
liner notes, Pd venture to guess
that these Rusty boys have gotten
some grant money thrown their
way. Hey its nice to see that the
Canadian Gov't is actually giving
away money to promote loud
‘obnoxious music, over which your
parents would yell at you to turn
down.

‘This band still thinks punk is
alive and well along with many,
‘many other bands) and are doing a
00d job of keeping that notion
{oing, Personally, I believe it's
been dead since "79, But that's just
‘my opinion. Anyway. Not too
‘much new here in terms of musi-

cal innovation, but good, power-
ful, catchy punk-like-evival tunes
with a modem altemative formula
‘edge. They've got the requisite
false starts to one track. Like they
didn’t actually recbrd 49 takes
anyway!?
Did I mention that they/re

‘opening for Collective Soul on

Urge Overkill
Exit The Dragon
(Geffen)

‘This isa band in crisis: they are
extremely weary, crawling through
the album as if it were a form of
punishment. Their delusions of
stadium rock are slowly fading as
they become more and more self=
aware. Not one thing they dois in
ceamest, On previous albums they
would at least get into rockin’ out
bout now even that passion has
dimmed, The album's content is
actually quite strong, tracks lke
This Is No Place and Blackie's
Mistake are standouts. IC's a given
that they can write a good song.
‘What's new is the fatigue which is,
in a way, quite exciting to see. It
ives them a new edge, albeit a
somber one.

Ex Gearon

Gwen Mars
Magnosheen
(Hollywood Records)

‘Smashing Pumpkins, Need I say
IL

End
The Town Pump
‘August 16, 1995

T thought I was at my wits end
when I saw a fellow walking
around the beach front with ski
sloves under his arms on the
‘opening night at this summer's
Symphony of Fire. My friend shot
a sharp glance at me and we both
cracked up! A good laugh to brush
off a chaotic week

Even better was watching the
three-piece band, Wit's End (from
North Vancouver), perform atthe
‘Town Pump. They were alot of
fun to listen to! Noisy, rebellious
sounds were heard as I entered the
place. To my surprise, the musi~
cians were blond and bronzed
sfuys who looked like they had just
‘came in from the beach. As fresh
from under the sun as they
seemed, they jammed up a storm

In immersing oneself in their
‘music for just ten minutes, a lot
can be said about this band.
Vibrant, consistent energy shed
from them like a light bulb giving
off light. This is apparent in their
pieces throughout their 1995
release, Bla Bla Bla. They closed
their set with bursts of energy
playing the albums tite track.
Their sounds magnetized the
‘rowed's undivided attention until
the very last note

Loud like the fireworks, Wits
End is a new up-and-coming
‘band. The audience listened with
keen intent to hear the words in
‘the music. Emotions are revealed
to sieady beats, combined with a
touch of a raw edge. Their works
are fluid in that they can produce
songs with lyrics ofa gentle
nature to lyrics set to an alterna
‘tive metal mood. Talent and con-
sistency shines through these guys.
‘They showed what they're made
of-hard rock!

Jouve GALEA