GORS
RECORD
DEAD KENNEDYS
Frankenchrist
COLLECTION
Alternative Tenacles Records
What I have before me is twenty
one tunes hot out of the studio. The
Lp tracks haven't even been de-
cided yet, still all this material will
see vinyl. This latest collection of
Dead Kennedys songs is perhaps
their best selection of melodies
since Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vege
tables. It packs all those traditional
riffs they popularized, some eerie
guitar screaming and a dash of 60's
pyschedelia/garage punk sounds.
Combined this with Jello's echoing
vocals and there is once again a
record that will be played
everywhere, creating a classic slab
in punkdom. The Dead Kennedys
haven't lost their roots in an identity
crisis which seems to be affecting
some bands, but continue with the
satirical, political stance and
straight forward riffs that quickly
catch on, showing that some
thought and time are taken to
create these rhythms. Songs like
"MTV Get Off the Air," "Dear Abby,
"Cesspools in Eden," Helination,"
"Gone with My Wind," Jock-O-
Rama," "I Spy, a cover of "1 Fought
The Law and much more will de-
light the masses with the stop-go
musical structures and variations
of chords, especially towards the
60's sounding guitar. With this, the
Dead Kennedys have succeeded
another masterpiece, keeping
them at the top of the punk heap,
with enjoyable melodies for
everyone. Watch for this release,
due out soon!
THE ZARKONS
Riders in the Long Black Parade
Time Coast/Enigma
If the Zarkons sound familiar, the
reason is that they used to go by
the name Alley Cats. Don't let this
change stop you from checking this
record out because nothing still
means nothing anymore. The band
packs the same punch and Randy
Stodola's songs still manage to
conjure up the bizzare, the under
70
belly of life. Check out I'm
Lovesick of the World" or "Darkness
Synkopation and you'll get my
meaning. The Zarkons turn to the
psydelic sixties for a cover of Jeffer
son Airplane's "White Rabbit" that
will melt your mind. Hopefully mov-
ing the band's name from the begin-
ning of the alphabet to the end will
give them a new lease on life. They
deserve to be heard.
THE DAMNED
Phantasmagoria
MCA Records
The black, blue and white photo-
graph of a young shrouded woman
is haunting with a beautiful crisp
feeling, as she stands forefront with
the gravestones dark, grimacing in
the background. With just a slight
touch of horror madness, mostly in
image, the Damned, mix a blend of
soft poppy harmonies with Dave
Vanian's vocals enchanting with
each note. A bit of creeping
saxophone, fiendish keyboards
and the music chants with each
pulsating beat. The Damned pro-
ceed with a fluent sound of mid-
tempo origin than is reminiscent of
the Moody Blues, still with that
scary base to keep it property of
the Damned. A spaghetti western
type ballad "Shadow of Love" has
enough of that ghost town appeal
to make it a pleasure packed hit.
Along with the jubilant doses of
"Edward the Bear" and "Grimly
Fiendish. Musically, the compo
sitions are nicely delivered with a
sweet flavoring, as Vanian's croon
ing and the backing chorus add that
special spice to make it that pleas
ant spooky dish. Far from their
original punk approach, but the
Damned have always written some
truly decent pieces and Phantas-
magoria is no exception. Great,
symetrical goodies.
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Rant 'n Reel
The Return of the Living so happens to be black (reminis-
Dead
Orion Pictures
cent of Night of the Living Dead)
seems to be the smartest person
around. I don't want to give away
I walked into my neighborhood the story because it's so much
theatre to see The Return of the more fun not knowing what to ex
Living Dead fully expecting a dim- pect. All I'll tell is that it takes off on
witted-trash-punk-rocker-drug-ad- the idea behind Night of the Living
dict-exploitation flick with the intelli- Dead and answers intriguing ques-
gence of a donut hole, but, gee will- tions like, "What does being dead
kers, was I in for a suprise. I stum- feel like?" and "How do you cure
bled outside about ninety minutes rigor mortis?" The characters (in-
later with my eyes practically hang- cluding the zombies) are hilarious,
ing out of my head, grinning like creative and, best of all, different
there was no tomorrow. The only than any you've seen before. Spec-
words I could mutter to people ask ial effects are both terribly gross
ing me about the movie were, "1
want to eat your brains!" A transfor-
mation occurred in that dimly lit au-
ditorium. Both on screen and off.
People who rarely become emo-
tionally involved in films started to
get restless. At one point someone
screamed that they were going to
eat a crying baby in the back row if
it didn't shut up.
and terribly funny, although they
are not what keeps the film "alive,"
so to speak. It is the rampant crazi-
ness that does this. A combination
of camera work, plot and musical
score give this picture a personality
to make it a cult classic, soon to be
raiding the midnight movie circuit.
Picture this: a battallion of the living
dead attacking a mortuary, gratuit
Dan O'Bannon (who wrote Alien) ous brain eating, a paramedic am-
both directed and scripted this bush and all the while 45 Grave
spectacular zombie brouhaha, singing "Do You Want To Party?
which has a tone and sense similar The musical groups, including
to that of Repo Man. There is a TSOL, The Cramps, The Damned
"punk" influence, but it is not domin- and The Flesheaters should be
antly overtaking the movie. proud that their songs are being
The punks aren't really major used so splendidly (and not just as
characters, athough one, who just background noise). I want to see
RLA
DALLAS, TEXAS
75215
a Living Dead doll by Christmas. If
Rambo deserves one, so does this
PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE
Warner Bros.
Let's face it, no human bean can
be a God, but Pee Wee Herman
comes awfully close.
Pee Wee's nerdy, dwid as rebel
style is like a jumble of Saturday
morning cartoon characters. In this
film's playful growed-up-boy-with-
all-the-bizarre-toys-he-ever-
dreamed-of type. As he says to his
would-be girlfriend early in the
show. There are things about me
you wouldn't understand, things you
couldn't understand, things you
shouldn't understand." Pee Wee's
most prized possession of all,
though, is his custom designed bike.
"I wouldn't sell my bike for a hundred
million billion trillion dollars," he tells
his rich greedy pig of a neighbor,
Francis, who wants the bike for him-
self. Francis decides to steal it.
This all happens within the first
thirty minutes. The rest of the film in-
volves Pee Wee's desperate
search, from Texas to Warner Bros.
studio, for his only true love, his bike.
This may be an odd comparison, but
I thought this movie was kind of like
Dawn of the Dead. In Dawn, the vio-
1719 S.ERVAY
lence in the beginning was revolting
(and also completely entertaining).
but after a while you get used to it
and it's not that big of a deal any
more. Pee Wee's Big Adventure is
similar in that during the first part of it
you feel like yo're going to bust a gut
from laughing so hard, but then the
comedy dries up. Pee Wee's half
hour T.V. shows and special ap-
pearances are much funnier than
this full-length effort. They're more
spontaneous. The movie doesn't
really allow this to come across,
there is too much plot getting in the
way of the story and boring scenes
that don't belong. I associate Pee
Wee with fun, humor and craziness
(as in the opening), not as someone
who gets overly depressed and pos-
sessive. This film sludges through
the sewers of wanna-be serious-
ness and gets lost in the tunnels of
mediocrity. C'mon now, this is sup-
posed to be a comedy! It's Pee Wee
Herman! Let's give him a weekly
comedy show on the tube and say
later to his movie career. If you have
to, go to a cheap matinee to see this,
but don't fork over the big bucks for
regular admission prices. Special
interest note: Horror hostess Elvira
Cassandra Peterson makes a spec-
ial appearance, without her make-
up on, as the biker mama.
ZO
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