NOTES
from the
UNDER
GROUND
The Phantom Surfers go fruit loops at
Ramona's Bottom of the Hill, one of the
finest showcase clubs in San Francisco.
Sometimes the screeches and screams
of straining vocalists must give way to a
pure and true cavalcade of chords.
From The Astronauts to Booker T, and
from Huevos Rancheros to Gifthorse,
this issue of Notes goes out to all the
great wordless songs. Bass player
Michael Lucas of The Phantom Surfers
easily explains why his band plays
instrumentals: "We can't sing any damn
good. We always play at least one vocal
song. That usually keeps them quiet.
They say, 'Oh, they're handicapped,
they can't sing." Not having a singer
has other attractions too, says Mike.
"Singers are the strutting peacocks that
get all the girls," he says. "None of us
sing, so this way nobody gets the
girls. The Surfers are charting a course
into the arena of slot car racing with a
racy new tack. "It's a radical turn from
surf music," says Mike. "It sounds the
same but the titles are different. Like
The Challengers tried to capture the
excitement and danger of skateboard
ing with their album Go Sidewalk
Surfing, we are trying to capture the
excitement and danger of slot car rac
ing. We want to install a track around
the room so people can have some
thing to do while we play, but the bar
tenders will have to be turn marshalls
to take care of all the cars that get
nerfed off" Guitarist Mike Banfield
of Don Caballero says, "There's way
too many bad singers and dumb lyrics
in the world. There's no sense having a
singer unless he or she is good." On
their debut For Respect, Don Cabi
punches precision punk instrumentals
with a stainless tool and die. "We
couldn't find a singer we liked," says
62 Тинек
Mike. "There are few good singers in
the world and most of them were
taken. The Skatalites are an OJ
(Original Jamaican) ska band who
played on early sessions with Bob
Marley, Peter Tosh, Desmond Dekker,
Toots and the Maytals and Jimmy
Cliff. Though they wrote music for
songs that sold millions, as a back-up
group, The Skatalites never saw more
than a small share of the loot. "They've
been selling our music for decades and
we not get no royalty," says senior sax-
ophonist Tommy McCook. "So I said
it's going to work no more. This is a
quicksand pit man, dragging you down.
Every time you play, you're promoting a
record that you're not getting anything
from. Now we have a chance to do
something for ourselves." With a
steady roll on their new instrumental Lp
Skavoovee, The Skatalites drive a tight
and tough revelry of ska-induced songs
that prove they never needed anyone
else. Barry Adamson, former bassist
for the Birthday Party and Nick Cave
and the Bad Seeds, funks up super
groovy spy songs for movies that were
never produced on The Negro Inside
Me. Where Adamson does use vocals,
the effect is more surreal. "It's like
when you're watching the TV and the
sound is down and whatever's going on
is in perfect synch with the music you're
listening to, Adamson says. "It gives
you that three-dimensional feel of the
world as well... According to bassist
Bill Crawford, when it comes to the
music they play, Bazooka says, "Fuck
the rules." Drummer Vince Meghrouni
agrees. "That's one of the rules we
have. With only bass, drums and sax
Bazooka blasts down the barriers
between jazz, rock and punk. The
three-piece format is no hindrance as
Bazooka burns through fiery originals
and blistering covers of "Frankenstein"
by The Edgar Winter Group, "Well You
Needn't" by Thelonius Monk and
"Crossroads" by Robert Johnson.
Whether there's too many singers in
the world is open for debate, says
Vince, "But go into Guitar Center and
you'll know in five seconds if there's tool
many guitarists. Shadowy Men On
A Shadowy Planet play clean original
fishin' instrumentals. Casting in musical
streams through rocky mountains
majesty, the band discovered not hav
ing a singer can set you free. "I find it
liberating not to deal with the obstruc-
tions of working with a singer" explains.
bassist Roid Diamond. "You can jump
from genre to genre easier because if
you had a singer doing a calypso thing,
it'd be nauseating to go in and out of
different styles". Spatial surfers The
Mermen finally released a CD entitled
Food For Other Fish. With a guitar that
doses out, bass that goes up your nose
and drums that take you through the
washing machine, The Mermen evoke
scenes of powerful seas... Three Men
And A Baby Jesus met at a Narcotics
Anonymous meeting two years ago:
and nothing's ever been the same. "We
were supposed to do a GG Allin gig
and the singer and guitarist quit," says
drummer Bob Cox. "We tried it instru-
mental and we liked it, the people liked
it and GG liked it. Since GG wasn't
known for his good taste, check We're
From Texas Volume Ill compilation to
sample their sound. -Brian Brannon
MANTER SCALE
Mickey Finn, 3 On A Match. CD. Killer
chunky fuzzed-out chords Super-
conductor, Hit Songs For Girls, CD. A
multi-gullar freakiest of hits... Sponge-
head. Curb Your Dogma, CD. Rough-
edged NY power trio Hazel. Torndor
Of Love, CD. Top of the line punk pop...
Gnome. Fiberglass, CD. Eludes the
power pop stalemate... Engine Kid
Bear Catching Fish, CD. Melodic and
unpredictable... Red Red Meat. Flank
7: Hard blues. Smugglers, In The Hell
Of Fame, CD. Politicians of good times
...Melvins. Houdini CD. The equivalent
of a pressure cooker... Hard Ons. Too
Far Gone, CD. Another bandwagon of
hits Eye Hate God. Take As Needed
For Pain, CD. Slowly releases the sick-
ness... Guzzard. Get A Witness, CD.
Pounds of punk. Die Haut. Head Or
CD. Vocals by Debbie Harry. Kim
Gordon, Lydia Lunch and Christina
from Boss Hog... White Kaps. Blown in
The USA. Lp. Full-blown So Cal punk...
Devil Dogs, Saturday Night Fever, Lp.
New Jersey Dice Clays of power pop
Seam, The Problem With Me, CD. Mows
tall grass with a dull blade. God and
Texas, Criminal Element, CD. Choppy
servings of hardcore delight... GRIND
SCALE Pitchshifter, Desenstad, CD,
9.2 Carcass. Heartwork, CD, 9.6
Brutality. Screams Of Anguish, CD, 8.0
... Crowbar, CD. 8.5... Dismember.
Indecent and Obs. CD. 9.5... Anal
Cunt. Morbid Florist, 9.8... Impaled
Nazarene. Tol Corrupt Norz Norz Norx
8.0 Treponem Pal, Excess and
Overdrive. CD. 8.8. Disharmonic
Orchestra, Expositions Prophylawe. 9.1
-Rick Ros
green apple
quick step
album:
WONDERFUL VIRUS
featuring: "DIRTY WATER OCEAN," "STEREO"
"BOTTLE" and "LUDES AND CHERRYBOMBS"
Look for it on all the usual money-making formats plus ever-lovin'
colored vinyl (which includes a bonus live two-song 7" single).
1993 Gient Records.
set
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