ПОТЕЅ ЕГОП
THE
W
UNDErGrounD
MORAL CRUX
hat is the definition of a moral crux?
According to the good old Webster's
Unabridged, a person with morals is one
who knows the difference between right and
wrong, and the word crux refers to a difficult
problem or a puzzling thing. So OK, a moral
crux is... Shit, I don't know, but I do know that
the band called Moral Crux fucking rips any
time they play live. I just caught one of their
shows up at the Cocodrie in SF, and these kids
had it together. First off, the singer is absolutely
the most noticeable entity up on stage. With his
face done up in white makeup and dressed in
extra-sassy outfits, this guy throws down loud,
fast, and audible vocals that remind me a lot of
Pete Stahl of Scream. But the buck don't stop.
here, man. No way José. The guitarist, a wiry-
lookin' dude with an '80s-style "Surf-hawk,"
stands in one place for the whole set and just
tears it up, while the bassist, a heavy-set mini-
version of King-Kong Bundy, just lets his fingers
do the walking all over the frets. Their sound is
melodic but not what you would call "pop."
There's just too much sensibility in this band for
them to be given that label. Throughout the
last several years, Moral Crux has put out a lot
of music themselves, following in the footsteps
of many other DIY-minded bands from their na-
tive Pacific Northwest, but their newest 12-inch
release, Something More Dangerous, has been
put out by Lookout! Please note, should this
band show up in your town, a live performance
by them is surely worth a few of your scrubby
bucks, so quit complaining that you ain't got
nothing too and go see 'em, shithole. -Andy
Harris...While Kid Dynamite's self-titled debut
was well received, the Philly
four were stuck with the
age-old problem of the
sophomore slump. While
"THE BASSIST IS A HEAVY-SET MINI-VERSION
most bands' subsequent efforts fail to even
compare to their stellar earlier work (and we
won't mention names), Kid Dynamite focused
on songs that were indeed Shorter, Faster,
Louder. After spending from June to almost
December of last year touring nonstop, Shorter,
Faster, Louder provides another machine-gun
barrage of excellent youth crew cuts. Produced
by Steve Evetts (best known for his work with
Snapcase, Saves the Day, and Lifetime), the
18 songs on the album track just under 25 min-
utes, or a concise 83 seconds per song.
Additionally, the new record features Andy
West from Kill Your Idols, Fast Times'
Alison Menor, and Ernie Parada from Grey
Area and Token Entry singing on the Token
Entry cover "Birthday."...On the other end of
the speed spectrum, Braid may not be quick to
set up any reunion shows after disbanding last
August, but they were always quick when it
124 THRASHER
OF KING-KONG BUNDY
came to getting into the studio to record.
During their six-year tenure, Braid recorded
five full lengths, five 7"s, five split 7"s with
bands like Burning Airlines and the Get
Up Kids, and were included in 14 different
compilations. And, after six months of var-
ious members exploring other musical op-
tions, the band is releasing Movie Music, a
two-CD set that includes every song from
Braid's 7"s, splits, and compilations, as well
as five previously unreleased tracks. It's
more math rock than you can count. -
Joseph Epstein...If you're puzzled as to where
to look for smooth hip-hop, Primeridian's
new song "Jigsaw" might be able to put it to-
gether for you. This duo combines head-
nodding mellow beats and intricate lyrics
for a solid dose of hip-hop from the middle
of the world... The Marin County Jewish
Community Center was not a place I ex-
pected to see a one-man show that was
funny, moving, and sheds light on various
urban problems without insulting my B-
boy sensibilities, but Danny Hoch's "Jails,
Hospitals and Hip-hop" is not your aver-
age one-man show. He's an incredible
performer who is worth your time whether
you get his book, Jails, Hospitals and
Hip-hop and Some People, see his the show
live, or check out his movie by the same
name if it comes out this fall as expected.
-True 54
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