Symphony Square, Saturday 19
Hey! Who let these smart guys have banjos? Don’t they know what banjos do to
the IQ? Oh, wait. That’s paint thinner. Never mind. Now you can enjoy the
Lizards with a clear conscience. Even if you’re one of the ones who voted for
“Gingrich the Newt,” you can probably see your way fit to bring a blanket (and
the kids, since this early show will be over before their bedtime) to Symphony
Square, if only for the food and drink Serrano’s Cafe is furnishing. Who knows,
you might even learn something from these guys with banjos and (anything but)
Small Minds.
STEPHEN MARSH
Electric Lounge, Friday 18
A former member of the seminal Raul’s band Terminal Mind now living and
working in the Big Apple, Stephen Marsh recently did a stint off-Broadway with
the Blue Man Group (as a musician, not a painted-up trashcan-banging freak). No
telling what color he’ll be Friday, when cinematic artiste Luke Savisky (Ed
Hall) unspools his loops over, around, and probably through the Lounge’s newly
repaired sign. Marsh calls his solo-with-electric-guitar show “like being lost
inside a movie without a script;” see for yourself when the house lights go
down between Ultrasound and The Marble Index.
FACE TO FACE
Liberty Lunch, Saturday 19
“Melodic hardcore?” I bet D. Boon flips over in his grave every time someone
says that. The best hardcore is melodic, period, and don’t let any of those
Romper Stompers tell you different. Face to Face know this and have proven it
over several 7-inches and two albums (Big Choice, their latest, is out
on Victory records). Face to Face don’t tour with roadies (now, that’s punk rock), but they don’t record for Epitaph, either, so they will probably have all their own drums.
INKA INKA
Flamingo Cantina, Saturday 19
I’m sorry to say I know about as much about reggae as I do about animal
husbandry, which means I know who shot the sheriff and that’s about it. But if
I let ignorance stand in the way of a good time, I would never have any fun,
like Bay Area reggae-riders Inka Inka promise to be. Supposedly one of the
hottest things in the rasta world right now, their new release Myth of the
Machine is full of that roasty, toasty riddem people love so well.
GUY FORSYTH
Antone’s, Sunday 20
Nothing fancy here. Just Guy Forsyth & the Real Deal playin’ the lowdown
blues, week in, week out. And you know what? It works, too, as Antone’s Sunday
night has become a regular stop on a lot of Austinites’ social calendars. Pull
up a stool, have a drink, and enjoy a midsummer evening’s blues party.
LOOSE DIAMONDS
Hole in the Wall, Monday 21
People talk, drink, and eat on Hole in the Wall’s stage during the day, and
talk, drink, and sing on it at night. Good luck telling the difference Monday,
when Loose Diamonds’ relaxed, intimate back-porch music (and, doubtless, the
beer specials) will make it hard to tell who should be standing and who should
be sitting. Connecticut’s Reducers open.
INNOCENCE MISSION
Liberty Lunch, Tuesday 22
Innocence Mission’s eponymous debut is just about the best soundtrack there
is
for those enchanting sunrise journeys between Las Cruces and Albuquerque – no
small feat for a bunch of Western Pennsylvanians. But the band has changed
somewhat since that venerable first offering in 1990. They no longer sound like
the Cocteau Twins lost in the desert. IM’s latest, Glow, is more like
Mazzy Star walking the desolate and mean streets of L.A. circa 1984. They are
wiser and tougher. But beneath it all, the shimmer and sparkle remains in
spirit. 16 Horsepower opens. – Joe Mitchell
JENNIFER TRYNIN
Electric Lounge, Wednesday 23
Alanis Morissette, Jewel, Joan Osborne, Jill Sobule… jeez, what is this?
Girls with guitars year? Yep, and, come December, all the rock trades will tell
you (at length) why. But why wait ’til then when you can shell out three bucks
and come early to see one of the latest to come along after the (Sheryl) Crow
flew, Jennifer Trynin? With a song (“Better Than Nothing”) that actually
doesn’t immediately prompt you to change the station, New England’s Trynin is
just as deserving as any of the other names up there, as well as those who come
later… and there will be more. Wheel opens (at 8:30), and the Asylum St.
Spankers play after Trynin.
BATRACHOMYOMACHIA
Candy Factory, Wednesday 23
Say what? Yeah, right. Band member Robert Kennedy tells me it’s pronounced
“Ba-track-o-mio-machia” and it comes from an ancient Greek epic poem that’s
supposedly one of the most vulgar works of the classical canon. That’s the easy
part – Kennedy says describing what they sound like is even harder than
pronouncing their name. They perform, among others, the works of local composer
Joseph Zitt and John Cage, as well as their own compositions, and are getting
ready to record an album mere days after this show at the Candy Factory, 1513
Manor Road.
ALSO PLAYING
Friday: Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Emo’s;
T.D. Bell
& Blues Specialists, Victory Grill
Saturday: Los Pinkys, Jovita’s
Sunday: Don Walser, Derailers, Rosie Burke, Backyard (2nd annual Bee
Caves Chili Cookoff); Flies, Crazy Killed Mingus, Techtwil, Blue
Flamingo
Monday: 7 Stones, Frantic Mantra, Black Cat
Tuesday: Pam Mayo, Another Cup
Wednesday: Irish Jam, O’Bryan’s Pub
Thursday: Flounders Without Eyes, White Rabbit;
Del Amitri, The
Caulfields, Liberty Lunch
This article appears in August 18 • 1995 and August 18 • 1995 (Cover).