Some Reviews (fairly long)

[John M. Relph <Relph@BIONET-20.ARPA>]

[Sorry for those of you who get to read these multiple times]

Soul Asylum, _Hang Time_

  Soul Asylum is one of those bands whose good songs are quite good,
but whose other material is just about average for contemporary
hard-edged rock.  They have just enough rawness to their sound to
remind me of Husker Du, but remind me more of the Hooters or the
Smithereens overall.  And I get so tired of standard 4/4 pop rock.
  "Twiddly Dee" has the band doing a strange acoustic bluegrass-tinged
song, and "Jack of All Trades" is also country-ish.  But the only song
that has more to offer than one listening's worth is the closing
track, "Heavy Rotation."  Twin distorted guitars and radio-treated
vocals make this song hang somewhere between heavy metal and hardcore
(I think they're confused).  The "Special Bone-Us Track" that is
included with the CD, "Put the Bone In," is a self-indulgent comedy
song akin to something that might have been on the soundtrack to _Easy
Rider_.  But you can tell they've been listening to too much Beatles;
there's a reference to the _Let It Be_ sessions at the end of the
song.  But as comedy, it falls flat.  It's just not all that funny,
which is probably why they decided to include it.
  The song "Beggars and Choosers" is a driving anthem with a hard-
hitting drumroll giving enough disctinction to the song to set it
apart from the rest, and were it a little more up-in-arms, it could
almost be mistaken for New Model Army.  Almost.  But not quite.
  And that's basically how I feel about the rest of the album;
almost, but not quite.
  Definitely a trader.

New Model Army, _Radio Sessions '83-'84_

  This album is a compilation of tracks recorded for BBC radio
broadcast.  The sound quality is about what you expect of radio-studio
recordings; it's clear but a little flat.  Most of the tracks on this
album have already appeared on albums or singles.
  To make the album more attractive to completists, they have included
one previously unreleased demo track, "The Cause."  Better sound than
the other tracks, but not much different.  It's another example of New
Model Army's particular brand of combat rock.
  The cover art is done by Joolz, as usual; interesting line drawings
of a radio and ornamental borders.  The last three tracks are the only
recordings of songs from _No Rest For the Wicked_ currently available
on CD, unless someone else knows differently.
  This album holds no surprises or revelations, so unless you're a NMA
fan there's nothing to recommend it over their other material.

ALL, _Allroy Sez....._

  ALL is what you get when you cross the Descendents with Dag Nasty, a
happy 'core band.  Dave Smalley fronts the Descendents less Milo
(although Milo does contribute some backing vox).  However, ALL the
band members contribute to the songwriting in this effort.
  Some good songs here, and some funny ones.  "Alfredo's" is about
Alfredo's Mexican Restaurant in Lomita, very silly, and they sing,
"The reason why we wrote this is to get some free food!"  "Allthymn"
is all about ALL, and how "ALL is ALL you need."  "Go for ALL and ALL
will set you free."
  Lots of "love" songs, including "Just Perfect," about how love can
allow one to overlook another's imperfections; "Sex in the Way," about
how sex obscures objectivity in a relationship; "#10 (Wet)," the tenth
song on the album, is the revelation of a suitor's hidden feelings to
an unwilling object of desire.
  "Auto Wreck" is an anti-drug song, from a friend to a friend, hoping
that "when you begin to slide / That you know how to stop in time."
  "A Muse" is a great Black Flag-ish journey through the thoughts of a
boy in the blackness of night, complete with demented rhythm changes,
spoken words and convoluted heavy guitar parts.
  Lots of fun.

Camper Van Beethoven, _Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart_

  Perhaps the Campers are selling out, gone mersh, sweetened up their
sound for a mainstream audience.  _Sweetheart_ may sound a little more
glossy on the surface, but I don't think it's a sell-out.  Their
subversive tendencies are just a little smoother, like the voice of a
snake-oil salesman that has learned to insinuate instead of ranting
and raving.  Time will tell.
  "She Divines Water" still has the chaotic sound-mess of some of the
Campers' previous stuff, with a part of a song from a previous album
buried in the morass.  "One Of These Days" has that strange
combination of reggae backbeats with countrified violin, tailing off
into a note-bending waltzing ending.  And with the guest brass from
Katl B. Traler and Dave Costanza some of the songs have a definite
Hunters and Collectors feel to them.
  But by far the best track on the album is "Tania," which was
described in "Puncture" as a rebellion of the bored middle class.
There's more to it than that, especially when you figure out about
whom the song was written (you've probably been told already, but if
not...).  The lyrics are wonderful, showing how the television-
enthralled can use the evening news to escape from their own boring
reality.
  One more thing, the third Camper album has been re-released on CD,
with the addition of their recent 6-song EP _Vampire Can Mating Oven_.
Great stuff.

	-- John
----
John M. Relph
IntelliGenetics, Inc.
Internet:  Relph@Bionet-20.ARPA
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