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<B>Altenative albums experiment, imitate</B><P>
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<FONT SIZE=4><B>Royal Trux<BR><I>Sweet Sixteen</I><BR>Virgin<BR></B></FONT><BR><B>By Jeremy Rogers</B>, Staff Critic<P>
Seldom has truly experimental rock sounded so right. Royal Trux have once again broken the rock 'n' roll rules and gotten away with it.Sweet Sixteen rounds out a discography of half a dozen albums for Royal Trux. But the band centered on vocalist Jennifer Herrema and guitarist Neil Hagerty has a musical portfolio as assorted as they come, including cracked-up blues, garage boogie and lo-fi chaos. Sweet Sixteen is more on the traditional rock side without conforming or selling out. It's a comparatively easy, incomparably enjoyable listen.
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Anyway, Royal Trux is doing something different from anybody else with their music. Hagerty's guitar might not always be in perfect tuning, but it never fails to speak out articulately. From the excessive wahwahs of "The Pickup" and "I'm Looking Through You" to the twangy riffs of "Can't Have It Both Ways," Hagerty plays expertly.
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Hagerty's guitar contributions are largely riff-oriented rather than focusing on the overall composition. In being such, though, the guitars allow the songs' lyrics, drums and effects to elucidate the intent of the compositions. The riffs that Hagerty seems to focus his attention on are those funk/blues, lo-fi, high distortion that afford so much power to bands like Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
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The guitars have caused several critics to likening Royal Trux to the early Rolling Stones. But listening to Royal Trux, I can't help thinking of the Velvet Underground. It could be because Jennifer Herrema looks so much like Edie Sedgwick and sings with a voice as gruff and masculine as Niko. It might be the way Royal Trux can make a simple major chord progression sound so dark with Moog keyboards, off tempos and God-knows-what else through mild distortion.
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Sweet Sixteen's lyrics neither serve any particular purpose nor make too much sense, but Herrema effectively conveys raw energy and emotion with bumpy vocal melodies and well-timed hooks. At times, though, Herrema's voice can be quite abrasive. She's no operatic soprano, but a lozenge might do her a world of good. On the other hand, perhaps it's that surly smoker's voice that brings half of the emotion across.
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"Roswell Seeds and Stems" might be the album's catchiest tune. The dance-able beat and chord progression of "Roswell" set up an easy background for the vocals in which both Herrema and Hagerty participate. The up-beat synthesizer bridge before the final chorus is icing on the cake.
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"Pol Pot Pie" runs a close second with its descending drum fills and punchy wahwah guitars. But even the funky bass line can't overpower Herrema's throaty, Dylan-esque vocals.
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Sweet Sixteen, though, must be viewed as an entire album in the context of Royal Trux's previous work and all those bands out there making the same old stuff. Royal Trux bring with them another wonderful shipment of rock experimentation. Fortunately for those of us with a passion for new and exciting development, music is not chemistry - the best musicians don't experiment until they get it right. They experiment for experimentation's sake, because in music there is no right or wrong.
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<FONT SIZE=4><B>Star 69<BR><I>Eating February</I><BR>Radiocative<BR></B></FONT><BR><B>By Jeremy Rogers</B>,Staff Critic
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Rejoice! Rejoice! Another alternative band just came out with a new album.
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Star 69's debut album, Eating February, combines many of the hackneyed lyrical elements of American alternative with some platitudinous undertones of British pop. Star 69 was formed in England about two years ago, but now they're based in Los Angeles. It's understandable that they would draw influences from both places, but they seem to come across with the worst of both worlds.
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Though all of the 11 songs on Eating February are original compositions, I wouldn't go so far as to say they're unlike any I've heard before. The lyrics of songs like "You Are Here," "I'm Insane" and "I'm Selfish" typify the lackadaisical, try-hard pseudo-poetry of modern rock.
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You'll find nothing but dark themes in the lyrics of Star 69 songs. Why? Lead singer and chief songwriter Julie Daniels thinks of songwriting as therapy. "I can't write when I'm happy," she said.
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At times the lyrics become surrealistically juxtaposed. Sentence fragments and random words fly in no apparent order. The lyrics of "Rotten Punch" read like a James Joyce novel.
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"I know the thoughts that ran through my mind when I wrote these songs, but other people can make their own connections," said Daniels, who also plays rhythm guitar.
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Musically, Eating February is an interesting conglomeration. Daniels' chord progressions resemble Radiohead's, and Warren Huart's overpowering bass lines parallel many an alterna-pop song.
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The most interesting musical role is played by Richard Corden's lead guitar. Without soloing, Corden augments the songs and ties them together with a battery of guitar styles. From simple harmony chords behind Daniels and embellishing leads to slide riffs and arpeggios, Corden covers all the bases.
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Despite Eating February's overall musical shortcomings, Star 69 does have a certain appeal. There's an inexplicable mystique with bands that have one female member and the rest men that sets off an intriguing image. Sonic Youth, the Cranberries, and Smashing Pumpkins are other bands with that sexual tension that makes their songs and shows so exciting. I'm not so sure about Peter, Paul and Mary, though.
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When I first popped Eating February into my CD player, I was astonished to see that there were 69 tracks in only 50 minutes. In conjunction with their name, Star 69 put 58 silent tracks of five seconds each after the tenth song. The 69th track is only the 11th song, and there is no title listed for it on the album cover.
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This production scheme seems pretty cheesy, but the bonus track turned out to be my favorite song on the album. The lyrics on this song are as trite as those on the rest of Eating February, but the tune is exceptional as the instruments cohere through beautifully orchestrated, selfless cooperation.
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<B>Photo: </B><B>69 DUDE</B> British band Star 69 puts out yet another unoriginal alternative album in its label debut 'Eating February.' Below, Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux was more successful on 'Sweet Sixteen.'
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<B>Photo furnished</B> <BR>
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