Tucson Weekly: Soundbites (May 20

Sound Bites RAWK AND A HARD PLACE: In the late '80s and early 1990s, the college burg of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, was a burgeoning rock mecca. Soon-to-be punk legends the Didgits and Titanic Love Affair--featuring the talents of current Wilco member Jay Bennett--played the hometown clubs on a regular basis, along with a slew of other promising bands: Hot Glue Gun, Hum, Lonely Trailer and Honcho Overload among them. But the one band that everyone involved in the C-U scene knew was gonna go places was the Poster Children.
They were the best live band of the bunch, and they combined the big rawk sound with undeniable hooks. And while a lot of the bands from the area relocated to bigger markets at the first taste of success (the Didgits moved to Chicago, and Titanic Love Affair to Minneapolis), the Poster Kids, as they were affectionately called, stuck around Champaign and did things their own way.
Having released two seminal albums by 1991 (1989's Flower Plower (Limited Potential) and 1991's Daisy Chain Reaction (Twin/Tone)), the major labels hunted them down in C-U during the post-Nirvana feeding frenzy.
Their first release on Sire/Reprise was 1993's not-so-subtly-titled Tool of the Man, a worthy addition to their canon that maintained the quirky stop/start verses and soaring, high energy choruses, but with better production values than their previous releases. As payback, they founded local label 12 Inch Records--originally a singles-only label (seven inches, that is)--and released early works by such Champaign stalwarts as Love Cup, Hum and Steakdaddy 6 before delving into full-lengths. Then things got a little shaky with their own output.
The next three releases for Sire--the Just Like You EP (1994), Junior Citizen (1995), and RTFM (1997)--saw the band abandon much of its original sound for the catchy alterna-anthems all over "new rock" radio at the time. The move didn't win many new fans, and probably alienated a few die-hards. An agreement (or disagreement?) was made with the giant label, and the Poster Kids were let out of their contract.
This is the order of the day, folks. After Nirvana hit, major labels everywhere were clamoring for the Next Big Thing. The problem was that there was only one Nirvana, and the bands signed in the aftermath couldn't possibly sell the number of records expected of them. The end result is that we're still witnessing volumes of bands signed during that period being dropped from their respective labels (Mudhoney for one, recently dropped from Reprise).
But here's the ultimate irony: those bands that have stuck it out all these years, long enough to have survived being dropped from a major, are now reappearing on the indies where it all began; and in the process, they're putting out some of their best work in years. Witness Frank Black, whose last two albums on New York indie SpinArt represent his best work since leaving the Pixies.
And now, SpinArt's newest signees, the Poster Children, are reclaiming territory they first staked out 11 years ago. Their new release, New World Record, is the best thing they've put out since 1993's Tool, and they've somewhat reinvented themselves in the process.
They're even, uh, "poster children" for bands dropped from their cash-cow majors: foreseeing the day they'd be in a position to once again do things themselves, they wisely invested their corporate dollars in building a computerized home studio. The result is an album that gets closest to the ferocious energy the band generates on stage.
And their music continues to grow in unexpected directions. Among the cuts eking out new territory are the manic, march-like album opener "Accident Waiting to Happen"; the funky, Devo-esque "Time to Kill"; and dark "Mr. Goodnight," with a rhythm that recalls Echo and the Bunnymen's "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo." As if a fabulous new record isn't enough, the NWR disc is loaded with candy for your computer: screensavers, videos, even a video game. If you're a fan who's passed by the Poster Children bin for a while, this is the place to pick up where you left off.
See for yourself on Saturday, May 22, as they hit the stage of Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., for a special early show. Doors open at 7 p.m., with an opening set by Jane Doe and the Decomposers. Cover is five bones and Spyder Rhodes will be spinning the Electric Company after the show. Call 622-8848 for additional info.
MEM'S THE WORD: Back when I was enrolled at the UA, taking writing workshops, I had a professor who told us we should all go live in Manhattan for a year because it would give us fodder for writing for the rest of our lives.
I reflected upon this while listening to and reading about Mem Shannon. Shannon was a cab driver in New Orleans for 15 years, and claims that decade-and-a-half as the inspiration for the lyrics to his funky N'awlins blues. It worked: Living Blues magazine ranks him "among the foremost blues poets of his generation," and The Washington Post calls him "the finest social commentator since the days of Willie Dixon and Percy Mayfield."
Perhaps most impressive of all, his newest release Spend Some Time With Me (Shanachie), manages all of this without sounding heavy-handed. Shannon mixes a healthy dose of wry, down-home humor into his soulful gumbo. Musically, don't let the blues tag throw you off--it's there, to be sure, but it shares equal parts with traditional horn-fueled New Orleans funk, occasionally even recalling the old-school funk of bands like the Bar-Kays, with a few jazzy arrangements and some Latin flavor thrown in for good measure.
Mem Shannon and The Membership kick off the Courtyard Concert Series at Plaza Palomino, on the southeast corner of Swan and Fort Lowell Roads, at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 29. Advance tickets are available for $12 at Enchanted Earthworks, Hear's Music and Beaver's Band Box. They'll cost $15 at the door. Call 297-9133 for more information.
BAND WAGON: Female Native American trio Ulali combines powerful yet tender traditional vocals with drumming and stomping for a performance that promises to be "funny, probing and romantic."
Featured on the soundtrack for the 1998 film Smoke Signals, the band has also performed with the likes of the Indigo Girls and Robbie Robertson and the Red Road Ensemble. They address Native issues and struggles with both compassion and humor, and their live shows have won them nearly universal accolades.
Ulali performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 27, on campus at UA Crowder Hall. Advance tickets are available for $10 (general admission) and $14 (front and center reserved seating) at Antigone Books and The Folk Shop, or by calling 327-4809 (there's a $1 service fee for phone orders). Tickets are $12 at the door. For details, call 327-4809 or 623-1688.
Another promising band has sprung from the ashes of one of Tempe's most successful and beloved bands, The Refreshments. Featuring the distinctive voice and songwriting talents of Refreshments frontman Roger Clyne, rhythm from ex-Refreshments drummer P.H. Naffah, and a host of other Valley veterans (including former members of the Gin Blossoms and Dead Hot Workshop), The Peacemakers mine similar Refreshments territory--the humorously quirky lyrics and pop hooks--while incorporating a slightly twangier edge. The new sound travels south to the Third Stone, 500 N. Fourth Ave., on Friday, May 21. Show time is 9:30 p.m., with an opening act to be announced. Call 628-8844 for more info.
And finally, Monsoon Madness continues on Thursday with Isn't This Where and Quinoline. The music kicks off at 7 p.m. and runs 'til 10 p.m. on the Winsett Park stage on Fourth Avenue every Thursday evening, now through Halloween. Upcoming performers will include Al Perry, Maebelle, Decades, Groove Box, and Thunderosa, amongst dozens of others, so keep your eyes peeled.

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