Chicks Rock

Zippy can be a lazy sod. But he's lazy for different reasons at different times. Some things—like bathing—the Zipster puts off simply because they are distasteful. Other things are put off because Zippy is afraid of screwing them up.

Such is the case with the subbluecollar EP, daydreams. It's been sitting on the Zipster's desk for months, and gotten quite a few listens. I love it, but have been at a loss to describe why—and haven't wanted to lose my readers in a muddle of meaningless adjectives.

A critic (Mary Harron) once wrote that rock is the one music form that can be played better by those who can't play their instruments than by those who can. Well, that's simply not true. What is true about rock is that spirit, and a certain daring to seize the stage, are more important than technical mastery or musical knowledge.

Subbluecollar can play their instruments just fine, but it's their heart that makes them, and daydreams, tick.

The soul of the band is Kat Brock, guitarist and vocalist. It's a thrill to watch her live—she brings a subdued ferocity to the stage that slowly builds but never boils over.

Brock can't really sing, but like Johnny Rotten proved, you don't have to to make great music. Brock uses her voice to great effect, at turns conveying anger, sarcasm, and a mumbly sultriness. Even when her voice cracks, it sounds good.

That voice is buried in the mix, which depending on your point of view, is good or bad. Heard as an instrument, her voice melds with the bouncy guitar driven punk-pop. But it makes it damn tough to understand what any of the songs are about. In "Distorted Thing," the opening number, you can really only understand what Brock's singing when she slows down to chirp, Wish me luck you silly.

Most songs, only a line or two becomes distinguishable, like from "Memorial": So what if you are drunk/ Everyone is drunk/ drink one for the veterans/ drink one for the firecrackers/ I'll call you sir, mister... At least, I think that's what she's saying.

But even if you don't get every lyric, you get the gist of the nine songs. What makes them work is the energy and spirit the band brings to them. Drummer Dave Campbell and bassist Tomoki Kunimitsu keep the songs pumping, guitarist Joe McLemore gives them bite, and all three play off each other well, giving Brock's rants and musings even more authority and force. Not that she needs them. As she announces on "Rocketship," "...girls are best, there is no contest."

I Wanna Fall In Love

For you Chris Isaak-ites, Benny Smith, the AC Entertainment God, wanted me to let you know that the date has been changed due to a scheduling difficulty. Mr. Pompadour will still be here—just one day earlier on Friday, June 18, which cuts your wait by 24 hours. Everything else remains the same: Tennessee Theatre at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 and available through all the usual Tickets Unlimited locations.

Put Up or Shut Up

Lately, Zippy has been inundated by people complaining that Metro Pulse is ignoring their band—failing to notice their first gig, the fact that they've finally broken out of the garage, or have cut their first CD. And these pikers have a point. While I do love dark, dingy clubs and CDs with lousy production values, I simply can't notice everything that is happening in every corner of our fair region. To make matters worse, some of the loudest complainers are those whose music I've heard and made a conscious choice to ignore for the good of all mankind.

But, I hear your complaints and feel your pain. So from now on "Eye on the Scene" will contain a new feature: Put Up or Shut Up. The deal goes like this: send email ([email protected]), a fax (522-2955), or a letter to the Zipster. Include the phrase "I'm ready to put up and shut up" somewhere in the body of the message. Send the CD or tell us when your next couple of gigs are. Zippy (or one of my designated hitters) will catch the show or spin the disc and write an honest, fair, no-holds-barred review of your material. Said review will run within a few weeks of your Put Up request. Simple as that.

So bring it on, already.

Get Outta Da House

Thursday: Celtic Music Session at Great Southern Brewing. Some whisky, some reels, and thou. If this brewpub had a deck, we would want for nothing.

Friday: Choose one: Hootie and the Blowfish at World's Fair Park. Everlast with local funk-ers A Band Called L.I.F.E. at Electric Ballroom. Or Mike Compton with J.D. Crowe and the New South at Maryville College Wilson Chapel.

Saturday: Bicycle Thief with Trousseau at Tomato Head. BT is country with a classical/punk tip and Trousseau is the next coming of Mazzy Star, sort of. Also, local writer Autumn Catlett will sign her new book Black Butterfly at Davis-Kidd.

Sunday: Read a book. Talk to your kids. Organize your sock drawer.

Monday: Don Mauer will sign A Guy's Guide to Great Eating at Davis-Kidd. It's a fun cook book and maybe, just maybe, he'll provide some samples.

Tuesday: The Mumbillies at Barley's Taproom. Let it be known now that Zippy has a soft-spot for decent bluegrass. And this certainly is.

Wednesday: Blues Jam at Sassy Ann's. Quality just never goes out of style.

—Zippy "Can you hear that? It's my gauntlet" McDuff