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Beat Street
By Todd S. Inoue

Dan Winters Swingers: The Low & Sweet Orchestra plays the Cactus Club Monday (Feb. 3). Smokin' Section: Visiting Kemuri fills in for J Church J CHURCH dropped off Friday's (Jan. 31) Pansy Division, Pee Chees and Electrocutes gig at the Cubberley Auditorium in Palo Alto because the band has split with drummer Reed Burgoyne, and his replacement, Andee Connors (Pee, A Minor Forest), isn't available yet. Filling J Church's vacant spot is an up-and-coming ska-punk band out of Tokyo called Kemuri. The group is in San Jose recording an album with ex-Skankin' Pickle frontman Mike Park. Kemuri, which means "smoke" in Japanese, found it was cheaper to record here than in Tokyo, where lead singer Hofumio Ito resides. "$3,000 a day," Ito said. "It's insane." Park took a liking to Kemuri after the group sent him a tape. According to Ito, the songs touch on topics common to all people. "A lot of the lyrics are based on positive mental attitude--P.M.A.," Ito explained. One song, "Yellow Survivors," reflects the current state of Tokyo youth: "I feel like many Japanese people have been losing their identity. We have to gain more identity because we have too much outside influences. They want to be like Americans, without knowing what that means." The band went into the studio Tuesday to begin recording. Meanwhile, Kemuri is holed up at Park's one-bedroom apartment eating Taco Bravo and playing Sega. The band is looking for gigs; phone Asian Man Records at 408/395-0662. Half the net proceeds from the Cubberley show will go to support Social Advocates of Youth and its Safe Place program. Kemuri, with Park contributing on saxophone, kicks things off at 7:30pm. Sockeyed Fans How can you have a CD-release party without CDs? Ask Salmon, which had a full house going apoplectic at the Edge last Thursday. Many were aching to buy the highly anticipated Paco ... Drop the Chicken, but no CDs were available. Apparently, the label (Red Ant) is holding up the distribution until February to coincide with a big marketing push. A few weeks is a small time to wait, but Salmon fans already have waited months. The show itself was augmented by some surprises mixed with high-voltage versions of favorites. A straight version of James Taylor's "Handyman" segued into a heavy version of Public Enemy's "You're Gonna Get Yours." It was a beautiful thing to hear the crowd chanting the closing lines to "Bantamburg": "You can speak when I speak / You can label me a sly geek / You can diss my ass seven days in one week / But rotten roots will weaken / Make your crop drop right down." Quip of the Night: "Doesn't Red Ant have C&W acts? [It does.] They shouldn't call it Red Ant; they should call it Ant Farm." --Rusty Gantt of Crack. Jaywalking Blues Want to hear a twist on the recent uproar over jaywalking in downtown San Jose? I was pulled over last week for not yielding the right of way to a pedestrian. The pedestrian wasn't in the crosswalk, just camped out in the turn lane by the downtown DMV. I got off with a warning and an understanding that not all cops are busting pedestrians. Some let them stagger across the road! I'm So There Shows to see: AFI and Fury 66 at the Santa Cruz Vets Hall on Thursday (Jan. 30). Crack's CD-release party (with real CDs, I hope) at the Cactus Club on Saturday (Feb. 1). New Edition, Keith Sweat and Blackstreet at the San Jose Arena on Sunday (Feb. 2). The Low & Sweet Orchestra and Hayride to Hell free at the Cactus Club on Monday (Feb. 3). [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]