[ Music Index | Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]

Beat Street
By Todd S. Inoue

Insect Dreams: The New Mosquitos are 'On Our Way Home.' Local Roundup: A gaggle of local CD reviews THE YELLOW IRS check arrived quickly for local bands to finance their projects. Some had a good return on the investment, while others forgot to carry the 1. Busdriver/Busdriver/10GeV: This poor excuse for pop music needs to go back to driver's ed. The semi-catchy guitar tones are derailed by songwriting that lacks the faintest waft of a clue. "Get Some Ready"? "What I Said Head"? "Abused to Fuck"? Good sentiment, but the eyes roll quicker than a hubcap skittering down Page Mill Road. Caustic Notions/I Get Blown Away/Trippy Coaster: Great punk energy but the melodic vocals turn me off right away. I say dash the sing-songy and stick with the grit. The focus on holding a key just doesn't suit a band with a name like Caustic Notions. Concerning Eye/Pockerly Show/Cameltoe: Amazingly resilient skate rock with lyrical depth (they're all great, but look at "Not Enough to Save" and "Hung Out to Dry" for stellar examples). The Les Pauls are fully treble-ized, the tempos teeter on the edge of panic, and vocalist Jeff Brummett places a chip on his shoulder, daring anyone to knock it off. Fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, Hüsker Dü and Fluf should peep this. CD of the week, hands down. Creamsickle/Demonstration/Little Lucky: Creamsickle isn't interested in entertaining anybody except those with short attention spans and a love of fog-swathed dark guitar. It's like Jefferson Airplane meeting Black Sabbath on XTC. Approach with caution. Dub Congress/Dub Congress/Large Scale: Dub Congress is out to stall Newt Gingrich and his babylonic posse with reggae vibes and socially conscious lyrics. Musically, Dub Congress echoes Steel Pulse with nice melodic flavor and nearly identical high-hat tricks ("Land of Dreams"). If Dub Congress could cut down their references to marijuana ("Good Neighbor," "Positive Trip") and the feeble chatting, I'd be sold. Monkey/¡Changito!/Deluxe: The Latin influence oozes from Monkey's CD debut. Tracks like "Quemara," "Calle de Amor" and "Cha-Cha Ska" soar with percussive flourishes and bending bass. !Changito! also boasts some of the best horn tracks in local ska. Highly recommended for fans of ska and Latin. The New Mosquitos/On Our Way Home/Off the Island: Like Bugs Bunny singing catchy rave-up pop, Ron Bauer and two Odd Numbers cohorts engage in nitro-burning pop in the vein of the Damned and the Undertones. Very infectious and addictive. Old Dead Bug/Monkeys by Nature/Vibe Tribe: If you're familiar with ODB, you've already got this and love it. If not, fans of the Grateful Dead, folk, congas, harmonicas and '70s rock (preferably all four) will find something to like here. Whatever ODB paid for production, they got their money's worth. Acey Is Fundamental The venerable rapper from Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone, performs at the West Valley College cafeteria on Saturday. He also performs with Rasco and Peanut Butter Wolf at Palookaville in Santa Cruz on Sunday and at Fuel on Monday. ... For those who missed Ozomatli's en fuego performance at Fuel two weeks ago, here's another chance. The 11-member groove collective fogs up Fuel's windows on May 2. Adios, Amigos After five years, my time here at Metro has reached its end. Much love to all the people who've turned to this page first instead of the Straight Dope (all 10 of you). I hate long goodbyes, so take care, rock on and stop shouting "Freebird" at bands. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]