Everybody’s Girl
SAT 7/24 Don’t call Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jen Foster a lesbian folk artist. She is one, mind you; just don’t call her one. “It’s a label that stereotypes and doesn’t do justice to the depth of a person,” she says. “I would prefer if I wasn’t thought of that way. It’s a part of who I…
Chris Isaak
Don’t hate him because he’s beautiful. Most know Chris Isaak as the lucky schmuck who got to roll around the surf with that hot model in the “Wicked Game” video. But it’s just that ability to be chiseled-handsome and knowingly schmucky that has made Isaak the perfect post-emo crooner. There are no martinis to blame,…
Meow Mixed
Without risking much critical credibility, one can say that Catwoman succeeds on its own feline terms. Much like a cat, the movie is a superfluous gob of fluff, with an attitude ranging from idiotic to nasty. It’s a sleek and self-absorbed animal, adoring itself so ardently that those of feebler psyche may also deem it…
Eighteen Visions
Time was, rock and punk were directly at odds, embroiled in denominational squabbles over such ontological issues as fashion, solos, and whether or not colored hair warranted props or an ass-beating. But things change. In 2004, So-Cal quintet Eighteen Visions are the preeminent fashion plates of new-school melodic hardcore, decked out in ties and sport…
Small Victory
During the Vietnam War, citizens back home were regaled with accounts of fabulous “kill ratios” on the evening news (“Yesterday, 43 Americans were killed — but 368 North Vietnamese soldiers lost their lives”). This data, meticulously gathered and disseminated daily by the Pentagon, was apparently intended to generate a football cheerleading mentality in the population:…
Rod Stewart
Today, it’s hard to believe that Rod Stewart was once the epitome of rock-and-roll cool and street-level cred. But some 30 years ago, his first two solo albums as well as his discs with the Jeff Beck Group and the Faces showcased a rootsy soul rebel and swaggering rock rooster, whose gravelly pipes and devil-may-care…
Not So Tame
You don’t need a closet full of ball gags, whips, and nipple clips to know that there’s an aspect of dominance and submission to most relationships. Historically, the male declares himself leader, with the female following obediently. But there is no more famous exception to that patriarchal rule than the spitfire Katherine in Shakespeare’s The…
D.R.I.
Though the lineup has changed numerous times since the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles — named for an epithet hurled by one of the members’ fathers during an early rehearsal — formed in Houston more than two decades ago, the band’s creative core, composed of vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, has remained intact. The Imbeciles’…
On Stage
Oliver Twisted — It has been claimed that there’s a gene in some people’s DNA spiral that compels them to seek out risky, potentially harmful activities, such as rock-climbing, deep-sea diving, and parking at expired meters in Cleveland Heights. True to their risk-adoring genes, the seven-member group titled Oliver Twisted (made up of former members…
Kittie
When Kittie recently hosted an all-female edition of MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball, the metal grrrls were hard-pressed to produce many videos with claws: After Otep and Arch Enemy, the falloff was pronounced and protracted, offering landmark acts whose work with the axe, ultimately, wasn’t exactly lethal: Vixen, Lita Ford, Girlschool. Lately, the Canadian wendigos have felt…
Slow and Low
The best thing about Logan Ao’s bicycle is that it is really, really loud. It has 10 stereo speakers and two car batteries inside a wooden box. The box is covered in plushy red satin, mirrors, and red neon lights, and bolted beneath the bike’s red satin banana seat. For extra oomph, Ao added a…
On View
Capturing Cleveland: Pages From a City Sketchbook — The 200-plus works in various media by 21 Cleveland Institute of Art students all portray Cleveland scenery. Although their subjects are easily recognizable, providing opportunities to reminisce, most of the works are mere surface studies, lacking tangible mood and depth. Among the exceptions are Sarah Laing’s digital…
The Hives
If brevity is the soul of wit, then the Hives are bursting with guffaws. Though the band’s third disc clocks in at a speedy 30 minutes, the wing-tip-sporting Swedes pack enough herky-jerky bravado and manic energy to make a past hit like “Hate to Say I Told You So” sound like a funeral dirge. As…
Something About Boozer
“Carlos is the kind of guy you would want as your friend, as your brother, as someone really, really close to you, because he can share in your successes and failures at the same level that you do.” That’s what Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told Scene last fall. It’s the way everyone talked about Carlos…
The Meat Goes On
Forget about taking your vegan friend to Hoggy’s: The name’s carnivorous connotations alone will put her off her wheat grass and granola for at least a week. On the other hand, you may have to beat off the meat-eaters with a stick when you mention that you’re on your way to this southern-style barbecue palace…
Too $hort
Guess who has more gold and platinum records than any MC in the history of rap? Todd “Too $hort” Shaw, that’s who. It takes a lot more than just repeated usage of the b-word to achieve that kind of success, especially considering how much the rap game has changed since $hort’s freaky tales and dirty…
Hello, Antwerp!
Dana Embrose’s patience is much shorter than his lanky six-foot frame. His knees poke out of his frayed jeans like knots of cordwood; he hasn’t seen a bathtub in days. His eyelids are as heavy as his guitar playing, and in the fading dusk, he looks as if he’s spent a fortnight in a foxhole.…
Cool Eats
Finally, it’s summer on the North Coast, and overheated diners are hankering for all things cool and refreshing. Luckily, local chefs have once again risen to the challenge with seasonal menus full of light — and lighthearted — dishes. Consider, for instance, some of the whimsical offerings coming out of Executive Chef Marlin Kaplan’s kitchen…
Old 97s
Whenever Rhett Miller hands over the Old 97s to another band member, they become dull and lifeless. On their sixth album, Drag It Up, guitarist Ken Bethea and bassist Murry Hammond take the lead on a few songs, and their flat, charm-free readings promptly halt any momentum gained up to that point. And whenever Miller…
He’s So Special
National City Bank wants its customers to feel special. So says its impossible-to-get-out-of-your-head jingle: “I’m special, so special!” But the bank has a curious way of extending its love to Keith Kimmel: It’s threatening to sue him. Kimmel is no ordinary customer. He’s the creator of FuckNationalCity.com, a cyber-clearinghouse for complaints about the bank. The…
Irresistible Bastards
The cries of “Sellout!” that plague punk rock are as old and tired as Sex Pistols reunions. If a band ships platinum, finds success on the radio, or in some cases even leaves its garage, sniping about its lack of authenticity is sure to follow. Ten years into the annual Vans Warped Tour, sell-out allegations…
k.d. lang
K.d. lang’s first album for the Warner Bros. boutique label Nonesuch is high-concept, indeed. It celebrates songwriters from north of the border, lang’s soul- and countrymates. While it’s often lovely and it sounds like money, it’s also a bit precious. Hymns treads the line between the sensual and the somnolent, the seductive and the soporific.…
Bragging Wrongs
Bragging Wrongs Dump the uninformed moron: Each year Scene surprises me more and more with its finalists for best DJ in the Cleveland Music Awards [see this issue]. I would really like to know how you choose these. If it’s anything like I think it is — some uninformed moron randomly selecting his favorites –…
White Noise
Until February 20 of last year, Jack Russell was best known for one song — a cover of Mott the Hoople’s “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” performed with a big-haired bravado that made his band, Great White, a momentary star of the ’80s hard-rock firmament. What a difference a year makes. Russell may now be the…
Jaded Era
Kira Leyden, Jaded Era’s hot singer, evokes No Doubt comparisons, as does the band’s 1996 birthdate. But its solid alterna-pop actually harks back to a tradition older than alt-rock: Every other ’80s movie featured a band like this in a bar scene. Producer Tim Patalan, the arrangement whiz who shaped Sponge’s big singles, chops the…
Ooh! Ahh!
Don Hughes has been producing Chinese acrobatic shows for more than three decades, but he still wrings a handkerchief when his performers do handstands on top of a 26-foot “pagoda of chairs.” “My palms still sweat,” admits Hughes, co-creator of Stars of the Peking Acrobats, a 14-member circus troupe that springs into town on Sunday.…
Outlaw vs. Outlaw
One of country music’s finest outlaw anthems is David Allan Coe’s “Willie, Waylon & Me.” Of course, one man might take exception to the tune: the archetypal country cuss whose name goes unspoken in Coe’s song. That’d be Merle Haggard. Having scored 38 No. 1 country hits, Haggard helped create the market for rough-and-tumble honky-tonk…
The Volta Sound
The Volta Sound gets around like the women they sing about. The band has released an album or EP every year since 2000 and still has enough leftover songs to put together Cuts, a superb rarities collection that rivals any of its previous releases. Cuts’ pressing is small (only 100 copies), but its sound is…
This Week’s Day-By-Day Picks
Thursday, July 22 Like the Clash, Pressure Cooker is made up of white guys who respect reggae’s nuances and spiritual quest, and approach it with both respect and reverence. The Boston-based group occasionally slips into SoCal ska-punk territory, speeding up riddims and tripping over some of the finer points. But when it sticks to island…
Thuggish, Ruggish, and Reunited
On-again, off-again Cleveland hip-hop icons Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are back together. An August 6 show at the Agora is intended to be the launch of a 20-date national tour. All four members of the group’s most recent lineup, including the very publicly dismissed Bizzy Bone, are on board for the reunion. “It took a lot of…
Busy for a Dead Guy
James Brown may have rightfully claimed the title of the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business 40-some years ago, but nobody’s schedule in the 21st century comes close to Warren Haynes’s. The 44-year-old singer and guitarist, ranked one of the top 25 greatest axemen of all time by Rolling Stone, is spending the summer on the…
2004 Cleveland Music Awards
The Scene Music Awards are history. Sure, we’re still throwing our annual bash with the best bands in Cleveland this Thursday, and you’re all invited, but this year it’s a little different. The Scene Music Awards are now the Cleveland Music Awards, because it’s all about the city and the artists who make our music…
Party Girl
7/23-7/25 As a black belt and ex-karate instructor, DJ Kimberly S. kicks some major ass at West Hollywood’s trendy gay nightclubs. She’s bringing her roundhouse kicks to the turntables Saturday night for the Erie Party at Bounce, one of five blowouts happening this weekend at the AIDS Taskforce-sponsored Dancin’: The Last Dance. (Other parties take…
Savoy Brown
If John Mayall is the godfather of British blues, Savoy Brown’s founder and lead guitarist Kim Simmonds surely qualifies as a bona-fide capo. Like Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Savoy Brown has survived over the decades with a succession of lineups; Simmonds, like Mayall, was the one constant in his band’s history. And, as a parade of rising…
Happy Birthday, Jake
7/23-7/25 It’s been 10 years since the Tribe played its first game at the Jake. And shortstop Omar Vizquel, the only player still on the roster a decade later, says that initial season still means a lot to him. “I look in the clubhouse and remember where Kenny [Lofton], Jimmy [Thome], [and Bartolo] Colon used…
Ghostly International Art & Artifice Tour 2004
Most label bosses who are deemed “eclectic” are mere dilettantes, throwing whatever they hope will be popular against the wall and praying that something sticks. By contrast, Ghostly International’s eclecticism springs from a keen knowledge of the upper-echelon artists among many styles. Run by Sam Valenti IV, the Ann Arbor, Michigan company has swiftly risen…
No Rhyme or Reason
SUN 7/25 Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins doesn’t understand where the rap-metal comparisons come from. “There’s more rap on a Norah Jones album,” he sniffs. “It’s just lazy and easy to lump us in with that.” The Welsh sextet’s second album, Start Something (which includes the massive radio hit “Last Train Home”) is a raging mix…
Broadzilla
Broadzilla’s motto includes the phrase, “Jam out with your clam out.” On one of their signature tunes, “Burn Baby Burn,” they feature the brassy adage, “I wouldn’t piss down your throat if your lungs were on fire.” Obviously, the all-female lineup is not here to be treated like eye candy; as their name implies, these…
