October 30, 1996

heray I
“A

Over The Edge

soundcheck

by lauren bacon

‘Pluto
Pluto
Virgin Music

Notable especially for its
bee-yoo-tee-ful cover art,
this CD is loads of fun.
Pluto is a Vancouver band,
a2 guitars, bass and drums
setup; and according to
their press release, they
“liked it back when it was
still a cool thing to be a
rock star.” The vocals are
split between Ian Jones and
John Ounpuu, each of
whom has his own
distinctive sound.

First and foremost, this is
pop music; the guitar riffs
are catchy as well as loud,
and the lyrics are pretty
darn witty. It’s the sort of
thing which would be good
on a road trip.
“Regenerate”, the opening
track, and “Black Lipstick”
are currently tied for my
favourite song from this
album. “Blaupunk” has an
excellent recurring surf-
punk riff—I don’t think I’m
mistaken in detecting some
Pixies influence in the
guitar work.

Canadian Content Judge:
kk

Catchy Pop Song Judge:
* **1/2

Cover Art Judge: ****

Speech
Speech
Virgin Music

Arrested Development’s
founder has made a move
towards greater
independence on this
exceptional solo debut.
Speech performs the vocals
and keyboards throughout,
alongside stellar musicians
like Pappa Jon, Foley and
Stoney Brooks. Fans of

Arrested Development’s
laid-back groove will find
lots to love about this
album, which runs the
gamut from hip-hop to
R&B, with all sorts of other
traditions thrown into the
mix.

The track Speech adapted
for the Marvin Gaye tribute
album, Inner City Blues,
“Like Marvin Gaye Said,
(What’s Going On),” is
here, and there are echoes of
Gaye’s influence elsewhere,
especially on the slow and

sultry “If U Was Me”.
despite the many
influences noticeable on
the album, though, this is
innovative and Real music,
continually twisting sounds
and ideas into creative
songs about complex
people and issues. “Ask
Somebody Who Ain’t (if U
Think The System’s
Workin’...)” is a perfect
example of the type of
subtle politics Speech is
able to infuse into tracks
that are also musically

multilayered.

Speech explores themes of
love, poverty, sex,
fatherhood (“Insomnia
Sont” commemorates the
birth of Speech’s son), and
childhood (“Poor Little
Music Boy”), with insight
and self-awareness. His
lyrics are mind-expanding
and beautiful, as always.
Speech is a visionary, and
the traditions he draws on
for this album are expanded
and infused with new
meaning.

All the judges concur:

* deve

knock-down-ginger
Take Out ‘
Zulu Records

Knock-down-ginger is a
Vancouver band whose
members play in various
other bands as well.
They’re all good players,
but I found that the
combination never gels into
a solid, identifiable sound.
This is their second album,

_ and the songs are fairly
good, in a Juliana Hatfield
vein, but they lack
originality.

Take Out, I hate to say,
sounds like just about half —
of the stuff coming out of
Vancouver right now.
Breathy (a.k.a. “ethereal”)
female vocals, sorta grungy
guitar playing, and good-
enough songwriting do not
an album make. This band
is in musical limbo.

Technical Prowess Judge:
eEeL/2

Canadian Content Judge:
*#*

Catchy Pop Song Judge:
ke