Month: February 2014 (Page 5 of 5)

The PopCulteer
February 7 2014

CD Review:

Under Surveilance
“Between The Lines”

It’s always great to hear a new local CD by guys who are around my age, but still sound vital and vibrant. Under Surveillance is a band that has existed in different incarnations since the 1970s. Whether it was The Score, or the original version of Under Surveillance, the team of Philip Hatfield writing and playing guitar and Randy Brown drumming provided a strong musical core that brought a hard-edged New Wave sound to life.

In 1989, Brown and original Under Surveillance bassist, Chris “Flair” Canfield, teamed up with ex-Defector John “Sham Voodoo” Estep to form Clownhole, and this short-lived comedy/punk powerhouse was a mainstay of the radio version of Radio Free Charleston (and they’ve even shown up on the video version in archival footage).

After nearly twenty-five years apart, Hatfield and Brown have reunited, adding Phil “X” Crace, from The Score, on bass and John Mullins on vocals. The resulting album, “Between The Lines” is a pure delight, displaying a level of craft in the songwriting and playing that only comes with years of experience.

Musically “Between The Lines” is anchored in the New Wave era. Their sound is solidly in the power pop school of Moon Mullins, Cheap Trick and The Knack. I think the best description might be that they sound like a very hard-edged version of The Shoes. Mullins’ vocals are perfectly suited to the material.

The musicianship is crisp and punchy throughout. This is really a solid collection of great tunes. One of the best things about “Between The Lines” is that it doesn’t sound contemporary. This CD has more of a timeless quality. It’d be perfectly at home nestled in your collection between The Replacements and The Payolas. This is a CD devoid of rap, auto-tuning, dance remixes, samples or drum programming. It is wonderful in that regard.

Standout songs are “All I Want,” “Between The Lines,” and “Rachel,” but to be honest, all the songs are pretty terrific. “All I Want” dates back to 1978 and “Rachel” to 1985, but except for one other oldie, the material is all newly-composed by Philip Hatfield. The songs from 1978 are co-written with Roy Clark (no, not THAT Roy Clark) and “Rachel,” from 1985, was written by the original line-up of Under Surveillance, with new lyrics by Hatfield.

Under Surveillance is still preparing to play out, so if want a copy of this CD,you can find it at Budget Tapes and Records or Fret ‘N Fiddle. It’s also available from all sorts of online sources that you can learn about on the Under Surveillance Facebook page.

“Between The Lines” is more than a blast from the past. It’s a great collection of songs performed with vigor and a sense of fun.

Recommended if you like: Cheap Trick, Time and Distance, The Knack, Blue Million, The Nanker Phelge, The Replacements

The PopCult Bookshelf

Distorted Thoughts:
One Woman’s Struggle To Eliminate Negative Thinking
By Sheila Kerr
ISBN 9781492276418

I’m reviewing this book today because the author will appear tonight at the Third Eye Cabaret (The Cellar, 8 Capitol Street) and this is a great chance to meet Sheila Kerr, hear part of her story, and purchase your own signed copy of the book.

It’s always a bit awkward reviewing a work by someone you consider a friend because as a reviewer, I have to be honest and luckily, that is not a problem here. “Distorted Thoughts” is a unique creation. Part journal, part blog, part sketchbook, but at its soul, it is a heartfelt confessional. Some of the book is handwritten, most of it is typeset, but it works very well on a graphic level.

Sheila has a very casual and accessible writing style. You can imagine much of the writing in this book as blog entries or notes on Facebook. The language and situations are frank and, at times, intense. But the overall effect is one of a conversation. At the end of the book, you’ll feel as though you’ve sat down and met a new friend.

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Radio Free Charleston 195, “Powdered Toast Man Shirt,” is our first full-length show of 2014, and it’s fairly epic. We have music from Spencer Elliott, Cemeterry Schultz, Sign of The Fig, WATT 4 and Crystal Bright and The Silver Hands. There’s also two animated shorts by Jake Fertig, and a trailer for a screening of the classic movie, “Metropolis” at the Clay Center Electric Sky Theater.

Host segments were shot in front of The Clay Center, while our musical performances were recorded all over town, at Unity Church, Kanawha Players Theater, The Blue Parrot, The Empty Glass and also in an undisclosed Downtown Charleston alley.

Our titular shirt stars John K’s Powdered Toast Man, one of the supporting characters from his classic Ren and Stimpy cartoons. The shirt is actually a design called “Powdered Toast Crunch,” but the star is PTM, hence the name of this episode.

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…to the Alban Arts Center, starting on Valentine’s Day. We’ll have more details next week. Until then, watch this promo clip we produced.

Yoour first look at Figures Toy Company’s TV Batman line

FTC’s Batman repro

Your PopCulteer is swamped at the moment, but we do have some time to give you a quick update on Figures Toy Company and their exciting new program to reissue and extend the classic MEGO DC COMICs World’s Greatest Heroes action figure line.

Next week we will bring you reviews of the first four of these entries, which shipped just before Christmas.

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Our artistic blog-indulgence this week is an exercise in digital pointillism, which is like real pointillism, only it’s really easy to do. Some people may think that the particularly lame pun in the title is inapproapriate because it’s really circles instead of spheres.  Those people would be over-thinking it.   It’s an abstract design that…uh…illustrates man’s inhumanity to wombats…with freckles. or something like that. Click to see it bigger.

Look for Radio Free Charleston 195, featuring five diverse musical acts and brand-new animation later Monday Morning, right here in Popcult.

So it’s Groundhog Day and the little furry critter did whatever the heck it is that he does to predict six more weeks of winter.  I can never remember whether he’s supposed to see his shadow or not. In honor of this year’s prediction, PopCult brings you “Aisles of Doom,” an early short film by Alex Winter (with Tom Stern), who went on to co-write and direct and star in the Bill and Ted movies and the film, “Freaked.”

This week, the RFC flashback heads back almost five years to February, 2009 for an episode devoted to the Contemporary Youth Arts Company production of the Dan Kehde/Mark Scarpelli opera, “Lincoln.” This production of the show featured performances by Dan Khede, Tonya Dillon-Page, Jonathan Tucker, Maddy Gourevitch, Alicia Renae Lewis and a large and talented ensemble.

One of the reasons we’re revisiting this episode this week is to remind you that you can catch CYAC’s current production of “Lincoln” this weekend and next at the WVSU Capitol Center Theater, 123 Summers Street. You can find the details from this post earlier in the week.

This episode also contains some other Lincoln-centric entertainment as we bring you the musical montage, “Funky Lincoln” and a President’s Day rebuttal by George Washington, animated by RFC Big Shot Brian Young and voiced by our host, Rudy Panucci. An additional honor for our 16th president is that this episode is named “Pittsburgh Steelers Shirt,” after his favorite NFL team. Original production notes can be found here.