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  • From: "nathan" <nathan AT duckonbike.com>
  • To: ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: regional press: "The New North Carolina Indie Rock Scene"
  • Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 10:19:08 -0400

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=9594

06_01_05 philly weekly:


Top 5 Of The Moment
by Doug Wallen

The New Yorker's Cartoon Caption Contest
Remember that Seinfeld episode about how people who like the cartoons in The
New Yorker can't pinpoint exactly why they're funny? Well, I never thought
they were funny, period. But since becoming a subscriber, I've grudgingly
allowed myself a light chuckle upon viewing one or two. And now there's the
magazine's back-page contest, in which readers create their own captions for
a cartoon and then vote among three finalists. It's like American Idol for
bookworms, and nonsubscribers can join in online. The first one featured a
scene of a man in a rat suit taking notes on caged rats in a lab as his
colleague looks on. That contest's winner was New York City resident Roy
Futterman, who came up with: "More important, however, is what I learned
about myself." Okay, so it's still awfully dry, but it nearly brought me to
tears. Subsequent installments have depicted an injured man crawling up to
workers at an emergency hotline, a businessman rushing into his office with
a surfboard, and two Godzilla-ish monsters chatting as they devour a city.
All are ripe with potential, though for the life of me, I can never think of
a single caption worth submitting.

The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases,
Edited by Jeff Vandermeer and Mark Roberts (Bantam)
Nobody knows the foibles of the medical profession better than Thackery T.
Lambshead, a 104-year-old Englishman who traveled through cities and jungles
alike to document outlandish ailments. Thing is, there is no Thackery T.
Lambshead. Nor are you likely to catch inverted drowning syndrome or
experience fungal disenchantment. But every coffee table needs a shot of
satire as precise as this one, dreamt up by a clever crop of sci-fi writers
including Sandman maestro Neil Gaiman. Fans of phrenology and other ancient
quackery will delight in Onion-tinged essays on conditions like poetic
lassitude, the victims of which "become preoccupied and introspective ...
staring at tiny flowers," and third eye infection, involving a nasty tick
and potent hallucinations. (Rest assured: All the illustrations are
hilarious.) Best of all is "The Obscure Medical History of the Twentieth
Century," which accuses Kafka of drinking ink, attributes Lon Chaney's
chameleonic film career to skeletal protrusions, and dispels rumors of Jim
Morrison's "inoperable penis cancer." The book doesn't pull any
punches-Hitler, AIDS and terrorism are included-but like the rest of this
tickling tome, it's just absurd enough to work.

Medieval Madness Pinball Machine
"Defeat the king and all his men and stop the madness and restore order to
this great land." That's your mission when you play the best pinball machine
in the city, humbly located at Village Pizza (3233 Powelton Ave.
215.222.1397), just off Drexel's campus. The king in question is the King of
Payne (sounds like a pro wrestler, huh?). But to get to him, you have to
destroy the castles of the Earl of Ego, Sir Psycho and the Duke of Bourbon.
And the silliness doesn't stop there. One villain taunts, "I'm going to get
medieval on your derriere." Medieval Madness has all the fantasy cliches
down pat, from catapults and jousts to damsels and Merlin, plus trolls that
crave "human burgers" and laugh like Pee-wee Herman. It's sure to bring out
the inner Dungeons & Dragons fan in you, whether you like it or not.

The New North Carolina Indie Rock Scene
It's been more than a decade since the North Carolina triangle of Raleigh,
Durham and Chapel Hill yielded the nationally known scene that included
Superchunk, Polvo and Archers of Loaf, and spawned Merge Records. Lately,
though, I've sensed a second coming. Exhibit A) the Raleigh band Schooner,
whose You Forget About Your Heart (Pox World Empire) hit me like a ton of
bricks and was voted one of 2004's unknown pleasures by GQ. Just eight songs
long, it's steeped in the same stumbling, organ-drenched fuzz-pop of the
Walkmen and the Rock*A*Teens. Exhibit B) the Durham band the Sames, whose
You Are the Sames (also on Pox World Empire) is a total relic of heady '90s
indie rock in the vein of Silver Scooter. Each song is crowded with giant
hooks, bristling feedback and slacker choruses. Exhibit C) the Raleigh band
Ticonderoga, whose self-titled album (54?40' or Fight!) weds twangy
turbulence with breathy pop in the manner of ex-Gastr del Sol whiz David
Grubbs. Clarinet, accordion and contrabass make it all the more moody. These
three, along with recent releases by the Comas and the Rosebuds, are enough
to fuel hopes of the triangle's resurgence. Like all scenes, it may be
largely imagined, but it's hard to ignore this many bands that are this good
when they're coming from the same little corner of the world.

Adult Swim Happy Hour at Dive Bar
I still can't forgive a name as self-conscious as Dive Bar (947 E. Passyunk
Ave. 215.465.5505), especially when applied to the homey South Philly hole
that was Low Bar. But this concept nearly makes up for it: a happy hour
coinciding with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. Sundays at 11 p.m. you
can bury yourself in discounted drinks at an already cheap bar as three
hours of animated mayhem ensue. Mainstays like Home Movies, Sealab 2021 and
Aqua Teen Hunger Force may be on break for now, but Family Guy and its very
similar spawn American Dad fill the first hour. Then comes the Seth
Green-produced stop-animation Robot Chicken, which notably featured
Transformers' Optimus Prime in a fatal bout with prostate cancer. Next up is
Tom Goes to the Mayor, the wacky work of a pair of Philly expats. By the
time the anime double-header of Samurai Champloo and Fullmetal Alchemist
rolls around, you'll be good and drunk. And just in time, since the Johnny
Quest-damaged Venture Bros. often requires a chaser.





  • regional press: "The New North Carolina Indie Rock Scene", nathan, 06/17/2005

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