THE MOONEY SUZUKI,
THE RONDELLES,
GOSPEL SWINGERS,
Club Clearview, Dallas, August 10, 2000
This is to put y'all on notice that the Mooney Suzuki are now operating at a WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL than they were when I saw 'em in Austin during SXSW a brief four months ago - and I dug 'em then. Tonight at Club Clearview, I saw an explosion of energy and showmanship that blows away anything else I've seen on the boards in the last year -- so sorry Gluecifer, Forty Fives, Nomads...
Maybe it was the salutary effect of a month on the road (only a couple of shows left before the boys head on back to Noo Yawk City), or perhaps (as leader Sammy James, Jr., says), it's just because they drank a lot tonight before the show (the Clearview staff inexplicably made them wait 10 minutes after they were ready to take the stage). If you missed my previous rants on these guys, the basic premise is this: imagine four young guys, steeped in R&B, who look like the Music Machine and sound like the Who, the MC5, and James Brown on amphetamines, steroids, and human growth hormone, all going crazy onstage at the same time. If you can get your mind around that, you've got the basic idea.
Pre-show, hanging out in T-shirts and sneakers, these Mooneys might appear indistinguishable from ordinary mortals to the untrained eye. But suited up for the stage (dressed all in black with white guitars), they reveal themselves to be the human dynamos they are. Offstage, Sam might be a quiet (if sardonically humorous) young man. Onstage, he's a demon in wraparound shades, climbing on anything available -- Will Rockwell's bass drum, the stage rafters, a fan's shoulders -- windmilling his arm a la Townshend while crashing out chords from his Univox guitar (made in Westbury, Long Island), shooting the most outrageous lineshooting jive since Peter Wolf left the J. Geils Band (albeit at half the speed). To his left, Graham Tyler remains in furious motion for the duration, performing MC5-esque backbends and seemingly playing half of his lines from behind his head.
A high point of the set comes when Tyler, Sam (who's playing some lead now as part of the set, most notably on the second break of Mose Allison-via-the Yardbirds' piledriver "I'm Not Talking") and Brady Bunch-lookalike Cory Shane from the supporting Rondelles cut loose with a five-minute orgy of guitar mayhem, Tyler climbing atop a table to wail like a young, white, superadrenalized Albert Collins or something.
A noticeable change from the previous Mooney show I witnessed is drummer Rockwell's expanded onstage role. Besides serving as the band's resident Viv Prince/Keith Moon presence, Will now performs yeoman service on background vocals, almost serving as a second lead singer when Sam is darting around the stage working the crowd. They also have a new bassplayer (whose name I unfortunately missed) replacing the departed John Paul Ribas.
From the opening instrumental rave-up "And Begin," the material goes from strength to strength: "I Say I Love You," "My Dear Persephone," "Half of My Heart," "Singin' a Song About Today" from the new Estrus album "People Get Ready" (released September 5), "Turn My Blue Sky Black" from the band's privately released demos. The Mooney Suzuki are ready. Is America? (Or Australia?)
The Rondelles, expat natives of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who now claim Washington, D.C., as home, are a fun "New Wave"/pop combo with a stand-up drummer who plays a three piece kit and a little Casio keyboard (literally) on the side. The focus of attention is definitely on the two women in the band, two-string guitarist and singer Juliet and (my fave) bassist/vocalist Yvonne (I'll admit to having a bias in favor of young Asian women, especially those who RAWWWK). Everyone involved has fun and after a few toons, as they start to find their minimalist groove, so does the audience. It's a far cry from the Mooneys, though -- I can't remember the last time I saw a band take the stage, play a song, and THEN tune up -- but it's all in the name of kicks and fast times, which is all right by me.
Unfortunately, a traffic jam in Irving (home of the Dallas Cowboys) prevented us from catching the garage glory of Fort Worth's Gospel Swingers, fronted by Quincy Holloway, also known as the drummer from Denton reggae band Sub Oslo. Maybe next time.
- Ken Shimamoto
MOONEY SUZUKI:
THE RONDELLES:
