BRAIN: Beach Party

[Scruton, Jason]

>While there's good stuff here, I prefer the old tBS, circa *Trepanation*
>and *Box of Hammers*.  I realize that times change, and Pete and Billy
>(RIP) are no longer with the band.  The remaining original 3 members
>(hey, we've got "3OC", should we call you guys "3BS"?)

Hmmm, I think that would require having a former member of Richie
Blackmore's Rainbow in the band.
(On the wattlist, a discussion of Richie's fans came up at a gig of his
with his new medieval music -- the 'hardcore' were all dressed in
garb typically at a Renaissance Fair. hehee! Makes you long for
Smoke on the Water, doesn't it?)

>"Siege..." alone is worth the price of this disc -
>"tR&tB" - amazing how much mileage this song has gotten -
Amen, Brother about "Siege..." The first time I heard it live was one of the
heaviest moments in my concert-going life, until the hijinks the next night
at Seneca Falls.

"The Red and the Black" is still in the Mike Watt and the Secondmen's
set-list, but with a Hammond organ instead of a guitar.
hootpage.com has their itinerary.

>sure this was needed.  "Date With a Guitar", unfortunately, to my ears,
>doesn't work - again, maybe I just long for the crunchy guitars of the
>original.
What stuck out most about this song is how that evil lil' prog rock
'stumble'
before the chorus on BoH was changed round completely.

Is there such a thing as a "wall of guitar" sound?

> Stealin' Thing has some cool percussion frothing underneath the strong
> vocals and lead guitar.
>Got to listen to this one some more.  I don't have any particular
>impressions of it (yet).

The piano figure reminds me of the piano after the bass solo/"b'boom boom
chica"
section in the Stones' "Stray Cat Blues."

> beach party indeed!

I wonder if we could cajole tBS into starting their sets with the theme-song
to Beach Blanket Bingo, or maybe a Beach Boys song...
(Has their ever been a punk-ish version of "Good Vibrations?")

(what the hell is in my coffee today?)
Jason