Big expectations

Jumbo gambol to the top of this month's tapes

by Brett Milano

Jumbo's demo tape is absolutely, positively, without question the best tape of a 40-piece band playing out-of-tune circus music that's ever come into Demo Derby. It's the sort of idea that deserves credit just for existing, but it's also a genuinely interesting tape, taking melodies that are lodged in the collective subconscious and giving them a slightly macabre twist. Think of the Residents' albums of perverted cover tunes; of the English mock-classical group Portsmouth Sinfonia; or of the strange dreams you had the first time you saw the circus and went to bed after eating too much cotton candy.

The architect of this insanity is Chris Hyde, who previously played drums in the self-proclaimed "bad lounge band" Rodentt. But even Jumbo's leader isn't sure exactly how many people are in the band. "I think there were 41 of us on stage the last time at the Middle East," he offers. "We were looking for something that would be fun to play, and it came down to a choice between circus music or polka. We have enough solid musical people who hold down the bottom, while everyone who isn't sure what they're doing floats around on top. It comes out sounding a little off-key, because some members aren't getting the parts right. It's like a twisted carnival, which was the idea."

They've managed to play about a half-dozen gigs so far; most recently they squeezed the band onto the downstairs stage at Jacques for Halloween. How do you get a band of this size together for rehearsals, or even get them to fit on stage? "Very carefully," Hyde notes. "Gigs and practices are optional; it's more a matter of whoever wants to show up. If you can wing it, you basically wing it." Hiding Waldo-style within Jumbo are members of some popular local bands, including Come's Thalia Zedek (on clarinet!) and Chris Brokaw, plus members of the Lune, Prickly, Mile Wide, and Turkish Delight. Hyde reckons that about half of Jumbo's members are rock musicians who had an uncool instrument hidden away in the closet. "There's a lot of high-school band rejects, and people who wanted to try playing a wind instrument for the hell of it."

If the titles on Jumbo's album-length, Fort Apache-recorded tape aren't immediately familiar - "Over the Waves," "Entry of the Gladiators," "Skater's Waltz," "Stars & Stripes Forever" - rest assured that the songs are somewhere in your synapses; and the band's delivery isn't entirely a goof. "Having fun is the main idea, but there is some respect for the composers. I know the leader of the South Shore Concert Band, which is a real circus band, and he recommended things for us to play. I went out and bought grade-school arrangements of everything, so we could handle the sheet music. We play virtually nothing but whole notes."

Now that everything from surf to cocktail music is having a resurgence in the name of alternative rock, circus music may be the last unexplored frontier.

Our next band, Lint, are a concept outfit composed mainly of Garment District employees, and the packaging of their three singles has been brilliant: all three are one-sided records. The first had "Lint Rocks America" stenciled on the back, the second had a random used-bin single glued to the flipside (I got a Willie Wonka sing-along). Now comes "Fifth Floor," which may be the best yet. The flip has a color-by-numbers design cut into the vinyl, and a pack of crayons packaged with the single. Meanwhile, the used-clothing-store-based band give themselves fake names and photos in the credits (guitarist Reed Precoda is identified by a goofy photo of Steve Forbert), and the label designs blatantly steal the logos of more-famous record labels.

Oh yeah, the song's good too. It's a lurching, bass-heavy rocker whose alternating male/female vocals tell a story from two very different perspectives. (She: "I remember a fucked-up time"/He: "I remember laughing sometimes.") Singer "Ginger Brandy" is actually one of the women who've guested with the band; my guess is it's Pinto's Mo Elliott.

At least one thing sets local ska bands apart from many of their rock-and-roll counterparts: ska bands rehearse, so even the lesser-known ones are likely to have tight rhythm sections, fancy horn lines, and perhaps a little choreography. The Skavengers (is that pronounced like "scavengers" or "avengers"?) have a tape that fits the mold well, with a hopped-up rhythm section, a roller-rink organ, and a horn section that's canny enough to quote the Get Smart theme on the opening "Good at Everything." Less predictable touches include a pure-reggae finale and a slightly somber approach to vocals (two singers, co-ed). No choreography, though.

The Sterlings used to be called the Goblins, and all three clips in their press kit make reference to how good-looking they are; there's no photo, so we can't vouch. But their brand of loud-guitar pop is certainly attractive in its jagged way, and all four tracks on their $12.08 Demos (does that include postage?) abound with that mix of depression and exuberance that seems to be a local trademark. (Chorus of catchiest song: "I think I'm on the brink of another self-destructive slump.") The upbeat side generally wins out, and whoever does the songwriting (probably guitarist/singer Pat Emswiler or bassist Pete Stone) sure can turn a hook. An additional 10 points for being the first band to use "ultra-cruel" in a pop song.

Bleed leader Nancy Fanara was the lead singer in the second version of Malachite and always got a bad deal in terms of recognition, probably because original singer Linnea Mills was a hard act to follow. It turns out she can play guitar as well. Her new outfit is a power trio with an impressively huge sound (producer Andrew Murdock, at New Alliance, proves you don't have to go to Q Division or Fort Apache to get a hot mix). She's a more traditional metallist than her old bandmates were, but that's no crime when you can write a song that crunches like "The Ride," or work a borrowed riff as well as "Godzilla" - sorry, I mean "Feel." But the real news is that Fanara sounds far more confident than she did in Malachite. On "Feel" she does a sultry Grace Slick turn that one doesn't often hear in a metal band.

(Submissions to Demo Derby should be sent to Brett Milano c/o the Phoenix. Demo Derby appears every six to eight weeks. Submissions should include contact numbers; calls to ask whether we've received your tape will be returned only if Brett's in a really good mood.)

AEROSMITH AT THE MIDDLE EAST. You've got to hand it to Aerosmith: suburban punters have been gathering at Mama Kin every night since it opened in hopes of catching a secret Aerosmith show, and last week the band went ahead and played one at their club's main competitor, the Middle East (they did hit Mama Kin the following night). The not-so-secret gig was a fan's dream show, since they threw out all the usual hits (save for "Last Child") and instead played 90 minutes of blues jams, surprise covers (Led Zep's "Immigrant Song"), and seldom-heard album tracks like "Bone to Bone," "Make It," and that eternal high-school anthem, "Sick As a Dog." A handful of new songs were introduced, the best being a ballad, "Is It Over," and a Joey Kramer song with the deathless title of "What Kinda Love Are You On." (The other new numbers tended to push the "I'm still crazy since I stopped doing drugs" lyric angle too heavily.) Best of all, Aerosmith proved how hot they still sound when they play as a five-piece band, without the keyboards, backing vocals, and tape effects they use in official shows. Any chance of their taking this approach on the next tour?

COMING UP. No lack of pop & smarts at the Paradise tonight, with Smackmelon, Flying Nuns, and Trona. Meanwhile, national treasure Dr. John hits the House of Blues, Yo La Tengo begin two nights at the Middle East, the Country Bumpkins do an album-release gig at the Rat, and Serum are at T.T. the Bear's Place . . . Bleed (see above) are at Club 3 Friday, Laurie Geltman plays the Tam, recent Battle of the Blues Bands winners the Movers are at Harpers Ferry, and Rippopotamus are at Mama Kin . . . Hate to see Squeeze billing their current tour as "greatest hits" when they've got solid new material like their import single "This Summer," but I'll take this underrated band any way we can get 'em. They're at Avalon on Saturday. Meanwhile, Powerman 5000 are at Mama Kin; Miles Dethmuffen, Curious Ritual, Architectural Metaphor are all at the Middle East. And anyone who remembers the Dogmatics already knows how much fun they were, so we'll see you at the Rat for the reunion . . . The sexual rebels at Paramour present a variety night with Number One Cup and Lars Vegas at T.T.'s on Sunday; Dan Zanes plays his new stuff (yes, he still does a couple of Del Fuegos songs) at the Middle East . . . One of Us appear with Wine & Strange Drugs (why do we hope that's not just a band name?) at Bill's Bar on Tuesday . . . And ex-Raindog Mark Cutler, who's just released a solid solo disc, hits Johnny D's on Wednesday.

RIP: Country Dick Montana, drummer and lunatic savant of San Diego's Beat Farmers. Awesome to the end, he died of an apparent heart attack during a show in Vancouver.