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Recipe for a new
music project: a promoter asks one, after one's band has finished up
a rockin' good set and kept the barfloor patrons happy for a few
hours, if one knows any groups that play more groove-oriented dance
music. Seizing the opportunity, one informs said promoter that one's
band does in fact moonlight as such an act. One successfully books a
show a few months in advance, then informs the group that it's time
to learn 4 hours worth of disco. SIDE PROJECT AHOY!!!! |
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Such is the concise,
personal pronounless version of the history of Afrodisiac, purveyors
of the hottest mirror-ball anthems from the time when the census
showed an influx of Gibbs, "Off the Wall" only referred to Michael
Jackson's album title, and we had a president with a lower I.Q. than
Captain Dubya. However, impersonators of Village Personnel is only
one listing on the resume of these court jesters from the party
animal kingdom. Afrodisiac is only the latest effort from the
above-average white band who also regresses into Reaganomics
(alliteration is awesome!) as the 80s cover group McFly and progs
out as the mind-bending Cobweb Strange. The jive turkeys from these
groups (in retro-chronological order, present to 70s incarnations)
are: Wade/Ricky
Zero/Ricky Runningtab: bass & vocals
Holly/Nikki & Officer Lixx: guitar
Brent/Seaman Love: vocals
Brandi/Bambi Lynn/Red: keyboards & vocals
Soumen/Showman/Showdaddy Love: drums
The collaborative history of these musicians stretches back nearly a
decade and through a network of local groups. Cobweb Strange formed
in 1995; Wade is the sole original member left in the group. As
projects with such intriguing names as "Love Like Heaven" and "The
Amazing Idiots" came and went, Cobweb Strange remained the surviving
constant. The current members came together in the band Electric
Poem (and suddenly AC/DC sounds like a rhyme scheme), which
ultimately collapsed thanks to a lead singer with delusions of split
end repair (he quit to become a hairdresser), making Cobweb a
full-time commitment. Meanwhile, Brent and Wade decide their
acoustic disco covers duo (this sounds too cool NOT to hear) would
work better with a full band; enter Cobweb and the rest is... well,
more than just history.
McFly is ultimately celebration of a very recent but
nearly-impossible-to-recall history: the time before music threw a
temper tantrum and was just plain happy. Remember the 80s? When
white boy rappers came in 3s (and were talented), Michael Jackson
was beginning to lighten up in all the wrong ways, and artists'
names got smaller (Bono, Prince, etc.) as hair got larger. McFly
brings all the bombast and cornball joy of the Reagan era right into
your face (thank God for cordless mics and guitar paks). On bass,
Ricky Zero looks every bit the open act for Devo. Bambi Lynn takes
you back with some of the most memorable hooks ever pulled from a
keyboard (Van Halen's "Jump"? "Funky Town"?), as well as covering
all the bases on some of rock's best female vocalists, from Pat
Benatar to Joan Jett to Madonna (in about the shortest skirt I've
ever seen, too-whoaaaa. Equally able with the mic is Brent,
channeling everyone from the hair metal gods Dee Snider and Kevin
Dubrow to the aforementioned Gloved One, as well as doing more
justice to Brian Johnson than anyone I've ever heard. How many other
drummers are diverse enough to go from bashing out Living Colour's
"Cult of Personality" to the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun"?
Soumen (pronounced "Showman") is in a class all his own. And you
will consider polytheism when you hear Nikki Lixx praise the
pantheon of guitar gods the 80s produced: Eddie Van Halen, Angus,
Vernon Reid, Slash... while straddling Brent's head. There's
just something about 80s metal that gets a guy between a girl's
legs...
I was fortunate enough to catch both McFly and Afrodisiac in one
evening (pause for a quick costume change). Afrodisiac gives the
group the chance to get their groove on (as well as the give the
girls a chance to wear more clothing than Wade for once). Their
expert renditions of everything from "Y.M.C.A." to "Jungle Boogie",
as well as a few more recent ass-shakers ("The Thong Song", anyone?)
will get everyone up, even those lonely white guys sitting in the
corner who find rock just... awkward to dance to. Hey, I had
to get up; when they went into "In the Navy", somehow I knew they
wanted me all wet.
Where McFly and Afrodisiac give the band a chance to have some major
fun, Cobweb Strange is more of a showcase for the bands' technical
and artistic abilities. Listening to Cobweb immediately brings to
mind thoughts of such groups as Rush (with all their technical
mastery), Pink Floyd (psycho-delic), and King Crimson. Lyrics that
would make a coffee house poet eat his beret backwards combined with
complex, intricate arrangements will bend any listener's mind like a
scoliostic pretzel. Cobweb Strange will delight any fan of
progressive music.
Being that they devote so much time to music, it's no surprise that
any incarnation of the band is booked constantly. Check the
schedules for each individual act on their respective websites:
www.mcflyband.com
www.afrodisiacband.com
www.cobwebstrange.com
While you're online, browse around the sites a little. They're
packed with the kind of humor that makes you actually bother to look
at the bio page of a Playboy centerfold.
Catch Cobweb Strange as the headliner of the huge
Rogue Music
Festival with fellow Atlanta prog group
Karma Lingo
July 27 at the New American Shakespeare Tavern. It's an all-day
event full of great progressive rock; about time this stuff showed
itself in a big way around town.
See even just two of the three incarnations of this crazy bunch and
you can't help but imagine what their CD collections must look like.
Or their wardrobes, for that matter.
So what's next for Wade and the Gang? Perhaps the post-modern,
alt-country acid polka fusion group Cob McDisiac? Only time (and a
quick gig opportunity) will tell...
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