Was (Not Was) preview

Was (Not Was)
Abbey Pub, Chicago
Saturday, May 10, 2008

Why can’t more records kick off with a song about skinhead psychos, dismembered mothers, patriotic threesomes, and Scientology jokes?

On “Semi-Interesting Week,” the first song on the new Was (Not Was) album, Boo! (Rykodisc), the group describe three highly interesting events that defined their week, including a UFO’s landing at a taco stand where they’re eating. “I thought it might be the second coming/or maybe just some special effects,” go the lyrics, “when in walked Father Hubbard/with his boy Tom Cruise/reeking of some science fiction sex.” Later, during “Forget Everything,” you’ll hear this verse: “High in fiber/low in fat/come at your mama with a baseball hat.”

Good to see the funksters haven’t lost their senses of humor in the 18 years since we’ve heard from them — greatest hits set Hello Dad . . . I’m In Jail excluded. Was (Not Was) leaders David and Don Was, along with lead vocalists Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Henry Bowen, pulled out a few tricks for Boo!, including the blues jam “Mr. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” a song David and Don wrote nearly 20 years ago with Bob Dylan, and a cameo by Kris Kristofferson. The singer-songwriter would be out of place on any other of the album’s 10 tracks, but the group tone down the funk for him on the trippy, lounge-ish “Green Pills In The Dresser.” It’s a strange collaboration. But what should we expect from the guys who once worked with Ozzy Osbourne and Kim Basinger . . . on the same song?

Todd Snider opens.

– Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly