File: September 2010
Throw It to Lucas
Leafing through the photo album with even the most casual interest suggests Local H frontman Scott Lucas was once scowling when someone hit him on the back, thus sentencing him to a life term with a frown on his puss. Though his hardened demeanor – great for this fall’s prison fashions – shows no sign of crumbling, his inner smile has become irrepressible. On October 19th, he’ll release music from two of his guises – Local H and Scott Lucas & The Married Men – one of which he even describes as “fun” in the press release. The H’s Awesome Mix Tape #1 features seven covers that have become staples of the band’s live sets, like Pink Floyd’s “Time,” The Jesus Lizard’s “Puss,” and TV On The Radio’s “Wolf Like Me.” His Married Men side-project also has an EP on offer, The Absolute Beginners, which is named for the David Bowie song and bears two reworkings of tracks from the SLMM debut, George Lassos The Moon, and a tinkering with Local H’s “Hey Rita.”
Sailing, Take Me Away…
Taking the famed Brooklyn Pool Parties and putting it on steroids, indie rockers are following their classic-rock forefathers onto the high seas. While voyages featuring Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sammy Hagar, and Lyle Lovett have been popular for years, the maiden Bruise Cruise sets sail February 25th through 28th next year. Venturing from Miami to Nassau, the band list includes such blogosphere-approved darlings as The Black Lips, Vivian Girls, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, Turbo Fruits, and more. Prices start at $615 (not including transport to Miami), which also packages an island party, various open bars, and a breakfast pancakes show with Miss Pussycat. You can also gamble to win your money back, but not your soul.
Storm Recovery
Widespread flooding, protests in New York and Arizona, record heat, Blago’s limp non-verdict, endless recession . . . for lacking a truly defining catastrophe, this has been an unbelievably irritating summer. If you pick up this issue in time, The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana hosts the Voices Of Rock Radio show on the 4th, with an ear toward easing the burden on Illinois communities who suffered the brunt of a tornado onslaught. Journey/The Storm vocalist and downstater Kevin Chalfant fronts the VRR, with Survivor’s Jimi Jamison, Ted Nugent frontman Derek St. Holmes (not Spinal Tap’s David St. Hubbins), The Romantics’ Wally Palmar, and Eddie And The Cruisers alum John Cafferty, whose turn for “On The Dark Side” we think directly inspired Arcade Fire’s “Keep The Car Running.”
Ice, Ice Baby
Pardon the understatement, but music in video games – specifically sports games – has come a long way since the seven-second “Here Come The ‘Hawks” snippet in “NHL ’94.” 2K Sports’ “NHL 2K11” bows this summer, and when we found out Vancouver Canucks centerman Ryan Kesler chose some songs, we had to find out which. Among a set that includes Alice In Chains, Wolfmother, and Chicago-based Rise Against‘s “Long Forgotten Sons,” Kesler – who termed the honor “unreal” and calls himself “that guy who sings in his car” – tabbed 3 Doors Down‘s “Kryptonite” and The Trews‘ “Hold Me In Your Arms.” He also told us that along with the Blackhawks’ “Chelsea Dagger,” he can’t stand the Blue Jackets’, Flames’, and Coyotes’ goal celebrations and brushed aside our swipe that GM Place is a glow stick short of a rave when Vancouver scores. But what we were really after was this: Now that Dustin Byfuglien and Kesler-nemesis Andrew Ladd are out of Chicago, will the ‘Nucks still have a rivalry in Chicago? “Obviously they knocked us out of the playoffs again, and it’s probably more of a rivalry to us than them. But we want to beat them every time.”
— Steve Forstneger
