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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, July 30,2003 ' 7 CONTACT US 3&11TT7' MTY THEY SAID IT lAlil LO I I |i i IVI I ROBERT FROST: “By working faithfully eight hours a day, E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com -L _L JL _l—A JLl J—A. V_ you may get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day.” Mg a break from his ysH/SHr /7\fh BY JULIA KNETZER THE GAMECOCK Jump, Little Children drummer Evan Bivins is try ing something different. While JLC is taking a break from touring this summer, Bivins is stepping out from behind the drums to front BIV, a JLC side project. BIV’s first headlining tour started only a week ago when it played its inaugural show at the Handlebar in Greenville. Columbia is stop number seven of the eight city tour, which includes Charlotte and Atlanta. Bivins, who is used to playing for nearly sold out crowds in Columbia as a member of JLC, said BIV draws smaller groups. Friday will be Bivins’first time playing at New Brookland Tavern in either JLC or BIV. “I understand that it’s pretty small, but that’s a good thing because we’re a small band,” he said. “If we ♦ BIV, SEE PAGE 8 PHOTO COURTESY OF NICK WILSON Evan Bivins takes the spotlight in BIV. BOOK REVIEW Blue sex makes amazing satire “ORYX AND CRAKE” Margaret Atwood ★ ★ ★ ★ out of **☆☆☆ BY BRIAN RAY THE GAMECOCK Margaret Atwood’s latest trek through a futuristic wasteland couldn’t have come at a better time, considering that this year marks the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick’s discovery of the double he lix. If you could picture mankind’s progress in all areas of science as a fourth dimensional road map, then you could also picture Atwood cruising down the jagged red line of genetics as she recounts an apoc alypse at the hands of the novel’s antagonist Crake who, before his death, engineers a race of humans who can mend broken bones by purring like cats, ward off insects with their sweat and deter man-eat ing pigoons with their piss. Such superpowers would be nec essary to survive in the post-apoc alyptic setting of the novel’s pres ent, where the reader encounters predatory hogs with half-human brains and dogs genetically pro ■ grammed to lure their prey in with puppy-dog faces and an all-to-con vincing veneer of good intentions. There’s no real food here, no deer to hunt, just scraggily fish and plants. But Crake has even equipped his humanoids with mi crobes and digestive enzymes to handle the devastation of vegeta tion. They can eat grass, just like cows. If you’re wondering about how well Atwood has fleshed out these blue humanoids, consider the scene where Snowman walks in on the Crakers’ mating ritual: “Their penises turn bright blue to match the blue abdomens of the females, and they do a sort of blue-dick dance number, erect members wav ing to and fro in unison, in time to the foot movements and the ♦ ATWOOD, SEE PAGE 8 CD REVIEWS 311 stays happy, evolves harmony “EVOLVER” 311 ★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY CHARLES TOMLINSON THE GAMECOCK Summer is the perfect sea son for a new 311 album. “Evolver” is the band’s sec ond album to be released with the dog days fast ap proaching. 311’s alternating between sunny California rock riffs and lazy Jamaican reggae grooves belies the band’s Omaha, Neb., roots, and it makes for the perfect soundtrack for a beach trip or even just watching the sunset in a lawn chair. “Evolver” contains one singable melody after anoth er, interspersed by rapping. But the technical proficien cy and, moreover, the soul of this band puts it on a higher tier than the doomed rap metal acts. Vocalists Nick Hexum and S.A. Martinez harmonize on every song. Often, Hexum and Martinez take turns singing different ♦ 311, SEE PAGE 9 Dan still dark after 20 years I I “EVERYTHING MUST GO” Steely Dan ★★★★ out of BY WES WOLFE THE GAMECOCK After the success of their first studio album in 20 years, Steely Dan had the un enviable task of creating an other critical and commer cial triumph. They’ve cer tainly achieved their goal, currently 91 on the Billboard Top 100 and receiving glow ing reviews from The New York Times, the Washington Post and Slate.com. The • new album, “Everything Must Go,” in dulges in the two things Steely Dan does best: a tight funk soul-jazz sound and satirical lyrics. Robert Toth of National Review got it right when he said, “The musical settings ... stay sleek, jazzy and masterful regardless of how much anger and hurt is bubbling under the surface.” ♦ STEELY DAN, SEE PAGE 8