The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 29, 2004, Page 11, Image 11
I By JORDAN REDMOND
WUSC Music Director
Panthers
Things are Strange (Vice)
Once upon a time rock-n-roll meant rebellion. Blaring guitars and
gyrating hips were a truly liberating force, but then came
commodification and arenas and rock was robbed of its righteous
fury. Panthers is a band that heralds a return to the sex and danger that
imbues rock-n-roll with its primal allure. But far be it from these Brooklyn
& boys to accept the “saviors of rock” moniker; Panthers is a band much
more interested in the dissemination of ideas rather than distribution of
their single to your local homogenous Clear Channel radio station.
Vocalist Jayson Green is an unabashed theory-head and channels his love
for modern philosophy into Panthers’ lyrical content. It certainly is a bit
unsettling to come across references to Foucault, Deleuze and Baudrillard
in the context of rock music, but the change is welcomed in place of the
typical slop about girls and drinking. Despite the bookish content, Green
situates theory within his experiences, in particular, being involved within a
progressive, non-monogamous relationship for nearly three years. On
“Stroke My Genius,” Green muses, “I think it’s normal to be unfaithful.
That’s just the way it goes.” Indeed, many Panthers songs read like a
discourse on sex and existing outside the traditional, hegemonic
relationship structure. Musically, Panthers creates a tidal wave of rock-n
roll bombast, tempered with passages of pensive distortion. Tracks like
“Weird Birds” and “Walk Of Shame” exude the feeling one would get
from viewing one of Carravaggio’s chiaroscuros being torn-and-tattered by
a rioting Situationist. All nine songs on “Things Are Strange” are equally
full of brains and brawn, borrowing from the early ’70s psychedelic rock-n
soul movement and Fugazi’s jagged, tuneful post-hardcore. Panthers’
marriage of cerebral rpck-n-roll to social/political theory and convention
challenging ideas is a truly rare characteristic. With the release of “Things
Are Strange”, maybe we can all get down and make love in theory as well as
practice.
■INTERPOLANTICS
I:I
Interpol
Antics (Matador)
Everyone’s favorite black-clad New York quartet is back with its
second full-length foray. After the wildly popular 2001 debut, “Turn
on the Bright Lights,” hype surrounding Interpol is at an all-time
high. And if there was any doubt about the band’s status as the new “it”
band, Interpol-inspired stores have recently opened in New York, Los
Angeles and London. These stores curated by friends of the band will sell
Interpol merchandise, including rare singles as well as clothes and art
inspired by the group’s brand of somber indie rock. Amongst all the fanfare
■ and expectation, “Antics” arrives and presents itself as a record that seeks to
expand and surpass the sound laid down on their maiden outing. Don’t let
the title fool you, “Antics” doesn’t pull a 180 degree turn from what
Interpol fans know and love; there’s certainly no breezy pop songs about
puppies and sunshine. “Antics” does however exude a lighter atmosphere.
The songs are more expansive, delving into long periods of guitar interplay
that, if you listen closely enough, twinkle and shine. The willingness to
branch out has sacrificed a bit of Interpol’s mostly dour tone, but sad kids,
don t despair (anymore than normal, that is), there are plenty of evocative,
desolate moments. Paul Banks vocals are as haunting and ethereal as ever.
His voice paints a picture of pitch-black, steamy city streets on a brisk
November night. The rest of the gang are also still up to their old tricks.
Guitarist Dan Kessler concocts oppressively dark and heavy sounds and
Carlos D s bass lines suggest doing mischievous things subtly into your ear.
All 10 tracks on “Antics” are versatile, capable of arousing sulking
coffeehouse-dwellers into dancing against their solemn wills or serving as the
soundtrack to a night at home curled up in your empty apartment with J.D.
Salinger.
< t|
Holmes shines as ‘First Daughter’
By NANCY MILLS
KRT CAMPUS
The gossip-mongers had just
reported that “Dawson’s Creek” star
Katie Holmes had told her fiancee, actor
Chris Klein, “I need more space,” and
thus they were splitting up. Turns out
they were discussing buying a house.
“People talk about you, and what can
you do?” Holmes shrugs. *It’s like high
school times one thousand.”
The celebrity spotlight also shines on
her character in “First Daughter,” which
opened Friday. Playing President
Michael Keaton’s only child, she has to
cope with Secret Servicemen guarding
her college dorm room, reporters
chasing her around campus and students
more interested in her title than who she
is.
“Being in the public eye can be.
isolating,” Holmes said. “It’s hard to
make friends easily. That’s why I’m
always on the phone with my family,
trying not to think about my image.
“Part of being the youngest (of four)
is that I was born with the courage to
stand out because everyone else had
done it already,” she said. “I had to find
something different.”
Holmes’ image is squeaky clean,
though she protests that it’s not wholly
accurate. She grew up in Toledo, Ohio,
the daughter of a lawyer and a
homemaker, snagged her first movie,
“The Ice Storm,” while still in high
school, and then landed on “Dawson’s
Creek.”
As Joey Potter, the lovelorn tomboy
and best friend of James Van Der Beek’s
Dawson Leery, Holmes spent six years in
Wilmington, N.C., where the show was
shot. Their very teenage relationship
formed the emotional hook of the
popular series.
“It was very difficult for me to leave
Wilmington, to have my little glass
bubble burst and move on,” she said. “I
hate change. On the other hand, it was
refreshing to play someone else.”
That someone else is the president’s
daughter — poised and awkward,
obedient and defiant, gullible and wise.
“Kate is still accessible to young girls,
but she’s truly a woman,” said her “First
Daughter” director, Forest Whitaker.
“She’s someone people care about and
want to follow. She’s not afraid to make
fun of herself, and she has good comic
timing.”
The movie gives Holmes a chance to
play an American princess, complete
with beautiful dresses, ballroom dancing
and happy endings. But it’s also a topical
story, she said. “With all the attention
on Chelsea Clinton and the Bush girls,
it’s a great background for the coming of
age of a young girl,” she said “But this is
much more of a girl’s journey toward
independence than ‘First Daughter Goes
to College.’” Holmes, who got engaged
to Klein last Christmas, has already
taken that journey.
“I didn’t have the experience of going
to college,” she said. “But for six years on
‘Dawson’s Creek,’ I was in a high
pressure situation by myself, without
having family around. That caused me
to be less dependent on others.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS
Former Dawson’s Creek star Katie Flolmes expands her acting resume as the "First Daughter" in the
new movie about the college life of the president’s daughter. Her wholesome image appeals to both
teens and older movie-goers. Flolmes is engaged to actor Chris Klein.
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