Any big plans for your first time in Las Vegas?
You guys are out with the original lineup, touring the U.S. for the first time in 15 years. Whats it been like being back full-time with the guys, especially frontman Shane MacGowan?
Everything is just so much easier now, because were not in the position of a band thats released a record and has to tour. Were doing it for ourselves, because we want to and its nice money. And I think theres also a sense around the band that there was unfinished business, that it shouldnt really have ended the way it did. And its been going really, really well, touch wood. But there was never any sort of rancor or any bad blood in the band.
How is Shane doing health-wise?
Were all a bit older now, obviously; time takes its toll. But Shanes been in really good form, and hes singing great. His diction may not be all that, but the power is fantastic. And his stage presence ... hes always been really charismatic, but now hes transmogrified into something else entirely. Its quite alarming [laughs].
You mentioned his poor diction ... is that a result of his deteriorated dental health?
The enunciation is a little bit more troublesome than it would be if he had a full set of mashers, but thats not really the point, you know? Its his performance. The sound of his voice is so strong, and people arent going to be listening to words anyway, not in mid-onslaught, in the heat and rush of battle.
Will the Pogues rebirth continue past 2006, possibly with a new album?
Theres certainly plans for more shows. As for recording ... weve kind of talked about it tentatively. I think it could be really, really good, but then who knows? I might be a complete load of cobblers. Theres only one way to find out.
Was it ever strange being a Londoner in a band playing Irish folk music, some if it with a sort of nationalistic bent?
Not really. Irish music is very accessible. And growing up in London, I lived not far away from some very Irish areas. As for the nationalist thing, we obviously get sort of painted into that corner—maybe we painted ourselves into our corner—but there was never any overt nationalism or republicanism, I dont think. But I do think it was fairly obvious where we were coming from, that the English members of the band would have been the kind of English people who felt that Britains presence in the north of Ireland was an anomaly or, at the very least, that thered been a history of really woeful injustice meted out to the Catholic population in Northern Ireland, and that that state of affairs wasnt right. But although those views were maybe implicit in the Pogues, it was never anything that was really an issue.
Whats it like being rocks most famous beer-tray-against-head instrumentalist?
I only did it occasionally in the beginning. I used to get these vile rashes on my forehead because Id be sweating a lot, and Id be using these really dirty beer trays, like a contact allergy or something. But then I started doing it again when we started doing all this, because its kind of fun. The only problem is that no pubs have beer trays with the correct sort of weight and timbre anymore. Youve got to get the balance right.
Spencer Patterson
SAY WHAT? |
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Peelander-Z, a "Japanese Action Comic Punk Band," makes quite the visual impression, dressing in colorful costumes and staging games of human bowling during their shows. But what about the lyrics?
"Mushi Mushi Mureruzo summer tour [Sweaty and steamy summer tour]/Oh my God! What a smell!/Lets go to the laundry" ("Do the Laundry")
"Youre a pretty girl/Prettier than Hello Kitty" ("Sue! Sue! Sue!")
"Banana is yellow/Mustard is yellow, too/How about sunflower?" ("Y.Y.Y.")
Spencer Patterson
THE WEEKLY PLAYLIST: |
We Want These Mother#*king Snakes on This Mother#*king Stage!
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1. The Doors: "Crawling King Snake" (L.A. Woman, 1971)
"Grass is very high/Keep on crawlin till the day I die."
2. Duran Duran: "Union of the Snake" (Seven and the Ragged Tiger, 1983)
"The union of the snake is on the climb/Its gonna race, its gonna break/Gonna move up to the borderline."
3. Paula Abdul: "Cold Hearted" (Forever Your Girl, 1988)
"Hes a cold-hearted snake, look into his eyes/Hes been tellin lies."
4. Throwing Muses: "Cottonmouth" (The Curse, 1992)
"The more he likes me, the more I drink/I think the more I drink, the more he likes me/I got the shakes ... You snake."
5. PJ Harvey: "Snake" (Rid of Me, 1993)
"You snake, you crawled between my legs/Said, Want it all? Its yours, you bet."
6. Al Wilson: "The Snake" (The Spice of Life, 2001)
"Down the path alongside the lake, a tender-hearted woman saw a poor, half-frozen snake/His pretty-colored skin had been all frosted with the dew/Oh well, she cried. Ill take you in and Ill take care of you."
Julie Seabaugh
COMING TO TOWN |
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PLACEBO
MEDS (4 stars)
After 2003s disappointing Sleeping With Ghosts, Placebo returns to form with Meds, a lyrically dark, yet musically uplifting jolt of neo-glam. The disc easily glides through 13 tracks that are loosely connected by singer-guitarist Brian Molkos obsession with sex and drugs—well-worn ground, sure, but in Molkos hands its musical ecstasy.
Kirk Baird
LUCERO
REBELS, ROGUES & SWORN BROTHERS (3 1/2 stars)
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Still hoping for that Uncle Tupelo reunion? Give it up, and jump back on the No Depression train with these Memphis alt-country rockers. David Lowery (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker) and Alan Weatherhead (Sparklehorse, Cracker) are aboard to produce this time around, but frontman Ben Nichols still drives Luceros engine with his gritty vocals, uneasy lyrics and twangy, windblown melodies.
Spencer Patterson
LEE ROCKER
RACIN THE DEVIL (2 1/2 stars)
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Former Stray Cats bassist Lee Rockers latest CD is a flurry of race tunes, cover songs and ol howdy-do rockabilly slag. While sticking strictly to convention, Racin The Devil provides the occasional boot-slapping, catchy hit, but appeals more to greasers and other 1950s revivalists than to other music fans.
Aaron Thompson