ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK 'A' RAMA

This month’s Rock-A-Ramas were written by Billy Altman, Michael Davis, Rick Johnson and Ira Kaplan.

KENNY KOSEK AND MATT GLASER— Hasty Lonesome (Rounder):: The presence of a medley of songs from Marx Brothers movies seems all too fitting on this album, which marks the united effort of Kosek and Glaser, two brilliant violinists with similar screws loose in just the right places. How else could you account for such bizarro bonanzas as “Lonesome Fiddle Blues,” a kind of South American bluegrass samba, or the title track, a sprawling beyond the fringe mind excursion into jazzbowed bananaland. Once in awhile, Glaser and Kosek play it straight and true (“Deep Elum Blues”), but more often than not they’re gleefully sabotaging standard fiddle tunes with split second tangential dazzle and virtuoso playfulness that would have Margaret Dumont doing double takes all day. Either this review is over or my typewriter’s stopped. B.A.

JOHN FAHEY—Live In Tasmania (Takoma):: Fahey’s one of the handful of acoustic guitarists accepted by rock ’n’ roll fans because he’s (l)undeniably talented, (2)he’s been known to take a drink or four every once in awhile, (3)crazy, and not afraid to flaunt it, and (4) he won’t go away. Actually, you can strike that last one because he doe's go away from time to time, as this Down Under disc proves. Musically, it’s pretty similar to Fahey’s other solo work—he sticks to blues classics like “Waltzing Matilda” and “The Approaching Of The Disco Void”—but where else can you hear his inimitable “Thank you, thank you, uh...”s? Hopefully, this album’s success will pave the way for other concert recordings done in exotic-butappropriate places. Are you ready for Nico At The Munich Morgue or Van Halen Live In Your Little Sister’s Bedroom? I know I am. M.D. SORROWS—Love Too Late (Pavillion):: Solid follow-up to their lightweight but intensly likeable Merseybeat-framed debut platter. The original material is even stronger this time out, if a bit over-arranged. Producer Shel Talmy gets the best out of these goslings, but next time he should use bigger scissors. IL J.

DAVID MYLES MEINZER-Lovesick (BBMK):: Proof positive that nice guys do finish first every now and then—Meinzer, former leader of Western New York’s rockabillying Davy and the Crocketts,. has emerged with a 14 song independent LP that’s a charmer from start to finish. The albums strewn across the coffee table on the front cover (everything from the International Submarine Band to the Monkees to the Everlys to the Shadows of Knight) tell some of the story behind Meinzer’s music, but mainly it’s his disarmingly down to earth, ingenuous writing and singing that carries this album along so A buoyantly and brightly. The wonderful love songs, like “Lovesick” and “Too Soon” show that he’s not afraid to keep his heart on his sleeve. “Love Is Waiting For You” and “Hit The Honky Tonks” score high on the Ricky Nelson innocent rave-up charts, and the garage toughness of “Slowdream” (aided nobly by old Jumpers guitarist Bob Kozak) and “Stage Zero” make it clear that everything here that meets the eye really is there and rather effortlessly to boot. Buffalo lives! (Available for $6.00 from D. Meinzer, 153 Minnesota Ave., Buffalo, N.Y. 14214.) B.A.

GREAT BUILDINGS and LOVERBOY (both Columbia):: G.B. have good material that’s unfortunately farted-around to death. Ditto the loathsome Loverboy, where there’s the added bonus of getting to hear the same “melody” ten times in a row. It looks like the only producer left who still knows when to chop-chop is Dick Clark, who isn’t doing records these days (thank God). R.J.

ESG (99 12-inch 45):: ESG is funky and ESG is simple. Maybe ESG is funky because they are so simple. This sure is a roomy record; a lot of percussion, okay, but just the most basic of bass parts and an occasional guitar. The singing is understated; the words to the point: “Feelin’ moody, yeah yeah. Like this," as if moodiness was a prescription for mental health. In fact, this group never sounds anything but cheerful—their “UFO” doesn’t approach eerie (despite the efforts of hotshot Brit producer Martin Hannett). Heck, towards the close of this six-songer, when Renee Scroggins sings, “You laugh so hard you make me sick,” you’re wondering if maybe that’s not such a bad thing. All this from a band confounding the rules of a music built on tension. Talk about seduction. ( I.K.

GREG KIHN BAND—RocKihnroll (Beserkley):: Back when he was spewing folkrockisma, the word for Greg Kihn was NEAT. His 2nd platter, Greg Kihn Again, remains NEAR and DEAR, but since then he’s been a-tripping and a-stumbling through his limp version of rock ’n’ roll. This being el Grego’s sixth time around, one begins to tire of looking for the ace up the sleeve. Sure enough, here’s the DEAL: exEarihquaker Gary Phillips joins the dual guitar/ bass/drums lineup on keyboards and cig-in-mouth; there’s yet another ill-chosen & ill-performed copy song, Tommy Roe’s “Shelia”; there’s token good cuts, “The Girl Most Likely” and “Valerie” (spelled differently—and not as good—as the Monkees song); and there’s the could-be signature tune, “Nothing’s Gonna Change.” The word here is DULL. I.K.