ROCK • A • RAMA

ROCK-A-RAMA

This month's Rock-A-Ramas were written by Billy Altman, Richard C. Walls, Richard Riegel, and Craig Zeller.

YA YA

Scarred (Rock 'N' Roll)

These guys strike me as such an inevitable Next Big Thing (for better or worse) that I won't be surprised if their second album moves up to fullreview status a la Quiet Riot. Somebody had the bright idea of combining the teens' current twin fascinations, metal and pretty, into one pop band. Thus Ya Ya wear zippered leather and bleached manes, their Lee Hart can sing shrill and Plant or Dio over light fast pop, they come on like the Bay City Rollers doing synthpop; the list of dualities is endless, if not $$$ in the bank. Inevitably, Ya Ya have already been Big In Japan a couple years as you read this... ('So were Cheap Trick!' sez some wiseacre in the balcony.)R.R.

JOHNNY WINTER

Guitar Slinger (Alligator)

In which the guitar legend of choice for most discriminating (further on up the) middle of the road gets back to where he's always happily belonged—namely, the Texas blues 'n' soul scene that nurtured him in those pre-CBS bonus baby days of innocence and sweat. The first two tracks here—the slide-driven 'It's My Life, Baby' and the slow, twisting 'Don't Take Advantage Of Me'—set the tone for the LP, which is so gritty and humid that you can almost envision the steam flying off Winter's fretboard as he lets those endless riffs fly. Faves here include the breaknecked piece of frenzy called 'Mad Dog' and the sweet Texas soul-stirrer 'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.' Until Mr. Winter graces the planet with that always dreamed of album of Stones/Dylan covers, this'll do fine—just fine. B.A.

THE DICE

(Mercury)

This is refreshing: a Canadian power trio that has nothing in common with Rush, Triumph, and their antlered ilk. (Maybe because these Dice tumbled in from Bermuda, England and Trinidad, respectively.) The sound is wide open, R&Bflavored rock as fresh and naive as the '60s British variety, with wild, thumpy drumming (thanks, Hayden Vialva). This record sounds so good that I can forgive the Dice the superfluity of cameos by Peter Frampton and Mick Jagger (for 'inspirational dancing'?!?) 'Cause they found that BEAT on their own! R.R

MILES DAVIS

Decoy (Columbia)

As usual, Miles's latest release is like another chapter in a long, involved book—if you haven't been following the installments so far (not always released in sequence) you'll probably be lost about two minutes into it. If you have, be notified that this represents both the further adventures of synthman Robert Irving III (last seen making some tentative moves on Man With A Horn) and of guitarist John Scofield (c.f. Star People), each getting a side to collaborate with the trumpeter. Early Verdict: Irving's stuff is a vast improvement over his last appearance, both more subtle and more simply funky, while Scofield is the most intriguing soloist Miles has had in his band since Pete Cosey (in a different way, of course). Good work from Branford Marsalis, too, and Miles himself is in fine form—though on some cuts he comes on like the Special Guest Star rather than the actual leader of the proceedings. What a kidder.R.C.W.

RUBBER RODEO

Scenic Views (Mercury)

The best thing about this band is their press kit, presented in comic book form. Too bad the record's such a freeze-dried dud, thanks to a neutered mixture of oddball C&W and avantLimey pop. (If you ever had an urge to see Bryan Ferry home on the range, then go pull out a copy of Country Life and play 'Prairie Rose.') You can hear the ex-art students straining and forcing it at every turn, with the exception of 'The Hardest Thing,' wherein Trish Milliken sways along quite fetchingly. Everything else here, though, is tenderfoot tripe. C.Z.

SONNY ROLLINS

Sunny Days, Starry Nights (Milestone)

There may be just a tiny bit less filler here than has been the norm these past few years, or maybe it's just the absence of the usual guitar clutter, but7 still, despite a quite decent ballad dedicated to Wynton Marsalis, and an imaginative and spirited improv by Rollins on the standard 'I'm Old Fashioned,' this is, in toto, another boring album from the old master. Diehards may be willing to sift through the monotonous calypsos to get to the good parts, but the best bet is still to either catch him live or pick an item (any item) from Fantasy's extensive pre-'75 Rollins catalog.R.C.W.

THE CALAMITIES

(Posh Boy)

Not an 'all-girl' band but with trois femmes up front you might think so; their deliciously French accents make this pop's bubbliness seem even more organic than it's been in the wholesome hands of our Go-Go's. The Calamities' originals are every bit as tingly as Tracey Ullman's, but their chiming covers of the Who's 'The Kids Are Alright' and the Troggs' 'With A Boy Like You' show which rock decade's inscribes on their hearts. And everything on the record's touched with that Gallic incidental bohemianism, so casual it must be in the air. Best jacket of the year too: simple roseand aqua-tinted snaps of the band in poses suggesting both what the '60s really were and what they shoulda been. R.R.

NICK LOWE

Nick Lowe And His Cowboy Outfit (Columbia) My oh my, but we've sure come a long way down from the glory days of Pure Pop For Now People. The Basher once again takes the easy (make that lazy) way out by turning in yet another LP's worth of catchy, inconsequential throwaways. Just about every number on this album involves petty theft of some kind or other; the one saving grace is 'Half A Boy And Half A Man,' a wonderful party romp that Joe 'King' Carrasco would be proud to call his own. That song's available in seven-inch form, so you can take it from there. C.Z.