H E A R__I T

"Another Year"
Royal Trux
(914k)

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T A B L E__T A L K

Which artists -- now dead or broken up -- do you wish you could see? Wish for the impossible in the Music area of Table Talk

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R E C E N T L Y

Duane Jarvis
Far From Perfect
Watermelon
(04/21/98)

Neutral Milk Hotel
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Merge
(04/20/98)

Tom Harrell
The Art of Rhythm
RCA Victor
(04/16/98)

Pulp
This Is Hardcore
Island
(04/15/98)

The Mavericks
Trampoline
MCA
(04/14/98)

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BROWSE THE
MUSIC ARCHIVES

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V O W E L L

Sound Salvation
By Sarah Vowell
"Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" and other unauthorized "mysteries"
(04/17/98)

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F E A T U R E

Tim Yohannon
Punk didn't die on April 3, 1994 -- the day Kurt left Courtney. It died this April 3, with the passing of MaximumRockandRoll founder Tim Yohannon, of cancer, at 52

ACCELERATOR
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BY GAVIN McNETT | The subject came up in the wake of a party over at Ed's place. The last Motörhead album was spinning toward its inner groove, the buffet spread was demolished, the booze was at its last trickle -- and the conversation had gone all philosophical.

"So, OK ..." Chuck attempted, rubbing the tattoo on his forehead, "Resolved: Ozzy rules; Hanson sucks. These categories are eternal, and are unrelated to issues of quality. Personally, I prefer Hanson. My favorite band right now, however, is Royal Trux. And I submit that Royal Trux 'blows.'"

Everyone stared, uncomprehending.

"Take Neil Hagerty," Chuck recovered, "a guitarist with good chops and a fine melodic sense who effaces his talents as though in an ecstasy of self-annihilation. He paves his songs with skronk and nonsense, and that's OK. But you get the feeling that he's unable to play anything straight. He's a narcissist of the grandest proportion, at war with his own musicality. He burns to be loved, but only unconditionally -- not for his talents or their fruits, which he sabotages with an evil thoroughness.

"On vocals is Jennifer Herrema, his precise polar opposite. Everybody else in the band is paste. She's got an art degree and can't paint; she's in a famous rock band and can't sing. She's New York junkie-scum, but comes from Virginia money. Herrema's a monster of ineptitude and contradiction, swaggering around in sunglasses and flamboyant accessories -- and belting out this VOICE like Ronnie Spector playing a guard in a women's prison flick."

"Hmm," Ed said. "I see what you're getting at. Something that 'blows' is something that's trying too hard to 'rule.' But instead, it just makes this big explosion of suck. Like, 'Boom! Aaah! There's suck all over me!'"

"Yes!" Chuck crowed. "On 'Twin Infinitives,' Royal Trux were a flailing mess; on 'Thank You,' a boogie-based pomposity. Here, they're a flailing pomposity -- an 'explosion of suck.' But they're also starting to sound like a sample-happy '90s act without relying on samples, which is interesting. And their quirkier, more restrained side is in full effect: 'Another Year' floats a kazoo and a slide whistle on a cowbell beat; 'Stevie' is a credible Mellotron-soul cut with a Stonesy edge. The early-Dylanisms of 'Yellow Kid' are effective and engaging, down to the harmonica and the phony-Folkways production."

"Yeah, OK," Ed said. "And what about 'The Banana Question' and 'Juicy, Juicy, Juice': Good, catchy songs where Herrema smirks out a single, stupid line in her tuff-chix voice -- over and over and over until you want to go flush your head down the toilet? That 'blows' pretty hard."

"No." Chuck thought for a second. "That sort of thing is lame. 'Lame' is when something would've been OK, except somebody came along and messed it up, especially through carelessness. Like that Nirvana album that Butch Vig produced, or Jon Spencer as a child. Things that 'blow' can sometimes be good ..."

"Like Royal Trux?"

"Exactly. But things that are 'lame' are never any good. And 'Accelerator' loses its two potential singles to lameness. The problem with 'Accelerator' isn't that it blows, but that it doesn't blow HARDER."

And Chuck passed out and bumped his head on the floor. "That was lame," said Ed. And he stole Chuck's beer and staggered off into the dining room.
SALON | April 22, 1998

Gavin McNett is a regular contributor to Salon.