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Notes From The Underground

Headed North: Fury 66, new CD in hand, travels to S.F.'s Bottom of the Hill for a Sunday show with H20 and Vision. Tom Audisio Blunder Twins: Performing pair is, well, unconventional FINALLY, HERE THEY ARE--two performers who seem to have been born yesterday. Two babes-in-arms with a lion's share of off-kilter musical paraphernalia at their disposal. Who are they? Sometimes, as a three-piece noise outfit along with drummer Noel, they go by the Lowdown. On their own, it's just Josh & Hugh. Or kind of--last Saturday's flyer promised Josh & Hugh Make Fuck 1/2. And oddly enough, the name was sort of appropriate. After Andrea, a wildly decorated ensemble of weirdness, finished its debut performance, Hugh revved up the VCR. Josh tuned up the accordion. Both grabbed microphones. A roomful of rapt eyes watched the TV screen as Hugh described his actions on the tape, which involved disassembling something, then reassembling all of its circular parts. Josh played the accordion with a hint of competence and repeated the final words of Hugh's sentences, creating a comical human-delay effect. Most of the tape was not very interesting, consisting of Hugh crouched over sideways, fussing with machinery. So they fast-forwarded, stopped to comment and explained it all in moderate detail. They giggled. The audience giggled, or wanted to. At the end of the lesson, Hugh produced, seemingly from midair, the object of his experiment, a jumble of circular bits all tied together with wire and cyber-bits. We all clapped. For some reason, we were impressed. Josh went a little crazy and played a celebratory jig on the accordion. Then it was his turn to take center stage, while Hugh faded off somewhere. And with what act of truly daring performance art did he fulfill the promise of the flyer? He brought the house phone to the mic and called up his mom, while we all listened. Josh & Hugh seem to be performing an awful lot these days, in one form or another, and I can sense one of those creepy cult followings already gestating. Arwen Curry Divide and Conquer I picked up a replacement needle from the Drop-in Center and was finally able to listen to Great Divide's new vinyl 7-inch. The sensitive Alan Alda lyrics aren't typically my cup of Metamucil, but Luke's raspy, Sucrets-craving vocals are just too cool to ignore. He reminds me a lot of Guy from Fugazi (Fugazi's good vocalist) on "Ride" and "Skip Town." The Great Divide pulls off some grandiose time and key changes. Tim's bass and Jalal's drums are spandex-tight and propel each song to explosive territories. Vocalist Luke also puts out some pretty slick and shiny guitars licks. The instrumental "Bright Lights" is a well-layered gem that sounds brilliant. A crystal-clear mix helps make every track stick out prominently. Remember taking a freezing shower last week because of the PG&E fiasco? Well, this debut would have kept you warm because it thoroughly smokes. For a copy, write to Fiver Records, 784 Heathcove, Santa Cruz, CA 95062. Matt Koumaras Upcoming On Friday, the Muggs and P.A.W.N.S. play the Whole Earth (5pm, 18 and up). On Saturday, May 2, Riff Raff, Curbside, Boy Kicks Girl and Nothing Substantial play at the Cactus Club in San Jose. On Sunday, Fury 66, H20 and Vision play at the Bottom of the Hill in S.F. On Monday, the Bangs, Red Monkey and the Rally play at the 320A House (9pm, all ages). On May 6, The Huxtables and the Muggs are at Stevenson Rec Room at UCSC (7:30pm, $3). [ Santa Cruz Week | MetroActive Central | Archives ]