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THURSDAY, JANUARY 30 3:15-4:00 PM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4 3:30- 4:15 PM
A G GIE LIF E
Rags
Thursday • January 30,
The Connells hope for a hit
North Carolina band aims for success with roots-rock soun
By Michael Schaub
The Batt alion
T he members of the Connells have been to
gether 12 years, released six albums and
seen a recent single become an internation
al smash hit.
So it comes as no surprise that drummer
Peele Wimberley is a little tired of being com
pared to a certain band from Athens, Ga.
“Certainly we get tired of it,” he said, “but we
all understand. People have to have some per
ception of the sound.”
Comparisons to R.E.M., as well as to Min
nesota rockers The Replacements, have followed
the band since it originated in 1984.
“I hate to describe our sound,” Wimberley
said, “but I would say it’s like R.E.M. with a little
more British flavor and maybe a little more of the
rootsy stuff.”
The band, based in Raleigh, N.C., plays at the
Dixie Theatre in downtown Bryan at 10 p.m.
Thursday. Rock band Tonic will open.
“It’s a pretty strong package,” Wimberley said.
“Tonic is a strong band.”
The Connells’ tour follows the release of the
band’s latest album, Weird Food & Devastation,
a raw, slightly acerbic collection of guitar-driven
pop tunes.
“I think the album’s darker, more solemn,”
Wimberley said. “We didn’t do a lot of overdubs
or processing, and that made it sound a little
more raw.”
The title of the album refers to the band’s
impressions of touring Europe, where it has
encountered immense popularity following a
1993 single.
The song “’74-’75,” from their 1993 album
Ringwas a top-20 hit in 13 countries. Americans
may have missed the buzz surrounding the
song, although it was featured in the recent
movie Heavy.
Wimberley said the members of the band say
they still hope for increased popularity in the
United States.
“We want to reach as many people as possi
ble,” he said. "Aside from the European success,
we’re all just scraping by.”
The Connells’ relative obscurity in their na
tive country is not because of lack of experience.
The band formed at the University of North Car
olina after brothers Mike and David Connell
hired vocalist Doug MacMillan and drummer
John Schultz to play at local venues.
Schultz was replaced by Wimberley shortly
thereafter, and the band hired George Huntley be-
The Connells, a rock band from North Carolina, is playing tonight at the Dixie Theater in
fore recording their debut album, Darker Days.
The Connells released three more albums
before the breakthrough album Ring, the best
selling independent rock album of 1993. Wim
berley said the band members are planning a
future release.
“When we get to work on the next record, we’re
going to concentrate on making a solid pop record
like Fun & Games or One Simple Word,” he said.
The loose sound of Weird Food & Devastation
is a departure from the more polished pop tunes
of the band’s previous albums.
"Most fans say that when they spend time
with it, they like it a lot,” Wimberley said.
The album includes hints of alternative coun
try in such songs as “Smoke” and “Back to Blue,”
but the influence of rockers like Neil Young is still
evident in “Friendly Time,” he said.
Wimberley said the band is progressing both
lyrically and musically.
“The lyrics are a little more direct, more
pointed,” he said.
The band’s familiar sense of irony is some
what less cloaked on Weird Food & Devastation.
In “Back to Blue,” MacMillan sings, “Ain’t it fun-
Slin
Experii
ny / How it really ain’t funny at
Each of the band members contributeds
to the album. Wimberley wrote "Any," at
song with a slight blues influence.
“I always go back to old Stevie Wonder,!
Wind & Fire, be-bop stuff," Wimberleys
If the album fails to bring the bandthep
ularity it has enjoyed overseas, the bandwillsi
tie for radio airplay.
“On radio, you’ve got to get to thechomsini
seconds,” Wimberley said. "It’s kind ofirritafc
This could be the year the band’s w
come true. One single, “Fifth Fret," hasbeeiufi
leased, and the band’s “Bitter Pill” is featured [-
the horror movie Scream. 11*
Nio ( 'onnclls' lour has also beengoinp«r'!\^%
Wimberley said. The show in Bryan will be lf|
Connells’ first in the area, coming on thekL . , f
<>t a stint at Austin’s I iluTtN I unch. ■Ontinued ITOI
"I’m excited about coming down to,’"
Wimberley said.
The band members still wish for a saffi
tour, but the band also has other desires®
as well.
“Most of our songs have really good to
Wimberley said. “We’d like to have a hit."
CounseLine alsr
i-can find help for a
(help them. This s<
Bryan-College Stat
Birch said SCS
the students wh<
Thursday
January 30
Steve O’Neill, a rock singer from
Albuquerque, N.M., is playing at
Chelsea Street Pub and Grill at 9 p.m.
Saturday
February I
Dean's legacy lives
on at StageCentef
Steve O’Neill, a rock singer from
Albuquerque, N.M., is playing at
Chelsea Street Pub and Grill at 9 p.m.
Sneaky Pete, a sing-a-long artist
from Bryan-College Station, is per
forming at the Cow Hop at 9 p.m.
Thread, an alternative rock band
from Bryan-College Station, is playing
with Half-Life, an alternative rock band
from Bryan-College Station, at the Cow
Hop at 9:30 p.m.
W.C. Clark, a blues musician from
Austin, is playing at 3rd Floor Cantina
at 8 p.m.
By Meianie Benson
The Battalion
Ty & the Semiautomatics, a rock
band from Houston, is playing at
Fitzwilly’s at 9:30 p.m.
Vertical Horizon, a folk band from
Washington, D.C., is releasing its lat
est album at Marooned Records at
4 p.m.
Freudian Slip, an improvisational
comedy act, js performing at the Dix
ie Theatre at 10 p.m.
Infinite Record Convention will be
held at the College Station Ramada
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday
January 31
MSC Town Hall is sponsoring a
lunch box concert, “Hot Bands, Hot
Chocolate,” featuring Fysher, a rock
band from Bryan-College Station, at
Rudder Fountain at 12 p.m.
Steve O’Neill, a rock singer from
Albuquerque, N.M., is playing at
Chelsea Street Pub and Grill at 9 p.m.
StageCenter live theater,loci
ed at 701 N. Main in Bryan, is hoi
ing the revised TV production
Come Back To The Five and Dim
Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,
by Ed Grazsyk.
The setting for the production
McCarthy, a small West Texas
where time has stood still.
The stoiy concerns a reunion
women, once known asTheDi* 1 Comptrolic
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Allstate Inst
Anderson C
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Ashland Ch
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CarMax, a (
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Reckless Kelly, a rock band from
Austin, is playing with David’s Gate, a
rock band from Bryan-College Station,
and Inspector 12, a rock band from
Bryan-College Station, at the Cow Hop
at 9:30 p.m.
Vertical Horizon
Freudian Slip, an improvisational
comedy act, is performing at the Dix
ie Theatre at 10 p.m.
Sneaky Pete, a sing-a-long artist
from Bryan-College Station, is per
forming at Burton Creek at 8 p.m.
The Voodudes, a rock band from
Bryan-College Station, is playing at
Fitzwilly’s at 9:30 p.m.
Texas Twisters, a rock band from
Bryan-College Station, is playing at
Fitzwilly’s at 9:30 p.m.
Fysher, a rock band from Bryan-Col
lege Station, is playing with Vertical
Horizon, a folk band from Washington,
D.C., at 3rd Floor Cantina at 8 p.m.
pies of James Dean, who promise
come back to honor his death.
While celebrating the 20t
niversary of the death ofthei
in a five and dime store, theaitl
gins to get a little too thick as*
truth is revealed
Before long, the beer is iced#
tongues run loose and the ladies!
all hang out, says the play'sdi#
Cathy McWhorter.
“In 20 years, lives changed
changes and histoiy changes
the friends they made stay the^
— or do they?” McWhorters#
Brian Whitaker, a classic rock mu
sician, is performing at Sweet Eu
gene’s House of Java at 9:30 p.m.
Ty & the Semiautomatics, a rock
band from Houston, is playing at
Sweet Eugene’s House of Java at
9:30 p.m.
31
The show will be running J# 1 F n m>mrico k
and Feb. 6-8.Ticketsare$7H ^ nter P nse h
Ernst & You
Cons
dents and senior citizens,
adults and $4 for children.
Conoco
Container S
Conviser D
Coopers &
Cornerstont
Daisytek
Danka Offi<
Deloitte &"
Donovan ai
EDS
^TTTTTTIIllllim
Saturday, February I, 1997
3:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.
Rudder Auditorium
ForTickets Call 845-1234
Rated |3
>8903 to inform ix of yovr speml needs We request nouftcaoon three {3} working, days prior tfc* |a^nt
THe PsycHOLogY cLuB preSENts
A MOCK GRE
Saturday, February 1 st
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
Blocker 102
Advance ticket sales available Jan. 29-31
in the MSC hallways
$5 members, $7 non-members, $10 at the door
:Z Serve Re
Com
erguson Er
idelity lnv<
ootAction
jrant Thon
j real-West
darte-Hank
Hastings Be
H.E.B. Grot
Hewitt Assc
Home Depi
Houston O
Full Diagnostic services provided by
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