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BEEF!
Is that what it takes to get a crowd in before ten? I swear,
all that meat I was piling up and running off with –
it wasn’t all for me! It was for the band!
On
behalf of Rank and Revue magazine, I would like to thank Room
710 for hosting the high-risk low-life corporation on our
first birthday. To the Green Mesquite, hails for the tasty
carnage, and blame for my five new pounds of ass. And thanks
to Brenna (“K.B. Parthemore”), our mighty instigator/publisher,
for the rest of the honkin’ chow. Hails to Rob Jones
for his ultra-bad-ass “Rockwork Orange” poster
design, and Wade (Secret Hideout Studios) for the printing.
But all this wouldn’t mean a thing without the ROCK.
So big thanks to Wendy WWAD for hooking a great line-up of
bands, each with a different reason to be dug.
 Man-up
to the front lines, first to rock the house was Crow. Hey,
how can we digest with all that noise?! But no, seriously.
There is no comparison, anywhere I’ve heard, to the
deep, resonating, decimating sound and the ravishing, barely
contained aggression of Paul Crow’s bass. Except maybe
his singing. And his buddy Glenn needs some too - Senor Benavides
is Mr. Personality on the drums, the punk rock Ringo of Hyde
Park. Whatever this pair of veteran fruit bats may lack in
technical polish, they surpass in originality, craft, raw
power, and a knock-out gregarious attitude. Oh, and a sense
of humor. These guys are not panda-ring to a target audience.
And those dang catchy songs… they’re on me like
fleas!
Hazard County Girls took us in the opposite direction with
a more cool and controlled style that hit me right off as
L7 meets Sonic Youth (especially in the vocal style), though
their music seems to originate from within. Lead singer Kristie’s
down-to-earth style but unearthly tone sparked a haggle over
what kind of effects (“none!”) could produce that
sound. Some stylized, intelligent lyrics managed to cut through.
This band won me over with their total blow-off of the “smile
pretty and shake it” expectations on a girl band. Thanks
to the HC Girls for driving all the way from New Orleans to
rock our self-indulgent event.
 Crank
up the spazz to eleven! The raven-haired brothers of Amplified
Heat never seem to run down. It’s 100% from all three
of them, all the time. Band of Gypsies kidnaps Blue Cheer,
throws ‘em in the back of the Two Lane Blacktop hotrod
with a suitcase full of uppers and floors it to the next whiskey
bar! I’ve seen these guys a bunch, they all deliver,
but lately I’ve been stunned by their drummer. The guy
is so quick and trick, trying to learn his moves is like trying
to snap-photograph a lightning bolt (the sky kind, not the
Crow bass). They never give a half-mast show.
Grady was no doubt the most polished act of the night. Their
professionalism – tight, musical precision and cutting
live sound – was their strong point; in that area, they
immediately stood out among the low-budget scrappers. Singer/guitarist
Gordie and bassist Ben (Big Sugar), and drummer Chris Layton
(Stevie Ray’s Double  Trouble)
shit-kicked some high-octane blues rock, with a much higher
“rocktane” this night than the Continental show
I saw a while back. That’s the Room 710 vibe for ya
– not to mention the Rank and Revue crowd. I’d
say Grady is in line for some huge success. Thanks, Grady,
for turning up the heat on our party.
Honky! What can I say that hasn’t already been said,
about this hell-raising trinity of rock monsters? Pinkus,
Bobby and Kenny are the prom-kings (or should I say porn ring?)
of whiskey-soaked southern rock, and they got it locked up
and shit away the key with their image of balls, beards, booze
and bitches. One of the biggest draws in the local bizz, a
Honky show is always a party, and that’s what we got
‘em for! They laid down the boot-stompin’ flying-V-butt-slappin’
rock-n-roll rails for all, until the cake went flying and
the cows came home.
Last but not least, I have to thank Woody for booking, running
sound, and - to all the 710 staff – for putting up with
us drunk asses till way past bar-o’clock. Guy man dude,
you run the baddest real rock club in town – go Woody!
Happy birthday Rank and Revue!!!
--
Bek Sabbath
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Rank
And Revue One Year Anniversary
Honky, Grady, Amplified Heat, Hazard County Girls, Crow
Friday the 16th @ Room 710
 So
it’s been a year since the Rank and Revue first got
expectorated from the presses down by San Marcos. We’ve
muddled along through a lot of metaphorical story weather
in the area of “staff.” We have managed to burn
through a ream of layout designers by our lack of respect
for deadlines, grammar and basic hard-return protocol. I’ve
heard tales of hysterical layout staff who had to wait until
5:45 am in front of a computer for a review from some deadline-ignoring
writer so they could download the ‘zine to the press
company for the 6:00 a.m. deadline.
But I ramble too much. Let me tell you of
the food, fun and friendship the hard working Publisher and
Editor of this fine magazine put together for our first anniversary.
Due to a previous engagement, my friend Cynthia and I got
to the shindig around 10pm, and caught the latter half of
the Hazard County Girls set. This New Orleans all-female group
played a mediocre set that seemed to be lacking a bit in energy,
given the setting 710 has as a venue. With a little more inspiration,
the HCG should become a household name.
 Amplified
Heat, the boisterous three-brother punkrock/blues band took
the stage next, rising the rock vibe higher with their brand
of electrified frappe-speed blues. They played a rockin’
good set as always, as well as my fave AH tune “Fever.”
The punk styling of its bluesy roots makes me smile with a
headbanger’s appreciation.
Grady was the fourth band of the evening
and I was eager to hear them. Wendy WWAD told me that Gordie,
the guitarist for Grady, was the guitar player in Big Sugar.
I had bought a Big Sugar CD called “500 Pounds”
a few years ago and was amazed at the production. Grady started
their set with a song from that CD called “Ride Like
Hell.” The version they played was much faster and more
rockin’ than the Big Sugar version. The new arrangement
seemed to fit Grady’s more “rock-n-roll”
image versus Big Sugar’s straight blues band version
and image. Gordie is a good slide guitar player, playing rhythm
and leads with equal ability. They are a good Rockin’
Blues band, check ‘em out.
The mighty Honky rounded out the night’s
festivities with their butt-kickin’ southern fried rock,
Pinkus and co laying down their multitudinous riffs for all
to hear. I always like to hear their drug-addled “Snortin’
Whiskey, Drinkin’ Cocaine,” one of my Honky favorites.
I left a bit early and missed the rest of Honky’s ripping
set, but was assured by Greg, one of the bartenders from the
Crown and Anchor, that it was awesome, and I’m sorry
I missed the cake incident. Oh well, there’s always
next year - that’s if the Layout Designers Union people
don’t lynch us by then.
-James Marquardt
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