Continued from page 28
THE KNACK
Normal as the Next Guy
3 W. Streamwood Blvd. Streamwood, IL
(630) 837-3733
www.GoodtimeMusicStore.com
Large Stock
Great Selection
30th
Anniversary
Models
NEW MODELS
# Maritime
# Coastline
# Artist
Chicagoland's
Newest Dealer!
IN STOCK!
IN STOCK
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# S2
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Award winning
guitars with great
Tone and Feel
made in Canada.
25th Anniversary
models and full
line inventory.
Best sounding
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from Bend, Oregon
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Plus, other
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Summer is coming ... Hot New Gear!
The Quest for
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Mesa
CabClone
Create • Inspire • Pursue
LATEST STOMP BOXES
(Ominvore)
The Knack are often referred to as a
one-hit wonder, but those shoes don't fit.
First of all, the band"s multi-platinum 1979
debut Get the Knack boasted two lusty hits
in "My Sharona" and "Good Girls Don"t."
Although 1980's … But the Little Girls
Understand didn"t scale similar chart
peaks, it earned gold album status on the
strength of zingers like "Baby Talks Dirty"
and proved that late singer Doug Fieger
and lead guitarist Berton Averre had an
enduring knack for crafting hot guitar-pop
singles. The band saw diminishing returns
from 1981's Round Trip and 1991 reunion
album Serious Fun. Reigning pop reissue
champions Omnivore Recordings now
offer remastered and expanded versions of
albums from the Knack's third act. After a
stretch of inactivity, the band reignited
with 1998's Zoom. The album was praised
and virtuoso bassist Prescott Niles' topflight bottom end fuel the title cut. Fieger
spends the entire song declaring that he's
just your average, everyday fella, but it's
pretty apparent that he doesn't believe it.
Neither do we. Thankfully, that's a good
thing.
– Jeff Elbel
7
WIRE
Wire
(Pink Flag)
Face it: If your band were called "Wire,"
you might write an anti-WiFi song too.
Colin Newman's and Graham Lewis' is
called "Blogging," and it's pretty clever for
sarcastic Luddite punk. Whether you'd
take an encore run at the same straw man
as Newman and Lewis do in the first verse
of "In Manchester"– well, who's to say that
a punk duo who has been legendary for 36
years now, might not know something
more than you do? Maybe even about politics? "The narrowest vision often has the
widest appeal" ("Sleep-Walking"), "There's
always someone who thinks they've got a
Legendary Performance!
Marshall
DSL40C
Cream
IN STOCK!
Polara reverb
Mesa
Mark V:
25
Plus a full line of Mesa Amps & Cabs. Trio band creator
Marshall
Silver
Jubilee
Re-Issue
Obscura
delay
Plus a full line of Marshall Amps & Cabs.
The Knack, 2015
as The Knack's best since Get the Knack,
and for good reason. "Pop is Dead" chimes
and charges as Averre's revved-up riffs
recall The Beatles' "And Your Bird Can
Sing." Drummer Terry Bozzio fills the role
originally held by Bruce Gary, and plays
thundering fills reminiscent of the Who's
Keith Moon. With the psychedelic jangle
of "Can I Borrow a Kiss," Fieger describes
a coming-of-age memory set in San
Francisco"s flower-power era. The lead
characters of The Kinks' classic 1967 single
"Waterloo Sunset" look into "Terry & Julie
Step Out." Unlike Bob Geldof"s melancholy chapter for the young lovers in his
1986 single "Love Like a Rocket," Terry
and Julie don"t appear explicitly. Rather,
they're remembered as avatars for a
bygone age and reflections on those who
refuse to live in the present. Bonus cuts
include album demos and a new version
of "My Sharona" with Bozzio performing
the part that became Gary's calling card.
Next is an expanded version of the
Knack's final studio album, 2001's freewheeling catchall project Normal as the
Next Guy. "Les Girls" strikes a balance
between the cheeky pop of the Cars' "My
Best Friend's Girl" and Presidents of the
United States of America's "Peaches."
"Disillusion Town" blends the jangle of the
Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville" with
the spacious psych-rock of The Who's "I
Can See for Miles." A furious tom-tom beat
52 illinoisentertainer.com june 2015
plan" ("Octopus") – they're