Thursday, April 8, 1993
King Missle fires
Phallicly obsessed New York band returns with
The Adventures of Huck
adventure for the young
More than just a children's
by Jen Tobakaris
Collegian Stqff
Okay, I'm going to contradict
myself. In my last article about
Fire In the Sky I stated that
movies rarely live up to the
"Why had I
picked to
review a
children's
movie?"
books that inspired them. Well,
I was wrong; at least in the
casc of Mark Twain's classic,
Huckleberry Finn.
Sitting in a theatre jam
packed with a bunch of little
kids. I started to worry. Why
had I picked to review a
children's movie? Because it's
much more than a children's
movie!
Huck Finn (played by Elijah
Wood), is a sassy young boy
with a sarcastic sense of humor
and a mouth for telling the
hugest whoppers this side of the
Mississippi. During one of the
many fiascoes he and his friend
Jim get involved in Huck
comments, "My butt's hanging
way out and I don't want to get
it shot off just yet."
Jim, Huck's best friend, is
played by Courtney B. Jance.
He is the soft-spoken runnaway
who asks Huck to help him get
to Cairo and escape to freedom.
Huck, being Jim's only friend,
agrees to help.
Entertainment
"On 'HAPPY HOUR,' we
investigated different ways of
making the marriage between
lyrics and music tighter than
it has been in the past. The
title is ironic, because the
words talk about self
denigration, low self-esteem,
isolation, being trapped, and
the driving need to just end it
all. 'HAPPY HOUR' is
exactly an hour long ...kinda
happy, definitely an hour.
One of the most unusual and
arresting bands to come out of
the New York musical
underground in recent years,
King Missile combines raw,
elemental rock with literate,
outrageous lyrics (sometimes
sung, sometimes spoken). The
unit is fronted by John S. Hall,
whose words mark him as one
of rock's most visionary,
offbeat storytellers. He is
joined by Dave Rick (guitars),
Chris Xefos (bass, keyboards),
and new member Roger
Murdock (drums).
In 1991, King Missile
released "THE WAY TO
SALVATION," their first
album for Atlantic and their
fourth overall. Eight solid
months of touring ensued, with
the Missiles logging in over
100,000 miles and 130 shows.
The result was the creation of a
tight musical unit, something
of a break from King Missile
tradition. It is a shift clearly
reflecting on their second
Atlantic outing, "HAPPY
HOUR."
Together the two journey
down the Mississippi River
together, encountering one
adventure after another. Their
trip is dangerous because Jim is
a runaway slave and is wanted
for murder. Jim's picture is
plastered all over the place with
a reward of 400 dollars, He asks
Huck, "Damn, is that what I
look like?"
The scenery and
cinematography in the movie
was excellent. The camera
shots of Huck and Jim
travelling down the river on
their raft, made me feel as if I
were there experiencing the
journey myself. The music by
Bill Conti added to the fear of
Jim being caught and the action
packed scenes throughout the
movie.
The most humorous and best
part of the movie was when
itself onto the
-- John S. Hall
During pre-production for
"HAPPY HOUR," King
Missile considered a number of
possible producers before
deciding to return to their
original studio overseer,
Shimmy Disc label chief
Kramer. The latter produced
"HAPPY HOUR" along with
engineer Steve Watson and King
Missile.
"Sometimes we're
silly, sometimes
we're funny, some
times we're angry,
sometimes we
make nice songs,
and sometimes we
try to make a nice
song and
something goes
wrong."
--John S. Hall
"HAPPY HOUR," undeniably
King Missile's most
accomplished album to date,
finds the band weaving a widely
diverse sonic tapestry that forms
a remarkable counterpoint to
John S. Hall's trademark lyrical
insights.
The key tracks include
"Detachable Penis"; "Martin
Scorsese," a violently loving
movie
Huck and Jim met up with the
King and Duke, two con artists
that are employed by the three
"Rys," Robbery, bribery, and
forgery. They bribe Huck and
Jim to help them swindle a
fortune from a dead plantation
owner that left his will to his
two british uncles that no one
has ever wen before.
Huck poses as their British
page boy and Jim is an African
slave, dressed like a tribal head
hunter. "They even taught me
some Swahili. It sounded like a
pig in heat to me," Jim tells
Huck.
If you read the book you
probably know how the movie
ends, but for those of you that
didn't it's well worth your while
to see this movie. It's jam
packed with action, suspense,
humor, and sentiment.
This movie's not just for
tribute to the film director; and
the neo-mystical "The
Vulvavoid." The album also
boasts "It's Saturday," a
brilliant drum/spoken word duet;
"Take Me Home," highlighted
by Rick's dazzling guitar work;
and the bizarrely intoxicating
"Ed"
Their first three albums,
1987's "FLUTING ON THE
HUMP," 1988's "THEY," and
1990's "MYSTICAL SHIT,"
were produced, engineered, and
released by Kramer on his
Shimmy Disc label.
"FLUTING ON THE HUMP"
yielded two college radio
smashes: "Take Stuff From
Work" and "Sensitive Artist."
"THEY continued John's
spoken word approach, but with
more lush instrumentation.
"MYSTICAL SHIT" proved
to be the breakthrough King
Missile album. It spent 12
weeks on Rockpool's Rock
Independent chart, grabbed the
top slot for a remarkable four
weeks, and yeilded two college
radio hits: "Cheesecake Truck"
and the #1 smash, "Jesus Was
Way Cool."
As of this writing, "HAPPY
HOUR" is in the proverbial
can, and "Detachable Penis" has
risen to #1 on the college radio
listings. Comments John:
"Sometimes we're silly,
sometimes we're funny, some
times we're angry, sometimes
we make nice songs, and
sometimes we try to make a
nice song and something goes
wrong."
Finn: An
heart
kids, it's for the young at heart.
Mark Twain's book is still read
and enjoyed today. Somehow
the movie manages to keep the
book's charm and interest that
'They even
taught me
some Swahili.
It sounded
like a pig in
heat to me.'
have made it a classic over the
years. The movie has just as
much appeal that maybe
someday it too will be
considered a classic.
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