The Noise, Issue #171
May 1997
LIVE REVIEWS
KENNE HIGHLAND'S 41ST BIRTHDAY BASH-O-RAMA Club Bohemia 4/2/97 THE MONOMEN, VIC MORROWS, SILVERSTAR AND THE JUKEBOX ANGELS, X-RAY YANGO, THE DEVOTIONS, PRETTY FLOWERS, THROBBING LOBSTERS, KENNE HIGHLAND CLAN FEATURING THE GOODY GOODY GUMDROPS, THE VARMINTS, FIN DE SIECLE
He’s mad, plaid and dangerous to know–and he knows how to throw one helluva party, lemme tell ya! Besides the fierce Nor’easter that dumped almost two feet of snow on Boston the day before, Kenne Highland’s 41st birthday show at Club Bohemia definitely qualifies for event of the year. My drive from the North Shore to the lovely little hamlet of Somerville is a lot easier than I thought it would be, and I’m only a half hour late. Fin de Siècle are already on stage when I come through the door but I’ve only missed about ten minutes of their set. It’s still kind of early (6:30PM), and there’s not much of an audience yet–just a few members of the Pretty Flowers and the Kenne Highland Clan, and some local townies perched at the bar having their afterwork brewskies–but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and the music. Fin de Siècle are making a sonic garage buzz that sounds like a cross between the MC5 and Husker Du but “garage rock” is not descriptive enough for them–“mechanic shop dissonance” is more like it. Guitarist Aram Heller, who also runs Stanton Park Records (Kenne Highland’s label), is heckled by the Highland Clan/Goody Goody Gumdrops singer/tambourine shaker, Kandy Kane. “Aram needs to get laid!” she shouts as Aram turns crimson and can’t think of a snappy comeback so he just laughs and ignores the comment. Kandy later tells me, “He produced our new demo, and he does the label and works with Erik Lindgren at Arf! Arf! The guy is such a workaholic and he won’t relax for a minute. I think he should get into a jacuzzi with three busty blondes and a six-pack and relax.” Kandy’s mind is mental-rolodexing even as we speak. Kenne joins Aram and his boys for their encore of one of his old Hopelessly Obscure songs, “Reincarnation.”
