Jun

30

Crunk, that particular high-energy party hip-hop built around looped drum machines and simple chants, broke through into the mainstream a few years ago with massive hits by OUtkast, Lil Jon, Bone Crusher, and the noteably addictive Oscar-winner’It’s Hard Bein’ A Pimp’ from ‘Hustle and Flow’. Fearless Records, looking for another opportunity to expand their ‘Punk Goes..’ series, came up with the concept of ‘Punk Goes Crunk’, a chance for punk rock bands to reinterpret and perform crunk hits. On paper, maybe, it seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately Fearless were unable to follow through on the idea, producing instead this indifferent and unnecessary CD.

First of all, ‘Punk Goes Crunk’ really does not live up to its title. Is it crunk? Strictly speaking, the song selection is uninformed - for example, the 2Pac and Arrested Development songs predate the development of the genre, while the candy-floss pop hits of Will Smith and Rihanna really don’t fit either. Well then, is it punk? Not really. There is not a single note on this record in the tradition of the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Ramones, or Black Flag: the groups (includIng Say Anything, Forever The Sickest Kids, New Found Glory, The Maine, Hot Rod Circuit, My American Heart, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, All Time Low, The Devil Wears Prada, The Secret Handshake, and Set Your Goals) seem to share a common historical sensibility - punk began with the power pop of Green Day, and reached its pinnacle with their unintentional bastard prodigy, emo and screamo.

All these songs are well-produced, but as Joey from D.O.A. likes to say, ‘you can’t polish a turd’; and most of this is unpolishable…only Hot Rod Circuit lays don a successful track, wisely putting Snoop Dogg’s ‘Gin and Juice’ into a bluesy arrangement that actually works in a different context. But the rest of this record is really unlikeable, both in general and specific terms. Singing lyrics meant to be rapped enfeebles the poetry and neutralizes its rhythmic underpinnings, while bastardizing production styles to mimic samples is simply sonic chicanery that doesn’t fool the ear. There are so many individual poor decisions here, it is hard to know where to start - the decision to make ‘Put Yo Hood Up’ by Set Your Goals the lead-off track, with it’s vocal delivery deliberately mimicking Yoda from Star Wars; the weak inclusion of the theme to ‘Men in Black’ by Forever The Sickest Kid; the astonishingly limp Rihanna-cover ‘Umbrella’ by All Time Low. If Say Anything’s intention was to lampoon Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s ‘Got My Money’ they succeeded marvelously, trashing both the song and the concept of a punk band covering it. Scary Kids Scaring Kids and The Secret Handshake also deserve dishonorable mention for their wretched versions of Skee-Lo and Biggie tracks; it is a relief when the overrated New Found Glory finally ends the disc, serving up a generic version of Arrested Development’s uncrunky ‘Tennessee’ without even a hint of creative involvement.

‘Punk Goes Crunk’ may actually be cherished by a few collectors in the future, as a nostalgia novelty resurrected to give a few disbelieving belly laughs at the cheesy artwork and misguided music (suggested reissue title - ‘White Men Can’t Crunk’). For now, it is at best a quickly-forgotten addition to the collections of fans passionate about the individual groups, and easily ignorable by the rest of us.

Jun

6

Tom Holliston is a self-taught independent rock musician and songwriter from Vancouver, B.C., who has released solo works under various names,as well as being an essential member of the Canadian punk bands NOMEANSNO and the HANSON BROTHERS. His solo work (under his own name and his band SHOW BUSINESS GIANTS) are generally humorous alternative rock songs, characterized by considerable musical variance with playful and obscure pop-culture themes. His playful sense of humor has worked constantly to shroud himself in willful obscurity, as he has diligently created press materials filled with misinformation, parody, satire and in-jokes specifically designed to give those ‘in the know’ a laugh.

Tom Holliston was born on April 21, 1960 in Victoria, Canada, into a musical family; his earliest musical memories were of Frank Crumit, John McCormack, and Pablo Casals. His older brother Robert pursued a career in classical music as an accompanist and chamber player, performing with Eugene Fodor, Richard Margison and others. Tom remained uninterested in music until a sports injury kept him away from school for a month, during which he became absorbed by the Beatles White album, leading his siblings to give him more of their music to study.

The Victoria scene was heavily inspired by the Ramones and the exuberance emergence of D.O.A. as a ‘local’ punk band, spawning countless young bands in a short period of time (including the influential NoMeansNo and Dayglo Abortions). Tom, self-taught on bass guitar, played in his first band - Pat Bay and the Malahats - in 1978, which Tom has described as ‘one of a thousand score bad punk bands’. There are mercifully no recordings known. As NoMeansno’s local and national popularity grew, Tom found himself being often mistaken for NMN guitarist Andy Kerr, who lived in the same Victoria neighborhood and looked vaguely similar; leading eventually to their meeting in 1984.

Tom became fascinated by home recording, and began work on a collection of songs that would eventually emerge in 1989 under the name of ‘Gold Love’, attributed to the Show Business Giants, nd a more developed follow-up with 1990’s The Benevolent Horn, both released on cassette only. At this time NoMeansNo decided to perform a Hallowe’en show in Vancouver as tribute to the Ramones, and asked Tom to join on guitar. ‘NoMeansNo Clones The Ramones’ was promoted with a poster of the first Ramones album cover, with happy faces pasted over those of the Ramones; the concert featured the first two Ramones albums played breathlessly in sequence. The concert received a delerious reception, planting the seeds of the Nomeansno’ side project The Hanson Brothers.

Andy Kerr and John Wright from NoMeansNo both joined Tom on the recording of 1991’s ‘I Thought It Was A Fig’ by the Show Business Giants, and both occasionally performed as part of the SBG ensemble. Concurrently NoMeansNo created a new act called ‘The Hanson Brothers’, combining the music of the Ramones with the imagery of the cult hockey movie ‘Slapshot’, appearing with D.O.A. and SNFU as part of a ‘Hockey Night at the Commodore’ concert series. Again enormously recieved, the Hanson Brothers, including ‘Tommy Hanson’ on guitar, recorded a debut album for Alternative Tentacles; and began touring hockey-mad Canada as the Hanson Brothers. Tommy’s Hanson’s bespectacled half-wit persona has become an integral part of the Hanson Brothers identity, as have his one-note guitar solos and incredible ability to drool at length.

Tom continued to record as the Show Business Giants, who now regularly included such local luminaries as guitarist/producer Scott Henderson, multi-instrumentalist Ford Pier, bassist Keith Rose, as well as NoMeansNo’s John Wright on drums. After releasing ‘Maybe It’s Just Me’ in 1993; Tom was asked by NoMeansNo to fill in the lead guitar position vacated by Andy Kerr, who had decided to retire from that band to marry and live in Europe. Tom was initially reluctant, given the enormous void created in the band by the loss of the eclectic and talented Kerr, but agreed to join the band, after receiving relentless guitar instruction from Rob Wright, first learning Kerr’s guitar parts by rote, then eventually developing into a solid contributing partner in the band.

In 1995 Virgin Records made a distribution deal with Vancouver independent label Essential Noise, which released albums by D.O.A., Hanson Brothers, and ‘Let’s Have A Talk With the Dead’ by Show BUsiness Giants. ‘Let’s Have A Talk’ was warmly received by Canadian college radio, with several tracks getting considerable rotation; however Virgin was unable to market the album (or any other Essential Noise release), outside of Canada, leading to the dissolution of the distribution agreement. However the interest generated by the album enabled the Show Business Giants to finally begin touring, leading to performances across Canada, into the United States, and some European dates. Three more Show Business Giants albums were released in the next 3 years, 1997’s Will There Be Corn, 2000’s Self-Aggrandizement Keeps Us Going, and the 2001 internet-only release ‘When Wrestling Meant Something’.

In 2002 Tom began releasing records under his own name, developing a rootsier, less punk approach. ‘Tom Holliston & His Opportunists’ was released in 2002, followed by 2003 ‘I Want You To Twist With Me’ and 2005’s excellent ‘Boy in Tub; Rabbit’. All were released independently by Holliston in North America, while being distributed overseas. by independent Smoeff records, leading to more tour dates in Europe. Future plans for Holliston include another solo album, another NOMeansNo album, and he has not ruled out the possibility of future Show Business Giants recordings; all of which is good news for his growing fan base.

Jun

6

One Vancouver retailer described Tom Holliston’s ‘Boy in Tub; Rabbit’ thusly - ‘put Captain Beefheart’s brain in Nick Lowe’s body, and then challenge that monster to write a Pointed Sticks album’ - nailed it! A gem of a CD, ‘Boy in Tub’ shows some terrific songwriting and musicianship, yet yields all of the expected Holliston quirkiness. ‘Smart Money’ is the hardest rocker, which has Holliston doing a hilarious Jello Biafra - ‘Ask anybody if they’ve heard me sing they’ll all say I sound like the lizard king’; while ‘Ladies Man’ is a terrific and catchy pop song. Add an homage to baseballer Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee and the topical ‘Celebrities on the Internet’ and you have a record that would easily chart on college radio, given half a chance. ‘If 9/26 is Your Birthday’ clearly channels Captain Van Vliet himself, while ‘Entomologist Pondering’ is a dreamy minor masterpiece. ‘Boy in Tub; Rabbit’ is a mature and accomplished work that deserves to reach a wider audience.

Jun

6

On his first solo release, Tom Holliston abandons most of the zany pop cultural references and caroming stylistic changes that typified his earlier releases for a more straight-ahead, almost roots-rock approach. As usual, the CD boasts a top-notch collection of musicians from the local Vancouver/Victoria scene solidly supporting Tom’s skewered view of such themes family values, advertising that preys on sexual fears, trophy wives, and celebrity stalking. There are some stylistic diversions - most notably the rockabilly-boogie corker ‘The Strong and Absent Type’ and the almost a-capella doo-wop ‘Motormouth’ - the rest of the album fits firmly in the same camp as such quirky alt-rockers as They Might Be Giants or Ween, albeit with that special Holliston flavor. A well-played, entertaining and solid recording. Recommended.

Jun

6

Harder and heavier than other releases, sonically ‘Self-Aggrandizement’ elevates the Show Business Giants into the company of Wire, NoMeansNo, and the Ex, albeit with Holliston’s fractured viewpoint still fully on display, and occasional side trips into sonic silliness. Pop culture references still abound: the chorus for ‘My Brother’s Kid’s a Waste of Sperm!’ delightfully compares the awful child to The Fall’s Mark E. Smith, and the band obviously had fun writing ‘Generic Childrens Song a la Yngwe Malmsteen’. Unlike on some other releases, the humor on ‘Self-Aggrandizement’ isn’t alloed to overshadow Holliston’s highly-literate and articulate writing skills. In the song ‘Why Don’t You Fuck Off?’, for example, Holliston bemoans corporate co-option of art:’In every Chapters window, on every Wal-Mart’s rack
From obscurity to resurgence and into paperback
Posterity’s taken a shine to you and
there’s fuck-all you can do.
Your lovers are now impotent, your apostles can only moan
As they watch Michael Eisner pry the jewelry from your bones
Meanwhile some distant nephew, is busy setting sights
On a protracted battle over foreign rights’

The production and mastering, assisted by noted Vancouver producer Marc L’Esperance, is top-notch, making ‘Self-Aggrandizement’ easily the best-sounding CD in the Show Business Giants catalog. Any fan of NoMeansNo, Hanson Brothers, or hard-edged alternative rock will be happy to add this gem to their collection.

Jun

6

Show Business Giants is a quirky, humor-laden independent western Canadian rock band with a rotating lineup centered around guitarist,vocalist and main songwriter Tom Holliston. with most frequent collaborators Scott Henderson (Hissanol) and Ford Pier (D.O.A., Jr. Gone Wild). Contributions have also come from such other well-known western Canadian musicians as Craig Vishek (Pigment Vehicle), Keith Rose (Hard Rock Miners, Royal Grand Prix), Carolyn Mark, and brothers John and Rob Wright (Hanson Brothers, NoMeansNo).

Show Business Giants recordings typically display energetic top-notch musicianship, bursting with musical in-jokes and obscure pop culture references, covering a wide range of genres, from doo-wop and faux folk to heavy metal and punk. Press information, biographies and photos are always wildly inaccurate and humorous, reflecting Holliston’s songwriting bent towards the silly, surreal and trivial. While of a novelty nature, many of the songs have an intellectual depth and such quality playing as to have created a minor cult following around his recordings.

Holliston released the debut Show BUsiness Giants recordings ‘Gold Love’ in 1989 and ‘The Benevolent Horn’ in 1990 as cassette-only releases. His 1991 release ‘I Thought It Was A Fig’ included contributor Andy Kerr, then-guitarist for NoMeansNo, bringing his work to the attention of that band who subsequently released ‘Maybe It’s Just Me’ on their independent Wrong Records label. When Kerr left NoMeansNo in 1993, Holliston was recruited to join that band, which he has remained with since (Holliston also is ‘Tommy Hanson’ in the NoMeansNo side project ‘The Hanson Brothers’).

In 1995 Essential Noise Records, a short-lived Virgin Records subsidiary, released the album ‘Let’s Have A Talk With The Dead’, and worked Canadian radio promoting ‘I’ve Got A Crush on Wendy Mesley’, a humorous ballad about an iconic female CBC television newscaster. Subsequent releases were ‘Will There Be Corn’(1997) and ‘Self-Aggrandizement Keeps Us Going’ (2000), which were released independently in Canada and Europe. The band has sporadically toured, when members can coordinate their schedules, playing in Europe in 1997 and 2000, the USA 1989-2001, and semi-regularly in Canada.

In recent years Holliston has released several solo albums, while leaving the possibility open for future recordings by the Show Business Giants.

Jun

6

Not much different from a typical Show Business Giants CD, the Apologists include long-time SBG collaborators Scott Henderson and Ford Pier. Kicking off with ‘Talk Minus Action Equals A Good Dinner Party’ (the title a humorous swipe at local icon D.O.A.’s earnest ‘Talk-Action=0′ slogan), ‘I Want You To Twist With Me’ plunks, stomps, veers, hovers and rocks all over the musical map. Lyrically it is more straight-forward than most Holliston releases; ‘I Need A Demographic’ has Tom plaintively wondering who will buy his records, while ‘Fan Night’ could be Hanson Brothers outtake. There are, of course, obtuse and wacky references - ‘Fussin’ With The ‘Tussin’ is about getting high on a particular brand of cough syrup, and ‘Ernst Rohm vs The NFL’ puts the boss of the Nazi SA in front of the TV on a Sunday afternoon. Diehard NoMeansNo fans should know an Uncredited Rob Wright can be heard in the intro to the bizarre guitar feedback instrumental ‘Pick Slide’. interesting but unessential.

Jun

6


‘Let’s Have A Talk With The Dead’ is the definitive Show Business Giants album, with 18 diverse songs chock-full of pop-cultural references, zany hooks, and masterful rock riffing. From the opening ‘The First Pygmy In Space’ to the finale ‘Wake Up & Roar Bachelor God’, Holliston and his band show an adept ability to mutate elements of funk, punk, metal, reggae, doo-wop, and boogie into a highly-listenable concoction. Topics include homages to minor television icons (Russell Johnson, aka ‘Doc’ on Gilligan’s Island; Wendy Mesley, a CBC newscaster; Mothra, winged nemesis to Godzilla, and Star Trek’s ‘Other Side of Mr. Sulu’), self-disparagement (’I've Got Gingivitis’, ‘I’m the Lickspittle of the Animal Kingdom’), and even a straight-forward cover of ‘Sugartown’. The absolute killer though is the hilarious musician in-joke parody ‘Sound Check’, with a brilliant Jello Biafra impersonation leading us through a ridiculous routine. The original pressing is out of print, but it has happily been reissued. An excellent introduction to the group, and a must-have for fans of wacky independent rock and NoMeansNo completists.

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