Blue Stingrays
Surf -n- Burn
Epitone/Epitaph Records, 2789 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90026
Release Date: September 9, 1997
So now Sub Pop has a ragtime album in its repertoire. You probably expect some cross-genre musical Frankenstein, like electronirag. Or ragipunk. Or rag-hop. No, Sub Pop circa 1997 has released an album that has way more in common with Scott Joplin than Kurt Cobain, and if the Blue Rags have their way, honky-tonk piano could steal attention away from the mighty guitar, if only for a moment.
But it took prim white America a while to warm up to ragtime when it first reared its head in the first part of this century, and the Blue Rags can probably expect the same chilly reception from the rock-buying public. But there's a chance that this North Carolina quintet can melt the ice. After all, the band's peppy, infectious barroom brew has little in common with gothic dirges or angst-spewing punk. It's . . . it's . . . damn it, it's just plain fun.
If you've never heard ragtime, then you've missed out on a lifetime of nimble piano figures and gutsy vocals. There's still time to repent. The Blue Rags ragify songs by Leadbelly ("Bourgeois Blues") and the Gershwins ("I Got Rhythm"), to name a few, but the originals are just as remarkable, especially the onomonopoetic "Freight Train" and the playfully forboding "Circus Song." And if you're still not confused, ponder this: Bob Weston, known for his work with searingly loud acts like Archers of Loaf and June of 44, produced the record.
-- Chris Schwartz
schwartz@outersound.com
