Nash Kato: Debutante

ELECTRIC AIRLINES LETS ROESER PUT URGE OVERKILL BEHIND HIM
By Kevin McKeough. Special to the Tribune
Chicago Tribune
Published: Jan 23, 1998 at 12:00 am


"I've got nothing to lose, start all over again," Ed Roeser sings over ripsaw guitars and crashing cymbals on "June," one of the songs he's written for his new band, Electric Airlines.

It's the sound of a man not only moving on but also putting some distance between himself and his past, in this case Roeser's membership in Urge Overkill. The guitarist left the Chicago trio early last year after more than a decade in the group, whose combination of self-mocking swank and blustery guitar rock took them from indie-rock novelty to major-label noteriety.

When "Austin Powers" creator Mike Meyers was still in his "Wayne's World" mode, Urge Overkill was already hip to the retro-swinger image. Cocktails in hand and medallions around their necks, the members were alternative rock's answer to Frank Sinatra's rat pack. Roeser acknowledges that the band's "emphasis (was) on things other than the songs. It was sort of a lifestyle statement. If you're trying to develop a soulful songwriting style, it's a fine line to walk, which I think we did for a while."

Perhaps it was inevitable that Urge Overkill, a group that overtly mocked and celebrated the idea of rock stardom, eventually fell prey to forces that have undone countless bands before them, namely ego clashes and drug problems.

"Our personal relationships and some members' behavior in the band disintegrated to the point that the spirit of what we were trying to create really was an act," Roeser explains. "It was cool for a while, but it had ceased to be fun."

Although Urge Overkill regrouped with a new guitarist and performed a high-profile show at the Park West last year, the group hasn't been heard from since. Roeser, meanwhile, formed Electric Airlines with the help of his guitarist brother John, who'd previously been in a Minneapolis band, Powerwagon.

Although he's written the majority of the band's material, Roeser notes that his brother has contributed a number of songs as well. "He came to the band with them, and then we did what bands do, fleshed out and made them more a band song."

The new songs retain Urge Overkill's dramatic mix of careering guitars and stomping drums, but there's also a strong streak of melancholy in Roeser's singing, which recalls Neil Young by way of J Mascis. He says that, despite Urge Overkill's life's-a-party presentation, the music won't be surprise to those who listened to the band closely.

"We had a devil-may-care attitude, (but) what made Urge interesting was that it wasn't just that. That's what makes a lot of the music I like transcendent -- behind everything there is this darkness."
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Electric Airlines performs Saturday at Double Door, 1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Debutante está al mismo nivel que Saturation y Exit The Dragon. Y esto es mucho decir, ya que ahí no está Eddie.
Yo no soy comprador de vinilos, pero este me lo pillé, a pesar de que ya lo tenía en cd, solo para que me lo firmara Nash. Lo cual conseguí finalmente.

Ojo, estoy de acuerdo en que las mejores canciones de UO son quizás de Roeser. Pero en Debutante Kato está pletórico, es como si se hubiera guardado esos temazos durante años pa su disco. Y la producción es tremenda.