BUSH TETRAS BLOOM AGAIN : PUNK-FUNK PIONEERS BACK TO `RECONVERT' '90S CROWD.Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer The Bush Tetras The Bush Tetras were a rock band from New York City, popular in the New York club scene in the early 1980s but never achieving much mainstream success. Their music, sometimes classified under Rare Beats, combined dance rhythms and dissonant rock-guitar riffs. rose out of New York's avant-garde rock scene of the early '80s just as clubs across the country began popularizing upbeat new-wave and post-punk album tracks and independent singles. The Tetras had an ace in the hole: ``Too Many Creeps,'' a funky, guitar-driven original that fit perfectly next to something danceable by the B-52's or Blondie, for example. The song, released on tiny 99 Records, sold a previously unheard-of (for an indie) 30,000 copies and became an '80s dance club favorite. Yet, the Bush Tetras - singer Cynthia Sley n. 1. A weaver's reed. 2. A guideway in a knitting machine. 3. (Weaving) The number of ends per inch in the cloth, provided each dent in the reed in which it was made contained an equal number of ends. v. t. 1. , guitarist Pat Place, bassist Laura Kennedy and drummer Dee Pop - were no mere disco band. Once dubbed ``Fugazi led by three women 10 years earlier,'' the quartet designed a fresh-sounding hybrid of guitar-driven punk, funk and African rhythms, then disbanded in 1983, ``for all the usual reasons,'' Kennedy said this week. After several reunions over the years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Bush Tetras are now intact once again and set to release a single co-produced by Henry Rollins, a compilation album of vintage tracks, and a collection of new recordings. The band appears tonight at the Silver Lake club Spaceland. ``I know it's been 15 years since we started, but we look at things today like we're a new band even though we have this history to draw upon,'' the 39-year-old Kennedy said from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . ``We feel we have to start over again. It's all new material for the most part and we have to reconvert re·con·vert intr. & tr.v. re·con·vert·ed, re·con·vert·ing, re·con·verts To undergo or cause to undergo conversion to a previous state or condition. people. We're not expecting them to come out and love us for who we once were.'' The Bush Tetras were charter members of New York's punk underground, along with the Ramones, Television, Johnny Thunders Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr (July 15, 1952 - April 23, 1991), was a rock and roll guitarist and singer, first with the New York Dolls, the proto-punk glam rockers of the early '70s. , the Contortions and Blondie. The band was also compared to London's politicized funk-rockers the Gang of Four. ``We didn't get back together in order to cash in on all the kids now into the kind of music we did 15 years ago,'' Kennedy said. ``We felt that the time was right and now we fit in. And we said, `How can we not do this?' We're not simply quirky anymore, not just a novelty act Novelty Act is a short story by Philip K. Dick. It involves a dystopian future in which the characters' lives are based on entertaining the female President of the United States with "novelty acts". anymore.'' The Tetras reunion has its roots in a benefit gig the group played last year for Franklin Furnace This article is about a mineral location in New Jersey. For the community in Ohio, see Franklin Furnace, Ohio. Franklin Furnace is a famous mineral location for rare zinc, iron, manganese minerals in old mines in Franklin, New Jersey, USA. , a performance space in New York's Tribeca where Laurie Anderson For the author, see . Laurie Anderson (born Laura Phillips Anderson, on June 5 1947, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois) is an American experimental performance artist and musician. and others got their start. ``That led to a show at the Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a New York City and Hollywood music club, originally specializing in jazz and experimental music. It was opened in 1987 by Michael Dorf and Bob Appel, both from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. , which was very well-received and a lot of fun,'' Kennedy explained. ``So we decided to try writing together again. What's been interesting is to see that in the space of a year, we've been able to record a demo, get signed (to Pacific Northwest indie Tim/Kerr Records) and go on tour.'' The Bush Tetras' new single, ``Page 18,'' will be released at the end of next month as a vinyl 7-inch. ``I guess we originally broke up for all the usual reasons,'' Kennedy said. ``And the singles we put out, the labels all folded.'' Other things have changed, too. Three of the four Tetras are now parents. ``There's a lot of exciting stuff happening today,'' Kennedy said. ``It's good to be part of it again.'' The facts Who: Bush Tetras, with Stone Fox and Death Ride 69. Where: Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles. When: 9:30 tonight. Tickets: $9. Information: (213) 413-4442. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Appearing tonight at Spaceland in Silver Lake are ne w-wave pioneers the Bush Tetras, with Pat Place, left, Laura Kennedy, Cynthia Sley and Dee Pop. The band is set to release a single, a compilation album and a disc of new material. |
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