GamingWire September 27,2002


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NIGHT BEAT: Doug Elfman

Swedish band targets capitalist society with music


By DOUG ELFMAN
GAMING WIRE
  LAS VEGAS -- If the (International) Noise Conspiracy didn't give itself
away as a political band with such titles as "Capitalism Stole My
Virginity," listeners could still figure that out by paying attention to
the lyrics of the Swedish group.
  Try, for instance: "Distasteful, ugly and cheap, that is how you make me
feel. Capitalism stole my virginity."
  But (International) Noise Conspiracy -- heading to the Hard Rock Hotel on
Wednesday -- isn't exactly sure what political structure to endorse.
  "Obviously, we are all about the destruction of the capitalist society,"
singer Dennis Lyxzen says. "But how we are going to achieve that, and what
we need instead, that's not really up to me to say."
  It's a good bet, though, that the band is one of the only groups in the
world that uses hundreds of liner notes to recommend textbook readings on
politics: on communism, socialism, anarchism, dadaism, Russian futurism and
other frameworks.
  Still, no endorsements.
  "Too many political bands have come up with, like, `The Solution.' Like,
`We are Marxist-Leninist, and to become a true revolutionary you have to
become a Marxist-Leninist.' For us, that's not interesting. We think that
the ideologist is dangerous. We think it's better to make up your own idea
about life."
  Besides, he says, "we're not a bunch of geniuses who figured the world out."
  No, (International) Noise Conspiracy is at base a rock band that plays
raw music inspired by the past: 1960s garage rock, 1960s soul, punk outfits
such as the anti-skinhead group Angelic Upstarts, and hippie-era Afro-punk
in the vein of Sly & the Family Stone.
  Lyxzen says the band's well-noted, erratic stage behavior is just a
natural acting-out of kinetic music, not ideology.
  "I look around at that amplifier, and all of a sudden I'm standing on it,
and I go, `Whoa,' " Lyxzen says. "On the spur of the moment, there are
places I need to go.
  "The pure kind of energy of the live show is almost an antithesis to the
intellectual approach we have on records. But at the same time, it's an
emotional release. And it's a powerful way to get people lured by the
music, by the energy, by the dancing, by the aesthetics."
  The band plays in the middle of Tuesday's lineup at the Hard Rock Hotel.
The Plea for Peace/Take Action Tour also stars Jimmy Eat World, the Promise
Ring, the Donnas, Common Rider and Lawrence Arms.
  Showtime is 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.50 at the box office, 4455 Paradise
Road, and through Ticketmaster. To charge by phone, call 693-5066.

Gris-gris
  Another offbeat music act in town this weekend is the Voodoo Organist,
playing tonight at the still-awesome Cooler Lounge.
  The Voodoo Organist is Scott Aaron Wexton, who runs his dual-manual combo
organ through a rotating horn speaker (whatever the hell that means), to
make fascinating and spooky-cool songs.
  "I'm Goin' Down" is an upbeat, dark gospellike thing. "Kabam!" sounds
like a Vegas showroom tune if Vegas had ever been turned into a "Nightmare
Before Christmas" town. Wexton's self-released album, "Exotic Demonic
Blues," is a creative, catchy and freaky thing -- one of my favorite
surprises of the year.
  Also performing tonight is Pseudo Nymph. Showtime is 10. Admission is a
$5 donation at the Cooler Lounge, 1905 N. Decatur Blvd. For more
information, call 646-3009.

More spooky
  Yet another divergent act in town, on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel, is
DJ Shadow, a critically acclaimed DJ who experiments with quirky,
interesting rhythms and noises, rather than spin dance booms.
  As Rolling Stone put it in a big August feature, the 30-year-old DJ is
one of the best. He's touring for his second album, "The Private Press," a
more accessible but still artsy collage.
  Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $28.50 at the box office and through
Ticketmaster. To charge by phone, call 693-5066.

Around town
  Mexican pop-rock group Maná headlines the Mandalay Bay Events Center on
Wednesday. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $25.50-$75.50 at the box office,
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and through Ticketmaster. To charge by phone,
call 632-7580. ...
  DJ Irene spins at Ra tonight. Doors open at 10 at the club inside Luxor,
3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Admission at the door is $20. ...
  New Orleans rock bands Better Than Ezra and Cowboy Mouth end up at the
House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on Thursday. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the
all-ages show. Tickets are $20-$25 at the box office and through
Ticketmaster. To charge by phone, call 632-7600. ...
  And Alice Cooper performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Sunset Station
amphitheater. Tickets are $20-$45 and are on sale at the front desk, 1301
W. Sunset Road, Henderson. To charge by phone, call 547-5300.