Angry Salad
Angry Salad CD Release
June 4, 1999 @ The Middle East
As the klieg lights blared into the sky, the round-the-corner line made
its way into the side door of Central Square’s popular punk pit. The
culmination of outrageous local hype, adopted Providence sons Angry Salad
had a lot riding on this night, and for the most part, they delivered.
Offering a strange Bono-esque accent (complete with aching squeaks and
spikes) and a constant up-and-down strum, singer Bob Whelan towered over
the mic stand with cerebral authority. Drummer Hale Pulsifer broke-in a
new Grover set with snappy drum corps precision which often sounded almost
electronic. Alex Grossi’s high electric lead gave an aire of Big Country
bagpipes (especially in tunes such as the secondary single “This Boy’s
Life”) and contrasted Brian Vesco’s deep-pocketed bass impressively. From
the radio-ready “Milkshake Song” to the ever-translating silly-dance
cover of Nena’s “99 Luftbalons,” the band flexed its pop muscle along with
its Ivy be-League-red sense of humor. Covering the Charlie Daniels
standard “Devil Went Down To Georgia” (complete with “evil hiss”), Angry
also offered happy pop sounds of The Hooters and The Police and a darker
Metallica/Matchbox 20 encore. Along the way, Whelan practiced his Grammy
Award “thank you” list and touched on topics from Star Wars to stardom,
both of which were apparently foremost in his mind.
Though they may not have much new to say (in English, at least), Salad
appears to have their vocabulary down (in multiple languages!) and are
proposed to have that intangible that will lead to national stardom. As
with any salad, however, the future is a toss-up.
- Matthew S. Robinson
© 1999 M. S. Robinson, ARR
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