Some Do It the Old-Fashioned Way--Playing Music

The most important rule to remember for today’s aspiring rock musician is:

A) Find a good hair stylist and wardrobe expert.

B) Find a lawyer or business agent with good record company connections.

C) Find a way to let music fans hear your music.

Choice A seems to have more than its share of adherents among the hard-rock set, but pragmatists in the corporate-conglomerate music industry would probably put their money on B . Today’s Pop Beat looks at the work of some Orange County-based musicians who haven’t given up on C , the old-fashioned, grass-roots idea that being heard is the fundamental thing.

Except for the Altar Boys album, released by a small, Santa Ana-based Christian rock label, all of the recordings reviewed below are independent, do-it-yourself projects. Some of them have as much, if not more, to offer than the average release bearing a conglomerate stamp. Finding them could take some hunting--but all of the albums reviewed (on a five-star scale) are available either in record shops that carry local music or directly from the performers at their live shows.

DON’T MEAN MAYBE.

“Don’t Mean Maybe.”

***

This Santa Ana trio draws its primary inspiration from the Minutemen and Firehose, alternative-rock heroes known for their jagged, slashing rhythms and rough-hewn, half-spoken vocals. But Don’t Mean Maybe goes beyond imitation with playing that is sharp, muscular, eclectic and witty. Guitarist Mark Andrea is at the forefront, his shifting instrumental riffs providing the melodic interest that is missing from his singing. In six compact songs, the band explores some interesting, unexpected musical combinations. “Big Deal For Blimps” merges the Minutemen’s rhythmic jitters with the psychedelic drive of the Amboy Dukes’ “Journey to the Center of the Mind.” In “Backyard,” Don’t Mean Maybe begins with a march, ends in relaxed, jazzy doodling, and blasts forward in between with tastefully applied Hendrix-style wailing. On “Whatever,” Andrea makes his guitar guffaw as if it was hearing a good joke. Most of the band’s lyrics deal with the frustrations of trying to fathom existential conundrums--a subject well matched with Don’t Mean Maybe’s engaging musical twists and turns.

ALTAR BOYS

“Forever Mercy.” Alarma

**1/2

These Christian rockers avoid dogma and self-righteousness, so non-believers need not shut the door. Their songs are about the struggle for faith in a fallen, heartbreaking world, and singer-guitarist Mike Stand’s fervently throaty vocals convey both the difficulty of the struggle and the conviction with which he endures it. It would help, though, if the Altar Boys could abandon the fray from time to time and try to depict moments of calm and joyful transcendence. The band’s most serious flaw--call it the U2 syndrome--is its tendency to leap into high-blown lyrical abstractions about spiritual concepts, neglecting to anchor them with rich, concrete details and story lines drawn from real life (there’s no better example of the down-to-earth, story-oriented approach than the Bible itself). “Forever Mercy” also is a bit too heavy on driving, chiming anthems that recall the Alarm, although the Altar Boys show a sure, forceful hand with anthem-rock material. At its best, the band finds other means than the typical anthem style--coming up with a raw, blues-driven number, “Ride This Train,” or crafting a lovely, yearning bit of pop on “The Meaning of Life.” More development along these lines could make this solid band a strong candidate for mainstream exposure.

CHALLENGE THE LIGHT

“She Comes to Seek Her Soul.” Breathe

**1/2

“This album is about the Eternity held within each moment like a prism of joy shining through a teardrop,” advises the lyric insert that comes with this CD release. Fortunately, the music that envelops CTL’s flighty pop philosophy musings about “the One and . . . the All” redeems what otherwise could have been an awfully pompous exercise. The album sounds wonderful, with expert singing and playing highlighting songs that have the production sheen and elaborate arrangements of a big-budget, major-label release. Much of the music recalls the lush, big-beat sound of bands like Simple Minds and Duran Duran. By keeping the music and emotions varied as it oscillates between sexy dance-rock and dreamily atmospheric music, CTL overcomes the vagueness of its romantic symbolism and gives this concept album a sense of progression and completeness.

THE GIRLS

“That’s What Dreams Are For.”

**

This female vocal trio is a spinoff from Honk, an Orange County rock band that had a fling at national success during the 1970s. The Girls sing easygoing, adult-contemporary romantic pop that doesn’t claim to be more than it is: pleasantly disposable good-time music. All three voices are clear, rangy and smooth (although a bit uniform in tone), and the backing by an ensemble of studio veterans and touring pros is tastefully economical in a genre that often gets bogged down in an ooze of over-orchestration. The best song, “Repay,” shows some ambition with its brooding tone and nicely detailed lyric. Otherwise, The Girls play it safe by sticking to familiar pop conventions--but they sing with enough feeling and style to avoid vacuousness. The Girls play Friday and Saturday nights at the Old Dana Point Cafe, through the end of June.

HOBO SLAM

“Hobo Slam.” Max

**

New Wave is old hat now, but Hobo Slam manages to pump it up nicely with a cassette EP heavily influenced by the early work of such original new wavers as Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Squeeze. This is pure pop that is lean, catchy and danceable. The songs deal with the typical stuff--wrongdoing women, mainly--but they handle it with lightness and style. Derivative, but fun.

21 WINDOWS

“21 Windows.”

*1/2

This trio has some important basics down pat--capable singing and playing, a good knack for melody. But the music is far too pat, recycling familiar mainstream rock styles--bands like Foreigner and the Outfield come to mind--without embossing them with a stamp of individuality. The lyrics are too often wooden and trite. But there is promise here, notably in the album’s high point, “Near the Middle,” which rolls and chimes along with confidence and displays a somewhat more personal lyrical voice.

BABYLONIAN TILES

“Babylonian Tiles.”

*1/2

The sound isn’t all that is murky on this homemade cassette. All four songs are full of sepulchral gloom and dread. Sighing, enervated female vocals and mysterioso keyboard lines predominate on songs that have some dark appeal, but tend to drag on too long. The best song here, “This Perfect Day,” goes beyond fashionable Gothic melancholia and makes its ruefulness sound real. Babylonian Tiles plays Monday night at Bogart’s.

LIVE ACTION: Irvine Meadows has added two shows to its schedule: Great White, Tesla and Kix on July 8, and Love and Rockets, with the Godfathers, on July 21. Tickets for both shows go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. . . . Xymox, from Holland, and Moev, from Canada, combine for an international bill of dance rock bands with unintelligible names July 26 at Club Postnuclear in Laguna Beach. Postnuclear also keeps its series of Thursday-night rock shows going with the Pandoras on June 15, New Marines and Fear and Faith (June 22), Black Daphne, Eggplant and Smiling Face Down (June 29) and Lions & Ghosts with Human Drama (July 6).