Dr. Dream Records Signs Witty, Versatile Eggplant

Time to catch up on major and minor happenings around the Orange County music scene:

-- Dr. Dream Records, the Orange County-based alternative rock label, continues to carve a niche for itself as a home for interesting local bands. The label’s latest signing is Eggplant, a Huntington Beach band whose varied, witty approach to rock makes it a good candidate for acceptance on the college radio scene. Comparisons to Camper Van Beethoven are likely. Eggplant headlines July 7 at Night Moves, 5902 Warner Ave., in Huntington Beach, along with two other worthy local rock contenders, Lost Dog and Don’t Mean Maybe.

--The Swamp Zombies, who last year became the first Dr. Dream band to sally forth with national touring, haven’t forgotten their roots. The Irvine-based acoustic-rock quartet, with its play-on-a-street-corner folk-busker’s ethic, has always regarded the annual Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach as a favorite gig. The Swamp Zombies will be back at the festival on Laguna Canyon Road this year, playing on eight separate evenings, with five half-hour sets each night between 5:30 and 9:30. The Zombie dates are July 9, 21 and 26; and Aug. 1, 8, 12, 15 and 20. The band’s humor-filled repertoire ranges from Jimi Hendrix and the Sex Pistols to the “Green Acres” theme.

--National People’s Gang, another local band which records for Dr. Dream, evidently has something to say about its roots on its next album, which is tentatively titled “Orange.” The record is expected to be out this fall. NPG plays July 7 at Bogart’s in Long Beach. Also appearing on that bill is Redhouse, which includes three former members of the defunct Orange County band the Bell Jar. The band is promising “an entirely new color” from its Bell Jar days, when the murky, gloomy sonics came painted in basic black. Along with NPG and Redhouse will be Gypsy Trash, whose winsome singer, Dee Dee Grisham, recently became the bride of T.S.O.L.’s singer, Joe Wood. Gypsy Trash also plays July 13 at Night Moves.

--Night Moves has started a Monday night jam session featuring mix-and-match combinations of Orange County rock band members. The soirees are being billed as “Roche Motel,” in honor of T.S.O.L.’s bassist, Mike Roche, who serves as host for the jams.

-- The T.S.O.L. alumni association is also staying busy: Lunch Box, which includes T.S.O.L.’s original lead guitarist, Ron Emory, has signed to record for Bug Records, a new subsidiary of Capitol. Lunch Box is celebrating its signing tonight with a show at Club Lingerie in Hollywood. Also on the bill are other bands with Orange County roots: Burning Tree, the Scarecrows and One Day.

Tender Fury, fronted by former T.S.O.L. singer Jack Grisham, has switched from the Chameleon/Posh Boy label to Triple X records, and is scheduled to begin recording its second album this summer.

Releases also are expected from two other bands with roots in Orange County’s early-’80s punk rock explosion: D.I. is working on its latest album for Triple X, and Agent Orange is starting work on another album for Enigma Records. Brent Liles, former bassist for Social Distortion, has joined Agent Orange, which continues to be led by founding guitarist Mike Palm.

As for the current lineup of Social Distortion, it’s doing just fine, having recently signed with Epic Records. Singer Mike Ness says the new songs for S.D.’s first major label album are already written--including “Ball and Chain,” a terrific country-rocker which the band has been playing live. Social Distortion will get down to recording after an extensive national summer tour. Ness, by the way, is described in “The New Trouser Press Record Guide” (a thick book that reviews thousands of alternative rock records from the punk era and beyond) as “more a punk pinup than Billy Idol ever was.”

--The Shade Tree stringed instrument shop in Laguna Niguel is putting on a series of three acoustic folk shows this summer. The Vermont-based duo of Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer will play July 17, offering banjo, guitar and mandolin picking and country yodeling. Singer-songwriter Steve Gillette and his wife, Cindy Mangsen appear July 21, and Bob Franke, a Massachusetts folkie, will play on Aug. 7. Information: (714) 364-5270.

-- Speaking of folkies, after dabbling in big-band blues the last time around, the unpredictable Neil Young is going back to his roots with a solo acoustic show Aug. 18 at the Pacific Amphitheatre. Tickets go on sale Sunday at 10 a.m.

-- Local reggae and rock acts will pitch in to support what has become rock’s latest high-profile cause: preservation of tropical rain forests. The benefit takes place July 8 from 5 p.m. to midnight, at Willowbrook-Anneliese’s School, 20062 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Appearing are Barbara Paige and Identity, Bill Laster and Shades of Jade, Eyes of the World, Electraflo, The Voice of the Forest and Jumbalaya. Information: (714) 647-5522.