Across the Bar

X'd out; Columbia compiles rockabilly; Hellions tribute to the Circle Jerks; Gig plugs galore; And Street Beat is ch-ch-ch-changing?

Comments (0) By Zac Crain Thursday, Jul 6 2000

Besides the Deathrays' shindig, other upcoming Good Records in-stores include sets by Austin's Knife in the Water and Stumptone on July 22 (prior to their show that night at Gypsy Tea Room), and Jetscreamer on July 28. If you haven't heard Knife in the Water's new album Red River, or last year's Plays One Sound and Others, you need to get on it. Seriously...

Finally, don't think this is intended as a retraction of last week's, uh, hysterical rant ("End hits," June 29), but perhaps we let things get out of hand, emptying too much of our smug, self-righteous (and more than a few would say "name-dropping") selves onto the paper, and needlessly at that. Or maybe, as our editor suggested, we just needed a hug. Either way, for the record, we don't hate all Dallas-Denton-Fort Worth bands (more than our fair share, sure, but why quibble), and there are, indeed, changes a-comin' to Street Beat, both cosmetic and substantive. The point of last week's put-your-head-on-my-shoulder diatribe was to stress that we are responsible for those changes, not--as a friend put it best--letters from "those sorry typo-mongering, Creed rip-off bands." OK, maybe it was the "whiny-babiest" column we've ever produced (courtesy of the same friend); at the time, it needed to be said. And, by some--just about everyone who read the caption to The Deathray Davies photo, for instance--somewhat misunderstood. Time to move on.

Send a waist-high stack of feathers and a travel-size container of tar to Street Beat at zcrain@dallasobserver.com.