INSIDE BEATTHE WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE OF THE DAILY TARGUM

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MODEL FIGHT CLUB•KILLER ELITE•BLINK-182•BURNOUT CRASH•STYLE FOR LESS•AUDACITY

Tellin’ It Like It Is

Female FemaleComediansComedians

September 29, 2011Page 2 • Inside Beat

EDITOR’S RANT & TV

Maggie BlahaSpence Blazak

Gianna MoscatelloJosh Kelly

Ashley Lagzial

FREDDIE MORGAN............................................................................TV EDITOR

EMILY GABRIELE.......................................................................MUSIC EDITOR

HEATHER TEDESCO................................................................THEATER EDITOR

ZOË SZATHMARY....................................................................FASHION EDITOR

JILLIAN PASON..........................................................................COPY EDITOR

KEITH FREEMAN.........................................................................PHOTO EDITOR

ALEX NATANZON............................................................................FILM EDITOR

DIANA CHOLANKERIL...............................................................ONLINE EDITOR

RYAN SURUJNATH...........................................................VIDEO GAMES EDITOR

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D

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CONTRIBUTORS TO

INSIDE BEAT :

ZOË SZATHMARY....................................................EDITOR

RYAN SURUJNATH.....................................................ASSOCIATE EDITOR

ASHLEY PARK...................................................ASSISTANT EDITOR

Cover Photo Courtesy of esquire.com

BY FREDDIE MORGANTV EDITOR

There is no doubt that a babychanges everything, includinggood TV. NBC’s Up All Nightproves that adding babies to theequation is the quickest way to ruina sitcom. The show features threeof the funniest actors on the smallscreen and limits their potential bybaby-proofing the storyline.

Reagan Brinkley (Christina Ap-plegate, Samantha Who?) and herhusband Chris (Will Arnett, Run-ning Wilde) are a carefree couplethat feels obligated to clean up theiract upon the arrival of an unexpectedbaby. And, in an equally unexpectedtwist, they do. Viewers get a minuteglimpse into the couple’s past, andjudging by several bar scenes ofdrinking with strangers and dancingon pool tables, we are to assume thatthe couple is not used to their hum-drum 9 – 5, child-rearing routine.Reagan, a talk-show producer, andChris, a stay-at-home dad, are twofairly normal adults. The mostearnest (and, consequently, least

NBC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. | B-UP ALL NIGHT

BY RYAN SURUJNATHASSOCIATE EDITOR

Female comedians, film stars,television personalities, authors andpoliticians – it seems that historyhas, up until recently, robbed an en-tire gender of recognition. But whilethe feminist movement is as strongas ever, it doesn't seem as thoughanyone is looking out for men.

I am in no way advocating a re-turn to the mid-1900s chauvinisticideals in which a man arrives homeafter a day at the factory and ex-pects a sandwich and foot massage.My case can be better illustrated in

THE MASCULINE MYSTIQUE

I T ’ S RA I N I N G ME NBY FREDDIE MORGAN

TV EDITOR

September 19, 2011. Recordswere undoubtedly broken. TheTwo and a Half Men premiere rat-ings were awe-inspiring. Jaw-drop-ping. Incredibly huge.

Remember when Charlie Sheenwigged out on a month-long co-caine-induced trip last May? Howcould anyone forget? He launcheda series of personal rants againstMen creator Chuck Lorre (amongother things) after being fired fromthe show for erratic and self-de-structive offset behavior. AndAmerica gathered around, if only tosee the plane ultimately crash.

Sheen seemed to prevail (read:survive from serious drug-over-

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an observation I made severalweeks ago. I found myself walkingthrough Macy's (because it's onthe way to the Sony Style store)whereupon I found a man and hiswife/girlfriend/mistress in thefootwear department. She was inthe process of test fitting of seriesof items, all the while asking theman's opinion. The poor guylooked absolutely miserable, and Ipitied him, much in the same waythat one pities an injured animalthat should be put out of its misery.This sight made me wonder aboutthis man's situation: between fam-ily obligations, paying the bills on

time and working a dead-end job,this Average Joe may not have thetime to simply be a man.

This is what the magic of televi-sion is for. While the average manmay not have time to go and wres-tle an alligator, there is a variety oftelevision programming that can getthe testosterone flowing. SpikeT.V.'s series Deadliest Warrior re-cently concluded its third season.Shows do not get much more mas-culine than this; Deadliest Warriorcombines technology, past and mod-ern weaponry, historical trivia andlots of blood to create a manly expe-rience that put hair on my chest just

by watching it. BBC's Top Geartakes man's universal love of carsand explosives and injects it will adistinctly male brand of humor.

My father enjoys Steven Seagalmovies for the same reason. Hedoesn't watch for a deep, engross-ing plot or expert cinematography,and he definitely does not watchthese films because the man is agood actor. My father, like mostmen, derives a sort of carnal pleas-ure when he watches Seagal slitsome hapless moron's throat in thename of America. While I person-ally can't watch Under Siege withoutgetting chronic indigestion, I

achieve the same goal through theuse of videogames. After having toendure Sex and the City 2 as an ar-ticle last semester, I needed to par-take in the most masculine possibleactivity to purge my system. Thus, Ipopped in Fallout 3 and proceededto make a bloody mess of anythingthat stood in my way.

I can sum up the moral of thisstory with a simple analogy. It'sperfectly alright to drink lightbeer, and it's somewhat practicalto drink light beer on a daily basis.But sometimes, you're going tohave to trade that bottle of Coorsin for a shot of whiskey.

dose and brain damage); howeverthe damage he had done was ir-reparable. The eight-year partner-ship with Lorre could never beamended, a fact that was madeabundantly clear in the season pre-miere of a Sheen-less Two and aHalf Men. Much of the first halfhour joked about Sheen’s CharlieHarper, who got brutally phasedout of the show after getting hit bya moving train on a trip to France.Jon Cryer’s Alan was the only per-son who seemed truly upset.

But, the show must go on!Enter Ashton Kutcher, whosescraggly and unshaven presencelooming outside the Malibu housewindow strongly resembled that ofa wet dog. He dazzled the audi-ence with his portrayal of Walden

Schmidt, who seems a bit likeThat 70s Show’s Kelso with an in-heritance. He bantered withCryer, made irrational purchasesand he even appeared naked… forall these efforts, how well couldMen have really done?

Pretty damn well: overall, the9th season premiere delivered 27.7million viewers last Monday night –akin to the popularity of an Ameri-can Idol premiere. Surprisingly, thesitcom scored a 10.3 rating amongadults 18-49 – that’s an all-time highfor the show, and up 110% over lastfall’s 8th season debut. There is nodoubt that the show is riding thecoattails of Sheen’s publicized de-parture. Only time will tell if Twoand a Half Men is really better with-out Charlie Sheen.

funny) moments are when the Mr.and Mrs. are blindly feeling theirway through parenthood.

If the writers insist that Arnettplay someone subdued, then it’sclear the third star, Maya Rudolph(Bridesmaids), has been delegatedto bring a wackier brand of humorto the show. While initially she wascast as the head of a P.R. firm, herrole was rewritten to an egomania-cal, anxious talk-show host. Subse-quently, she is also Reagan’s bestfriend, and is desperately seekingthe reveler she once had in a child-less Reagan. At one point, Ava ar-rives at the Brinkley’s place with a“baby gift” – a basket with venisonstock, hot pepper cheese, andchilled bottles of Veuve Cliquot.

There are so many reasons theshow has potential. Sitcom veteransApplegate and Arnett have a nicelived-in chemistry as a playful yetgenuinely loving couple. However, itfeels that Arnett’s talent is beingsquandered by confining him to amore regular role. It is hard to be-lieve that the same man who playedthe fantastically self-involved Gob

Bluth on FOX’s Arrested Develop-ment is now playing a father whosemost interesting part of the day isfinding a new friend on Xbox Live.

Unfortunately, the pilot also hadsome poorly crafted elements. Thescript is peppered with censoredswear words as an indication of thelife that once was, but it’s simplyoff-putting and unnecessary. Also,it’s not believable that Ava is a high-profile celebrity when she casuallystrolls into the Brinkley home, alocal bar and a restaurant without aswarm of security guards andogling fans trailing behind her.We’re just not convinced.

All in all, the success of the se-ries hinges on what the writers dowith their characters. The premiseis not unique, and, moreover, notcompletely sustainable (they’rebound to figure out parenting even-tually.) What will keep the showafloat will be how the charactersreact in any situation that mayarise. However, if the series contin-ues along the same vein as thepilot, there’s no point in staying upall night for Up All Night.

September 29, 2011 Inside Beat • Page 3

FASHION

BY MAGGIE BLAHASTAFF WRITER

Within the glossy pages of amagazine like Vanity Fair or Vogueexists a fantastical world of highfashion, culture and art. To read-ers, it seems otherworldly. Readersenter an alternate reality – a realitythat isn’t focused on the practical.High fashion magazines reflect theglamorous world and lifestylemany readers can only imagine.

In this year’s October issue ofVogue, author Joan Didion (TheYear of Magical Thinking) recallsher disdain for childhood whenshe was seven or eight in the ap-propriately titled “In Sable andDark Glasses.” She longed to be

BY ZOË SZATHMARYEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Chiseled abs, haughty cheek-bones and a general air of indif-ference – these are the hallmarksof male models. So who knewsome of these pretty boys like tobeat one another to a bloody pulp?According to New York Maga-zine, “Friday Night Throwdown”has been organized over the pasttwo years in various downtownNew York warehouses. Led bytwo shadowy promoters, thefights draw crowds of up to 800people, each person paying a $20cover charge. Despite compar-isons to the infamous “walk-off”scene in Zoolander, there is a le-

BY DANIELA WEINAPPLESTAFF WRITER

Fall is in the air and new fashion trends are on University stu-dents’ minds. With the semester in full swing, costs can add upquickly – after purchasing school essentials needed for class, itcan seem impossible to even think about splurging on a new fallwardrobe. Luckily, keeping up with the trends doesn’t have toleave you penniless.

This season is all about bold colors and prints. Bright orangeand red hues, shiny metallics and 70s-style patterns have been pop-ping up all over designer brands like Alexander Wang and Chanel.Leopard prints, polka dots, and faux fur have been featured as well,particularly on accessories like shoes, handbags, and vests.

Here are a few hot fall items straight off the runway and theirmore affordable counterparts.

L: Mad Men Collection Izzy Pumps $120 (Banana Republic)R: Christian Louboutin Calf Hair Pump $795 (Neiman Marcus)

L: BB Dakota Janika Fur Vest in Black $99.00 (Urban Outfitters)R: DKNY Faux Fur Vest $295.00 (Saks Fifth Avenue)

L: H&M Blouse $9.95 (H&M)R: Raoul Silk Georgette Blouse $225 (Saks Fifth Avenue)

WORD ONTHE STREET MODEL FIGHT CLUB

Style For Less

Fashioning Reality

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gitimate boxing ring, a bell, an an-nouncer and a referee; even re-freshments are sold.

It’s not just models that jumpinto the ring; Muay Thai streetfighters and actual boxers partici-pate, too. One of the organizershas quipped, “I think it’s hilariousthat the whole point of [the malemodels’] being is to make moneyoff what they look like, yet they’llcome throw down for a couplehundred bucks.” Fighters canearn $150 per night, with thechance to earn more at later fightsif they can entertain the hungrycrowd.

“Rockstar Charlie,” accordingto T Magazine, is one of the morepopular fighters/models; he usu-

ally draws a large group of sup-porters, fights early, then partieswhile watching others duke it out.Model Marcel Castenmiller hasalso fought at Friday Night Throw-down – he appeared in a TommyHilfiger ad with a scratchedcornea two days after a bare-knuckled brawl.

Famed fashion personalities,like photographer Steven Klein,have been spotted at the gather-ings, along with a motley crew ofrock stars and people-about-town.While these hush-hush eventsdraw the in-crowd, you won’t seemodels with multi-million dollarcontracts put on boxing glovesanytime soon. They’re too prettyto quit their day jobs.

an adult – twenty-four, specifically– and would spin elaborate sce-narios where she was a sophisti-cated woman while mixing herselfa “lettuce cocktail” (iceberg let-tuce and crushed ice in a stemmedglass). Her fantasies featured heras an adult wearing a sable coatand dark sunglasses hounded bythe paparazzi in Argentina be-cause she had just gotten a di-vorce. Didion admits that she hadno idea what a sable coat or Ar-gentina looked like, but they were“concepts” that sounded verygrown-up to her.

She found the typical fantasieslittle girls have of dream weddingsand life as a princess to be “banal.”But Didion was also keenly aware

that she didn’t want any typicaladult life. She wanted to live an ex-traordinary life where she wouldhost fancy dinner parties, travelthe world and wear beautifulclothes. Didion would spend hoursflipping through issues of Vogueand assembling her perfect, idealwardrobe from the articles ofclothing and accessories found onthe glossy pages. She was lookingto make her fantasy possible.

The same concept applies toflipping through a fashion maga-zine. When reading a magazine,you can imagine yourself smartlydressed and drinking chic bever-ages. It’s akin to a little girl playingdress-up or make-believe…but themake-believe isn’t far-fetched.

Fall Fashion

Who Says Wome

BY HEATHER TEDESCOTHEATER EDITOR

On Sept. 10, 2011, Kathleen Madigan performed herstand-up comedy routine Gone Madigan at the StateTheatre in New Brunswick. With jokes about politics,reality television and her family, Madigan received anuproar of applause and laughter from a packed house.Madigan’s stellar performance was no shock to the au-dience who undoubtedly recognized her from her manyappearances with Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and DavidLetterman as well as from her appearances on LastComic Standing. While Madigan’s fame and success areclear, this is not necessarily true about all womencomics. Tammy Pescatelli, who opened for Madigan atthe State Theatre, told the audience in a moment of se-riousness: “Women need to support each other in life,but also in comedy, because there aren’t that many ofus.” This begs the question: why aren’t more women incomedy? Unfortunately, the immediate answer thatcomes to mind is “because women aren’t funny.”

In an effort to debunk this stigma, we sat down withVinnie Brand — comedian and owner of The Stress Fac-tory Comedy Club in New Brunswick — and asked hima few questions about women in comedy. Brand admit-ted that for a very long time, comedy was mostly male-dominated. This not only had to do with numbers, it alsohad a lot to do with the big comedic icons. These all fac-tor into the perpetuated stereotype of women not beingfunny, a stereotype that Brand encounters a lot. “A lotof guys will come in here saying women aren’t funny,”said Brand, “but when I have female headliners, it’sthose people who buy the tickets and sell the place out...So there’s still the perception that women cannot befunny, and it’s just inaccurate.”

To prove his point, Brand offered the following ex-amples: Tina Fey, Lisa Lampanelli, Lucille Ball,Roseanne Barr, Carol Burnett, Ellen Degeneres, WandaSykes, Rosie O'Donnell and of course Kathleen Madi-gan. Brand specifically talked about how impressed hewas with Lisa Lamanelli and Wanda Sykes. When LisaLampanelli has five standing ovations to sold-out showsat The Stress Factory, Brand notes, “You can’t deny that;you can’t say that women aren’t funny.” With Sykes,Brand says that she reached a new level that is rare forall performers: “Even the way she dealt with breast can-cer was so real and raw. She’s not one of my favorite fe-male comics, she’s one of my favorite comics.”

When asked where this stereotype came from Brandsaid, “I think what drove that, besides the male ego, wasjust that so many men were in the field and men feltmore liberty to be very free to talk about sex in a waythat was shocking.” Brand noted that many peoplefound it very taboo for women to talk about sex in thatway. For women, those taboos were very real andwomen needed to find a way to be a comedian withoutcrossing a boundary that would offend the audience.One comedian that Brand pointed out as having donethis very well was Ellen Degeneres. Brand commentedthat Degeneres has won the hearts of millions with hercomedy, and she did so by going above and beyond thetalent of her male counterparts. She had to be another

“My grandmother started walking fivemiles a day when she was sixty. She’sninety-seven now, and we don’t knowwhere the hell she is.”

–ELLEN DEGENERES

“[The vendor said]‘Ma'am, there's no alcohol in Disneyland!’I'm like, ‘Well, myticket says it’s the Hap-piest Place on Earth!’”

–KATHLEEN MADIGAN

“Usually I'm on topto keep the guy fromescaping.”

–LISA LAMPANELLI

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en Aren’t Funny?

“My husband and I didn't sign a pre-nuptialagreement. We signed amutual suicide pact.”

–ROSEANNE BARR

“The secret of staying young is tolive honestly, eat slowly and lieabout your age.”

–LUCILLE BALL

“That's what [men] want: twowomen. Fellas, I think that's a bit lofty.Because, come on, think about it -- if

you can't satisfy that one woman,why do you want to piss off

another one?”–WANDA SYKES

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caliber of comedian, and that’s what she didto be the big talent that she is today.

In addition to it being a more crude-natured profession, comedy is some-thing that is very club-driven. Brandattributes this night scene to the reasonwhy women haven’t sought out comedymore in the past and why it is only be-coming more popular in recent years.Tammy Pescatelli even mentioned in herstand-up how she had to always makesure she had a sitter for her child in orderto do her shows and that her publicist wasenraged when he had originally found outthat she was pregnant. He saw her preg-nancy as the end of her career. Yet even witha kid, Pescatelli has been able to maintain herimage in the comedy world and perform forhuge crowds – all things that Brand says would beunheard of 10 years ago.

Something else that Brand has seen change in thepast decade is the sincerity of women comedians. Brandfinds that sincerity in comedy is invaluable. While he be-lieves that women were a little slower to catch on to themore genuine acts, he sees it more prominently in mod-ern performers. “Men became more real on stage whilewomen were still in the revolutionary process. Womenfrom 20 years ago were more likely to put on an act andnow it’s that the audience wants to connect with the realperson who is the comic. The early female comics likeRosanne Barr were real and that’s why they were suc-cessful. When I’m on stage I’m just being me and beingwho I am, it’s only in the past 10 years that women havereally embraced that,” said Brand.

Brand is also finding that what was once seen as in-timidating and unladylike is becoming more acceptableof women both inside and outside of comedy. “Laughterhas always been more of an aphrodisiac to women thanmen, but guys are getting over the fact that women canbe funny. It’s happening across the spectrum. Whowants to watch women’s sports? A lot of people do now,but 15 years ago you wouldn’t hear a man say, ‘I want towatch women play soccer.’ That’s all changing becausethe role of women is evolving,” said Brand. He also com-mented on his own love life and the way that he appre-ciates his wife’s humor. Brand stated, “My wife is abrilliant writer. My wife is hysterical. In her writing, con-temporaries find her funny. I do find her hystericallyfunny and I find that endearing...it doesn’t hurt that I’mfunnier than her, though.”

At the end of the interview Brand left us with someadvice for comedians everywhere. He said, “My adviceto all comedians is be committed to being yourself, theaudience wants to feel like they’re watching YOU. As anaudience member you want to reach out and touch thatperson, you want to feel like you know that person.”Hopefully these inspiring words can attract more womento the world of comedy sending the message thatwomen can be funny…and they are!

The Stress Factory Comedy Club is located at 90Church St. in New Brunswick, NJ.

September 29, 2011Page 6 • Inside Beat

FILM & VIDEOGAMES

BY SPENCE BLAZAKSTAFF WRITER

A possible alternative title forthe new espionage thriller KillerElite might be Generic Fall 2011Jason Statham Vehicle, becausethen the title would have had thesame amount of effort put into itas the movie itself.

Danny (Jason Statham, DeathRace) is an ex-killer who isdragged out of retirement kick-ing and screaming when his oldpartner, Hunter (Robert De Niro,The Deer Hunter), is kidnappedby a Middle Eastern sheik. Thesheik says he will release Hunterif Danny can kill the three menwho killed his three sons in ex-actly six months. Soon after, Spe-cial Air Services operative Spike(Clive Owen, Children of Men) ison Danny’s tail.

It’s not a bad setup, but KillerElite quickly finds a way to de-stroy any potential it has in its firsttwenty minutes. Saying it isclichéd is a drastic understate-

Killer Elite Killer Elite Gary McKendry | C-

BY RYAN SURUJNATHASSOCIATE EDITOR

In 2003, Michael Lewis wroteMoneyball: The Art of Winning anUnfair Game. His novel had such aprofound impact on Major LeagueBaseball, that teams like the NewYork Yankees now use the form ofstatistical analysis Lewis writesabout, known as sabermetrics, asan important factor in acquiringnew players. Bennett Miller turnsLewis’ book into an accessibledrama that is based on the truestory of an economically disad-vantaged team.

Brad Pitt (Inglorious Basterds)plays Oakland Athletics generalmanager Billy Beane. After a defeatin the 2001 ALDS by the Yankees,Beane and the A’s organization areplaced in the unenviable position ofhaving to rebuild following the lossof three key players. To help withthis monumental task, Beane hiresPeter Brand (Jonah Hill, KnockedUp), a former advisor to the Cleve-land Indians. Together, Hill andBeane adopt a radically differentteam-building strategy that stressesthe importance of a high on-basepercentage. Beane and Hill set outto sign a number of unlikely play-ers, among which include the oft-in-jured first baseman Scott Hatteberg(Chris Pratt, Wanted) and the aging,former Yankee star, David Justice(Steven Bishop, Lost). Though thisnew method earned him no favorswith team manager Art Howe(Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Capote)and the Oakland media, Beane’s A’spersevered to a spectacular 2002 season.

Admittedly, the film does notfocus much on the team itself;astute baseball fans will noticethe omission of some namesthat were central to the team'splayoff run. Miguel Tejada, EricChavez, Tim Hudson, Barr yZito and Mark Mulder are nevermentioned in the film. Even the

MONEYBALLBennett Miller | B

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ment; the characters are moti-vated by nothing more thanmoney, power and relationshipswith significant others that are flat-ter than a flapjack. This leads tothe audience being overwhelmedby a slew of characters that arenothing more than names. Thefact that these people are the pro-tagonists is the beginning of KillerElite’s many problems.

The actors do the best theycan with such a limited script.Clive Owen pulls off the role of ageneric villain well enough, asdoes Robert De Niro as a wise-cracking killer, but Statham re-ally struggles. Transporter 2,Crank and Lock Stock and TwoSmoking Barrels showed that hecould have been the 21st cen-tury’s answer to ArnoldSchwarzenegger – Statham canbe a great action star at times. InKiller Elite, he just looks like hedoesn’t care. This completelysucks any energy from the film.

As the movie progresses, itkeeps trying to out-cliché each

scene. The most hackneyed lineof all is towards the end whenone character shoots another,claiming, “It’s nothing personal,just business.” Killer Elite hascommitted the unforgivable sin ofan action movie script: quotingThe Godfather.

Despite all of Killer Elite’s mis-steps, first-time director GaryMcKendry shows a few momentsof brilliance. While most of thefight/chase scenes are edited soclosely together that it’s hard totell what’s happening, McKendryshows potential in a minor fightthat Danny witnesses from acrossa street. It’s only two or threeshots and features a middle-agedEnglishman beating up three skin-heads who key his car. Too bad itonly lasts for 50 seconds.

All in all, Killer Elite is a mas-sive dud. It will soon find its wayto the bargain DVD bin at thecheckout of K-Marts nationwide.Banality permeates the overbear-ing pores of Killer Elite throughand through.

individual stories of Hattebergand Justice are left unexplored.

Indeed, Billy Beane is the pro-tagonist of Moneyball. The filmdeftly ties Beane's professional lifeas a manager with his emotionalbaggage: prior to his ascensionwithin the Athletics organization,Beane was a highly touted highschool prospect who choked uponentering the big leagues. The driv-ing force behind Moneyball is astellar performance by Brad Pitt,who injects the right balance ofemotion and light humor intoBeane's character. Pitt's perform-ance has at least an outside chanceat an Oscar nomination.

Pitt's performance is supple-mented by a team of provenscreenwriters. Steven Zallian(Schindler’s List) and Aaron Sorkin(The Social Network) do an amaz-ing job in dramatizing MichaelLewis' book, which contains long,unfilmable stretches on sabermet-ric principles. One of the film'smost memorable scenes involvesan expertly written spectacle inwhich Beane haggles with severalother teams in an effort to acquireCleveland reliever Ricardo Rincon.

Though Pitt’s performancedrives the film, Moneyball suffersfrom blatant pacing problems.The movie has a runtime of justover two hours, and it has a ten-dency to drag on at parts. Thiscan sometimes be especiallypainful for those who are notbaseball fans and may not havean interest in or understandingof baseball terminology. Money-ball also suffers from a lack of cli-max; the film repeatedly buildssuspense over long periods oftime towards a singular eventthat, ultimately, is not as satisfy-ing as it ought to be.

Moneyball will not win the sportof baseball any new fans. It is bestto think of Moneyball not as asports film, but rather, as a smartand well-written drama.

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BY JOSH KELLYSTAFF WRITER

Back fortheir fourthstudio album,K a s a b i a nhave reallyput togethera solid effort.

Velociraptor! is enjoyable from startto finish, with stand out tracks suchas “Days Are Forgotten” and“Switchblade Smiles.” The albumshines with aesthetic quality, yet itfalters in the area of originality.

Every track sounds similar tosongs you’ve heard before; TheBeatles are the obvious inspira-tion for tracks like “La Fee

September 29, 2011 Inside Beat • Page 7

MUSIC

BY EMILY GABRIELEMUSIC EDITOR

“We’re all about splittingeverything equally in the band… it brings a good dynamic. It’s25 percent divided evenly, inevery aspect,” Dan Claps com-mented on his progressive-rockband, Audacity. The Princeton-based rock quartet has a signif-icant amount of musical talentamongst its members. Vocal-ist/bassist Mike Martino, leadguitarist Drew Weinstein,rhythm guitarist Steve Nievesand drummer Dan Claps arelong-time friends who decidedto form the band in 2008. Sincethen, Audacity has caught theattention of many music-lovers.

Their music possesses rawvocals, intricate guitar riffs andpounding drum runs — mak-ing for a recipe for engage-ment. Releasing a self-titled,five-song EP under a year ago,Audacity’s live performancesare the guys’ primary area forbuilding a strong fan-base.“There are times where we

BY GIANNA MOSCATELLOSTAFF WRITER

Nothing groundbreaking forrock band Thrice will be found ontheir 8th release Major/Minor —what is present is a more refinedsound. The album feels like a cul-mination of all that the band hasbeen working toward since theirfirst, more experimental and alter-native release, Vheissu, back in2005. Major/Minor incorporateselements from their entire backcatalogue, yet the album neversounds like a repeat of anythingthey’ve done so far.

The production on the album is ahighlight in itself — every instru-ment shines through effortlessly,

BY ASHLEY LAGZIALSTAFF WRITER

The Honda Civic Tour featur-ing Blink 182, My Chemical Ro-mance and Matt and Kim causedexcitement nationwide. The dis-tinct difference in demographicswas clearly present in the crowd,but the enthusiasm for the showwas shared amongst everyone —regardless of age. The mid-tourperformance took place FridaySept. 16 at SPAC in SaratogaSprings, N.Y.

The show began as indie rock-ers Matt and Kim walked acrossthe stage and took their respec-tive places. Although the popular-ity of Matt and Kim cannot hold acandle to the other two acts thatfollowed, they still put on an amaz-ing high-energy performance thatproved they deserved the spot onthis big-named tour.

Next up was My ChemicalRomance, which brought moreengagement from the audience— undoubtedly due to theirsuccesses on MTV. Front man

Audacity

Kasabian

Thrice Major/Minor | B+

Blink 182:A Flashback to the ‘90s

Local Corner

Velociraptor!| B+

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COURTESY OF HANNAH GROSSMAN

and they never seem to fight one an-other for sonic space. The bass andguitar tones are thick and crunchywhich adds to the spellbinding at-mosphere that grabs the listenerfrom the first note to the last.

Lyrically, the album is verystrong. Dustin Kensrue’s wordsread like poetry and the imageryand emotion conveyed in his workis very much signature of Ken-srue’s writing style. He delivershis words with a great deal of pas-sion in his voice, which accompa-nies the ensemble’s emotionallyraw, energetic and creative instru-mental work exceedingly well.

Though Major/Minor is a solideffort from the seasoned vets, it stillhas its drawbacks. There are times

throughout the album when thetrack’s melodies sound all too simi-lar. This aspect, melded togetherwith the same bombastic guitar toneand thick orchestration, makes afew individual songs lack personal-ity. Though this problem in no waymakes the record less listenable orbeautifully written, it remains aslight drawback nonetheless.

Major/Minor may not beThrice’s biggest musical ad-vancement but the album isdense, honest, and brooding, andis still distinctive to the band —which alone makes the albumone worth owning for any fan.Highlighted tracks include “Callit in the Air,” “Blinded,” “YellowBelly,” and “Blur.”

Verte” – it even includes a directreference to “Lucy in the SkyWith Diamonds”. The track“Man of Simple Pleasures” is inline with such groups as ArcticMonkeys, and “SwitchbladeSmiles” could easily be a B-sidefrom Muse, further proving theirshortfall of distinctiveness.

At one minute the albumseems calm, with crooning vo-cals, strings and acoustic gui-tars on tracks such as “NeonNoon”, yet the album com-pletely contrasts itself withheavy synth melodies and a dis-tor ted crunchy guitar on theself-titled song. To some, thismay seem disorganized, but thetracks have a strange way ofworking together.

Lyrically, the album serves asa strong catalyst for social com-mentary. Tom Meighan put to-gether an album that is moreemotional than previous efforts,with subject matter reflecting thedecline in intellectualization, in-creasing confusion over decisionsmade by those in power, visceraldesires and people’s tendencies toself-medicate in attempts to dealwith a progressively soured qual-ity of life. “It’s the 21st century ain’tit cool?/It’s taught us how to eatand how to drool,” Meighan hon-estly sings on track “Acid TurkishBath”. All in all Velociraptor! con-tains nothing new in terms of mu-sicianship or production, but it isan entertaining listen that isworth picking up.

Gerard Way, sporting pink hair,took the stage and belted outsongs from an array of albumssuch as, “Give ‘Em Hell, Kid”,“Welcome to the Black Parade”and “Teenagers”.

As the lights finally dimmed forBlink for the last and final time,the intro to “Feeling This” couldbe heard and the electricity in thecrowd was contagious. Tom,Travis and Mark gave a solid per-formance as they played an evenmix of songs from all six of theiralbums — including the soon to bereleased album, Neighborhoods.

Although the act sounded greatlive, the feeling that the band wasjaded by their copious amounts ofperformances over the last twodecades was definitely apparent.Unscathed by this fact, the audi-ence called for an encore, whichwas answered by Travis Barker’smuch hyped “flying” drum solo.The song “Family Reunion” endedthe set, which was accompaniedby confetti and loud screams fromthe audience. The tour still contin-ues through the month of October.

bring in 150 fans to a show justbased off of our promotion onFacebook,” Claps stated. Au-dacity has played some of NewJersey’s most noteworthy ven-ues, ranging from StarlandBallroom to The Stone Pony,and they made many connec-tions along the way.

They continuously possessfervor for networking. “Wepride ourselves on beingfriendly guys and being ap-proachable,” Weinstein added.A band with a ridiculous knackfor collaborative song writing,their undying ambition is justan added bonus to their ap-peal. Currently, Audacity isworking on recording and per-fecting their music in hopes torelease an album in the nearfuture. In the meantime, besure to check out Audacity’slive performances.

Their next show is Oct.28th, at the Freehold VFW, formore information and upcom-ing show dates go to face-book.com/audacitynj