Airwaves

by Brian Goslow

It takes questionable judgment to inject any more sugar into Captain P.J.'s metabolism, but with the puppet master working on his own deadline for an upcoming issue of Fuz Brains and a three-hour wait until show time, I loaded him up on a double Bean Counter Cappuccino to talk about the tracks he's been featuring on the Rockin' Revolution, heard every Tuesday night/Wednesday morning from midnight to 2 a.m. on WCUW (91.3 FM).

"Ramona Silver's Ultrasound (Fingerprint) is a new release from last year's Boston Rock and Roll Rumble runner-up." His favorite tracks are "B.J.'s Got the Butterflies," "Woman," the instrumental "Cookies," and "Closet," which P.J. says is "on the experimental side." Hesitating comparisons, he offers, "I don't dare compare her to Courtney [Love], maybe a little bit of Aimee Mann. She has different kind of styles."

Another Beantown band getting airplay are Honey West. "Here Boy (Pinto) has the tendencies of a lot of the early-'80s Boston bands, especially Mission of Burma and little bit of Pastiche." Top cuts include the grungy-sounding "Flashback" and '90s power-popish "Strawberry Sidewalk."

Closer to home, Huck's Honeywagon (Orcaphat) has Scott Ricciuti's troops at their peak. "`Maggie's Got a Gun,' and `Today' are more upbeat than the cuts on My Boy Joe, their previous effort. This is the best outing yet for these guys." He's also playing "Bad Seed," "I'll Call You," and "Covered" from Thinner's self-produced debut.

Big Ray and the Futuras' self-titled all-instrumental debut on Ray Line Records include "Lug Nut," "Surf Hammer," "Life on Mars," and "Mr. Moto." "They go the wordless route with a Ventures and Shadows influence." The Digital Side of the Moon (Big Noise) is a compilation CD filled with a variety of bands, including Deep Delicious ("Cindy Crawford Is Trying To Get in My Pants") and Valhalla Taxi's "If I'm Not Hungover, I Must Be in Love" (which P.J. calls "a sideways version of Jimmy Buffett's `Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw?'"). Andah and Bi Janus contribute the other outstanding cuts.

? and the Mysterians' Do You Feel It Baby? (Norton), recorded live at Coney Island High last October, includes great versions of "Girl (You Captivate Me)," "Second Side," "Smokes," and "96 Tears." Isn't any modification of the latter, perhaps the most perfect record ever made, sacrilegious? "No! You can hear me and Mono Man [of the Lyres] screaming `96 Tears' at the same time."

He's also playing both new releases from the fabulous Fleshtones. Hitsburgh USA (Telstar), available only at Fleshtone gigs or mail order, includes "Dick Tracy," "Keep Her Guessing," and great cover versions of Ian Whitcomb's "This Sporting Life," the Animals' "Inside Looking Out," and Larry Verne's "Mr. Custer." As for the almost easier to find More than Skin Deep (Ichiban), P.J. says, "it's more upbeat and poppier than Hitsburgh, which is a little bit more laid-back musically."

Speaking of laid-back, anyone attending last weekend's Fleshtones' show at Dinny's was stunned to find a fairly subdued P.J. "I got hired and kept at the door with [beloved puppet] Ham Ham, but when they did `Screamin' Skull,' I was up on the bar dancing." One of the night's funniest moments occurred when vocalist Peter Zaremba, trying to look extra serious singing "Anywhere You Go," couldn't figure out why the audience was laughing. "I snuck one of my puppets, Coco the Monkey, who looks like the original Hurdy Gurdy monkey from Boston, behind him," explains P.J., like any other proud parent. Yee Yee!