-- JOEL HARTSE
The JonnyForest at Mizuna on Friday, July 20, time TBA. Free. Call 747-2004.
& lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & D & lt;/span & ear GARY JULES,
Just wanted to make sure we're on the same page. We are expecting you to play your gorgeous cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" at your show. To be honest, we didn't know that you'd recorded any other songs, because a) we didn't know it was you covering "Mad World," in the first place (nice job, though), and b) you haven't been mass-marketed to us the way you might have been after the Donnie Darko soundtrack (and we are thankful for this).
Anyhoo, recently we found out that the rest of your catalogue is damned decent acoustic pop with a hint of that wounded tenderness that penetrated our cold, ironic hearts when we heard that cover. It was a pleasant surprise, but we still just want to hear "Mad World." Maybe you could play it twice?
Love, Everybody
- JOEL HARTSE
Gary Jules with Jim Bianco at Big Easy Bourbon Street on Saturday, July 21, at 7 pm. $10; $12, at the door. Call 244-3279.
& lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & A & lt;/span & t first listen, the Albuquerque band SOULAR seems gentle and childlike. Some lyrics include "Love, Crash, Heal; Love I Feel," or "Where do you go for love?" It isn't until the song "Tomorrow Never Comes" that the clich & eacute; lyrics finally find their musical correlate. The sound meshes. The vocals, the drums, the guitar and even the keyboard-- are so melded together that the sound that flows out is so pure and so perfect. By adding a couple of lyrics surrounding what seems prepubescent-longing, the crystalline clarity of their music comes out in a naked, clear and ultimately pure sound.
In a way, it seems too perfectly pretty. The band plays to the humming vocals of Marsh, who leads the band. Some of the lyrics can make you choke, in their own way, very uniquely. With such a pure and perfect sound, there really isn't anything else they could sing about other than love and longing.
-- TAMMY MARSHALL
Soular at Empyrean on Wednesday, July 25, at 7 pm. $7. Call 838-9819.