Big pigs

Huevos Rancheros won't sing with their mouths full

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

One would like to think that travel would open a world of opportunity for exotic culinary indulgences. Given the shoestring budget on which most touring rock bands operate, options tend to become limited. Rock stars learn early on to make do with the greasy offerings of the roadside diner. Some, like Brent Cooper, guitarist of Huevos Rancheros, even come to appreciate the possibilities of unhealthy food. "Taco Bell has saved our lives countless times," he says. "That's where the whole band can eat for 10 bucks and still get our Star Wars toys."

Apparently. The band name that Cooper and cohorts Tom Kennedy (bass) and Richie Ranchero (drums) have selected for themselves indicates a preoccupation with grub. So does the title of their last album, Dig In!, on Vancouver's Mint label. One can just imagine the lyrics that would accompany song titles like "Bar-B-Cutie," "Secret Recipe" or "Please Pass the Ketchup." That is, if Huevos wrote lyrics.

Actually, the term surf is a misnomer for Huevos. Catching waves isn't exactly a pressing concern for these landlocked Calgarians--these prairie boys sound more comfortable firing off spaghetti-western chestnuts like their album Get Outta Dodge. "So many surf bands look down on us for not being retro enough," sighs Cooper. "They're saying, 'Hey, you're doing it wrong.' We're not doing it wrong, we're just doing it our way. On our last album, there's nothing terribly surfy at all. We're more of a turf band--surf and turf."

But with whatever snappy term they choose to define themselves, Huevos have become Canada's leading suppliers of wordless, high-cholesterol reverb rock. They fill a gap left by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, a thought that makes Cooper a tad nervous. "I don't know if we want to be the leading anything," he says. "It's kind of scary. We're good friends with those guys, and I don't think we can replace them." A touching display of humility on Cooper's part but, by his own admission, the fans think otherwise. "We got some e-mail from a kid in Toronto who was sad that we weren't playing any all-ages shows. He managed to include the address of every Taco Bell in Toronto, and a rating for each one. It was the best gift we've ever gotten."

Pig out on Huevos Rancheros with a side order of Pluto and mADE, at Jailhouse Rock (30 Mont-Royal E.), Friday, March 28. 9pm, $8