High performance

Run On prove art and rock still blend into a boss fuel

by CHRIS YURKIW

Sonic Youth circa Evol and Sister... the Swans' opus Children Of God... Brian Eno's Another Green World... Run On are tasty in the same way, but it's not like the New York quartet were an "experimental" or "arty" outfit that gradually got into power chords--the group started off as a mix between avant tendencies and the need to rock.

"I think that's a good way of putting it," says first guitarist, second vocalist and thrift-store instrumentalist Alan Licht.

Yeah sure, everybody plays some kind of hybrid/hyphenate amid the po-mo, pre-millennium tension, but with Run On the blender is set so fast that they come up with a truly refreshing new drink. Drummer Rick Brown has roots in New York's No Wave scene, likes soul and country as much as punk and new music, and uses no hi-hat ("He's much more comfortable playing in odd meters than he is in 4/4," says Licht). Brown's wife and former Fish & Roses bandmate Sue Garner sings in her best naïve-indie voice and trades earthy guitar riffs with Licht. Katie Gentile replaced the departed David Newgarden's trumpet with her violin (and some organ). And Licht himself vacillates between having "a sweet tooth" for pop and noise-mongering in free-jazz sessions with Downtown improv-ers like Keiji Haino and Loren Mazzacane Connors. Run On lies exactly between the two.

"I'd always listened to a pretty wide range of music," says Licht, "but playing in this band got me to remember all those records by Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, Wire and the Feelies." Again, Run On sits somewhere in the middle of that square. You might toss in Eric's Trip as an influence, too, at least on the lyrics of "Xmas Trip."

"Rick is a big fan of that band," says Licht, "and he wrote the lyrics of that song, which is this impressionistic fantasy of imagining that band being on tour but also selling Christmas trees on the street in New York City, as a lot of people from Canada do."

For proof of these wild claims, check either of Run On's simply sublime albums for Matador, last year's Start Packing or the brand new No Way. One could hardly recommend one over the other.

Run On and People Playing Music play the Jailhouse Rock Café this Tuesday, April 22