Live review from the Stranger<BR>
THURSDAY 4/27 <BR>
THE NOW, RUSTON MIRE, CARMINE<BR>
(Crocodile) Somewhere along the line, someone decided being cool and having fun were mutually exclusive concepts. Thankfully, the Now, Ruston Mire, and Carmine care less about hipster cred than they do about writing and performing great singalong songs and having a good time doing it. Which isn't to say what they're doing isn't artistically valid -- because it is. It just happens to hearken back to a time when bands like Devo and Oingo Boingo proved that "smart" plus "catchy" plus "slightly dorky" could equal "cool," and entertaining the audience was still a noble pursuit. BARBARA MITCHELL<BR><P><BR><P><a href="carmine.html">back</a>