I can’t decide what to pick this week, but if I could it’s a safe
bet it would be something at the Young Avenue Deli, which is hosting
five touring shows this week. New, old; post, retro. There’s a
little bit of everything. On the retro front you’ve got the Hollisters
of Houston making with the Bakersfield sound on Friday, followed
by Sub Pop country-politan signee Mike Ireland on Saturday, who
– in turn – is followed by the hillbilly honkytonk yodelin’ of
Wayne Hancock Wednesday. On the other hand, here comes the Aussie
(dare I say it?) post-rock combo Dirty Three on Monday, touring
in support of their latest and smoothest record, Ocean Songs.
Joining them will be Giant Sand’s rhythm section, better known
as Calexico. They’re in on the instrumentalism craze – some lyrics
notwithstanding – but from a decidedly Southwestern angle. In
other words, if Jim Jarmusch ever decides to remake The Three
Penny Opera and set it in Tucson, we know who’ll be getting a
call. And finally, obscurity, thy name is Fred Cole. Cole has
been making soiled garage rock since the early Sixties, for the
last 10 years with his trio Dead Moon. They’ll be playing the
deli Thursday with Clears/Delorean byproduct the Ultracats. – Jim Hanas
I don’t know what Jim is talking about – post rock, retro rock.
There is just one rock and the Fixx is it. Well, okay not really.
Actually, not at all. But the Fixx, who’ll be at Six-1-Six Saturday,
were one of my favorite early-’80s New-Wave bands. No funny hairdos,
no goofy dances, little makeup, and relatively normal clothes.
(And smart, too. Lead singer Cy Curnin now designs hats, you know.
How the hell do you make a living designing hats? And more importantly,
why?) The Fixx also had some of the better songs of the era, including
such dark and brooding but hummable pop numbers like “Are We Ourselves,”
“Secret Separation,” “Stand Or Fall,” and, of course, “One Thing
Leads To Another.”
A word of warning, however: We haven’t heard definitively whether
Curnin will be with the band, and in this day of Creedance Clearwater
Revisited, that is definitely something to watch for. If Cy is
there, cool; if not, it’ll suck. 
– Mark Jordan