The Concussions: Fall In Love With The Concussions ...by Emma Jade Gunn What an uber fab band! Sooo, where have they been all of my life? Are they a secret society? Who are The Concussions? Dick Chiclet - guitar Matt Mason - bass Claude Nine - guitar Billy Vits - drums The Concussions are a group of guys with made-up names and revolving, evolving, involving masks as performance gear. I can't. No. Okay. I can. I want a mask, too! Their album, Fall In Love With The Concussions, is the first of a pair of CDs this Michigan based instro combo are releasing this year. It definitely whet my appetite for the second. To me, Fall In Love With The Concussions creates a beautiful fantasy. My imaginings go something like this... :: :: :: :: :: Dreamsickle - Caressing guitars and gentle drums make me sway and dance in the warm summer air, the smell of the ocean and smooth rhapsody of the waves bringing my eyes to a close while I dream. This is so wonder-filled I can easily see it as the theme song to a movie about a beautiful surfer girl who heads into the waves one day and discovers her one true love who just happens to be an Olympian God. She swims deeper and deeper into the abyss until ... Happy Tappy - ... a city built from emeralds and sapphires erupts from the ocean floor. She places her hands against the glistening gates. She pushes and pushes, almost out of breath. Just as she thinks she will surely drown trying to get to her beloved, they ... slowly ... break ... away ... and swing open. A strong lead guitar, with pinpoint distortion, is just the cutting tool our surfer needed to breach the seemingly inpenetrable city walls. Witchiepoo's Jewelry Box - Behind the gates stands a Lady. She's tall, lithe, strong and has eyes the color of coal. The girl hears a new song, part Celtic dream, part Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance and she wants - needs - to sway to the sound. The surfer girl blinks, her azure eyes steeling for a fight of wills. The necklace around the Lady's neck is pearl, abalone and bronze. The girl reaches for it, bewitched. Phantom Limbs - As if in a dream, the surfer sees her hand disappear into the reflection of the lights from the city. The dark-eyed woman has flipped a mermaid tail and is gone. The girl heads for the tallest of the buildings. She is fast. She is strong. Yet her arms and legs burn and she can't see them for the brightness of the gem-infused water. There, just ahead, her Olympian beckons. The dark woman is there, behind him, smiling, holding the necklace toward the surfer. The God and Lady are brother and sister and the surfer girl is being accepted into the City of Gems. Her phantom limbs have taken her to where she needed to go. The music of the City is filled with the guitars, horns and drums of fate. Mrs. Beasley's Lament - That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Okay, I'm not Mrs. Beasley, but sometimes I just have to get a little bit of fantasy in, you know? And Fall In Love With The Concussions is the perfect CD to evoke those fantasies! Just in case you're wondering, Mrs. Beasley's Lament came on just in time or I might never have stopped dreaming my movie dream. Mrs. Beasley's Lament is vibrant and just exactly what you need. I kid you not! Hey, Concussions, that bass opening and guitar distortion upped my fantasy to a whole new level! Champagne Problem - The problem with champagne is that when I mix it with great drumming and great music like the masked ones play, I will go a teeny tiny wee wittle bit overboard. Hey! It's their fault, you know. See, they had on masks so I had to make up my very own godlike dude to fall for. You understand that, right? Between the invitation to imbibe champagne and guys wearing masks and using cool names like Claude Nine, I'm back to ending sentences with prepositions. The Concussions have my brain all mixed up. And I love it! (P.S. I also loved dancing to Champagne Problem. Play at your next beach bash.) How To Strip For Your Girlfriend's Girlfriend - I am not going there. No. Emma is going to behave. I really, truly am. But I will say 'tis the season to
