White Cowbell Oklahoma ¥ With Agriculture Club ¥ Sidetrack CafŽ ¥ Wed, Nov 5

The last time White Cowbell Oklahoma breezed through town, there was a chainsaw-wielding maniac, a wet T-shirt contest, much drinking of beer and whisky and, of course, plenty of southern-fried rock. But thatÕs par for the course when youÕre dealing with a band that consists of 10 inbred rock ÕnÕ roll criminals on the run from Town ÒXÓ somewhere in the deep south (of Ontario, I think). WCO have got a brand-new album in hand for this trip, and guitarist Clem promises to pick up the debauching of our fine city where his gang of miscreants left offÑprovided they donÕt end up with a Bible belt wrapped tightly around their collective necks first. ÒThe naysayers call it an army of darkness,Ó says Clem. ÒWe like to call it an army of rock ÕnÕ roll salvation. If you come to the White Cowbell Oklahoma show, you will be saved. You will see a light in the sky. You will feel burning in your ears that will soon turn to pleasure in your groin. You will see people copulating right there in front of the stage, jumping up and down naked as the day they was born, a bottle of beer in each hand.Ó But how did a band of drug-crazed, slack-jawed yokels with names like Jessup H. Christ and rap sheets as long as a donkeyÕs ears stay sober long enough to record Cencerro Blanco? ÒWho said we was sober?Ó shoots back Clem. ÒThereÕs no such thing as sobriety in the White Cowbell Oklahoma universe. See, what we did was we went down to Bolivia and recorded the album down there because we always gotta be one step ahead of the law. WeÕre from the American south, but sometimes you gotta go to extremes, so we went to South America. They have a lot of local vegetation and we brought our own organic supervisor with usÑorganic consultants and suchÑand they helped us. We didnÕt sleep for 32 weeks and we started to see a lot of funny things. Started climbing trees and rooftops and mountains and such. But we managed to get the album recorded nonetheless, and it was in an extreme state of mental agitation and intoxication.Ó Along the way they ran into another legendary southern Òoutlaw,Ó Ronnie Hawkins, at a whale-hunting exposition. According to Clem, the Cowbells were admiring his gun and asked him to help them film ÒSan Antone,Ó their first video. ÒI said, ÔHey, thatÕs a nice piece of armament you got. You wanna be in our video?Õ So he invited us up to his compound in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, and we shot some stuff in his rehearsal barn.Ó While ClemÕs southern drawl and the zip code for Town ÒXÓ are as fake as a stripperÕs cantaloupes, thereÕs nothing counterfeit about Cencerro Blanco. The guitar-laden southern rock is a throwback to the days when bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd made the shtick of hard drinkinÕ and loose women a way of life. ÒWe like the real rock ÕnÕ roll,Ó Clem says. ÒWe donÕt want anyone calling us a comedy act. No fucking way. This is real rock ÕnÕ roll. ItÕs gonna grab you by the balls. ItÕs gonna grab you by the fanny, Miss Manny. ItÕs something thatÕs real and if you come to the show youÕre gonna be amazed and astounded and blown away, but if you put on the record youÕre also gonna be astounded and amazed and electrified.Ó (PD)