Cruising With Ruben And The Jets
By Bryan Willis
CRUISING WITH RUBEN AND THE JETS
Mothers Of Invention
VERVE IMPORT (V6 5055-X)
The Mothers are doing something different. perhaps the cynism has disappeared or the irony become more subtle. Zappa always gives the impression of being formulated in what he does. In Rubens songs he is doing just this. None of the hard acid freakout here.
The impression that the record seeks to create is of nice quiet kids singing nice quiet little rock songs. The big bad freaky boys don\t do it anymore anyway they do it in a different way.
Their own description of this music is 'greasy love songs of cretin simplicity!' They sing these they say because they like to sing them. The songs are nice to listen to, sweet beat, unremarkable sentiments. 'We made a wish and threw a coin / Since that day our hearts have been joined. I gave you all my love / There's nothing left for me to do but cry. Stars in the sky they never lie / Tell me you need me / Don't say goodbye.
Ruben is everywhere though you might not recognize him in his space helmet and bombed out shades. He likes to bop, cat ice-cream soda in the the drugstore, ride in space ships, play hell in Vietnam and throw coins in the fountain of love.
The Mothers are singing harmonious space age rock and roll with dwardy-doop/oh wah pulsating rhythm and funny junkie articulations of the fifties when we used to hold hands in the back rows of cinemas and make it in the parking lot. Deseri is the grooviest chick around and jelly roll gum drops are good to eat.
Memories are trivial, only experience is meaningful. Time is present: ghosted with the spectures of everything. So the beat goes on.
So where are the ticket stubs to the chemical gardens for rusty shit people? Are the ashen faced heroes of all the grooves sitting on the birdshit spattered fence and whistling for true love through the bars of the 7th cage on the left.
Read by OCR software. If you spot errors, let me know afka (at) afka.net