Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NIGHT BEAT: Air Supply in demand with punk bassist

Air Supply was not the most influential group of all time. But the mushy ballad band was a hit machine in the 1980s. It churned out "Every Woman in the World," "All Out of Love" and "Even the Nights Are Better."

A lot of people still enjoy Air Supply. This includes Morgan Hendersen who plays bass in the Blood Brothers, which could hardly sound less like Air Supply. The Blood Brothers, an electronic noise-punk band from Seattle, screams into Jillian's at Neonopolis tonight (for $12).

"I like ELO, but I really like Air Supply," he says, "which is funny, because this guy I used to work with played me Air Supply once, and I thought it was the worst (several expletives in a row deleted) ever."

But later, Hendersen heard a different Air Supply song, bought an album and now, "I love every song on it."

"It's just sappy, you know? What I love about music is -- if you can let go of who you think you are, and what you need to be listening to, and what music defines you as an individual -- you can get into anything."

His Blood Brothers aren't musical sentimentalists in the least. They do have one song called "Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck," but it goes like this, "AARRGH!" Even better is "Peacock Skeleton with Crooked Feathers," which goes, "ARGH-AARRRGH!" It's got extra "argh."

You have to hand it to Hendersen for being honest about his taste. He also admits the Blood Brothers are no party beasts. When they toured England, people waited in vain for them to go nuts, he says.

"They were expecting some rompous, drunken time with the Blood Brothers, but we just wanted to go to art museums," he says. "We're not really the rock-'em, sock-'em type."

Hendersen, 26, hasn't even been a drinker since he was 16.

"I've never played music under the influence of anything," he says. "When I got a bass is when I stopped smoking weed and drinking. ... I think part of the reason I was unhappy with my life was because of the drugs I was doing."

That sobriety may also explain why he likes the Four Freshmen -- you know, the singing group that broke the pop music barrier of singing without vibrato, pre-Beach Boys.

"There are, like, these really cool moments of artistry in there."

And yet, the Blood Brothers are influenced more by current rock and punk bands, from the Liars to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kill Me Tomorrow (which plays Jillian's on March 13) and Locust.

"I think it's silly to pretend to not be influenced by contemporary bands," he says. "If a band is doing something exciting, people should be excited about it and say so, and not pretend to be too cool for it."

Amen to that, Air Supply freak.

Doug Elfman's Night Beat column appears on Tuesdays.