Thursday, April 16, 1998
Gussifer packs in Teaser on slow Easter Sunday
MUSIC: Bruin threesome ignites crowd with lyrical crooning,
smooth chords
By Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Staff
Most Sunday nights, the Coconut Teaser does somewhat slow
business. On Easter Sunday, that business wears even thinner. But
somehow, the UCLA-based band Gussifer managed to pack in a sizeable
crowd this past holiday.
The three-piece group features brothers Ian Young, a recent UCLA
graduate, and Sean Young, a current UCLA ethnomusicology student,
at the helm. Backed up by drummer Salar Saleh, also a proud Bruin,
the 9-month-old band shook the Sunset shack like the Cadbury Bunny
on a rampage. Or something much cooler than that.
Ian set the mood with his trademark Hawaiian shirt, throwing the
group into a few relaxing ska beats. Offering smooth guitar work
alongside his mellifluous voice, Ian created a cruiseship-poolside
cocktail-bar vibe. However, Sean’s bounding basswork soon changed
the evening’s musical course.
As one fan began regurgitating his drink at the bar, Gussifer
began laying on the more hard-hitting tunes. Though obviously too
strong for the weak-bellied patron, the rest of the house grew more
frenzied with each successive chord. In these darker, more powerful
pieces, the light-spirited threesome revealed a more intense
passion for their craft.
At one point, they broke into a rendition of "The Lion Sleeps
Tonight." While at first Ian and Sean harmonized the verses with
all of the high-pitched sweetness the tune deserves, they quickly
followed with a spastic, surging ska and reggae core. It came off
like a jungle cat pouncing on its prey after crouching for so long
in the distant caves.
After some spiel about always wondering how his dad got to be
such an alcoholic, Sean led the group into a bouncy little melody.
Midway through the sprightly tune, Ian got the crowd to chant along
"Chabot, Shalom" as the brothers embraced, kicking up their heels.
It seemed the group knew no bounds as far as musical genres were
concerned.
Shifting from reggae to punk to practically ’50s-esque lyrical
croonings, Gussifer went all over the place. Yet, the artful
transitions entertained the audience rather than producing any
undesirable melodic turbulence. Not bad for a band comprised of a
llama-farmers’ son, a bloodsucking batboy and some leftover from
amateur night at the Apollo.