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rock

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The Monterey reggae group Jonah & the Whalewatchers perform at Ocean Thunder on Saturday. The singer and leader of the group, Alex Shirley, stopped by the Artists Showcase at Viva last Tuesday to play an acoustic set. While there, he joined the fold of more than a few musicians who are talking about finding ways to work with each other in finding gigs and filling holes in their bands. Jonah will have Ocean Thunder hopping, as it has done in the past. The show will be an intimate change from their regular performances at Blue Fin and a welcome addition to Ocean Thunder''s usually blues-stuffed weekend.

Jonah and the Whalewatchers, Saturday, Ocean Thunder, 9pm, no cover. 643-9169

A blistering and mysterious show on Sunday at the Long Bar this week will probably turn out to be a gala of depraved behavior. Four loud and raunchy bands will perform that night: The Goons, Los Dryheaves, Retox, and Jack Shrivelsack & the Beer Whores. Each band plays hard-edged music taken from genres like rockabilly, punk, and good old American rock. Getting real and authentic info on each group is like sucking the pit out of a peach with a Hoover vacuum, and this leads me to believe that these bands were put together on the fly, in the grandest of rock traditions. The show is free and the curiosity factor will get the better of us all.

Goons, Los Dryheaves, Retox, Jack Shrivelsack & the Beer Whores, Sunday, Long Bar, 9pm. No cover. 372-2244

Quote of the Week

Here''s a statement that is abnormally true, taken from Larry Flick''s interview with U2 for the September 26th issue of Billboard, leadsinger Bono says:

"Rock music is not currently biting the ass of the pop charts. But that''s when the music gets good. That''s when bands like Nirvana or the Rolling Stones or the Kinks come to the fore. When rock shrinks back to its ghetto it sparks a fire that forges incredible music. It''s no fat, just fury--and that''s when the rest of the world pays attention once again."

Isn''t that the truth man-dingo?

Album Watch

Currently there are three groups that are doing some ass biting and have albums to watch for this month. The first is U2 whose single, "Beautiful Day," received airplay on NBC during that network''s coverage of the Olympics. The track and the album represent a stylistic trip back to their Grammy Award-winning record Joshua Tree. It has the same positive vibe and rock spirit that most U2 fans think the band should have retained, even after heavy albums like Pop and Zooropa detoured from the mainstream "Edge" sound of early U2 work. The new album, All the Things You Can''t Leave Behind, due out on Oct. 31, should be a pleasant retreat back to where the streets have no name.

The second release to watch for is Radiohead''s Kid A. It''s an album that reeks of what Radiohead has always been: a pop band too twisted to be poppy and is unconsciously rich in alternative rock experimentation. The tracks are filled with the same variations on notes, instrumentation that inspired jazzed pianist Brad Mehldau to play arrangements off one half of Radiohead''s Ok Computer album at this year''s Monterey Jazz Festival. It is a must-buy for anyone interested in progressive bands willing to change the current soundscape of rock.

The third and final release to watch for is Queens of the Stone Age''s recent album R (for Revenge). The Queens are a truly dirty sounding group that performs a rough mix of tracks that, when listened to separately, sound like they come from and are being played by, several different bands rather than one. Check out the title track on this one, too.

During the week of the ominous Friday the 13th, we will be trying to pick out some local band websites for review. All submissions should be made to the Weekly''s music section. The winner won''t get a damn thing, except maybe a cute little graphic and a little free press.

Until next week, keep yourself safe like your momma wants you to do.