November 18–25, 1999

critic pick|world beat

Uz Jsme Doma

Since long before Zappa met Vaclav Havel, oddly theatrical Czech quintet Uz JsmeDoma has been making fast, furious jazz with thrash-punk energy. They’re powerful but playful, determined but daffyas they careen with oompah loompah sax sounds, cheery male choirs and pounding hyper-rhythms. They formed in Teplice, ateeny Czech province, in 1985, with songwriters Mirek Wanek (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Jindra Dolansky (tenor sax)leading the avant-charge. When they started, rock was still a dirty word — an illegal word — since music wasmonitored by the Communist regime. But Uz Jsme Doma lived in the underground. And their lyrical fairy tales, thoughoptimistic and charming, show the wear of human suffering and decay. Their Fairytales from Needland CD, with itsmassive earthquake rhythms and twisted tonality, took them across America. Their brand-new Usi/Ears (Skoda)— recorded between Prague and San Francisco with Dolansky, Wanek and now-full-time band members Radek Podvesky(guitar), Jan Cejka (bass) and Petr Böhm (drums) — follows in similar fashion with their Czech trademark brandof speedball carnival rock.

—a.d. amorosi

Uz Jsme Doma with 5.6.7.8’s, Fri., Nov. 19, Upstairs At Nick’s, 16 S. Second St.,215-928-0665.