As the Doll Hut World Turns

With less than two months left in the life of Linda's Doll Hut, LowBallAssChatter was certainly pleased—if slightly mystified—to read owner Linda Jemison's latest e-mailed calendar listings for her soon-to-be-shuttered-but-maybe-not Anaheim club: "Only two months to go. The possibility of the club being purchased is looking good. I will keep you all informed. . . ." Ummm . . . okay! Well, if the club will indeed close as planned on Aug. 31, those last couple of weeks are looking good musically, what with a Cadillac Tramps/Joyride double bill set for Aug. 25 (they haven't played together since, what, 1992?), a Big Sandy gig & His Fly-Rite Boys slotted for Aug. 19, and several "surprise guest" appearances peppered throughout. Whatever happens, it seems that last month will either be a celebration of what was or what may be again. Stay tuned . . . (Rich Kane)

Recent moves by Saccharine . . . uh, Sugar Ray have even our cold, hard hearts thawing, albeit slightly. For one thing, we're forced to admit that we actually li . . . li . . . (gasp!) . . . llliii . . . (ugh!) . . . LIKE! THERE! WE SAID IT! We like that chewy, bubble-gummy new "When It's Over" single of theirs. The damn thing's a bright, breezy, summertime tune that somehow sounds perfect blasting through a pair of headphones whilst lounging by the pool or pumping from a boom box at the beach. The song's so hooky, though, that there's serious potential for overkill on the level of Smash Mouth's evil "All Star" of two years ago—who isn't sick of that one by now? We also have to say we were severely disappointed by the relative ordinariness of the Sugar Ray segment on MTV's Cribs series a few months back. Where was the sleaze? Where was the coke sniffing? Where were the floor-to-ceiling murals of themselves like those of the Cribs hip-hoppers? Nowhere—that's where! Yet, still, just as we find things to like about the Newport Beach-born band, stuff to hate about them always follows closely behind. For instance, why do they have to write songs by committee? Look at the credits on their new album (creatively titled Sugar Ray), which reveals that it sometimes takes up to seven people to pen just one three-minute ditty. Holy Mariah Carey! But rather than risk getting our knickers in a bunch by dwelling on the negatives, we'll just end with this observation from reader Paul Morton of Corona del Mar, who writes, "After seeing the [band perform during halftime of the] NBA Finals recently, I thought, gee, two guys from Newport Beach have both appeared in the NBA finals AND slept with Madonna: Dennis Rodman and Mark McGrath." And there you are! (RK)