THE SUICIDE MACHINES BRING SKA-PUNK SOUND TO SEMO

Prepare the mosh pit. Put on your skankin' shoes. The Suicide Machines are heading this way.

The Detroit-based ska-punk band will perform at 9:15 Wednesday night at the University Center. Doors open at 8:45.

The Suicide Machines' debut recording on Hollywood Records is titled "Destruction by Definition." Their video has been shown on the MTV program "120 Minutes."

TSM guitarist Dan Lukacinsky, phoning from somewhere between Seattle and Salt Lake City, says a lot of bands are jumping on the ska-punk bandwagon these days, especially with the success of bands like Rancid and more recently the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

"We played it when nobody cared about it," said Lucacinsky, who has been performing in bands with lead singer Jason Navarro for six years.

Basically, they play breakneck three-chord tunes that are both danceable and pack a message. Looking for ancestors, Lucacinsky picks out The Clash.

Originally called The Uglies, the band changed its name to Jack Kevorkian and the Suicide Machines as a comment on the fatalism they saw in the Detroit suburbs where they grew up. They dropped the suicide doctor's name after some of his fans came to one of their gigs thinking Kevorkian was going to conduct a how-to class.

Despite its name, the band's songs express longing for peace and racial harmony -- albeit through anger and frustration. "I write about things that affect me," Lucacinsky said. "Things I'd like to see changed in the world."

Steven Roberts, president of the sponsoring Southeast Missouri Skanksters Union, said the mosh pit that probably will form during the concert did not arise as an issue during negotiations to use the University Center.

The Show Me Center has a policy against booking bands whose fans form mosh pits because of the potential for injuries in the collisions that occur between bodies.

"We have volunteers to be security," Roberts said. "Besides, moshing's not a big issue. This is a band where some people will be doing that, but a lot will be skankin' (a ska dance).

The concert is open to the public with an admission charge. Admission is free to students with an ID.

The Southeast Missouri Skanksters Union is an organization that increases awareness of the ska musical genre. Co-sponsors are Student Government, the Student Activities Council, the Towers West and Towers South hall councils, and the Residence Hall Association.

The opening acts for the Suicide Machines will be the Boro City Rollers from Carbondale and the Siren Six from Indianapolis.

Another band coming to town Wednesday is the Low Gravity Band, a hard-working five-piece outfit from Iowa City, Iowa.

They will plug in at 10 p.m. at Jeremiah's, 124 N. Water St.

The band plays the club circuit between Iowa City, Milwaukee, Madison, Omaha and Lincoln, and this year has swooped down for a series of dates in Cape Girardeau, Carbondale and St. Louis.

The band, whose members live together in a farmhouse they call Rancho Relaxo, plays gritty pop originals.

The Low Gravity Band's latest recording is titled "Strange Rock and Roll."