An Rx for Rockin': 4 Out of 5 Doctors

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WHEN JEFF SEVERSON revived his power pop-quartet, 4 Out of 5 Doctors, for a one-off reunion concert last year, he didn't know what to expect. The Northern Virginia-based group had made some noise locally back in the day and had college radio hits with the snappy rockers "Modern Man" and "Waiting for a Change," but they hadn't played together regularly since their heyday in the early '80s.

Severson needn't have worried. The show sold out and fans flew in from as far away as Texas. The Docs also received a review in The Washington Post that lauded their "brightly polished songs" and razor-sharp musicianship. The band was so stoked by the reception it received that it's reuniting again for two shows this weekend.

"We had some trepidation — we didn't want to go back and butcher the sound for the sake of getting our faces in front of people again," Severson says. "But it all just sort of came back. It was a treat for me to have that many people respond positively to the material."

The band's reunion also marked the re-release of its two long out-of-print albums that had become cult classics among new wave aficionados. Severson says the reissue came about because the band wanted to beat the bootleggers.

"People were bootlegging off the Internet and the recordings were made from the old records and bad cassettes," he says. "Plus, people were writing us and saying, 'I love this record! Where can I get a copy?'"

This year, hardcore fans should be even more overjoyed. The Docs will finally bring their previously-unreleased third album, "Cruel and Unusual," into the world. Recorded in 1982, it went unheard when the group was dropped by its record label.

"We'd had it with the industry so we said 'F___ it,' and did what we wanted," says Severson. "There's some harder-edged stuff that would be the natural transition from our second album, and a great song by [lead vocalist and bassist] Cal Everett called 'Never Go to Africa' that will rip your heart out."

» Jammin' Java, 227 Maple Avenue E., Vienna; with Todd Wright (Fri., June 19), Paper Umbrella Sat., June 20, 8 p.m., $15; 703-255-1566.

Written by Express contributor Tony Sclafani
Photo courtesy Joanna Lawton