CD Reviews from BETTY MAGAZINE- APRIL & MAY 2003

CD Review
Verbena - La Musica Negra
by PJ Gach

Verbena - La Musica Negra

Do you remember the days when you'd slide a disc in, punch up the volume and the songs would jut enter your body and take you to a different place? Pick up Verbena's sophomore disc and those happy days are here again.

Singer/guitarist Scott Brody growls his way through the lyrics, he sounds sexy and laconically ironic at the same time. The first cut, "Way Out West" nods to the 70's and with a slow organ intro and the lines "19th nervous breakdown" and "Mexican Radio" keep popping up. But this stuff may give a wink and a nod to the past, it's very PoMo with tight, strong guitar work, smart lyrics and that certain musical sexiness that can be heard but always described.

Yes, it's another garage band - but they don't sound like followers. They sound tight, mean and very hot. You'll dance and daydream to the songs. These guys have street cred. Their first release Into The Pink was produced by David Grohl, the new one is produced by Rob Schnapf. He's worked with Beck, Guided by Voices, The Vines, and Elliott Smith.

They're melodic, evocative, rough, tender and moody. The perfect group to listen to in the rain or on a sunny day.

Buy it!

PJ Gach Freelance Writer
http://pjgach.tripod.com

CD Review
Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
by PJ Gach

The 80's new Wavers had a simple philosophy, "The world's gonna end, so let's dance." Maybe that's why they're not around anymore; you can only dance so much in the face of negativity.

That felling of joyous abandon to the beat has found its way into Electronica. While a lot of the lyrics in that genre may carry deep and meaningful message - the music itself urges you to dance, dance, dance.

Goldfrapp is the British duo of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory. Their first release, Felt Mountain created a stir in the electric world. Time Out London said that Felt Mountain was "the sound of a bench being marked."

Black Cherry's lyrics are full of double entrendres and coded messages. The problem is that you get so caught up in the beats that you have to force your body to stop moving to really listen to what Alison is saying.

Alison's voice is a problem. She has an ethereal, angelic voice. It's seductive. It's evil. Start listening to Black Cherry and you won't realize that time has flown until the disc has ended.

The title cut, "Black Cherry" opens up with, "how can it be? I can taste your mouth. How can i see, when you're everything... I'm sad and you own it..." Yes, you nod, she's just nailed the feeling of unrequited/abandoned love right on the head.

Black Cherry has 10 glorious, hedonistic, mindtripping cuts. Be warned, if you get this disc, you won't be able to listen to it just once a day.

PJ Gach Freelance Writer
http://pjgach.tripod.com

CD Review
The Ataris, So Long, Astoria
by PJ Gach

The Ataris So Long, Astoria (Columbia) The music that our brothers and sisters attempted to perform in the basement is now a viable genre. That's right. Garage is now center stage and Mom can't do a thing about it.

Some lay the blame at The Strokes door; claiming without them there wouldn't be any other garage bands making it big. That excuse would work if the other bands grew up next door to them. The Vines are from Australia, and The White Stripes are from Detroit. So it must be a global conspiracy. Yes, that's right a global conspiracy to bring stripped down rock that's lyrically complex to ears that are tired of overwrought nonsensical crap.

The Ataris major debut release So Long, Astoria dovetails quite nicely into the movement. The CD plays like a car cruising down the highway at 80 MPH. It's fast, fun and you don't want to stop. Each song is bursting with energy and movement. It's hard to sit and listen. You'd rather get up and dance.

The theme that ties the CD together is that memory can be stronger than the experience. Richard Hell's novel "Go NOW" was the inspiration for lead singer /song writer Kris Rose. The music and lyrics are evocative. The words can conjure up unbidden memories. The music is reminiscent of when the genre was new, and guitarists played for the joy of it, not for the mortgage. The only bells and whistles on this disc is the group's musicianship.

The lyrics drip emotional truths that only the brave can say out loud. The song, "The Saddest Song," Roe speaks to his daughter, trying to apologize for always being on the road. "Only two more days until your birthday/yesterday was mine/you're turning five/I know what it's like/growing up without your father in your life/So I pretend I'm doing all I can/and hope someday you'll find it in your heart..."

Kris Roe (lead vocals/guitar), Johnny Collura (guitar/vocals), Mike Davenport (bass/vocals) and Kris "Kid" Knapp (drums) are the members of The Ataris. They pull off a neat trick - their vocal and musical harmonies are tighter than a brand new pair of jeans. Each cut on this disc is as tasty as the first. Perhaps the nicest things about s So Long, Astoria are the two hidden tracks and the video. Yes, you're getting more bang for your buck.

So Long, Astoria is not only one of the year's best new releases, it's destined to become a classic one.

PJ Gach Freelance Writer, http://pjgach.tripod.com

CD Review
FischerSpooner, #1
by PJ Gach

FischerSpooner #1 (Capitol)

They're being touted as the best thing since sliced bread. Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner teamed up and have had the cognoscenti creaming in their jeans. That's if you can call Kylie Minogue and David Bowie cognoscenti. Kylie had loved their remix of her "Come into My World" song and Bowie had a command performance. I guess everyone can have an off day. Well, listening to their major label debut release is like falling heading back into the murky past and ending up kissing Suicide.

There's a lot of similarities between the two groups. Both are duos, both rely heavily on sequencers, muddled lyrics and semi-diabetrical monologues. One big difference is that Suicide, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire and Jean Michel Jarre were the bastard parents of Electronica/Industrial. Like any fantastical genre, it needed an extra mommy and daddy (remember Frankenstein?). FischerSpooner are pale imitations of the old beckoning geniuses.

Each of the 11 cuts harkens back to an 80's electro band. "Tone Poem" sounds like early OMD, "Sweetness" is like listening to Gary Numan on Speed and "Emerge" sounds like a bad marriage between Berlin and Missing persons. Instead of bashing each song, just imagine a tarted up version of Kraftwerk or a suburban kids idea of rave music and that's the disc.

It's great music to clean your house by, it's fast and poppy - but that's about it.

PJ Gach Freelance Writer, http://pjgach.tripod.com