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REVIEWS

CD: "Tongue Tied"

"Buzzkill," the seven-minute opus that opens Lunavox's debut CD, is equal parts Cowboy Junkies, PJ Harvey and Metallica, with vocals that leap up at certain moments to suggest something like Lene Lovich issuing a call to prayer. It's an ambitious, multi-movement piece of art. Then a moody, Doors-like interlude leads into the antic rhythms of the prog-rock "Crystalline," a blast of sound both groovy and menacing.

"Relax" is a fairly standard gloom-rock ode to alienation, but as if in response, the very PJ-Harvey-like "Cracked" barrels in with

    Maybe if you cracked a smile
    Maybe if you laughed some more
    Maybe if you cried
    You would be OK
    You would be OK

Closing with another prog-rock suite ("This Life") and an effects-laden, ambient piece appropriately called "Hush," this artful, well-produced project has an additional and all too unusual virtue: it's just over 30 minutes long. Lunavox, after weaving a darkly original tapestry of sound out of its multiple styles and influences, gets the hell out of there, leaving the listener satisfied but looking forward to hearing more.

Artist website: Lunavox

CD: "Sparkler"

This CD has a rootsy, Dire Straits-like sound, with good organic grooves from the band and nice acoustic guitar work throughout. Some of the songwriting shows promise. But the songs and vocals aren't inspired enough to raise it above average.

Peters has an appealing, earthy voice, but she needs to wake it up, to find ways to expand and contract it to match the dynamics of the songs. There are some quiet moments that indicate a potential to do that, but overall the singing is mostly affectless, and the result is, alas, on the dull side.

The opening track, "You're Losing Me", is a good example: it has a jaunty beat and a promising verse, but the chorus disappoints, not because it isn't a good chorus but because vocally Peters does nothing with it. Without emotional weight to the vocals, it doesn't much matter how the other aspects of the production have turned out.

The energetic roots-rocker "Hooked" shows signs that Peters can draw on real passions. But as in most of her lyrics, there's too much tell, not enough show. "Rather Bad Day" sets a fine, contemplative mood but doesn't go much beyond that: it's the kind of song that needs compelling lyrics, but it gets awkwardly prosy ones instead.

The title track uses Paul Simon-esque acoustic guitar to set a smoky coffeehouse mood, and delivers on some of its promise. The lyrics are still awkward, but their vivid imagery makes it more successful than the other ballads.

Overall, this effort shows promise, but Peters needs to find ways to draw the listener in.

Artist website: Vanessa Peters

CD: "Songs for the New Depression"

Ben Ratliff flexes his experimental muscles on this growling, inventive new solo effort. "All Night," the first track, sounds like Howlin' Wolf with a beat box, and if that debt weren't clear enough, "Let It Out" features what sounds like an actual wolf cry. To some degree the whole album feels like a resourceful bastard child of the Wolf and Link Wray, even in the songs that rely on analog synth sounds or hip-hop beats, such as "Leviathan" and the abstract instrumental "Good Morning."

There's a good deal more to this music than its solid blues foundation. Highly musical synth work, fuzzed-out guitars and sinister vocal effects evoke a whole gamut of experimental rock, from Chrome and the Residents to Beck and Laurie Anderson. But Ratliff's most original contribution is his fusion of grinding industrial beats with deeply felt, smoky blues guitar.

Moodwise, he can almost out-grim Townes Van Zandt or Jim Morrison ("My Days" even talks about a "lost highway," while "Drive All Night" evokes "Riders on the Storm"), but the clanging beats strike the perfect tempos to keep the listener grooving through it all. This appropriately titled CD might be too out-there to sing along with, but it's a churning head-bopper nonetheless.

Artist website: Ben Ratliff