CD Reviews

Jane Jansen

Comic Book Whore

(Interscope)

How intriguing, a chick who uses samples and does her best at imitating a female version of Beck and acts cutesy while singing extremely embittered lyrics. A huge thank you to Jane Jansen for not including a lyric sheet to her debut album Comic Book Whore.

Jansen whines and wails with a voice that sounds like Bjork and a face that looks like the lead singer of No Doubt, only without the impression that she's a steroids enthusiast. The cover of the album is a sure eye-catcher - it looks like it was drawn by whoever does Tank Girl (I don't know, maybe it was - Tank Girl sucks too) and the inside is filled with sample-driven, computer-produced vocals without a hint of human authenticity.

This album goes right in between other female-fronted acts like Veruca Salt and Poe, who everyone thinks offer some sort of experienced, feminine clue. These groups, as well as the peroxided Jansen, can't come up with anything but a gimmick and an excess of inane lyrics that they and listeners overanalyze in their desire to be self-righteous. Have these girls ever heard of rock 'n' roll?

Jansen makes reference to many trends and catchphrases from the past five years, which will encourage listeners to "get a kick" out of the familiarities. She is scheduled to play her spacey dance music at South by Southwest and is probably on to the opening act for NIN.

-Fen Hsiao

Leather Hyman

Host Body

(Frozen Hound)

Once you get over the initial shock that Leather Hyman isn't as bad as their name suggests, you quickly realize that they are derivative of every other girl band on the scene. With a little Mazzy Star, a pinch of the Breeders and a lot of unrealized potential, this Los Angeles band comes off as mediocre on their debut CD Host Body.

Low production values can either be an asset (grunge) or a liability - in this case, it's the latter, at least on most of the tracks. The heavily processed guitar sounds cheesy, the keyboards are weak and poorly defined, and the violin is mixed way too thin to be effective. Nothing sounds worse than an effects-fetishist producer armed with cheap digital flange effects.

On a few songs, though, Leather Hyman actually manages to create something good and worthy of repeated listens. "Pussy" closely approximates the male/female punk approach of the Berkeley band Tilt, but a quick trip into Cheezy Effects Land nearly ruins its impact. They're at their best when they keep it simple: "Steve McQueen," with its low-fi Casio organ, recalls a TV theme song from a show that never made it to the air. " The lush atmospherics of the great San Francisco indie-rock bands Ed's Redeeming Qualities and Thinking Fellers Union Locals 282 come to mind, and you'd probably be better off buying one of their albums than enduring Leather Hyman.

God, they've gotta change that name. I'm sure they thought it was really clever to reverse the first letters of their singers' names, (Heather and Lyman), but it just doesn't work. There is potential here - with better production, more focused song writing, and a new name, we might actually hear from Heather and Lyman again.

-Jon Roig

U.S. Bombs

Never Mind the Open Minds

(Bomp!/Alive Records)

It seems like there are several reasons why Orange County's U.S. Bombs should be good, but they are actually a very, very, terrible band. I cannot imagine how they romanced the guys at Bomp!/Alive Records, but this album is a prime dud. One of the guys in the band photo is even wearing a New Race shirt, which proves again that just 'cause someone has good taste in music or is a "nice guy," it doesn't mean he knows how to make good music.

The album cover of Never Mind the Opened Minds Here's the U.S. Bombs hints that it's gonna suck, but the mystery surrounding this band that gets rave review after rave review in Maximum Rock 'N' Roll was too great, blurring my better sense of judgment. I ignored the blaring clues (bad title, a dedication to the memory of Sid Vicious, a photo of Sid on the back cover, and even a trusted friend's warning that they sucked), convincing myself that this band that makes use of bad puns would be a good thing. Ugh, they really are terrible.

The first track, "Sex Machine," isn't totally bad, but it's the only decent one. The "Ballad of Sid" really is a ballad and although I attempted to skip it, I was shocked to find it again at the end of the album under "Ballad of Sid" (Reprise), with the lead vocalist, Duane Peter lamenting "Sidney, you're miles away." I cannot figure out if these guys are for real. But, please - I know you are not British.

-Fen Hsiao

Blur

Blur

(Virgin)

Less than three years after it began, the Oasis/Blur "war" in the UK is over, appearing in retrospect to be a challenge along the lines of Godzilla vs. the Shmoo. Fortunately, Blur leader Damon Albarn is a smart man. Realizing that there was no need to continue to fight over who could write better brit pop songs, he began to look elsewhere for inspiration.

He seems to have found it in two sources: The Beatles (go figure) and American indie music. The result is Blur's new self-titled album, a mix of guitar pop and lo-fi sensibilities that eschews almost everything they've done before. It's not surprising that Blur would look towards acts like Pavement and Sonic Youth in their search for a new direction. After all, they are the American equivalent of what Blur always represented in England: art rock.

But Blur purposefully proved in the past how different they are from Americans by releasing music that was almost inaccessible to anyone who didn't know and appreciate British life. Now, with a song called "Look Inside America," we get a (most likely unintentional) admission that this cultural barrier works both ways. Blur may "look inside," but they're still on the outside in the United States, making it very difficult to buy their take on stateside "indie guitar" music. Fortunately, they only make a few such attempts, and the remainder of the album more than redeems their efforts. The poppier, very Beatle-esque songs "Beetlebum" and "On Your Own" are just plain great, and they even get away with the Weezer-like single "Song Two." It's ony when they venture into lo-fi noise rock that things get a little iffy. But, hey, that's what the "skip" button on your CD player is for.

-Doug Levy