EDNA SWAP Chicken Island YOU CAN'T IGNORE the guitars on this scrumptious distorto-pop appetizer. Slow, psychedelic fuzzbox throb meets angular metal-pop rhythm, with a sprinkling of accordion thrown in for flavor, tops off a savory recipe. This L.A. quintet's refreshing alterna-pop ascension is equal parts subdued expressive vocals, thick 'n' chewy fuzz guitar droning, swirling groove-heavy bass caressing and sharp, concise drumming. Dense without being murky, the magnetic vocals sound like a Joan Jett after suckin' on a Tootsie Pop or Courtney Love croonin' a lullaby to Frances Bean--a brief flurry of syrupy, fuzz-laden pop mantras sugarcoat this too-short five-track aural pie. A Middle Eastern-influenced vibe gets so thick at points on the closing cut "Way Down," you'd swear you're sharing a hookah with a Moroccan street peddler. Their versatile and daring space-pop configurations make them rise above the ordinary. --Ron Bally Dead Can Dance Spiritchaser 4 ad MORE HYPNOTECHNICS FROM fun couple world-beatniks Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, incorporating Haitian vodun chants, Algonquian poems, Hindi ragas, Irish percussion, and Turkish clarinet riffs, along with the customary muezzin calls and banshee howling. A highlight: the long, lovely cut "Indus," which snakes like a river, throwing in snatches of George Harrison's "Within You Without You" along its course. Dead Can Dance seems to be a love-or-hate taste; if you love them, this disk will make you very happy. --Gregory McNamee WAYLON JENNINGS Right For The Time Justice Records MAY GOD PUNISH CBS and RCA for dropping Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings in their lust for new pseudocountry meat. Maybe Jennings will someday give those RCA heads the finger by scoring as well on Justice Records as the post-CBS Cash has on Rick Rubin's American Recordings label. Jennings has compromised none of his hard-driving signature style here, which is not surprising considering he was the first country artist to insist on using his stage band in the studio rather than the usual session men. The guy who shocked country music by recording "MacArthur Park" in 1969 and Neil Young's "Are You Ready For The Country" a few years back turns in a believable interpretation of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" here. If you take to "Carnival Song," it may be because the pretty ditty is based on the chord progression to the immensely popular classical piece, Pachelbel's Canon in D. Those who liked the old Waylon will like the new one. --Dave McElfresh

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