Shampoo
We Are Shampoo
I.R.S.
THEY'VE DYED BLONDE and gone to pop heaven in Japan and their homeland U.K. These two teenaged self-proclaimed "megababes" are darlings of the gushing English press who love this lab experiment gone alright: glam slams into a girl group sneering at us all with a lip curl copped from the Sex Pistols.Bananarama, Slade, Lene Lovich, The Dixie Cups, Missing Persons and even a dash of the ditzy Cyndi Lauper are in Jacqui and Carrie.
"Trouble" is a nursery rhyme pop bubble; "Dirty Old Love Song" bashes Whitney Houston with squeaky harmonies and Mick Ronson-ish riffs; "We Don't Care" is pumped-up Go-Go's in a moment of self-realization ("We don't care if you think we're dumb/ We don't care about anyone/ We don't care because we're young/ And our time has just begun"). The clock is running on Shampoo's 15 minutes.
--Michael Metzger
MATT RENDON
The Kilgore Trouts
Hiss Or Miss Recordings
VOCALIST AND GUITARIST Matt Rendon has accumulated scores of songs that mostly haven't made their way onto the crowded playlist of his full-time band The Resonars. He's collected homemade recordings of 12 of these little gems for this cassette-only release. Most bands scratch and claw for enough original material to pull together an only somewhat interesting set, but Rendon and The Resonars are not cursed by such a creative drought. They're overflowing with musical ideas, as The Kilgore Trouts attests. "A Waste Of Honesty" uses kettle-drum effects, "wooing" back-up vocals, jangley guitar and an echoey, somber mood to form one of the highlights. Like most of this tape, Rendon's eclectic rock/folk/psych stylings are unlike anything else being attempted in Tucson.
--Timothy Gassen
MANFREDO FEST
Comecar de Novo
Concord Picante
PICK OF THE week for Cash Box a few weeks ago, this beautiful synthesis of Brazilian music and jazz is smooth and flowing with gracious, rich melodies. The Ivan Lins' poignant title cut, "To Begin Again,"(in English--"The Island") moves the listener to contemplation of very personal melancholy. Fest's piano sings on this emerging standard. There's some real good reasons for the Brazilian fountain of music being such a powerful, long lasting import over the decades. Fest, who's played with Brazil 66 and Bossa Rio, has his own voice on keyboards. His trio--Paul Socolow (bass) Phil Fest (guitar) and Portinho (drums) with guest, Hendrik Meurkens on harmonica--is smooth and artful too.
--Janice Jarrett
