Soundbites

Published: Monday, June 30, 1997

Monday, 6/30/97 Soundbites MUSIC:

Oscar Lopez "Heat" (Narada) "Heat" lives up to its title as an ideal album for those hot summer nights, though it's so good you'll want to play it all year long,. Lopez weds flamenco's hypnotic Latin rhythms, staccato guitar plucks and romantic warmth to one gorgeous melody after another for a practically flawless collection. Hand-beaten drums and castanets join the rich harmony of acoustic and electric guitars, bass and the occasional piano or keyboard, providing a backbone for Lopez's weightless playing. He tickles the nylon strings with delicate trills, cascading scales and swooping arpeggios that seem effortless. Many melodies are also layered by being played in thirds. Lopez never shows off, though; he only adds flourishes that benefit the song's mood. Some tunes, like the beautiful standout "Distancia," are melancholy and haunting, with minor chords and deep bass lines. Others, like "The Way I Am (Asi Soy)," are light-hearted and have sparse accompaniment. "Milonguita" features Lopez's dazzling technique and ability to create complex melodies and harmonies with only one accompanying guitar. Other indispensable songs include the driving "Forgive Me (Perdoname)," which opens the album, and the appropriately titled "Fire and Fury (Fuego y Furia)," a three-fourth-time whirlwind which could be the soundtrack to a bullfight. Between these relentless gems that fly by at light speed are slower, more romantic tunes. With the variety of tempos and arrangements, the 15-track album, while musically consistent, never becomes monotonous. Lopez uses his guitar as an instrument and a voice; it is both melody and accompaniment. He creates an intimate setting around which to weave tales suggested by such evocative titles as "The Flight of the Flamingo (El Vuelo del Flamingo)." With this record, Lopez puts himself among the top flamenco artists. Kristin Fiore A Kenickie "At The Club" (Emidisc) Named after a character in Grease, the Newcastle quartet Kenickie is the band with the biggest buzz in the U.K. Even with fellow 18- to 21-year-old bands such as Bis, Ash, Symposium and Urusei Yatsura enjoying a growth in popularity overseas, Kenickie's debut album, "At The Club," demonstrates that they are the best of this current crop of young bands. Highly influenced by '70s glam, the band consists of an all-female line-up with the exception of drummer Johnny X. Kenickie is most notable because of the flashy confidence that lead singer Lauren Laverne exudes in her extraordinarily resonant vocals. With her voice sounding a lot like a British version of Courtney Love (who incidentally is a big fan), Laverne and company sing about a wide variety of topics, ranging from the loneliness of sudden monetary success to the utter boredom of living in middle-class British suburbia. Kenickie's sad lyrics are contrasted with a nice blend of punk and pop that will delight instead of depress. Kenickie is at its best when singing about dreary social life, hence the name of their album. Melodic power-pop songs like "Come Out 2 Nite" and "Nightlife" owe a great deal to the sheer amount of camp that emanates from a cheesy backing chorus and simple hand-claps. Many songs in the album are filled with catchy hooks like those in the guitar-driven "In Your Car." Fans listening to this will have a hard time getting the "Yeah, yeah, yeah ..." chant out of their heads. With their debut album "At The Club," Kenickie proves that all the media attention they're receiving is not just an aberration, but something well deserved. The song "Classy" best describes Kenickie themselves; "We've got class/ we've got style." Tristan Thai A Lightning Seeds "Dizzy Heights" (Epic) Before the whole electronic pop craze, there was a little band from the U.K. called the Lightning Seeds, who scored a hit in America with "The Life of Riley" in 1992. They are back with "Dizzy Heights," an unambitious yet enjoyable collection of pop songs that combine synthesized subtleties and head-swaying guitars. Think Erasure meets Britpop. The New Order-ish "Imaginary Friends" is near infectious and has some interesting things to say about "loserdom" and fantasy ("He met a girl who liked a bit of a laugh/ He gained the youth he'd forgotten to have/ So now they mess about with things that are highly illegal/ Often get mistaken for interesting people"). Cool gems include the happy "What If ..." and the rave-beat-driven "Sugar Coated Iceberg." A couple tracks are on the dull side, like the almost anti-climactic "Fingers and Thumbs" and the uninspiring "Wishaway." The typical "Like You Do" represents the '80s and the construction and style of "Touch and Go" sounds a little bit like Led Zeppelin's "Thank You." The Lightning Seeds have a knack for the simple pop song and really nothing more. It makes no difference that they aren't in the front lines of the electronic movement, but as they sit on the same shelves as their revolutionary peers, they are likely to be passed up for something better. However, if the mood catches you right, and you're looking for a carefree and pleasant summer soundtrack, you could do a lot worse. Mike Prevatt B Kara's Flowers "The Fourth World" (Reprise) Purporting themselves as the anti-gloom-and-doom band, L.A. locals Kara's Flowers' philosophy can best be summed up by the chorus of "Myself": "I can't find anything to be sad about. They say I'm doomed, but I feel fine." Musically, this makes sense, as the album is an upbeat collection of guitar pop whose chord progressions, vocal harmonies and straightforward guitar playing has a hint of '50s nostalgia (that Saddle-shoed, zit-free decade when America resembled Disneyland, according to your parents). The lyrics are also unusually light-hearted and somewhat superficial. If Weezer could be warped back in time to play one of the early Ed Sullivan shows, they might sound something like this. Though the band adds little to the most successful elements of catchy power-pop, they fuse them so irresistibly that the music's lack of originality doesn't matter much - you're having too much fun. Case in point - the opening track, "Soap Disco," which has single stamped all over it. Part Fonzie and part flannel, the two-and-a-half minute romp combines thick guitars with saccharine harmonies that sucker you in faster than puppies in a pet store window. The next song is notable only for the zinger line (and possibly the only morsel of negativity on the record), "Teddy Ruxpin is a whore," but it is followed by a string of melodic pop gems like "Myself." The album doesn't take a breath until the seventh song, "To Her, With Love," an acoustic and string lullaby that sounds more like a woozy Beatles cover than Lulu's classic, "To Sir, With Love." The only other slow song is the almost-pretty closing track, "Captain Splendid," which attempts to pull at your heartstrings like Radiohead, but ultimately fails. The rest of the album is happier than a Prozac test group, and the mood is contagious. Many of the songs sound suspiciously similar, but unlike Green Day's "Dookie," which suffered from the same ailment, this album contains more than four chords (and there's no dog poop on the cover). Fire your therapist and pop this album in your CD player - it's cheaper and much more fun to listen to. Kristin Fiore B+