Hey Babe is Juliana Hatfield's terrific solo debut, filled with effortless melodies and catchy guitar riffs. Hatfield's thin, girlish voice can be slightly wearing over the course of an entire album, but her intelligent, hook-laden songs make up for that minor flaw.

(by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide)

I've always been drawn to the romantic side of rock 'n' roll (Buddy Holly, the Everlys, the Fleetwoods, the Beatles). The allusive (and elusive) "Please Panic," by the Vulgar Boatmen, seems to carry echoes of them all. Like Buddy Holly's "I'm Gonna Love You Too," the Boatmen's "You Don't Love Me Yet" is an expression of faith in a love the singer is convinced will come someday (the word "yet" is the giveaway). But Holly's buoyancy has been replaced here by a measured patience. "Please Panic.," a collection of simple, infinitely listenable and mysterious pop melodies, suggests what it means to reach adulthood and still believe in the idealism of those songs, still believe that love is around the next corner, that a pop song can bear the weight of your world and, more important, change it. The Boatmen don't see the romantic idealism of pop as youthful folly; they see it as the Grail.
The images these songs call up are of people well past college, stuck in small towns with lovers or friends off in the world's territories, or potential lovers only a few blocks away who are unaware of the ardor the singer is trying to screw up the courage to declare. They're songs about connecting over geographic and emotional distances, just as the songwriters, Robert Ray (who lives in Gainesville) and Dale Lawrence (who lives in Indianapolis) connect, writing songs by mail, each rehearsing with a group of musicians, an amalgam of which play on the records and tour. Their lyrics suggest messages that get broken up traveling over a telephone wire, coming at you in bursts of undefined longing ("I know it's OK to wait/I just don't know what they're waiting for"; "I go ridin' when the movies close down/I have my own reasons...there's nothin' "); or lines whose meanings are deceptive (is it "You will always be always the one I love" or "You will always be all ways the one I love"?).
Partly because they know that the glory of being a pop fan is creating our own meanings, the Vulgar Boatmen trust us enough to leave the important things unsaid here. On the last song, "The 23rd of September," the singer resolves to tell the girl he loves how he feels. "I'm gonna get in my car and drive to your house," he sings. "I'm gonna tell you/I'm gonna tell you..." What? He never says. But we can hear it, in the longing of the guitars stretching out like a highway built just for the two of them, in the way he keeps singing, "The sun is shining." And for as long as the song lasts, we share his faith that the woman he's driving to will be able to hear it, too."

(Charles Taylor)

BARBARA GOSZA der schwarze Engel (l´ange noir) wie die Pariser einer ihrer Lieblings Singer/Songwriter nennen ist nach 10 Jahren innerer Einkehr, zurück in der modernen Downloadwelt mit dem neuen Album PASSION PLAY, und den Backkatalog Alben LOVE IT IS, BECKETT AND BUDDHA, PURIFY und das verschollene Album CEREMONIES. Der Produzent und Manager CARLOS PERÓN hat den Katalog von BARBARA GOSZA liebevoll remastern lassen. Das erste Album LOVE IT IS erschien seinerzeit 1990 als Vinyl und CD auf dem noch unbekannten Label Strange Ways Records vom leider inzwischen verstorbenen Lothar Gärtner. Das Label erlangte später Berühmtheit durch signings wie WOLFSHEIM und JOACHIM WITT. Auch sprach Lothar Gärtner immer wieder CARLOS PERÓN an doch BARBARA GOSZA zu produzieren. Nach den Alben BECKETT AND BUDDHA (Strange Ways Records) und CEREMONIES (BMG), produzierte dann CARLOS PERÓN das Album PURIFY für das Pariser Label naive. Nun ging CARLOS PERÓN mit BARBARA GOSZA in sein Privat Studio und spielte mit der scheuen Sängerin das neue Album PASSION PLAY ein. Die gebürtige Tschechin, aufgewachsen in Chicago begann ihr “vie de bohème” in der Pariser Metro, bevor sie nach Berlin auswanderte. Entdeckt von Lothar Gärtner als Strassensängerin, lud er sie in ein Bremer Musikstudio , wo unter minimalsten Bedingungen das Album LOVE IT IS eingespielt wurde. Es folgte das Album BECKETT AND BUDDHA welches unter wesentlich professionelleren Bedingung eingespielt wurde. Prodzuent dieses Albums war kein geringerer als SVEN REGENER. Das Album war für Indieverhältnisse ein derartiger Erfolg, dass der Major BMG auf den Plan trat. Quasi vom Indiegirl zum Superstar. Die Rechnung ging für die BMG nicht auf. Das Album hatte nicht den schwarzen Indie Charme und versauerte trotz gigantischer Promo. LOTHAR GÄRTNER redete immer wieder auf CARLOS PERÓN ein, er möge doch ein Einsehen haben und für Strange Ways records BARBARA GOSZA “wie es sich gehört” produzieren. Mit einem Telefonat mit der Firma naive aus Paris fing alles an. CARLOS PERÓN plante die Produktion des Albums PURIFY. 1999 war der schwarze Engel zurück.

French pop star (and significant other of Johnny Depp) recorded her English-language debut record in 1991; the self-titled disc was a bit of a flop commercially, but, surprisingly, succeeds artistically. Producer Lenny Kravitz gives Vanessa Paradis some of his best songs and she really can carry a tune with her breathy little-girl vocals. The highlights of the record are many, but the songs that will have you smiling like a fool at the sheer poptasticness of it all are the gliding funk with orchestra of "Natural High;" the strutting girl group of "Be My Baby;" the sweet-as-sugar sunshine pop of "Sunday Mondays;" the psych-soul of "Your Love Has Got a Handle on My Mind" (which features Paradis' most assured vocal and a nice background assist from Kravitz); and the sweet soul of "Just as Long as You Are There." Even her cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting for the Man" works wonders. It really shouldn't, but the propulsive beat and Paradis' sexy vocals somehow do the trick. The only song that falls flat is the autumnal folk of "Silver and Gold," as the ultra-serious lyrics and tone are painfully out of step with the glitter and groove of the rest of the record. Kravitz should be praised for his wonderful production. He rarely makes a wrong move and provides wonderful settings for Paradis to shine. It is too bad they didn't make more records together. Johnny Depp's gain is pop music's loss. Odds are there will never be a deluxe reissue (sadly), so you will have to seek this out in used stores and bargain bins.

(by Tim Sendra, All Music Guide)

Luna's 1992 debut (originally released under the short-lived band name Luna 2 for contractual reasons) got most of its press due to Dean Wareham's former position as leader of the critically adored Galaxie 500, but his new cohorts Justin Harwood (bass) and Stanley Demeski (drums) were fresh from stints in the Chills and the Feelies, respectively. A rarity among albums by this type of alt-rock supergroup, Lunapark sounds like an appealing conglomeration of some of the best aspects of all three participants' former bands. Wareham's familiar bored whine and slow-motion guitar create an interesting tension when juxtaposed with Harwood's ultra-melodic bass and Demeski's hyperactive drums, as if each member is still playing with his old band. The album spawned two college radio hits, the deliciously depressive "Slide" (with its memorable opening line "You can never give the finger to the blind") and the jittery, propulsive "Slash Your Tires," but nearly all of the 12 songs have memorable guitar hooks, stick-in-your-head choruses, and a newfound sense of humor in Wareham's deadpan lyrics. Lesser-known gems include the surprisingly poppy "I Can't Wait" and the Television-like tension of the closing "We're Both Confused." Guests feature Wareham's old label head Kramer and Mercury Rev co-leader Grasshopper, who adds extra guitar to about a third of the album.

(by Stewart Mason, All Music Guide)

"Das Debüt Album der Band um Chris Brokaw (ex-Codeine) und Thalia Zadek (ex-Live Skull) erschien damals auch bei uns auf Sub Pop. So begeistert waren wir von diesem Großstadt-Psycho-Blues. Thalia sang wie eine Janis Joplin auf schlechtem Speed und Chris spielte eine Gitarre, die nicht durch technische Finesse glänzte, sondern direkt aus dem Bauch Töne in Gefühle umsetzte. Mit zwei Bonustracks gegenüber dem (sowieso vergriffenen) Vinyl."

(Glitterhouse)

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One couldn't throw a brick around rock critics and college rock types in 1992 without hitting somebody who would talk about how Come was the new incarnation of the blues, often loudly and at great length. As in other cases where good bands were overburdened by hype, this both set up the quartet with impossible-to-realize expectations (Come plays anything but straight blues purism or revival � la Alligator Records) and wrote out Zedek's own unique artistic skills from the equation. To be sure, the CD version includes both sides of the "Fast Piss Blues" single, the flip being the Rolling Stones' own "I Got the Blues." But it's the Stones and acts like Patti Smith and Black Sabbath, not to mention the confrontation of no wave and other punk-inspired acts, that provide more of a touchstone to what's going on than Robert Johnson. It's a uniquely sludgy, electric, and strong fusion of sounds and styles, combining extreme angst and commanding power. Zedek's often twangy singing is both harsh and cool, the sound of someone burnt out but not crushed, and her guitar work suggests something more of bruised majesty � consider the steady, despairing flow of "Brand New Vein" � than anything else. Her introduction to "Submerge" may be "Now we sing so softly," but her voice cuts through the dark chime of the music even while talking about sinking to the bottom as things fire up even more. With Brokaw contributing equally strong feedback blasts (and vocals on the searing "Sad Eyes") and a sometimes lumbering but still good enough rhythm section rounding things out, Come takes things directly to a listener on Eleven: Eleven with fine results. Other good numbers include the lengthy drive of "Off to One Side" and the concluding surge of "Orbit," confronting demons with a roar.

(by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide)

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"...occasionally diffuse but more often bracing...achieves escape velocity with a concentrated blast of guitar power, tunecraft and sheer guts..." (Rolling Stone, 4/29/93)

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"...the record lives up to the weight of rapidly accumulated expectations in urgent, raging fashion...Everything--music, mood and lyric--works in perfect, fractured unison to challenge and disturb...Dense, rare and rewarding..." (Q Magazine, 1/93)

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"...simply one of the great debuts of the year..." (New Musical Express, 11/7/92)

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"...a captivating blast of ennui and feedback...enthralling, like watching someone howl into a rainstorm..." (Entertainment Weekly, 2/19/93)

The Dutch group Bettie Serveert (no, it isn’t an individual) made a huge impact on the college scene in the early 90’s with their debut album, Palomine. While the band never attained the success or perfection of their debut, they stuck around until 2000’s impressive Private Suit effort. Palomine starts out with the very moody track “Leg” in which vocalist Carol van Dijk almost croons out the lyrics. This is something you get used to, Carol’s unique and powerful vocals. The group picks up a bit with the title track, that starts out slow and builds into a very nice guitar solo by Peter Visser. The third track to come along was the second single from Palomine entitled “Kid’s Alright” where Carol is caught singing through a megaphone, or at least sounds like it. “Tom Boy” was the first single to be released and it’s a fine example of Bettie Serveert’s raw talent. They are a band that concentrate on melodies and harmonies. Carol’s vocals really make the band too. Not that the rest of the band are slouches either but Carol has such a unique presentation. Palomine should be present in any indie music collection.