Velvet Crush, Melody Freaks (Action Musik). In stark contrast to Soft Sounds, the Velvet Crush album I wrote about last week, this one is much more in the classic Crush mode, with vibrant melodies, gorgeous guitar sounds, and some really nice singing. Billed as a "Collection of Demoes and Outtakes 1990-1996," the disc is a sweet and sometimes poignant look back at one of Providence's best pop bands. There are alternate takes of seminal Crush tunes like "Hold Me Up" and "This Life Is Killing Me" as well as some great versions of "My Blank Pages" and "Star Trip." It's a real team effort, too, a trip back to the time when Menck, Chastain, and Underhill were a tight-knit trio, before reality and disillusion got in the way. Still, it's nice for hardcore fans like us that they left this inspired little suicide note to remember them by.

M-80, Put Down the BB Gun. There aren't many bands in Providence or anywhere else that do the heavy punk thing as crushingly well as M-80. Put Down the BB Gun finds the band better and more precise than ever without losing any of the mega-force velocity that characterizes the best of the genre. Led by Jeff Hanks and newest member Jonny Safford on guitar, Christian Blaney on bass, and Brian Bacon on drums, the lineup is spot-on in their quest for great, melodic punk in the mold of epic SoCal bands like Bad Religion, the Descendents, and Pennywise. The new album builds on the foundation of Don't Take It Away, their last CD, but smacks even harder thanks to seriously good production and polished performance.

The Slip, Angels Come on Time (Rykodisc). From the opening bars of the first cut, "Landing," in which Brad Barr strums delightfully deliberate arpeggios, Angels Come On Time is unpredictable, enigmatic, and exhilarating. "6-Sided" is a warped romantic ballad with jazz chords. "Jumpy" is starchy funk with some Stanley Jordan shred. Whereas past Slip efforts seemed to focus almost obsessively on their fancy Berklee book-learning and athletic versatility, the new album takes those lessons and that ability and reapplies them to natural expression and visceral emotion. Produced in part at Phish's Barn and at Sound Station 7 under the supervision of Rob Pemberton, Angels Come On Time is overwhelming for the sheer number of surprises you'll find poking through the surface.

Jason Colonies Band, Bitter Sweet. On-the-rise locals the Jason Colonies Band finally squeezed out their debut this year and the results have been worth the wait. The band, a trio with Jeff Moffitt on bass, Felix Guiffra on drums, and Colonies on acoustic guitar and vox, has a nice low-key swagger to accompany its vigorous tunes. Led by Colonies's impassioned singing and casual melodies, the band has a Dave Matthews/Grateful Dead sort of rubbery acoustic soul, with lots of personality ("This One," "Kine's Song"), some sexiness ("Plead"), and enough earnest sentiment ("Deny") to make the girls swoon. Recorded and mixed at Boo Recording Studio in Kingston, engineered and mixed by Dave Prout and produced by Colonies, the album has a rootsy feel and an organic sound.

The Marlowes, Sugarbursts & Thunderbolts. Sugarbursts & Thunderbolts is a platterful of exuberant, no-frills melodic pop. Songs like the sparkling opener "Because of a Girl," the ripping, Cheap Trick upstrokes of "Brighton Rock Candy Summer," the Monkees' guitar line of "Clown College Reunion," and the Eric Carmen-inspired ballad that closes the album, "A New Kind of Weather," all make for pretty thorough exhilaration. There are lots of ups, downs, ebbing, flowing, and great, danceable vibes. Together through some tough times since 1994, John Larson and company have outdone themselves with this effort.

Fast Actin' Fuses, Sayonara (Rodent Popsicle Records). The Fuses lean hard into a screaming barrage of three-chord punk and hard rock, which is just about as satisfying as a night in the pit without all the sweat. The tempos are slightly slower than trad punk, and the hooks are more pronounced, with a few '70s-style classic hard rock guitar bends to set them apart. It's in the thrash breakdown of "Need Some More," the NY Dolls influence of "Psycho-Delic-Kill," or the bright chords that open "Teenage Blood." These minor changes help FAF beat out most of their 4/4 punk brethren by a bloody nose.

Grüvis Malt, . . . with the Spirit of a Traffic Jam (Lakeshore). A quick listen to the intricate pop songs and dazzling instrumentation on the Malt's challenging new disc, . . . with the Spirit of a Traffic Jam, and you'll understand that the band is definitely on the move. It's a high-octane trip, fusing Zappa, Dave Matthews, and Phish, not to mention jazz-fusion, funk, and hip-hop. It's a stunning display of innovation and kaleidoscopic sonics, with massive performances and satisfying, unpredictable shifts.

Al Basile, Shaking the Soul Tree (Sweetspot Records). Shaking the Soul Tree, trumpeter Basile's second solo disc, is a zesty representation of sweet and sassy soul, R&B, and the blues. Joined by guitarist Duke Robillard, John Packer on bass, Jeff McAllister on drums, and Gordon Beadle and Doug James on horns, Basile's arrangements recall sounds like Steely Dan ("Breaking the Ice"), Otis Redding ("After The Fall"), and even a little French cabaret. Basile, a fiction writer originally, proves to be an excellent lyricist, too, making this a multi-dimensional listen with lots of really cool licks.

Bill Petterson, Parts and Labor (Wire Records). For years now, Bill Petterson has been one of the area's underappreciated acoustic singer-songwriters. For starters, he's a powerful singer, in the mold of early John Prine or Cliff Eberhardt. His guitar playing is interesting enough to hold up under a barrage of his own potent, often heavy lyrics, and he knows folk music well enough to understand what subject matter makes a compelling song. Parts and Labor, Petterson's third recording, encompasses all of those qualities and is one of the best acoustic albums of the year.

John Harrison Trio, Roman Sun (Whaling City Sound). New Bedford-based imprint Whaling City Sound continues its impressive string of world-class jazz releases with Roman Sun. John Harrison's gorgeous performance on Roman Sun keeps that string alive. Accompanied by a trio, which features Peter Kontrimas on acoustic bass and drummer Alan Hall, Harrison basks in the warmth of his band's full, rich sound and instrumental dexterity.

As the Sun Sets, 8949 (Trash Art!). Say hello to As the Sun Sets, then say goodbye. These two discs represent the last recorded output of the Providence noise goons, and what a send-off. ATSS ends up somewhere between Six Finger Satellite, Captain Beefheart and, uh, Metallica. They began as a hardcore beast then morphed into something entirely more dangerous. However you want to describe it, little will prepare you for the onslaught. Throw up your hands and succumb to the art-damaged annihilation. Remixed and mastered by noise genius Steve Austin of the spectacular Today Is the Day, 8949 is chaos in the purest sense, and for that reason, utterly mind-boggling. A powerful and bittersweet eulogy.

Katie Lee Hooker, KLH. Like some great bands that came out in the '80s, including the Flesh Eaters, Lazy Cowgirls, and the Miracle Workers, Katie Lee Hooker fuses the awesome power of hardcore and punk with big-boot-in-the-ass garage rock. Headed up by Jay Wright on voice and guitar and flanked by drummer Jimmy Burke and bassist Zach Davis, the band is a full-on assault of punk and post-punk anarchy with tons of heft and just as much recklessness. This is solid, old school-ish stuff with a whiff of grinding rock -- a ruckus of old and new that makes KLH a blisteringly good listen.

Haymakers, O-Kay Plus. Since releasing the EP Spare Parts, the Haymakers have grown by giant steps. With a mixture of heavy roots-rock and hard rock overtones, the band cranks it out with lots of energy. Guitarists Jeff Bright and Damian Puerini make a potent tandem, with one scrubbing out hefty rhythms and the other adding tactile lead lines. There's a trucker's ton of gusto here, the kind that sends the Haymakers off their rockers live.

You can send me your music news big.daddy1@cox.net.

Issue Date: December 27, 2002 - January 2, 2003