REVIEW: The Muffs, Blonder And Blonder (Warner)

- John Walker

Muffs lead singer/guitarist/ Kim Shattuck is the kind of spoilt girl who's constantly looking for attention: she'd rather show you her panties (as a recent Details rock scribe found out) than be ignored. And of course, the name of her band is really a thinly-veiled "LOOK AT ME!," prompting un-PC people like me to regale my editor with a string of bad jokes upon receiving the CD for review. The really odd part about Shattuck is that she's a middle-class girl from Orange County who still lives with her parents at age 31, plays hard bubblepunk music and dresses like a little girl. Actually, maybe that makes her the quintessential Gen X'er. Except that she's actually sexy.

Kat Bjelland and Courtney Love may have beaten her to the punch fashion-wise, but somehow Shattuck's second childhood seems more convincing. As she sings on her band's second album, Blonder And Blonder (ironic Dylan reference noted): "I'm Confused." But happily so. This album is all Shattuck's show, from her--in turns--melodic, rasping, and howling vocals to her neo-punk guitar stylings. Shattuck may dress like Courtney, and at times adopts a Love-like scream (see "Red-Eyed Troll"), but her overall demeanour is free of the whining self-pity which has become a most burdensome cliche in current North American rock. Shattuck can also write a melody and carry a tune, which sets her apart from her aforementioned peers.

Hum-along, hop-along fun abounds on Blonder And Blonder, which comes in at a little over 30 minutes, a refreshing change from the 70 min plus epics we've grown used to in the CD age. There's no excess here Shattuck has obviously committed the minimalist fury of the Ramones classic Rocket To Russia to memory, and can call up those magic chord changes at will. Songs like "Agony" and "Oh Nina" do the blitzkrieg bop, while Shattuck and the other 2/3 of the Muffs (Ronnie Barrett-bass, Roy McDonald-drums) also display a facility for straight-up pop-rock ("Sad Tomorrow") Byrdsy guitar riffs ("End It All") and grunge-lite ("Ethyl My Love"), all the while never straying TOO far from what they do best.

Blonder And Blonder doesn't aspire to end-of-the-century significance or philosophical profundity: it just wants to (slam) dance. On that level, it succeeds marvelously. The Muffs would be a great band to spend a sweaty summer eve with down at your local rock club. What more do you do you need?

Note to Kim: If you make it to Toronto, about those panties....