Over a decade after Galaxie 500's heyday, another Boston group steps into that slow, minimal, somnambulant, ultraquiet pop sound derived from one side of the multifaceted Velvet Underground. Only instead of Dean Wareham's high-pitched warble, there is the more comforting cooing-mother tone of singer Valerie Allen. Some critics have compared her to Cat Power's Chan Marshall, but she really sounds more like the Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan, without the big major-label production (this is more defenseless and direct). The LP is well-named; she and other half, Eli Queen, along with guest drummer Lou Miller, keep it plain, with ringing chords undercut by barely there basslines, and fills-less drumming, all aided by Gary Olson of Ladybug Transistor and Bill Wells' no-frills, hushed engineering. Sometimes when the cupboard's so bare, there's the mystery of all the empty space one can play in. (www.midriffrecords.com) ~ Jack Rabid, All Music Guide
