| Five long years afterElastica was an instant hit, Elastica'sThe Menace (Atlantic) busts out of the box as if it's 1996.Sure, Justine Frischmann and company seem to say--what could be morenatural in the year 2000 than launching a noisy mess of a guitar-drivenpop tune by hooking together a bunch of synthesizer barks,a faux hurdy-gurdy, and some gunshots? Having wrestled down demonsthat include a widely publicized breakup with Damon Albarn of Blur,Frischmann stopped worrying about her place in the rock firmamentand settled for proving she was still alive. And miraculously, shesounds livelier than ever--not as fashionable as in the heady dayswhen guitars were all the rage, but locked into the punky musicalmethod she loves. Even when she tries some electronica, she stayswithin herself. Except maybe for Lou Reed'sEcstasy, it's the mostconfident rock record of the year, and the best.
Pink is a 20-year-old go-getter from Philadelphia who's not only awhite artist on the reigning r&b label LaFace, but an aspiringteenpop idol who writes her own material (which doesn't mean she'sdumb enough to reject offerings from LaFace's Babyface). She's toldinterviewers that for a year once she believed Madonna was herbirth mother, and onCan't Take Me Home she shows why.Lovey-dovey's not her way. Inspiration for title tune: a dark-skinnedboyfriend who wouldn't let her meet his mama.
Like Latin music but find it a little cheesy? Try Marc Ribot Y LosCubanos Postizos, whose¡Muy Divertido! (Very Entertaining!)(Atlantic) is their second straight album to bend classic Cubantunes and rhythms to the irreverent sonorities of small-group jazz.When Ribot adds a self-penned number called "Las Lomas De NewJersey," it fits right in.Playboy, May 2000
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