Local Record Roundup
INFAMOUS SYNDICATE Changing the Game (Relativity). Lateefa Harland and Rashawnna Guy don’t go in for the played-out gangsta posturing of Twista and Do or Die, but their rapid-fire, syllable-collapsing, occasionally off-the-beat rapping fits squarely into the current Chicago style. It works well with lean rhythm tracks like the ones crafted by Common collaborator No I.D. on “Here I Go” and “Hold It Down,” but other producers give the girls flaccid stuff like the slow-jammy “What You Do to Me” and the static “Jenny Jonez.” In a decision that seems more familial obligation than prudent musical judgment, Rashawnna’s dad, Buddy Guy, adds his usual guitar flash to a few cuts.
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WE RAGAZZI Suicide Sound System (My Pal God). Like it or hate it, Anthony Rolando has one of the most arresting voices around, a piercing, nasal whine that makes him sound spoiled, snotty, and irresolute–imagine Jad Fair imitating Jon Spencer. I wouldn’t want to spend an hour on the phone with him, but I can’t think of anything more appropriate than his paranoid-romantic caterwauling for We Ragazzi’s rickety mix of no wave and disemboweled retro rock. With Colleen Burke’s Adele Bertei-channeling organ tones, Alianna Kalaba’s stuttering drums, and Rolando’s own muscular, deceptively articulate guitar lines, Suicide Sound System is one of the best local rock releases of the year; unfortunately, the band just broke up.
