JONAS 1/31, THURSTON’S This Minneapolis foursome cloaks scaled-down Led Zeppelinisms in a chintzy gothic gauze on its recent front-parlor-recorded CD, Hopeless in Gaza (My Spleen!/Channel 83); acoustic guitarist and lead vocalist Sarah Khan drags poor Debbie Harry into the mess by launching into the “man from Mars” routine from “Rapture” near the end of “I Can Fly.”
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RENFIELDS 1/31, METRO On its latest CD, Sounds of Romance, Sounds of Horror (Afterglo), this garage-rock trio, formed seven years ago in De Kalb, evokes the raved-up, protopsychedelic spirit of early Yardbirds. But the overbearing rhythm guitar provides little room or incentive for the development of vocal melodies, resulting in an imbalance that lessens the music’s appeal considerably.
My Scarlet Life 2/1, Metro Chicagoan Preston Klik, the big cheese behind the now defunct Big Hat, perpetuates the goth froth with this new quartet. When not using a pair of beguiling sirens to voice his narcissistic concerns (“How attractive am I / When I feel like / A goddamn freak?”), he’s whipping up an ambience that might appeal to Enya fans on the prowl for something a little funkier.
