Net

Working with a core duo -- a guest from her first album, Bull, on various instruments and vocals, and drummer Shaun Broadley -- along with ten other cameo performers, Bell creates another fine set of sharp, intelligent rock with a rough, underground edge on Net. She and Brendon Hoffman handle production and mixing duties, resulting in a cleaner, clearer sound in comparison to Jefferies' spookier sonics on Dreams. It's not pointlessly sterile studio-sheen clean, happily; the songs are simply allowed to step forward more. Bell's cool emotionalism and dismissive sass, in combination with her music, at times call to mind what a more energetic Nico might have sounded like as the solo bandleader of the Velvet Underground. Certainly the various instrumental additions from others -- piano and accordion on "Trains," cello on "Tongue Tied," and so forth -- give an additional theatricality to the proceedings that's quite becoming. The understated combination of bodhran, Irish pipes, piano, and cello on "Caitlan" is especially striking and lovely. Bell herself throws in enough wild-card elements to keep the listener's attention. The unexpected guitar-feedback snorts, reminiscent of Joy Division, on "Car" break up the flow of the song just enough, while the quite clear vocals on "History" tell a queasy tale over some darkly chiming guitars, at least initially. Even more interestingly, the final six tracks steer away from percussion altogether, providing a mellower but no less darker flip side to the initial rockers. Bell's multitracked vocals snake through guitar noise on "At the Place," while her semi-blues strum (supported by David Mitchell and Denise Roughan of the 3Ds) on "Walking" and the fine instrumental duet with Alastair Galbraith on "Keening" are simply grand. ~ Ned Raggett