new introductory bit here.

This is a reviews page based on my own collection, which just keeps growing despite itself. If it isn't listed here, it's because I don't own it yet, or I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Also, bother your local "new rock" radio station and make sure they are playing "new rock" and not "Rock the Casbah," which is not new.

note: entries in red text indicate my pick for the artist's best available album. A gold numeral indicates the POPocalypse winner of the year's best album; second- and third-place winners are in blue. Green lettering indicates an obviously exploitative record company compilation without apparent artist input.

Curve is the band name for Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia, whose first act, State of Play, folded in 1987. Halliday made an entertaining solo album after that before reuniting with Garcia for three EPs released in 1991: Blindfold, Frozen and Cherry, each with four songs and a lead which nabbed radio play in England.

Assisted by name electronic producers and mixers such as Alan Moulder and Flood, Curve put a dense, angry edge on the shoegazing movement, with a wall of synths and samples and layers of guitars. Somewhere behind that buildup, Halliday's eerie, treated voice could be heard breathing icily detached lyrics of bile; unbelievably harsh breakup songs directed at some former paramour. The combination clicked with the indie crowd in the UK, propelling the first LP Doppelganger into the top 20. College radio in the US lagged somewhat behind despite the press; the similar sounds of bands like Ride and Lush had got onto playlists ahead of Curve and they found the US a tough sell. Doppelganger spawned a pair of UK top 40 hits in "Fait Accompli" and "Horror Head."

1993's Cuckoo showed very little variation in the sonic palette; in truth it sounds a lot like the album they'd just released. This naturally makes it the poor cousin, though it is still quite listenable, with Halliday's lyrics perhaps being even more bilious. "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus," for example completely belies the cute novelty title with its refrain "We won't be happy 'til we kill each other." It's a good album, but a casual fan really needs either Doppelganger or Cuckoo, and not both.

After this comparatively busy three year period, Curve really lost their momentum. In 1998, they emerged with the Come Clean LP and the mildly successful "Chinese Burn" single. Three years later, Gift was released, showing the duo had decided to make albums that sounded a lot like Garbage. Of course, since Garbage decided to revamp their sound drastically with their third album, it was nice to have something on the racks that year that sounded like a new Garbage album. With a more prominent guitar sound in the mix, and Halliday's voice pushed way in front, this is artistically a more questionable release than their earlier albums since it follows other artists' work instead of trailblazing more original material, but it is very entertaining. "Hell Above Water," which was used in several movie trailers, is driving and instantly memorable. On the other hand, the songs lack the furious lyrics that made earlier albums so unique. (7/02)