[.ca] Trucks

From Amazon.com:
Four indie girls with charm, attitude, and libidos, the Trucks try hard to be provocative and punky-ironic on their self-titled debut record. Lead singer Kristin Allen-Zito and her bratty bandmates give it their all, with soon-to-be notorious songs like "Titties" and the album closer "Why The?" (chorus: "Why the f--- won't you go down on me?"). But it comes off like a smokescreen. Despite all their sleazy, look-at-me lyric antics, the most striking characteristic of the band is their capacity for writing lovable little pop songs. In that, they are strongly influenced by Peaches, from whom they also borrow their electro-techno tilt. The Trucks have a broader feel for musical texture though, contrasting sparse song structures with subtle tone shifts like the one at the end of "Zombie." "Comeback" is another winner, blindsiding the listener with instant, Bangles-level melodic appeal; it's only later you realize this girlish romantic lament is also a murder confession. Sometimes the music gets a little too sparse leaving only the shock value of their campy burlesque act, and that act gets old pretty fast. You wish they would can the smart-ass pose and just stick to the music ("Man Voice," for instance, isn't even worth a B-side). Their more obvious antics aren't what make them interesting. In the end, they accomplish that by going against their apparent instincts and being more cute than bitter (though they are bitter) and more vulnerable than horny (ditto). --Matthew Cooke

• Introduction
• Titties
• Zombie
• Shattered
• Messages
• Old Bikes
• Man Voice
• Comeback
• 3 A.M.
• Big Afros
• March 1st
• Diddle-Bot
• Why The?