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Nash Kato

"Debutante"

$16.98

I was not here last summer for the most surreal of sights -- Urge Overkill dragged out into the sunlight, playing at Slopeside with green grass and blue sky. And because I was not there, I cannot imagine it. Those who were there still seem vaguely traumatized.

For them, I offer this album as therapy. Close the curtains. Spill some cheap beer on your clothes, and sit down for a listen.

Before Urge Overkill reunited to make another run at it, frontman Nash Kato released this solo album.

It's the favorite album of a certain 4-year-old I know whose dad "does not believe in insipid children's music."

The songs are catchy without being radio blender pap.

It took me awhile before I sat down and listened to the whole thing, but every time I heard one of his songs playing on someone's stereo I would ask, "Wow. Who's this?"

It's Nash Kato, Autumn. You asked that last time.

Some of the highlights from "Debutante" are "Cradle Robbers" ("Your're getting older, cradle robbers, he seems so ordinary, Tooth Bunny and the Easter Fairy, your secret's safe with me.") and the opening track "Zooey Suicide" which I can only assume is a Salinger reference. ("one more flatliner/by designer."). I could go on quoting lyrics forever.

Rated: Better for your kids than The Wiggles or Barney.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

"Shake the Sheets"

$13.98

I've never seen Ted Leo & The Pharmacists on stage, but as I relaxed into this album, the picture that formed in my mind was of a red-faced man pulling the microphone close to his mouth.

It's been awhile since I got preached to with guitars playing in the background. Leo opens the album with, "Do you believe in something beautiful? Get up and be it." Usually, I might find this kind of songwriting a little off-putting. Unfortunately, I was so busy getting into the music that I forgot my impulse to be annoyed.

The songs are short, the rhythm is driving, and all that keeps Leo's lecturing style from getting up your nose.

By track four, "Counting Down the Hours," you're half-marching, half-dancing through roiling guitars, and Leo analizes international politics.

"As I go on and on, wondering if I have a soul."

You are the child, and he is the singer. And by the time he gets you to "Little Dawn," you're a little exhausted and a little confused. Then the psychological torture begins.

The guitar fingers back and forth between two chords over and over while Leo says, "It's alright. It's alright. It's alright." For what seems like forever.

This is some kind of dysfunctional relationship. But just like a real-life dysfunctional relationship, you stay in it for the drama, to find out what happens next.

Rated: It's weird, it's hard, it's wrong, but it's interesting.

Toast

"All In"

$14.99

It came in the mail, harmonies and all. The first track, "Bird," had promise, leading hopeful lyrics by an acoustic guitar and a strings section. At first, I was able to ignore the untrained voice of the singer and the see-through production of what must be someone's later-in-life, first album. I was willing to give this album a chance until I got to the rockin' "Party Girl." The song begins with "She's got my mojo in a hoho," followed by some trite, sexist descriptions of this poor party girl that has captured the attention of these band members.

If I had to play the "influence" game, I would guess these guys were old metal heads who have been working in ties for years, and this is their way of breaking out of the grind.

Although there is some sincerity here, even some potential, they need to get a writer, preferably one who knows the word "continuity" and can teach it to the band.

Rated: No more reviews of CDs I got in the mail.