P

January 4 - 11, 1 9 9 6

** P

(Capitol)

Isn't it cool how famous people seem to be good at everything they do? Like the way actors who start rock bands so easily get gigs in trendy LA nightclubs whether or not they own the place? And how other well-known musicians are drawn to the actor-turned-rocker because of his amazing talent? And how celebrity-led bands are so good they get offered record contracts right away?

P consist of Johnny Depp on guitar and bass, fellow actor Sal Jenco on percussion, former Stevie Ray Vaughan songwriter Bill Carter on guitar and bass, and Butthole Surfer scuzz-master Gibby Haynes on vocals. Predictably, P sounds like a heavy-metal blues and country-based gross-out mess with a Hollywood shine. Haynes's obnoxious dark humor and inscrutable noise fests are the disc's most recognizable fingerprints, though one assumes only Depp could have written "Michael Stipe," which namedrops Sofia Coppola and includes the immortal line "I was driving Martin Landau's car." Add to the mix well-chosen but clumsy covers of Daniel Johnston's "I Save Cigarette Butts" and ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and two long, laborious dub excursions and P overall deserves one great big confused shrug.

-- Roni Sarig