Dark stars

Singer/guitarist Carla Buffa, whose career has taken her from Boston to Los Angeles and back, launched the band with a promising tape last year, though the presentation was still a little stiff. Not the case on the her new tape, which recruits a supergroup of local players (guitarist Billy O'Malley and drummer Todd Perlmutter from Jocobono; drummer Jordan Cohen from Powerman 5000) and gives them interesting stuff to tear into. The opening "Hole" transports three verse/chorus jumps from an ominous acoustic setting (with electronically doctored vocal) to full metal racket; the lyrics voice such sweet sentiments as "I want someone to love me so I can spit in their face/I'm so tired, so tired . . . " But even when she's shouting "Tearing out my insides!" against O'Malley's power chorus, it's an orchestrated attack rather than random screaming. "Motion Machine" and "Thought" both turn to funkier territory, the latter featuring a clenched-teeth vocal and a mighty bass riff that builds momentum as it goes.

The musical sophistication of the tape can be traced to Buffa's jazz/classical training; its disillusionment can be traced to her two-year stay in Los Angeles. (In fact, she recalls that someone totaled her car shortly after she decided to leave. Then the earthquake hit.) "I wrote for big band and string ensemble at New England Conservatory," she explains. "Then I got a scholarship in film scoring from USC; it was a hard program to get into and they promised me a lot of money. So I moved three thousand miles, and guess what? No money." Lacking the funds to enroll or to move back, she stayed in LA for a time and frequented the rock clubs on Sunset Strip. "There was a band called Thick playing at the time; they're defunct now. They were all women except for the drummer, and they were a tough band -- real hard-rockin' babes, especially the guitarist. I saw them and thought, `I can go back to college anytime, but this is what I want to do.' " In tribute she includes a Thick cover, "I'm Sick," as a bonus track on her demo.

It may seem an odd turn for a classical musician, but hints of her background are there between the lines; she notes, for example, that "Hole" jumps from 13/8 time in the verses to 5/4 in the chorus. "A lot of people think that I cerebrally write with odd time signatures and strange harmonies, but that's just what comes out. I'll write something, present it to a player, and then say, `Oh, that's not in 4/4.' "

As for the grizzled emotions in her songs: "I like to think everybody feels that way sometimes, but something really touches me about that dark, dirge-like stuff. I hate to pull that tortured-artist thing, but it was getting pretty lonely in California." Did she have her current, goth-esque look back when she was scoring bands at NEC? "Oh, sure. I was always the dissident."

DEMO DERBY RUNNERS-UP

Any questions on where the guy is coming from? Frontman and former Real Kids guitarist Billy Borgioli has clearly been around long enough to get good and frustrated, but there's a sweeter side to their tape as well -- providing you can call "I dug around till I hit paydirt" a romantic sentiment. The Varmints qualify as an old-school supergroup now that former Classic Ruins leader Frank Rowe has joined on guitar, but "Ain't No Good" is as universal as they come.

Jalopy turn in the best local in-joke of the month with "Ric O's Café," an affectionate send-up that does for the Cars what the Rutles did for the Beatles. Without doing anything really obvious (like directly quoting Cars riffs or lyrics), they manage to lift every one of the band's trademarks (save for the keyboard, since Jalopy are a trio): jittery vocals, lyrical non sequiturs, staccato bassline, and a guitar solo that Elliot Easton somehow forgot to play. And the words sum up the ambiance that you might expect to find at a café run by Mr. Ocasek: "A couple of star-crossed lovers, a couple of lunatics/A couple of kids who are down on their luck, looking for cheap thrills and kicks." The two other songs on Jalopy's tape are likewise decent, and nearly as Cars-ish.

Also on the experienced side is Elizabeth (a/k/a Lizzie) Borden, who changes band formats on a regular basis. I wasn't keen on her last outfit, the psychedelic disco band Lava Beat. But after a major shift of gears she's back with a new group, the Finch Family, who even have a business card announcing "melodic with an edge." If that sounds a bit contrived, the album-length tape is enough to convince. There are Ramones-ish guitar bursts, smart but bratty lyrics, well-crafted tunes and unforced vocals, all adding up to a sound that's . . . well, melodic with an edge. It's the same kind of thing she was doing 10 years ago with Lizzie Borden & the Axes, only it's better. Ten of the songs are original, but they get an extra point for the one cover: Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man," with no lyric/gender change.

Would you believe a fresh-faced Mission of Burma? Allston's Vic Firecracker Trio have a cerebral, tight-wound approach that brings Burma to mind. The vocals may be a tad more pop-accessible, but structured three-piece clatter is still the rule, and the songs never quite resolve even when the choruses come around. "Elementary," the highlight of their three-song tape, has two lead singers apparently shouting down each other's throats and the guitar and bass doing the same thing. Nice touch: the exasperated near-laugh that the singer lets out during the quiet bridge before the guitar solo.

The Pills were called the Penny Dreadfuls until a couple of weeks ago, when another set of Penny Dreadfuls threatened to have their lawyer beat these guys up. They're descended from Atlas Shrugged, a polished pop band who deserved more local attention than they got. The Pills' sound is more new-wave-ish, meaning a little goofier and more hyper. The opener "All That Way" sets smooth harmonies against a fast, almost-ska rhythm and an original take on girlfriend-awareness: "I got a pebble in my shoe/I'd take it out but it reminds me of you/Small and kinda perfect, I'm digging it with every step." That, friends, is a clever metaphor. I get the impression that the band thoroughly enjoyed making this tape -- from the goofy shouts at the end of "Molly" to the way they can't slow down even when playing a ballad. I enjoyed it too.

I wasn't expecting much from Starlight Conspiracy's four-song tape, since the cover looks like a bad new-age album and the first track, "Calgon," opens with a twiddly, repetitive guitar riff. Surprise #1: after 30 seconds of this, the full band come crashing in, playing a powerfully ominous metal progression with creative chordal turns. Surprise #2: just when you're expecting an arena-rock singer to come in and mess everything up, along comes a female singer (Jan Tofferi) whose pop purity contrasts with the din around her. The momentum keeps up for four songs. Although the musicians have obvious technical chops, the sound never gets conventionally flashy, recalling instead early Dirt Merchants tapes or Curious Ritual's current work. Surprise #3: this one's from Burlington, Vermont, a scene that's produced more than its share of mediocre tapes in the past.

COMING UP

Saturday at T.T.'s, Kustomized celebrate the release of one of the year's best local albums, with the Lyres along too. Ace bluesman Eddy Clearwater is at Johnny D's, Mung play the Linwood Grill, Flunky are at the Phoenix Landing, and Barrence Whitfield plays the Tam . . . Long-running UK ruffians the Business hit the Middle East on Sunday . . . Derek "My dad plays drums for the Allman Brothers" Trucks hits House of Blues on Monday . . . Making his first local appearance since rising from the dead, country hero Steve Earle hits the Paradise on Tuesday. Meanwhile, popsters Poole are at the Middle East and the stars of next week's "Cellars," Curious Ritual, play Bill's Bar.