**1/2 Red Five

FLASH

(Interscope)

This tautly wound pop band show a direct lineage to the twisted, deviant guitar work of the Pixies (most evident on the first three songs, especially the morsel-size, acerbic "Turn It On") along with the pretty vocals singing lyrics like "I had a dream, and it smelled like gasoline." The guitars are the churn-it-up and spit-it-out variety, the drums are straightforward muscular workouts grinding out the backbeat, and the bass likes to pretend the year is 1987 and it's playing along with Kim Deal on Surfer Rosa.

-- Felix Khalatnikov

(Red Five play Axis this Friday, November 22, with Ruth Ruth and Sponge.)