Another girl?

The artful pop of Lynne Kellman

by Brett Milano

It was the sort of gig that usually gets filed under the heading of paying one's dues. Lynne Kellman, the Canadian songwriter who performs as Another Girl, was doing the first night of a month-long residency at the Kendall Café a week ago Monday. Her music is the kind of quirky/cerebral pop that often gets welcomed in these parts, so if word about her album (In the Galaxy, RCA) had gotten out, there might have been a few handfuls of listeners. Not this night, however, since her inaugural show coincided with the season's first ice storm. There were literally as many people on stage -- five, including the soundman -- as there were in the audience. They went through the full set anyway, with Kellman noting between songs, "It's okay, we've played to nobody before."

Two days later at Cambridge's 1369 Coffeehouse she elaborated: "I'm just enjoying the chance to play. Playing live is still a new and different thing. First I was in the studio for so long, then I was dealing with the lawyers, contracts, and A&R guys."

Kellman, it seems, is doing everything it takes not to live up to her name -- not to be just another girl with another good debut album. Leaving her home in the Vancouver area, she's based herself in Newport, Rhode Island, where she works with a Boston manager and a locally recruited band (drummer Kristoffer Branco, bassist Chris Carlson, and former Sighs guitarist Matthew Cullen). She's commuting to weekly gigs in New York, Northampton, and Cambridge, where a Monday-night residency at the Kendall Café will continue through the end of December. She'll also play Club Bohemia this Friday night (the 12th).

It would be unfortunate if In the Galaxy got lost in the major-label shuffle. It's an inventive, multi-textured album that maintains its pop appeal while throwing frequent left curves into the writing and arrangement. Kellman did most of the singing and playing in her home studio, bringing in outside help only to play drums and remix. Her homemade soundscapes range from big walls of chords to eerie string-driven passages, where she's featured on violin as well as the usual rock-band instruments. At the Kendall the songs were stripped back to acoustic basics, but the vocal dynamics kept things out of the ordinary. Comparisons with Liz Phair or early Tracy Bonham wouldn't be amiss, though Kellman is less a straightforward popster than either. If there's going to be an emotional shift in her songs, she's more apt to suggest it in the music than spell it out in the lyrics.

You can hear a lot of quiet determination in Kellman when she discusses her music. Her original performing name was Super Girl; she chose the current self-depreciating moniker for fear that DC Comics would take action ("I didn't want to be Sued Girl"). She was part of a popular Vancouver band, the Water Walk, before deciding she could do a better job on her own. "That's why I'm fine with being on a major label now. I'd been in the studio with a talented band who got signed because they were distinct, and then they got pressured to have hits. When I started my album, there was nothing on the radio that I thought was any good, and I thought I could do better. I got the equipment and set up a studio, and I could go anywhere on guitar because I didn't really know how to play it. That's total freedom. When I recorded `Anything for You,' I wanted the guitar to sound like fire, so I cranked everything up into the red. The engineers would never have let that happen, but when they heard the tape, they said, `How did you do that?' And the answer is that I did it all wrong, then bounced it to a ghetto blaster."

Her songwriting formula comes down to a combination of classical training, maverick attitude, and a chaotic personal life. "Yeah, my life actually changes as much as it sounds -- I can't write a song about something I just made up. That's not in me. The way they come out is just the way I look at things; I think way too much and my brain doesn't shut off sometimes. I studied classical music and I like Beethoven, anything that moves me in a dark way. Song structure is important -- to go somewhere you didn't expect but not gratuitously, not just for the sake of being quirky."

Kellman hasn't had much time to explore the Boston scene yet, though she has figured out that people are nicer here than they were at home. "I was amazed when I did auditions, how helpful and supportive the musicians are of each other. Vancouver's a small music community and a pretty vicious one, especially when somebody gets signed and everybody else gets jealous. When I was making the album, I'd hear a new horror story about me every time I went out -- and I hardly even left my house. It's amazing what you can stir up just by going out to buy milk."

EATERS RETURN

The Rat may be dead and buried, but one of the quintessential Rat outfits is back: the Eaters, formerly the Nervous Eaters, are gearing up for a reunion after five years on the shelf. Frontman Steve Cataldo has put together a new line-up, including some familiar old-school faces: guitarist Billy Loosigian (from the Joneses and Willie Alexander's Boom Boom Band), bassist Al Paulino (better known as Alpo from the Real Kids), and drummer Jeff Erna (from the Blackjacks and the Outlets). The new/old band (only Erna hasn't been in a previous line-up) will debut this Friday (the 12th) at the Linwood; a follow-up gig is set for January 6 at Club Bohemia.

It's hard to think back on Rat days without thinking of the Nervous Eaters. They were one of the first Boston punk bands to play there on a regular basis; their first single -- the eternal local hit "Loretta" -- came out on Rat Records. There were numerous break-ups and reunions along the way, not to mention a major-label album (on Elektra in 1980) that got slammed for having too many ballads. But they made amends with a later album, Hot Steel & Acid (Ace of Hearts, 1987), that included the anthemic "Shit for Brains," an oft-covered song that summed up the band's attitude, if not that of an entire generation.

According to Cataldo, the new Eaters will be playing the hits from the old days, plus a bunch of new songs that they plan to record next year. "I don't think there's a ballad in the set," he notes. "We're doing really stripped-down, flat-out stuff. Maybe we've got two midtempo songs, but the rest is all high-velocity."

Despite their occasional pop leanings, the Eaters are remembered for some of the rudest songs in Boston rock history, at least in the city's pre-hardcore days. "Nazi Concentration Camp Blues" was always a favorite. And their second single "Just Head" (" 'cause I'm in a rush!") set sexual attitudes back a good few years. How much of the nastiness was real and how much was a put-on?

"I'd say 50-50," Cataldo deadpans. "We used to ride around in a Chevy Supersport and we were pretty wise and crazy, just like the Real Kids were. A lot of times we'd yell something out the window, then we'd smoke joints all day and make a song out of it. We had some great times. We take breaks at rehearsals now and say, `Hey, remember going up on the roof of the Rat and making out with girls?' That was our home three or four nights a week."

In recent years Cataldo has led a South Shore cover band called Blues DeLuxe, and Alpo has returned to bass after losing a finger in a car accident a few years back. Cataldo wants to shift focus gradually to the new material, hence the partial name change. "We won't answer to `Nervous Eaters' -- that was a long time ago, and I never liked the name anyway. But if people see the `Eaters' in a listing, they'll know who it is, and I think they'll be pretty happy about it."

BREAKING NEWS

Some bands celebrate when they land a record contract, but the Gigolo Aunts are glad to report that they've just lost one. They've negotiated their way out of a UK contract with Fire Records, which leaves them free to sign with another label and make the long-overdue follow-up to 1993's Flippin' Out. Nothing concrete is set up yet, but they've lately become friends with the Counting Crows (for whom they opened a bunch of high-profile West Coast gigs), and the Crows now have their own label, so draw your own conclusions. The Gigolos promise some surprises when they play T.T. the Bear's Place a week from Saturday (the 20th). Original guitarist Phil Hurley will be in town that weekend, so draw your own conclusions there as well.

In more surprising news, Sebadoh, the band who embody the indie-label aesthetic (and in truth they deserved a bigger contract years ago), will release their next album on Sire. But according to Internet-gleaned info, the line-up no longer includes drummer Bob Fay. Meanwhile, the other band Lou Barlow used to be part of, Dinosaur Jr, were declared dead by leader J Mascis last week -- after being dropped from Sire.

And in the eternal-frustration department, Talking to Animals' Manhole album -- originally set for release by Columbia 13 months ago, then due last month on Velvel, then bumped to January -- has been bumped yet again. The new release date is February 24. Talking to Animals play the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge this Friday and Saturday night.

Finally, we're sad to have to announce that the Women of Sodom have broken up, after playing their final gig last month to celebrate Cynthia von Buhler's Nigh compilation. Who gets to keep the whips and enema bags?

COMING UP

One old guy definitely worth catching is Animals lead singer Eric Burdon -- he's at the House of Blues tonight (Thursday) with Laurie Geltman opening. If you can get in, the second of five Mighty Mighty Bosstones shows is at the Middle East, while Ida and Secret Stars do some fine pop stuff upstairs. And the Paradise has a bitchin' triple bill with The Elevator Drops, the Upper Crust, and Roadsaw . . . Tomorrow (Friday) sees Jules Verdone doing her CD-release party with Trona and Merrie Amsterburg at T.T. the Bear's, Slughog at the Middle East, January and Planet Queen at Bill's Bar, and Austin blueswoman Sue Foley at Johnny D's . . . Saturday Cherry 2000 headline a Noise party with Ultrabreakfast, Tugboat Annie, Scatterfield, and Boy Wonder at T.T.'s; meanwhile prog-rockers Dream Theater are at the Roxy . . . A trio of Allman Brothers members bring their side band Frogwings to the Paradise Sunday . . . King Crimson leader Robert Fripp does a solo show at the House of Blues Tuesday . . . And Big Ray & the Futuras are at Green Street Wednesday.