ENON
High Society
(Touch and Go)
****
It's easy to think you're listening to a mix CD as Enon's second album, High Society, plays out in vibrant bursts of vagrant styles. Is it American fuzz rock? Is it techno? Is it a Japanese girl band? It's all that and more, wrested from the minds and hands of former members of Brainiac and Skeleton Key, the great mid-'90s, percussion-driven band out of NYC. More deliberately composed than Skeleton Key, Enon moves from propulsive to languid in a mere measure's time as synths and buzzing bass prickle and poke and guitars gouge deeply. Toko Yasuda's vocals layer sweetly over John Schmersal's alternately tart and smooth singing styles. The title track is a throwback to the lush inventiveness of U.K. artists like Thomas Dolby and Joe Jackson as they tore apart the '80s version of the American Jet Set, but Enon comments with an informed, modern, and distinctly native sound. It's a great album (produced by Dave Sardy--remember Barkmarket?) full of surprises, and seamless in its dedication to diversity. KATHLEEN WILSON

FISCHERSPOONER
No. 1
(FS Studios)
***
If you're not into keeping up on the electronic world, the personalities behind its sequencers, synthesizers, and drum machines can feel pretty faceless. New York duo Fischerspooner--composed of composer Warren Fischer and lyricist diva Casey Spooner--have become one of their home city's non-rock buzz acts, giving electro a face while turning '80s-flavored techno into pretentious performance art that plays (and sells out) gallery spaces all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. The act's long-awaited debut, No. 1, is a primped and preened selection of synth pop, a culture clash of Depeche Mode and Squarepusher that's as cold and thrilling as watching an ice queen work a dance floor with vicious skill. The best tracks on No. 1 are the ones that include Spooner's vocals, such as "Emerge" (which can also be found on the new comp This Is Tech-Pop, a pretty decent selection of "21st Century electro and new wave") and "Intelligence," two songs that make you want to mingle with the fashionistas for the evening, if only to be elevated to Fischerspooner's robotic fantasy world. The album has its ups and downs, and some of the flatter bits sound like throwaways from an old Miami Vice soundtrack, but overall, No. 1 is bold and catchy enough to net fans of wickedly conceited electro pop. JENNIFER MAERZ

PUBLIC NUISANCE
Gotta Survive (2 CD)
(Frantic)
****
Public Nuisance is a cool late-'60s Sacramento sike band that's remained under the radar, 'til now! How come? Evidently their "soon to be" producer, Terry Melcher, dropped fucking EVERYTHING, band included, and went into hiding after Manson's family busted into his former pad, and, in attempt to incite Helter Skelter, forked themselves some piggies... wee-wee-wee till they was all dead. Right, SO the PN LP, which was to be issued on Melcher's label, Equinox, never came out. Too bad, 'cause PN is one of them bands that, like the U.K. band Please, anticipates contemporary sounds (one song sounds, damn... like Modest Mouse!) while still sounding of ITS particular time. By that I don't mean "heavy" or hippie," but rather PN mixes pop flourishes onna top of rockin' like the Nazz and rollin' a little like the Who. Shockingly good, original stuff during a time of often clichéd excess and posturing. MIKE NIPPER

MIDNIGHT THUNDER EXPRESS
Midnight Thunder Express
(Empty Records)
****
The eponymous debut from local boys Midnight Thunder Express is an excellent mix of rough garage punk, wildcat howls, and the right amount of flashy, guitar-driven attitude. The best parts of the disc are the Jerry Lee Lewis-style wild piano jams, layering cocky, fast-action rock 'n' roll tracks with bright flashes of bluesy soul. Frontman Willie Crane's husky vocals whine and yelp with a puffed-chest strut, much like the Black Halos' Billy Hopeless with Southern affections. Amid songs with smug reverence for reckless attitudes, the best song on Midnight Thunder Express has to be "Hangovers & Headaches," a toughened call to a friend who's buckling under the weight of a fast urban lifestyle where every bridge crossed is burning fast. As Crane wails a command to get out of a smothering town, MTE--a band that features ex-members of the Valentine Killers and the Backstabbers--show their skill for elevating the standard garage punk format into something memorable by adding a touch of glam to the show. JENNIFER MAERZ