P:ANO

The Den

(Hive-Fi Recordings/Zum Media)

***1/2
Don't you think it's a little much? I mean--honestly. Vancouver, BC's sweet little four-piece becomes its sweet little 22-piece with The Den, the uncomfortably mature follow-up to their beautifully understated debut, When It's Dark and It's Summer. It's a hefty progression, as young Nick Krgovich and company attempt the leap from sparse, subtle pop songs to heaving pop composition. Where their debut traced the band's comfortable cozying in quiet, contented assurance, The Den careens--however languidly--through Busby Berkeley dance numbers, dreamy waltzes, and dirging stumble steps. With a ballroom floor founded on a kitchen-sink recording sensibility (instruments from flugelhorns to door hinges actively dancing through the sonic set pieces), The Den's expanse should have been a disaster of sophomore arrogance. But for all their girth and glitter, p:ano still manage to maintain what is essentially the heart of their charm--a soft-spoken subtlety and modest elegance that maintains its presence alongside (and occasionally in spite of) their elaborate flourishes. And it works. Beautifully. ZAC PENNINGTON

P:ano perform at the Hideaway Sat March 20 with Not Breathing, Le Flange Du Mal, and BLK: JPN, 9 pm, $6.

DUB SYNDICATE

No Bed of Roses

(Lion & Roots)

**
Dub Syndicate's No Bed of Roses has only one surprise--a track called "Kingston 14" that features veteran Jamaican crooner Gregory Isaacs. The song is immediately followed by its version (or dub version) and together the tracks form the only reason why you should buy Roses. The rest of the songs and dubs on the CD are uninspired and rather predictable. For example, the second track, "Private I," is certainly beautiful, with its exotic and smoky saxophone, but it instantly recalls another Dub Syndicate version from the '80s that features an exotic and shimmering sitar played by Norah Jones' father, Ravi Shankar. In fact, "Kingston 14" isn't surprising because it's original or new (it could easily fit into Isaacs' 1988 album Red Rose for Gregory), but because of the magic and mastery of Isaacs' performance. He must now be in his 60s, and rumors ("dem spreading") have it that cocaine has reduced his fortune and health to nearly nothing, but Isaacs has not lost one bit of his craft. "Kingston 14," a political song about inner-city violence, has his world-famous erotically exhausted drawl, and he still fills every word that passes his lips with that heavy sense of longing for someone or thing that is, as Alpha once put it, "somewhere not here." Time might have fucked up his body but it has preserved the virginity of his voice. CHARLES MUDEDE

HENRY FLYNT & THE INSURRECTIONS

I Don't Wanna

(Locust Music)

***
Don't expect to get a dose of Henry Flynt's potent country & drone minimalism on I Don't Wanna. This collection of nine tracks recorded in 1966 conjures up a raw mix of White Light/White Heat-period Velvets and tweaked gutbucket blues. Artist Walter De Maria handles drum chores and Flynt's guitar-playing owes a debt to his teacher, Lou Reed. Flynt sings on a number of cuts, letting loose politically-engaged lyrics with caterwauling vocals that slice right through the racket. This stuff is sloppy, energetic, awkward, and almost never boring. Ragged rhythms energize and guitar rumbles and rambles like it oughta. When a rock 'n' roll organ or squalling sax show up, they add nice spikes to the band's jagged edge. Yep, tons of suburban teens ripped it up in their garages in the '60s, but these city-slicker pointyheads knew how to bring the noise, too. FRED CISTERNA

EVENING

Other Victorians

(Lookout! Records)

*
Recently, Lookout! Records has made attempts to diversify its sound from the bouncy gutter-punk genre the label had come to exemplify. But if Evening's Other Victorians is any indication, perhaps Lookout! should stick to what it knows best. Other Victorians reveals a group of faux- Radiohead latecomers to the dance-punk scene who are competent with samples, effects, and Wurlitzers, but not, unfortunately, with the craft of songwriting. "Placing You Center" starts off with a basic Casio beat and some decent, ethereal OK Computer effects before launching into the lamest guitar solo since "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," and trite lyrics about feeling "left out from the perfect place" before going back to the guitar hook. Things never pick up from there, as the rest of the album drifts off into annoying clichés of guitar washes, Echoplex loops, and pedestrian lyrics. CHAS BOWIE

**** Blind Date *** Extreme Dating ** Elimidate * Fifth Wheel