TWO DOLLAR GUITAR

Weak Beats and Lame Ass Rhymes

(Smells Like Records) ****

While many people know Two Dollar Guitar for Tim Foljahn's bitter, haunting ballads, just as many know the band for its drummer, Steve Shelley. Shelley is a great drummer who adds energy to Foljahn's songs in just the right places. He also releases the band's albums on his own label, and in general supports the band and the Hoboken music scene in any way he can. But at the same time, in a way he has always undermined Two Dollar Guitar, because despite Foljahn's songwriting, powerful baritone, and ultimate indie cred of having been in Half Japanese, the band is still known as "The Guy From Sonic Youth and That Other Guy."

If there's any justice, Weak Beats and Lame Ass Rhymes will make a name for That Other Guy. And there are plenty of names to contend with on the album: Along with Shelley, bassist Dave Motamed, and second guitarist Luc Suer, guest stars include Carla Bozulich (Geraldine Fibbers), Tim Prudhomme (Fuck), Christina Rosenvinge (a Spanish singer who's a particular favorite of Foljahn's), plus professional guest stars Nels Cline and Smokey Hormel. But despite the minor-celebrity-studded nature of the album, in the end it's all Tim's show.

Two Dollar Guitar backed up Townes Van Zandt on the last tour before his death in 1997, and Foljahn seems like a good choice to carry on Van Zandt's legacy. His songs are just as poetic and mournful; each one finds the singer laying out his faults for the world to see, and then asking where he went wrong. As bleak as some of his songs can get, Foljahn also displays a wry wit on "Everybody's In a Band," which shames us all for thinking that we'll finish a novel, sell a screenplay, or write a bunch of songs -- and worse, for thinking that anyone would care. And while he attacks mediocrity, he ends on a self-reflective note, sardonically claiming, "I am taking golden shits/shitting out gold bricks/and it's all gold and gilt." Or is that guilt?

As in the band's earlier work, the songs are essentially ballads and Foljahn's lyrics are the focus, but in expanding beyond the band's typically sparse three-piece arrangements, the music behind them has far more depth. Songs start off quiet and slow, but intensify as more instruments add to the momentum of the song. Dirges wind up really moving along, and just that simple change in pace makes Weak Beats far more listenable than the band's first two albums, which tended to start slow and stay that way.

Self-mocking title aside, Weak Beats and Lame Ass Rhymes is the kind of record that should force people to finally give both the band and Tim Foljahn their due. MIKE VAGO

THE POSIES

Dream All Day: The Very Best of the Posies

(Geffen) ****

Pop groups have had a hard time of it in Seattle. Bands like the Heats, the Moberlys, and Green Pajamas all flirted with some version of the pop beast (power pop, psychedelic pop), but none were able to find lasting success beyond a regional level. Which brings us to the Posies, who appeared out of nowhere (well, Bellingham) in 1988, and within two years had snagged a deal with Geffen. Despite constant touring and a clutch of good albums, the Posies never really broke out either. This collection of stuff from the Geffen years doesn't make it any easier to find a reason why; what pop fan could resist the monster hooks of "Golden Slumbers" and "Dream All Day"? Or the swirling mass of guitars that surge through "Flood of Sunshine." There's clever lyrical twists, too; a sinister little story lurks within the beautiful harmonies of "Suddenly Mary." As a bonus, a few rarities and outtakes have been tossed in to keep you collectors happy. GILLIAN G. GAAR

WOODBINE

Woodbine

(Domino)

****After DJ Shadow released Entroducing..., it was only a matter of time before Britain's lo-fi kids caught up with the narcoleptic groove. Woodbine, the debut album from Robert Healey (ex-noise pop gods Membranes and Cornershop), resonates with late-night weariness and hidden sensual pleasures. Songs like "Mound of Venus" and the chocolate-delighting "Neskwik" lie somewhere between the salacious grind of David Roback's Mazzy Star and Lois' fragile tales of betrayal coming from Olympia. Susan Dillane has a marvelous, dreamy voice -- perfectly complemented by Healey's minimal, lazy-day backing and soft whisper. Woodbine makes for a great companion piece to Mogwai's soulful noise terrorism. This may be a debut, but it's fully-formed. EVERETT TRUE


IN STORES 2/1

BEACH BOYS, Beach Boys Greatest Hits Volume 3: Best of the Brother Years 1970-1986 (EMI) This week on ABC: The Beach Boys: An American Family. This third "greatest hits" volume coincides.

BERNARD BUTLER, Friends & Lovers (Creation/Columbia) Former Suede guitarist's follow-up to 1998's People Move On.

LO FIDELITY ALLSTARS, On the Floor at the Boutique (Skint/Columbia) 21-track CD of remixes including Boogie Down Productions' "You Must Learn," Blackstreet's "No Diggity," and Felice Taylor's 1968 song "I Can Feel Your Love."

MORPHINE, The Night (DreamWorks) The fine but predictable Morphine delivered The Night just before Mark Sandman's untimely death last summer.

MICHAEL PENN, MP4: Days Since a Lost Time Accident (57 Records/Epic) Wuss music can be good: Penn's latest features wife Aimee Mann and Grant Lee Phillips.

THE ROCKFORDS, The Rockfords (Epic) Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and members of Goodness comprise this new local band.

SNOOP DOGG PRESENTS THA EASTSIDAZ, Snoop Dogg Presents Tha Eastsidaz (Dogghouse/TVT) Proving that he's learned something from Dre, Snoop joins with Tray Deee and fresh meat Goldie Loc as Tha Eastsidaz, on Snoop's own label.