FUCK
Cupid's Cactus
(Smells Like Records)
***

I've always felt intensely personal about Fuck. Maybe because my discovery of the band five years ago was a pleasant surprise, after a former music writer left an unmarked Fuck CD in a drawer of the desk I was to assume as my own. Not sure if it was junk or not, I slipped the disc into the player and was instantly infatuated. Here was a band capable of writing twinkling love songs, the kind whose sadness glistened with the sheen of bemused tears rather than dripped with rivulets of woe. It was also a band that wrote near- nonsensical snippets of songs that sounded exasperatingly wasteful at first (finish the song, goddammit!), but upon repeated listening revealed a brief cinematic beauty. That's when my infatuation with Fuck evolved into love. Several albums later, Fuck hasn't altered this tendency in the least. A couple of listens into Cupid's Cactus, I'm once again kicking myself for, at first, wishing tracks like "Someday Aisle" or "Flowers" went to such lyrical extremes as "Glass Charms" or "Panties Off." There's simply no need. The songs on Cupid's Cactus hum, twitch, and buzz with an intensity that words may or may not enhance. Thankfully, Fuck instantly recognizes the inherent distinction. KATHLEEN WILSON

DOLLY PARTON
Little Sparrow
(Sugar Hill/Blue Eye Records)
***1/2

With her 1999 album, The Grass Is Blue, Dolly Parton explored her love of bluegrass music with a flair and an emotional investment that had been missing from her work for a long time. Since debuting at the Grand Ole Opry in 1959, Parton catapulted to

country stardom, collaborating with Porter Wagoner. Her success continued to grow as she branched out into pop and became a film actor. Parton became an icon and an outsized persona whose name was instantly recognizable. The aspect of her career that may have been overshadowed in the process is her songwriting. She has written over 3,000 songs. On Little Sparrow, Parton continues her exploration of bluegrass and Appalachian music with an eclectic collection of originals and standards. It is a more personal statement than The Grass Is Blue, and Parton invests the material with passion and a melancholic grace. "In the Sweet By and By" is bluegrass gospel. Parton pays tribute to Bill Monroe on "Bluer Pastures," and the Louvin Brothers on "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby." "My Blue Tears" and "Down from Dover" are the centerpieces here. Both are songs that Parton wrote many years ago, and she revisits them with stripped-down instrumentation. "Down from Dover" is the story of a pregnant girl sent away from her family, awaiting the return of her baby's father. Parton's voice is perfectly suited to the blue mountain music and Appalachian gospel she traverses with this album. Little Sparrow features the best bluegrass talent of, among others, banjo player Jim Mills and mandolinist Chris Thile. Alison Krauss and Celtic group Altan also guest on the album. Parton shows that in cleaving to the music she grew up with, she still has a lot to say artistically, and the breadth of her influences shows why she herself has become so influential. NATE LIPPENS

VARIOUS ARTISTS|
Essential Pebbles Collection, V.3: European Garage 2CD
(Bomp/AIP)
****

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Pebbles V.12: The World
(Bomp)
***

I LOVE double fistin'! Uh-huh, I'm gettin' to holler for Pebbles 12 AND, the double-discer, Essential Pebbles 3! Holler? Yes, 'cause both of 'em is fulla smokers... from everywhere BUT the U.S. of A.... Surprise! England and the U.S. weren't alone in them '60s! Mmmmmmmhmmmmm, teens was gettin' busy with R&B everywhere! Right, what's on 'em? Uh, truth be told, Pebbles V12: The World is filled with mostly European garage/beat/R&B, tho' there's a few tracks reachin' 'round 'bout Oz. But you know, so what--you gotta get this for the Nicols AND Los Salvages tracks! As for Essential Pebs 3, this volume mines the best of the un-re-reissued tracks from the later Pebbles "Continent Lashes Back" series. That's the "European" continent, so if you (GASP) don't wanna load up on Pebs LPs, here's yer ticket. C'mon, why not... the sound has been upgraded and the track listing is solid, loaded with hits from Holland, Denmark, and so on. Yep, and it's that easy. Oh... unlike expensive "collector's" comps of world beat/garage, these OUGHTA be available. MIKE NIPPER

THE DONNAS
The Donnas Turn 21
(Lookout! Records)
***

Having slipped their Svengali with 1999's Get Skintight, and outgrown the age-appropriateness of their Lolita/jailbait schtick, female foursome the Donnas are left to prove themselves on more musical terms with their latest album, The Donnas Turn 21. It's a crunchier, more accomplished sound that finds the Palo Alto quartet blustering with retro-'70s guitar overdrive. The bawdy, sly sneer of Brett Anderson (Donna A.) channels the Avengers' Penelope Houston on a few places, sounding petulant for a reason, instead of posed. Allison Robertson's (Donna R.) guitar runs thick and roughshod over the rhythms of bassist Maya Ford (Donna F.) and drummer Torry Castellano (Donna C.), turning the Donnas to a less Ramones-meets-Runaways sound, toward a sleazy AC/DC vibe. The come-hither glint that shapeshifts between empowering and salacious on "40 Boys in 40 Nights" and "Midnite Snack" radiates defiance in its boasting swagger. The Donnas Turn 21 is the band's most distinctive album, but it still falls short of individuality, relying too heavily on recycled licks and stale ideas of bad-girl behavior. That they pull it off with enough raucous abandon for the listener to hardly notice is a credit to their refinement and independence. NATE LIPPENS