I usually can't stand Sensitive Chick Music. This is Sensitive Chick Music. I recommend it only because it's so weird. If you ever had an obsessive girlfriend you hoped wasn't writing songs about your dead relationship, these are the songs you were thinking of.

Local duo Urethane almost sound like two different bands on their debut. Half the cd is composed of ethereal folk while the other half slowdances in stark trip-hop lining. Both sides of Urethane's personality defy adequate scene placement, sounding like a band from the more spiritual Arizonan highlands of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, not Tempe. Simone Grey's exotic vocals flutter about each track oozing with emotion and an air of mystery. Her soulful breathiness and slight yodeling tendencies will probably invoke [Dolores O'Riordan] from the Cranberries in the minds of some, but I find the heart of her voice to be closer to the neurotically naked majesty of early Throwing Muses, when Kristin Hersh used to sing like her life depended on it. There are a number of vocal flourishes that lean in [an Eastern] direction..Some of it seems to have rubbed off on Chris Bailey's beautifully clever acoustic work, twisting what would be more standard folk and classical guitar motifs into subtle detours that make all the difference. And hey, does Chris just love "Pink Moon" by Nick Drake or what? Standout tracks: "Bad Connection" and "Driveway" show off their more earthly sides, whereas "Deprivation" and "Absence" take the trip-hop aesthetic to a place only this hunk of land could create. The lack of heavy processing works brilliantly in an area normally ladled with production tricks. You will probably never hear me applaud a lack of processing again. Urethane won't be bound to the Phoenix metropolitan area for long. -Troy Palmer

"Exile on Cameron Harper Street -- an ambitious compilation of Arizona bands produced by Planet magazine...is well worth the $10 asking price, if only for historical value. Ten months in the making, this album nails the state of this state's rock scene, circa late 1995.

"Which means that many of the 21 tracks sound annoyingly alike. Most of them fall under the ill-defined category of 'desert rock,' and most of them are not very good. On the flip side, there are several cuts that stand apart from the herd, most of them excellent. The commonality among these tracks is that each sprouts from a distinct set of sensibilities.

"For example, Trunk Federation offers the strongest, sharpest, most original sound of all the hard-guitar bands included here..."

"Also worthwhile is 'Sore Eyes,' from the aptly named Tucson trio Fuzz. 'Eyes' is punked-out jazz with a slightly chili, distorted funk chorus, all of it laced with opium dreams of feedback..."

"Still on the heavy side of the scale, Pig Iron and Seven Storey Mountain turn in tough efforts as well..."

"Of all the Cameron tracks, the most intriguing is the work of local vocalist Simone Grey and technophile Chris Bailey, who also plays guitar for the Tempe based Beats the Hell Out of Me. Bailey is credited with 'all instrument,' which, on 'Deprivation,' include a sampler, languid bass playing and sparse dabs of piano color. Reminiscent of Sinead O'Connor's 'Stretched on Your Grave' (primarily for the snare-drum loop), this song is deliberately minimalist -- a smart setup to showcase Grey's eerie, exotic and ultimately gorgeous voice.

"Rarely content to just let a note be, Grey quavers, growls and keens without sounding fake. She doesn't bend notes so much as she sculpts them, and when she airs one out, that little voice inside you moans, 'Don't stop.'

"Performing as Urethane, old friends Grey and Bailey have played but a few, ill-publicized gigs in the Valley. No word yet on if this studio gem gleams as brightly under the stage lights. Either way, Urethane's first album is due out in six weeks." -David Holthouse

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