Press & Sun-Bulletin (November 1996)

(it's a combined review of Kristen's album and Veiled by Leah Andreone)

Kristen Barry, The Beginning, the Middle, the End (Virgin).
Leah Andreone, Veiled (RCA).
by Andy Stevens

Art, faction, music, and literature, to name a few, are all characterized by the notion that the really out-there stuff serves to pave the way for watered-down, more accessible versions of themselves. The pioneers often receive little or late recognition, which is unfortunate, but it seems, unfortunately, to be the nature of our society.

So anyway, yeah, the slow of very abrasive female rock artists who came to the fore in recent years has spawned an even-bigger slew of less abrasive pop-rock artists. No, Kristen Barry is no Liz Phair, Leah Andreone is no Alanis Morissette, and Polly Jean Harvey, Kim Deal, Kim Gordon, Patti Smith and Kristen Hersh give them all a run for their money, but these two releases aren't without merit.

Barry works in a straight-on rock style that somewhat falls between Smith and Phair., without either the mystery or the vulgarity, and if her tunes are relatively cliched in subject matter, they do pack some decent energy.

Barry, too, has a strong, confident, gutsy voice, and manages to work in some nice instrumental textures that make this a bit better than today's rock radio fare.

Andreone's Veiled, some of which is actually getting alternative radio play, is a quirkier lot. Andreone's voice is in part accountable for this. She sings with a hiccupping tightness that gives the record a weird, strained tension that ultimately drives it. Andreone's tunes, too, have a heightened rhythmic side, deriving their drive not only from sharp drumming and percussion, but guitars, and keyboards used percussively.

Melody is largely carried b Andreone's vocals, while the instrumentation carries the beats.

With its fair share of ballads, Veiled has a sensitive side, as well, which works well both to break the tension, and to showcase the softer side of Andreone's voice.

These aren't required listening by any stretch of the imagination, but neither would be out of place in your secret guilty pleasure CD rack.

Grades: Barry — B-; Andreone — B-