Charming, feisty Cadallaca cruises onto the scene in a rumbling '66 Eldorado, and from the sounds of it, it's in need of a tune-up. The engine, aggressive female vocal pop, perhaps an ode to the girl bobby sox music of the '60s, although it's more reminiscent of the spirited rocking '50s. Cadallaca is none other than Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney), Sarah Dougher (the Lookers) and sts. The record attempts to introduce us to the Pink Ladies for 1998: Rizzo on guitar, Sandy on keyboards and Frenchy on sticks. Instead, the girls go by names that are about as interesting as their music: Kissy, Dusty and Junior. Just when you think you can start shaking your jailhouse-rock hips to "Your One Wish," featuring Sarah on main vocals, the brash and sass vibe goes up in the dust. You're not really having as much fun as they'd like you to believe. "Two Beers Later," you're questioning the fit of Farfisa with the tried and true sounds of surfer-garage rock guitar.
The two loveliest songs are "Night Vandals" and "Winter Storm '98", the mellower side of Cadallaca, which usually takes a backseat to the more romp and stomp exuberance of the other songs. When the vocal harmonizing clicks, Cadallaca hums and begs you to forget that it's time for a new model of sound. As they say, "nothing ventured, nothing gained, oh you girls, you're all the same." Famous last words.
