Blonde Redhead

23

With Blonde Redhead, there’s the underlying feeling that something’s unbalanced and not right. Even on early albums such as La Mia Vita Violenta, when the band was among a legion of Sonic Youth acolytes, it possessed a slightly ethereal lightness that brightened its noisy hardcore. This is due to Kazu Makino, who possesses one of indie rock’s most indelible voices. Her distinctive falsetto powered the achingly erotic Misery Is a Butterfly, the band’s best album. Three years in the making, 23 feels like the comedown. Blonde Redhead’s dream pop, sprinkled with electronic tangents, lacks the moody shadings of prior recordings. Amedeo Pace, who shares vocal duties with Makino, has an uncomfortably off-key tone that draws out the harshness of its arrangements; his numbers, particularly “SW” and “Spring and by Summer Fall,” sound surreal. Makino’s highlights include “My Impure Hair” and “Silently” – cuts that stand out amid 23’s ruddy sweetness. 3 stars

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Blonde Redhead performs at the Variety Playhouse 8:30 p.m. Fri., May 4.