Group Therapy
Practice is said to make perfect, but perspective is arguably just as important.Group Therapy, Concrete Blonde's first new record after an eight-year hiatus, shows that original band members Johnette Napolitano, Jim Mankey, and Harry Rushakoff have gained some of just that. They've stepped out of the shadow of thePretendersand shrugged off the Goth overtones that characterized their last commercially successful record (1990'sBloodletting), and have found that the balance between stylizing and emulating comes from putting personality--not posturing--first.Group Therapyopens with the radio single "Roxy," a tribute in form and content toEno-eraRoxy Music. With a pastiche of lyrics delivered in Napolitano's strong, throaty voice, the song sets the stage for a dozen tracks ranging in style from adult-oriented rock tunes to truck-stop country ballads to angry rock ragers about growing up and getting real. Though they occasionally read like high school poetry, the lyrics are redeemed by the sincerity of the band's performance.Group Therapyis dynamic and accessible enough to gain the band new listeners while giving old fans the sort of exciting Concrete Blonde music they've waited for sinceBloodletting.--Sarah A. Sternau