Voices Carry
Cross the hiccuping mannerisms of the Cars' Ric Ocasek with the edgy style of the B-52s' Cindy Wilson and you've got the vocal sound of Aimee Mann, the bass-playing, silver-maned leader of 'Til Tuesday. Winner of a Boston Battle of the Bands in 1984 that led to a recording contract, this post-new-wave quartet specialized in moody music that crept under your skin--no more so than on the title track of the '85 debut, the literate ("In the dark, I like to read his mind") Top 20 hit "Voices Carry." Nothing here quite matches that song's murky intensity, but the almost equally claustrophobic, aptly titled "Love in a Vacuum" comes close.--Billy Altman