Title: Ho-hum
Product review: What happened to the hooks? The melodic sense? The structured pop compositions like "Stuttered" and 1995's classic candidate "Waking Up", which had distinguished this feisty band from the pack?All is gone on The Menace, a mishmash of noise, punky distortion, and smartass lyrics. This time around, Justine Frischmann's legendary bad attitude rings out empty, her proclamations and posing boring and unsupported, just because the songwriting's down in the gutters. The departure of guitarist Donna Matthews seems to have drained this band of its previous pungent hookery, for on The Menace, there isn't a single memorable moment, a single catchphrase or guitar hook, to be found, all buried beneath some kind of too-hip-to-be-true cyberpunk noise, seemingly the work of an undisciplined producer twiddling knobs rather than a fully functioning, songwriting band.Five years to cook *this* up? At least Boston and Def Leppard had the tunage to make the wait worthwhile. Elastica, on the other hand, does not.
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