Please Rewind and Play Again IV

Please Rewind and Play Again IV (WE)

It's good to hear Bliss Blood's haunting voice again. Seems like the former Pain Teens vocalist had vanished into the ether along with the handful of other Trance Syndicate bands, but the fact that she's turned up doing vocal chores on a skittery drum 'n' bass track from Houston's DR:OP:FR:AM+E shouldn't come as a surprise; the Pain Teens were nothing if not open to new musical ideas. And while the bastardized term "electronica" has, along with hip-hop, arisen in the Teens' absence as the dominant force in underground music, there's no denying Bliss' contribution to what might have otherwise been just another techno track. And it's techno, with assorted jungle detours, that's at the heart of this Texas-based compilation. Openers Kalpana set the stage with guns a-blazing; their "Mean Too (Death Dance Mix)" is a furious, 4/4 noggin-buster, all thudding bass and near-head-banging bravado. Likewise, Void Failure's "Subversion" builds from a sample-laden opening to concuss both your sternum and your Bang und Olafsens. Vertigo Blue's "Trash Pop" is just that -- clicky, Kraftwerkian beeps à la R2-D2 with Eurotrash panache -- while local hero Reverend Kathy Russell proves again that, dammit!, jungle's not dead. Fifteen years ago, they said the same thing about punk, and now Green Day is forever associated with Seinfeld. Hey Rev., you oughta give Fox a call -- I hear The X-Files is on its last legs.