Vain

All Those Strangers (Jackie Rainbow)

Shelved Island Records’ follow-up to these metallic San Francisco dolls’ 1989 debut, No Respect, initially came on like a comedown from its fast, trashy birth mother (thanks for the tape, Davy Vain), but upon release now proves no slump. Heart adrenal “Love Drug” races first, “Planet’s Turning” and “Shooting Star” pound chest cavities next, and “Freak Flag” flies a glam anthem as doomed as Mother Love Bone. Sensitivity training (“Shouldn’t Cry”) and a walk-off spasm (“Looking Glass”) earn No Respect.

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This article appears in June 18 • 2010.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.