Comanechi

Akiko Matsuura may be best known as the Big Pink's drummer, but keeping time for Britain's next big thing is hardly the best use of her skills. That's where Comanechi come in. After building some buzz a couple years ago, Akiko and guitarist Simon Petrovitch finally get around to releasing their debut album. Conveniently, it comes via Merok, the label founded by the Big Pink member Milo Cordell. Self-described as "Japanglish," Comanechi are a volatile blitz of boy-girl rock'n'roll permanently stuck on the bludgeoning setting. With Simon's overdriven guitar recreating the fuzzy punch of L7 and Akiko spanking those skins while spewing red-blooded nonsense, they don't discriminate between noise and melody. But this lack of restraint is what makes a song like the speaker-blown "Death of You" feel as though you're sipping a Molotov cocktail. Crime of Love isn't all broken necks and ass kickings; "My Pussy" is an amusing ode to her kitty, set to sludge-coated riffs and a mid-tempo cadence, and "Close Enough To Kiss" matches its fuzz with beatific harmonies. Akiko: quit your day job because Comanechi are truly Britain's next big thing and Crime of Love is all the proof anyone needs.