The music world has been plagued by a most distressing phenomenon in the 1990s: the $15.99 single. A new band'll put out a really good song on the radio, making throngs of people run out and buy the album. The people get the album home and give it a spin, awaiting a slew of good songs after the Hit Single (which is invariably the first track). These poor souls soon discover the rest of the record really sucks. Primitive Radio Gods did this to some folks. So did Better Than Ezra. Anyone remember Letters To Cleo?

Well, add Tin Star's The Thrill Kisser to the list. The opening track and single, "Head," is a pretty good post-industrial electronica tune. To coin a phrase, "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it." The song is a ray of hope for a musical form given widespread notoriety by Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine, and subsequently mucked up with bands like Gravity Kills, Stabbing Westward, Filter, and a made- lazy- by- major- label- money Nine Inch Nails.

Unfortunately for the listener, The Thrill Kisser falls into cliché and schtick after "Head" fades out. The following tracks can be described as follows: "Zzzzzz." To be fair, it's better than recent releases by the bands mentioned above. But that's not saying much, really. The Thrill Kisser does have some interesting moments. On "Viva," lead singer David Tomilson clues you in on what it would sound like if you crossed INXS's Michael Hutchence with Steven Tyler. Former Sisters of Mercy guitarist Tim Bricheno, and sometime keyboardist/ engineer for Robbie Robertson, Tim Gordine, come up with some interesting sounds occasionally-- especially on "Fast Machine" and "Disconnected Child"-- but it's not enough to save the album.

-Duane Ambroz