It would be easy to dismiss most of Blonde Redhead's output as a triumph of style over substance. Purveyors of all things avant-garde and chic in the NYC indie underground, the group's hipness quotient is horribly precious. Comprised of Japanese vocalist/guitarist Kazu Makino and Italian twins Amedeo (vocals/guitar) and Simone Pace (drums), Blonde Redhead's self-consciously arty clang has made me wish I was a hip "no-wave" New Yorker rather than an mere enthusiast of this band's works.

Blonde Redhead's biggest detractors focus on the group's uncanny resemblance to Sonic Youth. But while Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons won't exactly silence such suggestions, it does seem to move conscientiously away from the influences that have marred the group's previous work. The title itself makes plain Blonde Redhead's musical M.O.: they've tempered their indulgences somewhat, and begun focusing on integrating hooks and feeling into their cavalcade of ringing guitars and propulsive percussion. It doesn't quite qualify as a pop album, but it definitely serves as their warmest and most accessible record yet.

Perhaps the presence of Fugazi guitarist Guy Picciotto behind the boards has had something to do with this progression. This album is as much an advancement over Blonde Redhead's similarly Picciotto-produced 1998 LP, In an Expression of the Inexpressible, as Expression was over 1997's Fake Can Be Just as Good. Songs like "Melody of Certain Three" maintain the band's archetype while strengthening their grasp of dynamics-- Simone still pounds the drums in a murderous rage, but also leaves room here for some welcome tempo change.

More surprising is "Loved Despite of Great Faults," certainly the closest the group has come to writing a full-fledged love song. Amedeo's accented delivery of lines like, "You will move with me/ We will stay still/ And words will move around us," connect moreso than Kazu's typically orgasmic vocalizations. Kazu is thankfully more restrained here without reducing her vocal contributions, the finest of which is "This is Not." Easily one of the most puzzling tracks the group has recorded, "This is Not" brings to mind what an unlikely collaboration between Blonde Redhead and the Magnetic Fields might sound like.

While not necessarily distinguishing themselves immeasurably from setting and influence, Blonde Redhead have begun to produce music that evades such nets. The potential evidenced on Melody easily outdoes the band's previous outings and hints at a full flowering of their work in the near future. After all this time, the band are progressively figuring it out. So, rather than musing ponderously on life in the elegantly wasted East Coast Babylon, I can finally appreciate what it is Blonde Redhead are doing and expect them to continue doing better.

-Hefner Macauley