The Perfect Disaster – Up LP

The album is probably called Up because three tracks are titled “Down.” The sound is engagingly Velvet Underground-like, with a tendency toward long numbers built around a train-on-a-run rhythm that click along until they stop, as does the epic “B52,” which comes across as a great club number — the guitars chug along, the bass weaves in and out, and the drummer ticks along like a metronome. Vocalist/guitarist Phil Parfitt doesn’t have quite as tuneless a voice as Lou Reed, mind you, which is probably to the good. Overall, it’s a nifty piece of work, varying between thoughtful acoustic pieces and chugging rock & roll — the three “Down” variations are good stuff, while “B52” and “Time to Kill” stand out very well, the former for its hypnotic rhythm and repeated refrain of “Go Bo Diddley/Go home,” the latter for being a grand old-fashioned club rocker. This is one of those albums that winds up getting serious repeat plays.