Retrosexual

Bebe Buell's great blessing — that she's a beautiful woman attractive enough to enjoy success as both a fashion model and a Playboy centerfold — has also been something of a curse as far as her musical ambitions are concerned. Yeah, she's sexy and she's dated a whole bunch of rock stars, but while models who think they can sing are a breed most reasonable folks fear, Buell also seems to know and love rock & roll, and judging from Retrosexual, she's a hard rock belter of no small ability. No, Buell won't make you forget either Chrissie Hynde or Joan Jett on any of the album's ten tunes, but she does merit a not-unfavorable comparison to both of them, and she lets loose with some attitudinal swagger that might draw a grin from Iggy Pop or David Johansen on "Lust Never Sleeps" or "Bored Baby." The album's production is a bit too loose for its own good, some of the material is kinda cheesy, and Buell's band could use a dash more garage punk sneer and a jigger less metal crunch (though the guitarists ape Johnny Thunders more often than Eddie Van Halen, thank the fates), but overall this is a solid and enjoyable piece of rock action from a tuff girl who deserves more props than she gets — she's cooler than Avril Lavigne, rocks better than Courtney Love, and has more fun than both of 'em put together. Points added for "Claw Bite," the best song about being attacked by mutant humanoid lobsters of recent memory.