Flowering

Right from the brilliant opening song, "Terrific," the listener is clearly in good if familiar hands — a brisk, clipped power pop/U.K.new wave rocker that eschews feedback in favor of a clean punch, all topped by the lovely violin work by Jacoby, showing why she's been in demand as a side person on a number of other recordings, and a sweet-and-sour lyric sung by both Frederick and Jacoby. Familiar hands, though, because "Terrific" also showcases one oddly inescapable element of the Black Watch, at least at this time — Frederick's drop-dead vocal similarity to Ian McCulloch, maintained persistently throughout the record. It gets especially noticeable on "Jennifer, Jennifer" — though it's a great number, a gentle romantic thing with a neat Beatles lyrical reference to boot, it's incredibly similar to McCulloch's "Candleland" (right down to the way Jacoby joins Frederick on harmonizing a line in the exact same way and same point in the song). All this said, Flowering is still an underrated gem of an album; released right when Nirvana and Pearl Jam hit, and on a small California label at that, its crisp, pop-friendly-with-a-bite feel got undeservedly lost in the grunge onslaught. Other recommended numbers include the ruminative "Jaded" and the fine album closer "The Stars Come Down."