Slumber Party

Like many bands before them, Slumber Party play a pleasing brand of girl pop. Musik is the fourth album to date for the Detroit-based group, which consists mainly of lead vocalist Aliccia Berg and a revolving cast of fellow female musicians (previous incarnations have included Marcie Bolen from the Von Bondies and Gretchen Gonzales of Universal Indians). "So Sick” is the first track on the album to suggest more musical depth and knowledge with a baroque style guitar interlude and collective harmonies. "Hey, Hey, China” is a vocally-driven song about the "forbidden city” and the possibility of being detained in the Far East, somehow they managed to keep the classic Asian chiming guitar to a minimum. Where Slumber Party come out sounding somewhat interesting and more like themselves is when they turn down the synths and concentrate on harmonies and instrumentation. The synth-heavy "Boys/Girls” is a cute tune with lyrics about shopping and the movies but it’s missing an edge that other female bands bring to their sugary-sweet sound. When Kathleen Hanna sings about taking you home there’s an edge to her vocals that promises excitement, danger and dirtiness. There’s little of that sex appeal here (a peek at their website and photos, however, add to their attractiveness) and though the tracks are well written and produced, musically, they lack the prowess of label mates like Erase Errata.