4 Non Blondes: Bigger, Better, Faster, More (Interscope): What's Up, the latest single by 4 Non Blondes, has had everyone talking with its power pop melody and the star attraction of Linda Perry's vocal chords which sound as if they would reach the back row of the Coliseum.
And now up pops their debut album - one which has hit the charts with a vengeance in the United States and Great Britain.
The trouble with Bigger, Better, Faster, More, though, is the strength of the single represents a weakness for the album - ironically enough Perry's larynx. Over the four minutes and 55 seconds of What's Up, her wailing is impressive, but over an album with almost every track delivered at full decibel level, it becomes tiresome.
There are melodies by the score, but there is scant colour or variation, and little of the soulfulness found in great vocal-rich females such as Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin or Annie Lennox.
While their image is dreadlocked, pierced and tattooed alternative, the 4 Non Blondes' overriding feel is the kind of power rock which blares from a million US car stereos. Take Perry's vocals off What's Up and you are left with a formulaic Bon Jovi ballad, while the opening track, Train, sounds like an out-take from Billy Idol, Bard of Bromley, circa Rebel Yell and White Wedding.
Otherwise, there is a bit of funk, blues and balladry, which all suffer from the vocal overkill. But there is potential here. Heidi Berry: Heidi Berry (4AD): There has been a refreshing upturn in the fortunes of female singer-songwriters over the past decade, especially those coming out of country music. Now we can add Heidi Berry, though her new album has its musical roots in folk rather than in Memphis.