criminalatl

Reviews:

Since it may be another four years between LPs for Ivy, Guestroom economicallykeeps the name before the public in an industry with a ridiculously short memory.Taking five of the non-LP covers they've released in their eight years,and recording five more, the result is this 35-minute collection. Any chanceto hear Dominique Durand's enjoyable, French-accented pipes singing breezymelodies is worth it. So when her group picks well, the results are worthy.They've been doing Orange Juice's "Guess I'm Just a LittleToo Sensitive" since their earliest gigs, so it's not much of a stretch,but just as gladdening, to see Ivy also tackle the Go-Betweens' exquisite"Streets of Your Town." Regrettably, the rest falls flat. "Let'sGo to Bed" pales badly even compared to The Cure's, from the periodof dancefloor fluff that consumed them after 1980's harrowing Pornography.Overall, though, for a stop-gap LP, Guestroom is a night in with friends,sipping Chardonnay and singing with sappy satisfaction to favorite lesser-knowntunes.