Rock the Box

Album Review

As Patti Smith released a terrific "Glitter in Their Eyes," the Wilma band — bassist/vocalist Amy Marshall (called "Wilma" by fans), guitarist/vocalist Jim Marshall, and drummer Paul Lobel — does a combination of Mott the Hoople's "Walking With a Mountain" and the Velvet Underground's "Train Comin' Round the Bend" for a driving opening, "Live Free or Die." The sound has matured since the great punkish second CD, A Piece of Work, with "Viking" and "Geronimo" continuing the assault. The Wilma band is one of the best proponents of crisp, no-nonsense rock & roll since Joan Jett, utilizing sensibilities from the aforementioned Mott the Hoople, Patti Smith, and the Velvet Underground. Though they might not be as grungy as those outfits got, they have the attitude, the songs, and the delivery. "What Goes Around" and "Rock the Nation" have a more defined angst than the previous disc, with neo-psychedelic guitar work in "Rock the Nation" that adds a wonderfully '60s-meets-modern slant. "Go for the Gold" has a cool Runaways anthem chant, while "Back Door Valentine" could almost be a Black Sabbath bottom and riff gone complete pop. A keyboard or additional percussion might enhance a tune going in that direction — but the three-piece unit keeps things pretty lively as it is. The band employs mostly black-and-white photos except for single color shots of each bandmember and Kali Ma's Hindu goddess on the back of the CD booklet, so the musical imagery, really, is in the playing and lyrics. "Devil's Bed," "Foreplay" (an instrumental with Yma Sumac-type vocal phrasings), and the title track, "Rock the Box," get a little more progressive than the rest of their music but, with the exception of one track, everything is under the four-minute mark. Rock the Box is a nice follow-up to A Piece of Work, both in performance and intensity.