On their second full-length album, Bikini Kill take some surprisingly gentle turns, supplementing their fiery, bash-'em-in-the-face punk with sweetly seductive pop. Yet unlike the softer, more amateurish sounds of other riot-grrrl bands such as Bratmobile, these edgy, melodic anthems never lapse into whining.

The emotion is raw and convincing when frontwoman Kathleen Hanna screams, "I wouldn't be so fucking mad, so fucking pissed off, if it wasn't so fucking wrong," in the musically subdued "R.I.P.," about a friend who died of AIDS. In two other songs, "For Only" and "False Start," Bikini Kill not only slow down the tempos and pretty up the melodies, but they also expand their instrumental vocabulary with a trumpet and a xylophone.

As much as Bikini Kill would be loath to admit it, in this era of Green Day and Elastica, the sheer range of songs on Reject All American reveals that the quartet is ripe for rock stardom. Could it be that this staunchly independent band is jockeying for a major-label deal? (RS 734)

MARK KEMP