Like their compatriots pizzicato Five and Cornelius, the members of Japan's Buffalo Daughter have a gift for willful innocence: No matter how much Americana they consume and recycle – be it Seventies funk, Sixties TV commercials or Eighties old-school rap – it always comes out sounding blissfully fresh. After two Japanese albums, their 1996 U.S. debut, Captain Vapour Athletes, blended samples, surf guitar and analog technology into a raucous, wonderful mess.

With New Rock, Buffalo Daughter – vocalist and guitarist Sugar Yoshinaga, bassist and keyboardist Yumiko Ohno, and DJ Moog Yamamoto – craft an even noisier bricolage. Droning synthesizers play counterpoint to squawking seagulls, gurgling water and other found sounds; guitar distortion scrapes across hip-hop beats and furious turntable tricks (check out Moog's wicked scratches on "Great Five Lakes"). One especially sleek segue links the ambient noise of the opening cut, "Airport Rock," with "Super Blooper," an eight-minute jam featuring a chipper Yoshinaga reciting airline-safety procedures. In less-skilled hands, all this rampant silliness might result in stale pastiche. Instead, it coheres like a sonic soufflé: richly indulgent and filled with unexpected flavors. When Yoshinaga chants "No new rock!" it's less a complaint than a victory cheer, because Buffalo Daughter make old rock sound so new. (RS 783)

NEVA CHONIN