Hollywood hepcat Johnny Depp has pulled an Elvis Presley in reverse. In the late 1950s, the King sold his rock & roll soul for untold fame and for-tune. Decades later. Depp, an actor of considerable reputation and success, attempts to shed his mainstream accomplishments in pursuit of a more elusive rock credibility. Talk about a stupid goal. The surprise is that the result possesses just enough wit and cynicism to work.

Depp's gambit was to downplay his involvement in P while somehow underlining the absurdity of the whole venture. "Michael Stipe," the album's first single, accomplishes this masterfully: Singer Gibby Haynes, the preternaturally warped leader of Butthole Surfers, mocks former indie rocker Stipe for acting like a cloistered Hollywood celebrity. Haynes' dagger is totally blunted by the fact that one of his band mates is himself a matinee idol.

Ultimately it's Haynes' hilariously scatological perspective that prevents P (Haynes on vocals; Austin, Texas, songwriter Bill Carter and Depp on both bass and guitar; Viper Room co-owner Sal Jenco on drums) from taking themselves too seriously. Haynes has a knack for getting a laugh out of even the touchiest subjects and still somehow making a point. On "White Man Sings the Blues," the touched Texan wheezes lines like "Heart-break, slamming doors and cold food" through a megaphone, belittling any Caucasian rocker who ever tried his hand at roots. Depp is in deep, to say the least.

Never mind that P are half-good, tripping their way through a clever Joe Elystyle country number called "Die Anne" and a sinewy cover of Daniel Johnston's "I Save Cigarette Butts." Committed music fans generally aren't interested in movie-star bands. Likewise, the Depp teeny-bopper contingent will no doubt loathe P's zonked-out and obvious rendition of Abba's "Dancing Queen."

Finally, alternative has gotten its just deserts: a star-vehicle band for which the star's a liability. In a perfect world, P would start by headlining Vegas and then spend years striving their way back to a tour of dives. (RS 721)

ALEC FOEGE