A shrine to the almighty Go-Go's is currently taking shape in the shadow of Chicago's Sears Tower. There, the nascent 4-Alarm Records is amassing an off-kilter tribute to the recently reunited quintet with help from underground rascals like Fig Dish, the Frogs and Truly.

The twelve-song tribute album, Unsealed, will arrive early next Spring -- mere months before Belinda Carlisle and the girls launch a six-week reunion tour in the nation's theaters and state fairs. 4-Alarm's founding fathers brainstormed the idea of a Go-Go's tribute shortly after forming the label earlier this year. The Oklahoma Britpop-sounding outfit Chainsaw Kittens signed on first with what guitarist Trent Bell calls a "slow and eerie" rendition of "We Got the Beat," a song which first appeared on the Go-Go's 1981 breakthrough, Beauty and the Beat. Bell says their "weird and creepy" re-make morphs into Iggy Pop's 1977 underworld siren song, "Nightclubbing."

"I first saw the Go-Go's when I was in sixth grade and they were on the 'Vacation' tour," Bell says. "I kind of had a crush on the drummer [Gina Schock]."

Unlikely descendants of the New Wave cheerleaders, the politically incorrect Frogs concocted an indie rock version of the Go-Go's water-skiing classic, "Vacation." Likewise, the smart-ass Chicago band Fig Dish laid down an edgy rendition of "Head Over Heels," which guitarist Rick Ness says the band requested specifically for its nostalgic value.

"We've all liked the Go-Go's since high school," says Ness, who fondly remembers a gig played with Go-Go girl Jane Wiedlin's band, Frosted. "Their songs really hold up over time."

Adding rare and curious flair to the album, Portland's Allon Beausoleil weaves together a sitar medley of "Vacation," "Our Lips are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat" -- three of the Go-Go's biggest hits. Other Unsealed contributions include "Turn to You" by the North Carolina punk rock troupe Sugarsmack, "Automatic" by the Portland-based group Sunset Valley and "Our Lips are Sealed" by Truly, a Seattle band founded by original Soundgarden bassist Hiro Yamamoto and former Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel.

"'Our Lips are Sealed' is the perfect defiant pop anthem," says Truly frontman Robert Roth. "We didn't really fuck with the song too much . . . but there's definitely some Nineties angst in there."

ANNI LAYNE
(December 7, 1998)