Since the Sundays' previous record, 1992's Blind, songwriters David Gavurin and Harriet Wheeler have hatched a recording studio and a baby. The young'un running around the mixing board hasn't changed their sound on Static and Silence, though; Gavurin's airy guitars are still coupled with Wheeler's clear, angelic voice. Aside from the perky rhythm and wah wah guitar of "Summertime," most of the songs here are so gentle, they seem as if they might just float away – from the wistful "Monochrome" (about watching the '69 moonwalk on TV) to the breezy "She" to the delicate "Folk Song." (RS 772)

JILL HAMILTON