Washington's Velocity Girl spent the year since the release of their '93 Sub Pop debut, Copacetic, touring endlessly and fighting off major labels. Instead of biting, they committed to Sub Pop for five more records. If Simpatico! is any indication of what this deal will produce, this fivesome doesn't need the majors.

The very first guitar shriek on Simpatico! slices through any residue left over from the hazier Copacetic, revealing crisp, gleaming pop. On the new album, Velocity Girl add vocal harmonies, courtesy of guitarist Archie Moore, who joins singer Sarah Shannon on several tracks, thickening the weave of spinning guitars and cursive rhythms. As on Copacetic, the textures are heaped on, but the musical lines are less runny, the riffs are sharpened, the hooks grab tighter, and the vocals skate out front. With the help of producer John Porter (Roxy Music, the Smiths – bands famed for their own brand of alterna-sheen), the group manages to mop up the garage-band spills to reveal simple melodic constructions without washing away the music's defining layers. This record should help Velocity Girl transcend the Lush and My Bloody Valentine comparisons that flogged them after Copacetic.

As the title indicates, the themes on Simpatico! aren't tortured; they reflect the trials of love and youth without agonizing over them. On "Sorry Again," Shannon's classically trained voice is echoed by thick shards of guitar as she examines a dying relationship. "Rubble" begins with flickering guitars, climaxing as Shannon's vocal rises over the remnants of a shattered love: "You would break apart, leaving rubble in the way/I don't want to have to walk all over what's left in your place." "Medio Core" treats complacency with a Reality Bites rationale: "Sometimes I'm lazy, my nature betrays me/Don't try to change it, you can't even wake me" – an almost trite testimony that sounds anything but staid with syncopated guitars and big rhythms.

Velocity Girl have hit their stride with Simpatico! If this band continues to clarify and expand its sound, it may just redefine what it means to be indie. (RS 686/687)

KIM AHEARN