Stiletto Angel

From the band name, album title, and retro-kitsch cover art, one would be forgiven for assuming that the debut album by the Informants was the latest in the now past its peak garage rock revival. In fact, Stiletto Angel is a throwback of an entirely different color, a rocking little jump blues album filled with stride piano, funky tenor sax honking, a stomping rhythm section, and — best of all — Kerry Pastine's sly, sassy vocals. Pastine doesn't truck with the usual blues mama clichés, but she's got a roughened, soulful tone that even puts over potentially sappy material like the melodramatic ballad "Tears of Heartache." But she's at her best on material like the stomping opener and the more playful "Backyard Bar-B-Que," where she can alternate between flirty come-ons and finger-wagging feistiness. Without her, the Informants would be just another jump blues revival band, indistinguishable from the porkpie-hatted twits who were all over the place for a few months circa 1998. Indeed, even with her, there's still an occasional whiff that the Informants have decided to play dress-up with their favorite old style of music rather than creating something new that's based on beloved old forms. Still, as costume parties go, one could do much, much worse.