Little Annie and the Legally Jammin' finds the veteran artist ata crossroads between the past and the present; between the abrasive dubexperimentalism of her early work and the slick sex appeal of moderntechno; between brutal, incendiary poetry and lyrical high camp;between the personal and the superficial; between grim reality andairbrushed artifice. That Little Annie "Anxiety" Bandez is so adept attowing this precarious gap while maintaining an unshakable poise is atestament to her singular skills as a vocalist, lyricist, poet,provocateur and chanteuse. Annie's delivery hasn't missed a beat inmore than 20 years, riding a similar wavelength as Marianne Faithful,Lydia Lunch and Diamanda Galas, but carving out her own uniquelyblaise, street-savvy growl. For The Legally Jammin', Anniebrings together a posse of talented collaborators including Can "Khan"Oral, taking a break from the homoerotic electro of Captain Comatose tocontribute a series of languid, bass-heavy beats to the album. Alsonotable are the contributions of Kid Congo Powers, a former member ofThe Bad Seeds, The Cramps, and the terrific, all-but-forgotten 80'scult band Gun Club. On past collaborations between Khan and Kid CongoPowers, their diverse musical influences resulted in a bluesyelectro-punk hybrid uniquely their own, and it's very much on displayin the settings they create for Little Annie's satiny vocals. All thesongs on the album have a tense, vaguely threatening undercurrent thatsneaks invisibly behind the eroticism of the smooth, sparse production.The resonant bass hits and percolating dub echoes are in full effect onthe album's provocative opener "Bleach." Annie tells us to "love thesinner, hate the sin/love the battle, hate the war/love the saint andlove the whore." Annie keeps a gun beside her bed, "in case successgoes to my head/or just in case it don't." She pauses mid-album for acampy, off-the-cuff monologue about a drag queen that displaysrazor-sharp wit and obscenity of a William S. Burroughs routine. Theserpentine industrial throbs of "Blacktrack Jack" supply the perfectcounterpart to Annie's laundry-list of apocalyptic imagery: "Phoneringing, kids crying, brakes screeching, heads rolling, tears flowing,pipes bursting...head pounding, pleasure mounting, dreams bursting,pockets hurting, prices rising." The album concludes with alanguorously reworked version of "Sugar Bowl," a song from Annie'searly-90's collaborations with On U-Sound superstars. The Legally Jammin' is an alluringly sweet confectionary treat from a talented artist. Read More
