CD Reviews: The Posies & Bond

CD Reviews: The Posies & Bond

The Posies' 'Every Kind of Light': Aidin Vaziri | The Posies tentatively split in 1997, certain to gain the kind of cult status that built up over the decades around their power-pop heroes such as Big Star and the Hollies. But so far the Seattle duo has had a hard time staying apart, releasing a greatest-hits set, four-disc box and live disc, plus a couple of EPs. How do Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer expect to become fetish objects if they can't gracefully sink into indie-rock obscurity to re- emerge 30 years later as conquerors? This official comeback album probably won't help, seeing as they've toughened up their sound and ditched the runner- up routine. While this disc contains flashes of past glories, it ultimately doesn't add that much to the myth.

Bond's 'Explosive': Aidin Vaziri | Bond doesn't make classical music for people who hate classical music but for people who hate music in general. An airbrushed string quartet with long legs and short skirts, the pan-global group puts a futuristic spin on centuries-old styles. Except these women's idea of the future feels a lot like one of Siegfried & Roy's former Vegas shows: heavy on sequins pyrotechnics and fiddly bits and a little light on restraint. "Explosive" plucks the best material from Bond's three full-length albums and adds three new cuts, including "Sugarplum," their screeching take on the song from "Nutcracker." But the real entertainment is on the flip side, where the DVD contains their promo videos -- visual experiences so surreal and so synthetic that they work most effectively with the sound turned off and a My Bloody Valentine album on the iPod.