Jean Caffeine's latest album emanates a sort of slumber-party ambiance, whichis simply to say that its female voice balances innocent dreams of girlhoodwith the intimate reality of womanhood. Caffeine has long demonstrated thisknack in her varied and interesting musical career, from drummer for N.Y.'sPulsallama to her savvy Hard Work and a Lot of Hairspray as JeanCaffeine's All-Night Truckstop. With Knocked Down 7 Times, Got Up 8, she does it again -- with a little help from Joey Shuffield and Tony Scalzo of Fastball, and Michael Hall, among others. What's so pleasing is how Caffeine's already deft songwriting seems to mature even as the album's 12 listed tracks progress, from singsong harmonies of "Tijuana Haircut" and the plaintive "Fly Home" to the hidden title track at the end of the utterly charming "Watching the Clouds Roll By." When she sings, "Drop-kicked andsucker-punched a couple of times, some scrapes and bruises but I'm okay/Had thestamina to go all ten, to raise a kid but I'm still on my own and it's still along way home/I'll never be a featherweight but I've got a couple of moves thatno one's got..." it's such a winning combination of wry, worldly wisdom andguileless ingenuity that it seems unfair to saddle her with a "must-see"demand. If that's the way to get you to listen to her sly groove, however, so be it. (Sunday, Hole in the Wall, 10pm)(4.0 stars) -- Margaret Moser

In concentrating on a batch of songs dealing with the fallout from a soured relationship, Jean Caffeine flirts with the possibility of making a Southwestern Exile in Guyville or even (yikes!) a Texas Jagged Little Pill. Fortunately, the turf she treads upon with Knocked Down 7 Times Got Up * is closer to the hallowed ground of Lucinda William's 1988 eponymous LP, that of an independent woman in her 30s who's been betean up by love and who knows she deserves better.

The moods here run the gamut from venomous in ''The Last Hurrah'' (aimed at her ex, as he goes for a dish of fresh meat: ''Every night is a bachelor party, but you never get to your wedding night'' and ''Tough Act to Follow'' (I know an old fuck can't compete with a new one"), to withdrawn in "The Sea"; from flirtatious in ''Everybody Needs Someone to Think About'' to cautious in ''Worth the Wait''.

Caffeine's ''You Can't Have My Heart''serves as a cynical sister to Lucinda's, ''Am I too Blue''. Whereas Williams offers her lover the shelter of her embrace, such a gesture is not quite as warm coming from Caffeine. She'll hold you, sure, but don't mistake that for love, buddy. You can't have her heart. She gave it away. ''Things You Didn't Say'' is also a sad flipside to another of William's tunes, ''Lines Around Your Eyes''. While Lucinda revels in the saving graces of her boy's wrinkles, Caffeine looks into those same features and sees the true feelings the coward is afraid to vocalize.

Suffice to say, this is basically a lyracist's album. The music tends to be plain (though not unmemorable) acoustic-based rock 'n' roll, often starting with the stole strum of Caffeine's guitar and finishing up like Beggar's Banquet. the one shining exception is the ornate closer, ''Watching the Clouds'', whic producer Lars Goransson turns into a Spector-esque mood piece, finishing off the otherwise arid soundscape with a cavalcade of sound-likeending a dry, dusty day with a rainstorm. Nice touch. It almost makes one feel like maybe there's relief around the bend for the songstress.

Click here to return to Home