The Beautiful Bodies

The Beautiful Bodies' debut, Touch Me, is an awkward and only occasionally rewarding combination of pale Yeah Yeah Yeahs mimickry and roaring classic rock. It's as if Karen O hijacked Rush before either party was fully formed. Bodies frontwoman Alicia Solo, for all her stage appeal and self-promotional charisma, has only one song in her, and it's the YYY's "Date with the Night." She talk-sings or shrieks repetitively throughout Touch Me, wasting, through lack of ideas, what could be an interesting, dynamic voice. The first three songs — "Osculator" (a rip-off of "Date"), "Heart Attack" and "Touch Me (But Only If You Know How)" — find the band struggling not to rip its pants while playing beginner funk riffs over dance-punk beats. In the record's middle, the band kicks up the speed, distortion, and number of changes, and gets some go out of it. The more complex songs, such as "Lines of Life" and "Stalker," sound like a riff war between the guitarists from Blue Öyster Cult and the bass player from Yes. Unfortunately, Solo clings to her relentless Karen O-aoke approach start to finish, minus any actual melody. When it comes to writing songs, these Bodies need to start using their heads.