Blue Fur

It should be noted that Blue Fur came in as a finalist against winners Downward Dog in a KALT Battle of the Bands, and similarly, this band seems to have a retro ’80s sound — kind of a quirky Lene Lovich/Suzanne Fellini sound. While you’re looking up those faded names to refresh your memory, sample a few tracks from this band’s second album, Cage Free, which is said to be recorded straight to tape, but I still hear minor overdubs. This album has more hands-on involvement than KISS Alive, I’ll venture to guess. Singer Nicole Laurin has an enjoyable presence, but occasionally sounds disorganized toward the end of songs, when she climbs up in range. Nevertheless, she nicely pulls off the low-voiced bitchy stuff, like “She Doesn’t Have You,” and the band sounds like it doesn’t take itself so seriously that a good time and a cold beer are ever too far away. (www.bluefurmusic.com)