MOVE OVER, BOYS

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer

   The cover photo on the CD threw me. With a tattoo on one shoulder, Kristie Stremel wears a black tank top and a cowboy hat as she holds her electric guitar. So … is this rock or country? Truth be told, Stremel’s debut album, All I Really Want, rocks more than it twangs. The Kansas-born Stremel possesses the power of Joan Jett, Chrissie Hynde and Melissa Etheridge, but she’s equally worth comparing to Sheryl Crow.
   She can pump it up just fine on up tempo rockers like “Good To You” and “All I Really Want,” but she shines just as bright, if not brighter, on the quieter tracks. “Forget” is the promise of enduring love and Stremel’s helped in getting this across from the get-go when Kelly Brown’s Hammond B3 organ floats in during the intro. The album closer, “Bright Red Shirt,” is another meditative gem which has these swell opening lines: “The thing about the rent/Is I spent it on cigarettes and cheap wine/A magazine, a trip to New Orleans … ” That’s a terrific, shorthand look into a colorful and wandering life, where settling down isn’t yet on the radar. Stremel co-wrote all the songs with guitarist Chris Meck and they produced the album with the ridiculously reliable Lou Whitney. You’re going to really want All I Really Want.
   She doesn’t play guitar but another new girl in town to be reckoned with is Danni Leigh. Divide And Conquer is her third album and it appears to be the proverbial charm. This time out, the Virginia-born Leigh is teamed up with Pete Anderson who’s Dwight Yoakam’s longtime guitarist and producer. Truth be told, Leigh’s album twangs more than it rocks. She goes to town big time with “Somebody Oughta Do Something” about a girl who’s gossiped about because she keeps wronging the man she’s with. Leigh admits to having done some bad things to the same guy but insists they weren’t as bad as what this other girl does. This can’t-miss song works as a straight-ahead rocker that Susanna Hoffs might have recorded on her first post-Bangles solo album.
   People, if you’ve been looking for some new women singers, write these names down: Kristie Stremel and Danni Leigh. And if your first name happens to be Shania, you better start looking over your shoulder.
   Miles Of Music has All I Really Want for $13.50 and Divide And Conquer for $15.50.
   Special Lone Star December Bonus! Popularized by The Dixie Chicks, Robert Earl Keen’s Merry Christmas From The Family is a combination book and album, albeit one live cut. But it’s worth every penny for its thoroughly whacked but always endearing look at a white trash Christmas. Fellow Texas singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves’ Holiday Sampler is a five-track offering featuring his sly rendition of “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” If you still need more Lone Star Christmas stuff, go get 1999’s Salivation by Terry Allen, the pride of Lubbock, and play the R-rated “X-mas On The Ishtmus.” Who needs egg nog when you can snort incense? Amazon has Keen’s illustrated book-CD for $13.59, Cleaves’ album for $7.97 and Salivation for $14.99.
   The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is … Team Sleep.