Bonus Tracks

Trash &Tears

Having spent most of the Seventies with my head in the sandbox, I missed the first wave of Stones-influenced bands and got stuck with Stone Temple Pilots. Thankfully, the Del Dragons are 100 percent grunge-free, skipping a generation to marry songs called "Crazy 'Bout Tori" to those staggering, restrained Keith Richards riffs. Pearl who? -- Christopher Gray

Imagine Me (New Shoes)

Diana Jones has a smooth, pleasing voice in the Carole King/Joni Mitchell vein. With its shimmering strings, often lavish arrangements, and flawless production, this CD has a feel that harkens back to the days when those ladies were getting copious airplay. Yet the subject matter is very current, putting Jones in a league with Catie Curtis and a cut above Ani DiFranco. -- Joe Mitchell

Space Bar-B-Q (Music Harmless Music)

The Pulp Fiction soundtrack didn't merely jolt a tidal wave of interest in surf music, it also tied the genre in with B-movie schtick, tribal rhythms, and twang -- three things to which this Austin trio pledge their allegiance over the course of their full-length CD debut. It's not Man or Astro Man? just yet, but rather a Mexican bullfight in the sand, and that's still plenty Tarantino for me.
-- Raoul Hernandez

Electrique Plummagram (Bar None)

Okay, I'll admit it's been a few years since I've been to the dance clubs, and maybe that means I don't know what's up, but when I hear one of my favorite bands being sucker MCs -- remixing three songs from Pommegranite and doing the rave thing on four new ones -- I get confused. This isn't Poi Dog, it's Eighties throwback synthesizer music. Yuck. -- Louisa C. Brinsmade

"Bonus Tracks" reviews all local and Texas-related releases commercially available: Send to "Bonus Tracks," The Austin Chronicle, POB 49066, Austin, TX 78765