Post ******** Chill

by Chris Slawecki Post ******** Chill bursts with nervous energy and jarring contrasts yet is as straight-ahead a hard rock album as Skunk Anansie is likely to create. The staccato guitar and drum rhythms of "Charlie Big Potato" and "On My Motel TV" hit like a jackhammer, yet strings and other flourishes polish them into an intelligent, subtle finish. Lead singer Skin's outrage is thoroughly believable in the potent anti-racism screed "We Don't Need Who You Think You Are"; "The Skank Heads" unleashes a torrent of four-on-the-floor rock that couches an instrumental interlude that sounds like the Police in space-age dub. Sometimes messy or misguided, but with attitude to compensate for its missteps.