Silver Scooter

***The Blue Law is the much-anticipated third full-length release by a quartet which began as a deceptively simple pop trio with the uncanny ability to hit as many emotional chords as musical ones, and has evolved into a subtly sophisticated pop group that now hits those chords with an articulate precision. SILVER SCOOTER uses the studio as a tool to silken, not slicken, a tasteful sound that was already tight, controlled, and in many ways, perfect. Under the wellgroomed coiffure of their new record breathes a beast. Singer/guitarist SCOTT GARRED tells us in perfect pitch about the urge to smash his car into an old lover's fender (that unwitting ex-lover might even be singing along). New guitarist SHAWN CAMP, who played bass with Scott and drummer TOM HUDSON in their college band in the Pacific Northwest, painted the artwork on the cover of Silver Scooter's first album, The Other Palm Springs, as well as the cover of The Blue Law. JOHN HUNT's bass lines rumble with a nearly unperceived menace. And, in the midst of a groove so steady it defies metronomes, seemlingly random guitar lines careen in and out of control, as if the guitar was played by two people instead of one. In fact, that guitar was actually played by two people in one case. Scott wrestled for control of a Gibson Les Paul with longtime producer DAVE McNAIR during the taping of "Terrorism Lover." Likewise, Silver Scooter recorded much of The Blue Law in such a grab-bag fashion, using what most bands call finished songs as mere starting points. Not surprisingly, it works well, and The Blue Law might not only be Silver Scooter's best album to date, but also its most touching, dense, and rewarding. This album realizes the promise of Orleans Parish and will surely entrench itself in record collections everywhere as the album that never leaves, no matter how many times it says, "Goodbye."