NEW ON CD

INTERSCOPE RECORDS Damian "Whitt" Whitty, left, Mark "Kram" Maher and Janet English make up the Australian group Spiderbait.

Australian rock trio’s
CD is worth the price

If you saw "Without a Paddle," which opened in theaters this past weekend, you might remember hearing a rip-roaring version of "Black Betty" on the movie's soundtrack.

"Tonight Alright" Spiderbait (Interscope)

That little bit of metallic hoedown was courtesy of Australia's Spiderbait, a trio of rockers whose debut came out last week, and if you've got the bucks to spare, it's worth picking up at the appealing "introductory low price."

Recorded in a converted movie house in the small northern California town of Weed (gotta love that name) by veteran producer Sylvia Massy Shivy (Tool, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Prince), "Tonight Alright" is filled with the intense immediacy that the album's title implies.

While the straight-ahead stuff would make any Andrew W.K. fan head-bang with abandon ("Live in a Box," "Put It Down," the Ministry-like "5th Set" and the gleeful buzz-pop punch of "Cows"), Spiderbait shows it can smartly mix up the section arrangements within a single song.

The opening "Take Me Back" kicks off with some restless rumblings, breaks clear during the chorus and then slams into power trio overdrive. The same kind of dynamics can be found in "Tonite," with its la-la backing vocals, and the closing "Picky," which maintains an almost stately feel of calm.

But, overall, this album's a perfect bit of head-clearing and, at times, as one song succinctly puts it, is "F***** Awesome."

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