The easiest place to get lost these days in contemporary music is in the world of alterna-chick bands. There are just so many horribly bland 3-chord pop groups with nothing new to say that one can reflect and consider Blake Babies innovative. It's gotten to the point where I don't even bother. This can describe guy alterna-bands too, of course, except for one needling feature: 99 percent of the new girl bands have lead vocalists who do nothing but imitate Kim Deal with high, clear, American voices, sparkling like . . . well . . . pixies.

"Don't Get Too Comfortable" by Pee Shy works within this genre, but does it so completely, polished and with such a sense of fun that it leaves other groups in its dust. From the opening Lightning Seeds/Modern English chords of the delightful "Mr. Whisper", wherein lead vocalist Cindy Wheeler confides that "To prove how far away Nebraska is you speak in whispers/To prove how far away from you I am I call you Mister", one notices that the whole output of this band is, to put it bluntly . . . better than is has to be.

A band with hot chicks and decent licks (did I just day that?) simply must pout in their video and have a noticeable name to rake in the bucks. Witness: Veruca Salt. Pee Shy, in addition to writing playful lyrics ("If you're gonna beat around the bush, use a club"), broadens their soundscape with diverse instruments like clarinets, accordions, echo-y pianos, slide & fuzz guitars, moog effects, and ebo, as well as good vocal harmonies. It isn't overdone---they are not the long-lost sisters of They Might Be Giants. Indeed, they actually rock! Serious loud bits and impressive drumming and rhythm guitars really get the old air band bones movin'.

If you're like me and feel that to be complete you have to have one finger in each musical pool, but are overwhelmed by all the underwhelming girl alterna-pop bands, you ought not pass up on Pee Shy. Despite the cribbed Kim Deal voicing (man, if you could patent attitude she'd be the richest woman alive) when you get right down to it, any band with a song about Jad Fair or P.T. Barnum (complete with Boing! sounds) has gotta be good.