White Mystery "Blood & Venom"

(www.whitemysteryband.com) When Alex White first hit the scene it was her youth that made her stand out: a tiny teenager playing gutsy guitar and leading (and composing for) brilliant trash rock bands like a burly veteran. And it wasn't just her actual youth that was awesome, it was her youthful attitude. Though she commanded stages she also conducted herself with refreshing positivity and innocence: a gee whiz kid in a pottymouth man's game! But as fans of Jordy, Gary Coleman, or that perennially changing white little kid blues guitarist with news stories about him sitting in old black men know, being the youngest something has an expiration date. When she and her brother Francis started White Mystery it was awesome to see a brother sister duo with huge red hair flyin' doing their thing, but it was also hard to hear, see, or read anything about them that didn't mention they were a brother sister duo with huge red hair flyin'. Now you can't blame anyone for being young, having good personalities, being related, or having amazing hair. In fact you can't blame the relentlessly self-promoting band for pointing all these points out themselves. But as amazing as WM was, their singles and debut LP coulda been better. But with the self-released Blood & Venom the pair has finally crafted material worthy of the worthy hype they worthily receive. These songs match their charms. Someone has to sing about snacks and birthdays and parties and balls, and though the tunes on the record have improved since these recordings (I've seen the band perform fifty times in the last month, it seems, and have never tired of them), barring their debut LP's transcendent tribute to taking a walk, this is the best stuff they've ever done.