Cocktail Slippers | nl

This foxy female fivesome from Oslo, Norway, is the perfect mixture of sweet and sour, combining girl-group harmonies and sass with gritty rock 'n' roll fervor to produce a high-octane hybrid that should have all the hepcats dancing.

The ladies, whose CD happens to be one of the first releases from Steven Van Zandt's new label, comprise more than just an all-female version of early, hard-rocking Blondie. This is a non-standard garage-hard rock-surf-pop band that manages to mix up the formula to keep things fresh.

"Stop" is a cowbell-infused strutting hard rock tune that recalls Kiss in its heyday. "Who You Are" is pure pop bliss, while "My Man" is what might have happened had the Ronettes tangled with the Ramones, and added a guitar solo for good measure.

The rest of the album follows suit, offering hooky pop songs that rock.

- THOMAS PIZZOLA .