Juliana Hatfield:

Made in China

(Ye Olde Records)

Despite her best efforts (over 15 years and 7 albums), Juliana Hatfield is still best known for her mid-‘90s work. Catchy singles like “My Sister” and “Spin the Bottle” were forerunners to the Lilith Fair, women-in-rock scene of the late ‘90s. However, since the album that spawned those singles—1993’s Become What You Are—Hatfield has vastly expanded her repertoire, moving away from the cute-girl pop image to consistently favor a heavier, more guitar-oriented approach. That said, last year’s In Exile Deo, a pretty and mild-mannered affair, seemed at least in part like a compromise to the rocking outcast persona that Hatfield has developed during the later part of her career. The self-released Made in China corrects all that in 37 minutes of raw power. Riffs reek of Black Sabbath, guitar solos recall Neil Young, and, save one acoustic ballad, volumes scorch throughout. “You want ice cream and bags of chips and chocolate and blood and guts and drugs and sex and cigarettes,” Hatfield wails over a downright stoner-rock riff in “My Pet Lion.” In the past, when Hatfield tried to rock, it often seemed like a stretch, but with Made in China, she has found her comfort zone. As she says so irreverently in the album’s closing track “Send Money:” “If you want to pray for me, tell God to send me some money. Save yourself.”

www.julianahatfield.com

8 Blips out of 10

By Frank Valish

9/2005