IN SCARLET AND VILE In Scarlet and Vile
(O2)

Anyone remember synth-pop? Remember the legion of bloodless British bands that washed ashore about ten years ago and infected American nightclubs with the toots 'n' tweets of keyboards and drum machines?

In Scarlet and Vile apparently remembers. This Tempe twosome (Kurt Lorenz and Jay Bitsue) takes to heart the old Soft Cell approach of floppy disc-o beats and earnest, mournful vocals.

The only thing that keeps ISAV's eight-song cassette from sounding like a restored relic of trends past is a creeping instrumental ambiance. The ethereal underbrush suggests that while Lorenz and Bitsue have apparently never heard of R.E.M. or the Replacements, they've certainly been exposed to the sonic vagaries of new-age.

All of which is peachy, I guess--or "limey," as the case may be--especially for those who speak and spell the language of synth-pop. But hearing an Arizona outfit croon like sullen, bed-sit Brits seems as hard a sell now as it was a long time ago.--Ted Simons