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Doppelgänger  >>

Pubic Fruit  >>

Gift  >>

The highlight of Curve's gothic, shoegazing rock has always been Toni Halliday. The duo's female front person possesses a darkly beautiful voice, a gift that on its own could still break hearts. Halliday conveys longing and hardship as smoothly as P.J. Harvey, though she lacks a bit of Harvey's grit. Nonetheless, from the day Curve's debut, Doppelganger, first hit the shelves in 1992, Halliday has been the reason to fall under this band's spell. Almost a decade later, she's lost none of her brooding charm. Gift is a lush electronic album, with quick-shifting dynamics moving under Halliday's honeyed croons. Bass player and programmer Dean Garcia and guest guitarist Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) crank up the intensity on the effects one minute and strip back to simple beats the next, creating the right amount of tension for Halliday's vocals to rise to the top. The only missteps come when the act gets too close to copping another artist's style: the opening industrial assault on "Hell Above Water" makes them sound like a cheap Nine Inch Nails clone, and "Polaroid" feels stolen from Madonna's Music. Luckily, most of Gift is distinctly the best of Curve: a moody collage of synthetic noise crested by Halliday's otherworldly set of pipes. --Jennifer Maerz

Come Clean  >>

The female presence in 1998's releases has been a near tour de force. PJ Harvey, Hole's Courtney Love, and Garbage's Shirley Manson all stormed the music scene with dynamic performances. But none can match the effortless vamp and allure of Curve vocalist Toni Halliday. Her voice has always been dark, seductive, and utterly commanding, and with Come Clean, she and partner Dean Garcia have created a danceable, riveting album that burns the feet and strikes a nerve. If you think their sound is suspiciously similar to Garbage's, remember--Curve were here first. --Beth Bessmer

Doppelgänger  >>

Cuckoo  >>

Curve will never be accused of originality, but the group continues to make effective recordings with a winning combination of driving rhythms, swirling noise guitars, and Toni Halliday's sexy vocals. Cuckoo is an improvement on 1992's Doppelganger, with strong standout tracks like the relentless "Crystal" and the monolithic "Turkey Crossing." --Jim DeRogatis

Frozen  >>

Curve / Frozen Year: 1991 Track Title U.K. Import 1. Coast Is Clear 2. The Colour Hurts 3. Frozen 4. Zoo

The Way of Curve 1990/2004  >>