Ovarian Trolley

Indiana natives who relocated to San Francisco, sisters Laurie (bass/vocals) and Jennifer (drums/vocals) Hall played in a band called Glorious Clitoris before forming Ovarian Trolley with guitarist Buck Bito; the trio debuted in ’92 with a self-released cassette and made its big push two years later with the Kramer-produced Crocodile Tears. Taking their harmonic cues from a weird combination of X and the Jefferson Airplane, the Halls wail/sing together not entirely unpleasantly over scraggly electric ugliness propelled by firm (except when they slip) beats. Some of the songs (“Crocodile Tears,” “Lost Girls”) are nearly pretty, displaying the melodic assurance and dynamics to shore up the Trolley’s good side; others (“Puppy,” “Coin Op.”) merely establish a noisy groove and stone it into submission with shouted lyrics. The album’s real achievement, however, is “Senorita,” a cackling, moaning anti-harassment opus with Latin percussion and an appropriately unctuous and insinuating guitar figure.