*** Bettie Serveert PRIVATE SUIT (Palomine/Parasol)

As something akin to an indie-rock No Doubt, this Dutch quartet have had trouble coming to terms with the idea that frontwoman Carol van Dijk's voice has been their only interesting element over the past decade. Now that they've moved on from Matador to their own label, Bettie Serveert have finally brought her front and center. The instrumental support reconceives modern rock as the smoky backdrop for a Benelux cocktail lounge; it's so modest that you notice it only when Van Dijk pauses long enough to let you. Being cut loose from the hip confines of Matador seems to have freed Van Dijk to create a naked, mature work that would have been too corny for that label's tastes. Really, though, she's just inviting you to sit down with a vodka stinger and get to know her. And you meet a woman incapable of bullshit, taking it or giving it. That makes her hopelessly incompatible with the men in her life, most of whom prefer what she calls "White Tales" from their soulmates. But if Van Dijk winds up alone, it's not anything for her to get mopy about. As she sings on the roving title track, "Don't worry about me/I'll be sitting by the seashore/Laughing at the lifeforms."

-- Kevin John

(Bettie Serveert perform next Friday, October 27, at T.T. the Bear's Place with Star Ghost Dog. Call 492-BEAR.)