**1/2 The Evil Tambourines

LIBRARY NATION

(Sub Pop)

Conceived by a Seattle duo so old-school they're probably still paying late fees on the classic hip-hopumentary Beat Street, the Evil Tambourines' freshman disc, Library Nation, opens up shop somewhere between Sugar Hill and Beat Happening's Black Candy. As multi-instrumentalist Andy Poehlman marshals Chic-ist roller-skating jams and cop-show beats with the kick of sharp cheese, MC Tobias Flowers trips from break-up-song musings to freak-freak-y'all crowd control with mellow aplomb. And Al Larsen (late of international-pop-underground ambassadors Some Velvet Sidewalk) displays deft-not-showy playground tactics behind the boards, even though -- shades of Puffy -- he's one of those producers who can't leave the mike alone, parsing Minor Threat's "Straight Edge" (on "The Evil Tambourines Theme Song") in a counting-the-ceiling-tiles cadence that suggests John S. Hall or Emo Phillips. The voices of Larsen and Flowers don't really clash, but they seldom complement or challenge each other either, so Library Nation's vision -- lo-fi turned supa-dupa fly -- remains more or less theoretical: never limp Bisquick, but seldom as ideal as pie à la mode. The disc works best when both sides of the equation stand back, as when "Pathways" hands off to Lois Maffeo, who's already cameo'd on enough of Dub Narcotic's good-natured, groove-challenged whitey-funk cuts to qualify as the indie-rock Vinia Mojica. Here, she sings about sunsets in a honeyed voice that glows like one, making the potholes in this band's velvet sidewalk bloom with De La daisies.

-- Alex Pappademas