*** Indigo Girls

COME ON NOW SOCIAL

(Epic)

Back before they began work on Come On Now Social, Indigo Girls were scheduled to play a series of high-school dates, most of which were canceled when the powers that be learned about the sexual orientation of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Ridiculous as this was, it may have been the best thing that could have happened to Ray and Saliers: not only does it seem to have given the didactic duo a renewed sense of purpose (reflected in their choice of the lesbian punk band the Butchies to open shows on their current tour), but it's also helped recast them as likable underdogs.

Still splitting the singing/songwriting duties roughly 50/50, and getting a little help from an array of famous friends (Sheryl Crow and Joan Osborne on background vocals, bassist Me'Shell Ndegeocello, and Luscious Jackson drummer Kate Schellenbach), the Girls kick off Come On Now Social with a refreshing blast of relatively raucous rock. Like most of the best material on Social, it recalls R.E.M., specifically the stiff, churning anthem "Orange Crush." With its prominent mandolin and countrified twang, Ray's "Gone Again," which features Band members Rick Danko (bass) and Garth Hudson (keyboards), recalls "So. Central Rain," and "Ozilline," Ray's tune about an eccentric old woman named Ozilline, is the Girls' "Wendel Gee." All said, a major improvement over the overwrought Dylanisms that dominated the first half of Indigo Girls' career.

-- Matt Ashare