*** Blinker the Star

AUGUST EVERYWHERE

(DreamWorks)

Hard to believe Blinker the Star frontguy Jordon Zadorozny used to be in a Pixies-ish rock band called Blinker the Star. Despite a nod to his punky pals in Hole (he shares a writing credit with the band on Celebrity Skin and replicates that tune's guitar riff on August's opening track), all vestiges of the corrosive old Blinker are gone. Zadorozny has abandoned the angular rhythms and abraded guitar textures that marked his group's last effort, A Bourgeois Kitten, in favor of a lush pop approach that mines the kind of harmony-and-heartache territory tapped by folks like Jason Falkner and Fountains of Wayne.

Like FOW, Blinker bury cynicism and dark dreams inside deceptively fluffy pillows of strings -- arranged by Beck's dad, you trivia buffs will want to know -- and mountain-high, Spector-esque production that sounds positively luscious. These are bummers you can hum along to. The synth-and-piano-laced opener, "September Already," correlates the end of summer to a waning romance. And the towering majesty of "There's Nowhere You Can Hide" is actually about a dysfunctional relationship between a speed freak and a junkie. Zadorozny doesn't copyright his songs as "Satin Doombox" for nothing.

-- Jonathan Perry

(Blinker the Star open for Marcy Playground this Thursday, November 4, at Bill's Bar. Call 421-9678.)