Christina Billote, formerly of Autoclave (Mary Timony's old band) and Slant 6, has been making music the last two years with her sister Mira and Brendan Majewski, a bassist/singer who used to play for Murder. I don't know anything about Murder, but I imagine the subjects and tones running through Christina's songs are a logical progression for Majewski: Quix*O*Tic's debut full-length is like the soundtrack for a really hip cemetery man! There are songs about witches, ghoul girls and plastic flowers (the tombstone's perfume), all done with much more seriousness than you'd get from, say, the Cramps. Vocal chores are split between Christina and the other spooky-voiced members, but it's the drums and guitars that make these songs extra-special.

Of Quix*O*Tic's originals, "Heliotrope" is a good example; it starts off with drum work from Mira, recalling lots of great '50s songs, then dips into surf territory, then falls deep into jerky guitar rhythms reminiscent of early art-punk or Hot Rock-era Sleater Kinney. Wisely, the band decides to show they can do more than these jittery originals, offering two fantastic and highly unlikely covers, both of which are pleasantly respectful of the originals. With each, Christina proves her voice is able to do justice to the sensual soulfulness of Smokey Robinson ("What's So Good About Goodbye?") and the sprituality of the Staples Singers ("I'm the Light of the World"). It also shows that Quix*O*Tic should not be tossed aside as some popular ouija board act (they're touring with Stereolab and Sonic Youth), but as smart performers of loveable, message-laden music. And what's the message? It's not very deep, but I think they're trying to say that monsters don't mash to "the Monster Mash" any more.

When I first heard Night For Day, I found it interesting but not breathtaking -- and the creepy band photos just scared me. I'm happy I didn't heed my initial reaction. The more I play the disc, the more its pleasures seem grow (and mutate) on me, and the more it seems that Quix*O*tic is taking me through the whole history of rock via their sinful rhythms and progressions. While a mountain of small pleasures are to be had -- from wind-blown whistling to a slow, lingering bass groove -- it is the sum of all these musical parts which makes Night For Day essential music for love-struck students who refuse to traipse through a graveyard (literal or figurative) without some tough, gritty melodies lingering in their heads...like some alien creature, or spawn of Satan, or some other graveyard smash.