This quartet has been tooling around Atlanta for nearly a decade, threatening to break through on the national scene, but always falling just short of the mark. It's not that they don't have the songwriting chops: As evidenced by 1998's SilverTonesSmile, Shonali Bhowmik and
Michelle DuBois have the same sort of interwoven harmonies and punk-pop spunk that gave 15 minutes of fame to
Veruca Salt. But
Eight Balls in Reverse sticks a little too closely to the band's signature sound, and it's a sound that seems stuck in the '90s. Their tunes are sharper than ever, with songs like the opening "Gun Shy" riding along on an infectious garage rock vibe, while the raucous surf-punk of "Bored in Paris" channels the unruly spirit of the Runaways. It's a fine enough outing, but the outdated sound is unlikely to make
Ultrababyfat anything more than a regional phenomenon.