A simple boy-girl guitar-drums duo á la
the Spinanes, the Crabs released their first full-length in 1995, after two EPs. The extremely low-key
Jackpot is about as simple an album as can be recorded. Guitarist Jonn Lunsford and drummer Lisa Jackson play with the slightly awkward naïveté endemic to the K Records variety of '90s indie pop, and both sing endearingly gawky lyrics in artless voices. Jackson's voice is better than Lunnsford's, who has a less-stable grip on the concept of pitch; unfortunately, she doesn't sing as much as he does. The quasi-surf instrumental "Tsunami," one of three tracks featuring guest Diane Beck on bass, suggests that the group's instrumental chops are not their strongest selling point, either. The tougher instrumental "Sharkbite" is much more successful. Jackson's songs, "She Is a Titan" and "Something In My Life," are the best tracks on this extremely brief album, and portend greater things for the duo once their priorities are slightly modified. ~ Stewart Mason