Fatuous Fire, Hot Weather

IN MANY ways, Persian Gulf, a little-know band from Philadelphia, could serve as an American answer to bands like U2 or Big Country. Here's a band deeply rooted in the traditions and values of the United States, who can make political anthems without sounding preachy.

On their new EP, Changing the Weather, Persian Gulf comes across as sardonic rather than cynical, concerned rather than overbearing, slangy rather than sloppy. Persian Gulf is also one of the very few groups who not only manage to come out of a political sing-along number ("It's a Good Thing") in one piece, but, in the process, create a biting social chant ("that's the right thing to know too late.")

That's the only slow song on the album, though. The rest of the songs, led by Hal Shows's twangy guitar licks, are hard-edged rockers, firmly molded in traditional American rock'n roll (note, for instance, the main riff in "Kate Lit a Fire.") Although parts of the songs might sound like country rock, 1950s rock or ever 1960s psychedelic (the slightly distorted vocals in "Race Wars"), Persian Gulf is impossible to pigeonhole. Their music goes beyond its influences; they have their own unique sensibility.

Unlike U2, Persian Gulf also manages to blend the surreal and the political, without sounding artsy. "Eclipse of the Moon" is an apocalyptic vision of social disintegration that strays from reality into fantasy with no resulting loss in intensity: "all the women are banding together/they're running free in the woods tonight/in my sleep I can hear them chanting."

My only major complaint with Persian Gulf is that, once in a while, they seem to form their melodies around the lyrics rather than vice versa. As a result, parts of their songs (especially "Pieces of Eve"), can seem stilted or forced. Otherwise, however, this is a band with something to say. It's too bad that the majority of American listeners will never hear it.