Bloodletting

In the realm of mainstream rock, 1990’s crop was pretty fallow, so it felt like finding a case of Gatorade in the middle of the Mojave when Concrete Blonde’s “Joey” turned up in the Top 40. The intro’s blend of Phil Spector beat and distorted guitar tricked you for a moment into thinking The Jesus & Mary Chain had crashed the U.S. charts, but when Johnette Napolitano’s husky, gravitas-filled croon came in, you were carried off into another place, where an instantly memorable, classic-sounding melody and simple-but-intense lyrics created a perfect pop moment for these alt-rock refugees. The rest of Bloodletting, the L.A. trio’s breakthrough third album, wasn’t exactly small potatoes either, mostly split between pouty-but-pretty, pop-savvy tunes like the aforementioned gem and “Tomorrow, Wendy,” and darker, heavier, post-goth Cure-tinged rockers like “The Sky Is a Poisonous Garden” and “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song).” Listening to Bloodletting’s 2010 reissue, it’s impossible to understand how the title track’s vampires-in-New Orleans tale has been overlooked by the music consultant for HBO’s Louisiana bloodsuckers series True Blood. Better-than-average bonus tracks, including the gorgeous b-side “I Want You” and a surprising cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” enhance the experience even further.