Airtight

Heavy Breathing, from Washington DC, have essentially been around for fifteen years. The core trio: Erick Jackson, handling the axes, from bass to guitars; Jeff Schmid, the drummer, who has now moved center stage; and Amanda Kleinman, playing synths and organs, made 6 records as The Apes, with 3 different vocalists; they then solved their singer problems by changing their name to Heavy Breathing and using found sounds from the World Wide Web in lieu of the old, clichèd human singer. "Airtight" is their second record as Heavy Breathing, and their Black Sabbath-inflused riff­rock is in a business funk suit with party calls coming from the Rhythm Machine, Erick's guitars galloping, Jeff's drums thumping four all over the floor, and Amanda's keys playing Jon­Lord­alongside­Bernie­Worrell.Recorded at home, built in the box, Erick's hard rock riffs are still the songwriting foundation; but a track like "Touch It" has the emotional R&B of the Commodores' "Night Shift." "Eazy" has a boogie beat, a head­ banging riff, Terry Riley keys, and resolves to power chords with a thudding kick on the One. On "Getting Down," the Rhythm Machine sings "Deny!", juxtaposed with "Dance, dance, getting down," making the choice yours: Boogie with this record; or reject convention, authority, and dogma, and get down and boogie with this record.