by LORRAINE CARPENTER

"There's no difference between the way men and women play," says Verity Susman, keyboardist, vocalist and saxophonist for England's freestyle, quasi-Krautrock quartet Electrelane. "I've seen girls who have a completely different style from us and I've seen guys who have a very similar style, so I really disagree," she says, reacting to Electrelane guitarist Mia Clarke's comment (in a 2001 interview on o-reading.co.uk) that the band's all-female cast is so because "girls play differently."

Susman, who founded the band with drummer Emma Gaze in the late '90s, says that their lineup developed as most bands do, from a group of friends. Prior to their 2001 debut LP Rock It to the Moon, Rupert Noble briefly replaced the band's original bassist, Tracy Houdek (who quit due to pregnancy), until current member Rachel Dalley signed on.

"We did want it to be all-female at that stage," explains Susman. "We were getting into feminism, so we were quite excited about doing it ourselves. We didn't want people to look at the band and think, 'I bet the guy's really doing all the music,' but that's not a concern to me now. I would be happy to have a guy in the band again, but I don't think everybody feels that way."

There may be muso-socio-political disagreements, but Susman sees no reason to rock Electrelane's boat. The ladies are loving their sophomore LP The Power Out, which marks their first real stab at vocals.

"When we started writing this album, improvising, I just sang, and it worked, whereas we were never satisfied with vocals in the past," says Susman. "But it's not a permanent thing - we still consider ourselves to be primarily an instrumental band."

Despite the presence of vocals on most tracks (and a choir on "The Valleys"), the album is deliberately sparse and (nearly) overdub-free, a choice partly inspired by producer Steve Albini. But don't go thinking he's "doing all the music."

"It's down to us to map the arrangements, and he didn't try to impose, he had just the right level of involvement," she says. "In fact, we want to work with him again because it was the best recording experience we've had."

With Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and the Frenetics at la Sala Rossa on Friday, March 26, 9pm, $12

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