Denise James – It’s Not Enough to Love

Previous reviewers have pegged Denise James as a latter-day Petula Clark or Leslie Gore, with one foot in the ’60s pop chanteuse camp and another in today’s trendy collegiate rock scene. But The B-52’s did this shtick better and funnier 25 years ago. Unfortunately, all James can add to the Hullabaloo and Shindig mix is a stab at singer/songwriter profundity, courtesy of several dreamy, ever-so-slow ballads in which she coos sentiments such as “Thank you for bein’ around / My love won’t bring you down.” James mixes in a bit of Byrds chiming twelve-string guitar on “Love Has Got Me Crying Again,” some Merseybeat pop on “No More Goodbyes,” and a Ventures-influenced surf instrumental on “Just Like That.” Those are the highlights. Otherwise, this is ’60s-flavored dreampop, Enya with a beehive hairdo. It’s all faithfully reproduced in glorious lo-fi, and the tinny, murky sound will remind you of the aqua transistor radio you had when you were a kid.