Jucifer is the White Stripes of Bizzaro World. Frontwoman Amber Valentine's narcotic croon replaces Jack White's yelp, and a sludgy, proto-metal rumble subsumes the Stripes' quaint garage racket as easily as Ozzy biting off a bat's head. Such is the power of the grimy, dirge blues pouring out of this dark Athens, Georgia, throb-rock duo. Whereas Jucifer's prior two albums featured rabid guitar squalls, last year's grinding Relapse debut, If Thine Enemy Hunger, sounds more like the Melvins. The 12-year vets were in the studio this summer working on their fourth — and, they promise, best — release; take a peek tonight.
