Girl Talk - Record Collector

An audio junk-sculpture constructed from an eclectic heap of 45rpm pop - 78rpm, in some cases - these 23 tracks mingle three idiosyncratic talents. Its extremities are instanced by an affectionate send-up of Terry by Twinkle and Sandy Posey's Single Girl, bereft of the faintest tang of irony. In between, part of the charm is that you're not entirely sure which way you're supposed to take certain selections - especially when any inherent melodrama is slightly overdone to convey subtle situational nuances about girly matters that only those with a different set of hormones think they understand.

Yet this is no loaded aren't-men-rubbish excursion. Without wishing to give too much away, items such as You Keep Me Hangin' On or Wishin' & Hopin' are presented almost straight until the witty insertion of a capsizing word or phrase turns it in on itself as of Frank Zappa's well-founded opinion that "it's theoretically possible to be 'heavy' and still have a sense of humour. 'Heavy', however, is too off-putting (and inaccurate) an adjective for a thoroughly diverting entertainment.