** Ugly Beauty

SWEETNESS

(Atlantic)

The NYC-based trio Ugly Beauty, who feature former Cell guitarist Jerry DiRenzo, are still in the process of discovering their own sound on Sweetness, their debut for Atlantic. Their goal seems to be a kind of organic, fluid, jangly rock with a dream-pop center, something they achieve on "The Only Heroine." Elsewhere, singer Christy Schnabel's voice is the group's defining feature, and it wanders from sexy Debbie Harry belting ("Bring Me Flowers") to heavy, narcotic refrains ("Seven Days") to an almost giddy B-52's-like chorus on "Endless Stream." She pours out vain, bittersweet lyrics with an authority alluring enough to make you forgive Ugly Beauty's growing pains, which amount to getting stuck too often in the mid-tempo doldrums and never really settling into a style they can call their own. Sweetness is a promising enough introduction to a band who seem to be on the right path.

-- Cathy Miner