A Wall-of-Guitars Band With an Agenda

Band: Band of Susans.

Personnel: Karen Haglof, guitar and vocals; Mark Lonergan, guitar and vocals; Robert Poss, guitar and vocals; Ron Spitzer, drums; Susan Stenger, bass and vocals.

History: Yes, there is only one Susan in the New York wall-of-guitars band, though originally there were three. But it was non-Susans Poss and Spitzer who founded the group in 1986, and Poss--previously of a group called Western Eyes--is the chief songwriter and music designer of the outfit. The Susans soon found a niche in the downtown NYC art/music scene alongside the likes of Sonic Youth and Glenn Branca. “Blessings and Curse,” a debut EP released on Poss’ Trace Elements label, garnered good reviews in the alternative rock press. A 1987 album released by Sonic Youth’s Blast First label, “Hope Against Hope,” drew even more praise both in the United States and England, as did a 1988 tour opening for Wire. A second album, “Love Agenda,” was released this year by Blast First. Personnel changes have come somewhat regularly, the latest being the addition of Lonergan, who replaced Page Hamilton following the recording of “Love Agenda.”

Sound: “A sound that relates to other rock music the way the Great Wall of China relates to a back-yard fence,” said People magazine of “Hope Against Hope.” “A white hemorrhage of guitars,” said one British music journal of the same album. The name of the band’s publishing company: “My Ears! My Ears!” Like Branca (who uses full orchestras of guitars to create dense, complex, slowly evolving symphonies) the Susans strum a roar of ear-splitting potential. Like Sonic Youth, they’ve learned to mold it into actual songs that on one level serve as physical representations of emotional turmoil and internal confusion (“Love Agenda,” as the title implies, addresses the darkest corridor’s of love’s doubts and betrayals), but then transcend that through satisfying melodic and harmonic resolution.

Shows: Friday at Club Lingerie, next Sunday at Bogart’s.