EVERYTHING BUT GIRL DEBUTS

You could hear everything but the girl at Everything but the Girl’s show at the Palace Monday. Tracey Thorn, lead singer for the oddly named English band, was the victim of the Hollywood hall’s notoriously erratic sound quality, which reduced her smooth alto to a vague mumble. Since her singing and the band’s activist lyrics are the group’s major assets, EBTG came up a little empty in its L.A. debut.

Thorn’s partner Ben Watt on guitar and their three backing musicians concentrated on the brisk, faintly folk-flavored rock of their recent “Love Not Money” album, with occasional dips into their earlier samba style. It all skimmed along with a nicely euphoric air, but with the lyrics out of earshot, EBTG’s nifty contrast of light, bright sound and darkly shaded, sometimes angry lyrics about a declining, oppressive social system was lost.

The audience still responded warmly, not only to the efficient if uneventful playing, but also to Watt’s and Thorn’s various political dedications and comments. This is one English outfit that can’t be dismissed as superficial. Let’s hope that next time the mix matches the commitment.

Opener Marti Jones recently released an album of distinctively quirky pop, but her set--an amplified acoustic affair with only her and guitarist Don Dixon on stage--was all wrong for an open-floor rock ballroom. The crowd was surprisingly receptive though, thanks mainly to her pure, strong vocals--and despite her and Dixon’s rambling patter between songs. Memo to Marti: Next time hire a band or play McCabe’s.