POP MUSIC REVIEW : CHERRY BOMBZ ARE DEFUSED BY AN OFF-KEY LEAD SINGER

Hot, hot, hot! That’s how the Cherry Bombz would like to think of themselves. The London-based quintet tried to hammer the incendiary message home at the revitalized Whisky on Thursday with song titles like “Hot Girls in Love” and “100 Degrees in the Shade.” Yet, for all its fiery imagery, these Bombz had a wet fuse. And its name is Anita Chellemah.

This lead singer has about as much to do with rock ‘n’ roll as Charo. Working her petticoats like a heavy-metal Cyndi Lauper, Chellemah betrayed her past as a member of chorus-line bimbos Toto Coelo. She displayed lots of glitzy, show-biz chutzpah, but there’s a difference between “The King and I” and “Honky Tonk Women,” and this increasingly off-key tootsie was more stage showy than rock posey.

But though Chellemah was less than convincing, the rest of the Bombz burned, especially the guitar section. Andy McKay and Nasty, formerly of Finland’s Hanoi Rocks, supply the kind of twin guitar slash-and-burn excitement that the pre-mossy Rolling Stones once gathered. If you missed glam-rock, the ‘70s and Silverhead, the glittery beat starts here. The Bombz will be at the Country Club tonight. Bring your own hair spray.