O.C. CRITICS’ PICKS

Times Orange County pop critic Mike Boehm picks his favorite Orange County albums of 1997:

1. MISSILES OF OCTOBER, “Tropic of Soulfolk” (no label). So far, this one hasn’t been a shot heard ‘round the world, but the Missiles’ merger of singer-songwriter melodiousness and lyrical insight with roots-band soulfulness and funk is both infectious and affecting. It’s a shame that this veteran band hasn’t been able to launch itself from a comfortable silo in Laguna Beach.

2. BILL WARD, “When the Bough Breaks” (Purple Pyramid/Mungus Shine). Ward rejoined his old mates in Black Sabbath this month for two shows in their hometown of Birmingham, England, but the Seal Beach resident is one ‘60s-vintage rocker who doesn’t have to rest on laurels. “Bough” is a rich work: alternately sensitive and fierce, always deeply felt. It’s rare nowadays to find such a shining example of adventurous (nonmetal) hard rock in the tradition of the Who and Cream.

3. THE JOYKILLER, “Three” (Epitaph). Punk rockers, beware: if you take a daring left-turn into orchestral power-pop, it’ll fly over your audience’s mosh-pit-addled heads and your band will break up. Thus went the saga of the Joykiller, but O.C. veteran Jack Grisham and his mates left a fine, three-album legacy, with “Three” the splendid capper.

4. KERRY GETZ, “Apollo” (World in Motion). A longtime toiler in local coffeehouses, Getz showed with this deep, varied and emotionally telling collection that a spot on the Lilith Fair circuit would be more appropriate for her than a spot on the espresso circuit.

5. LEE ROCKER, “No Cats” (Dixiefrog). The year’s most pleasant surprise. The former Stray Cats bassist went from the solid-yeoman level of his two previous records as a bandleader to an album’s worth of catchy, imaginatively conceived songs delivered in a vastly improved singing voice. Available only as a French import, “No Cats” is a no-filler standard-setter for ambitious, thoughtful but rockin’ roots music.

6. THE OFFSPRING, “Ixnay on the Hombre” (Columbia). Not a bad encore, when a hit band delivers an even better follow-up to its career-making album. “Ixnay” is a preternaturally catchy slab of meaty hard rock and driving punk; Dexter Holland relies mainly on his magical ear and caustic wit, but a couple of songs dig a bit deeper.

7. THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS, “High Water” (High Street). Having relocated his long-running career from Texas to O.C., Kim Wilson took an adventurous leap into new sonic textures, including sampling. Superb performances and solid songwriting made this a roots-rock album with a difference. The T-Birds’ best album since its early-’80s nugget, “T-Bird Rhythm.”

8. RULE 62, “Rule 62” (Maverick/Warner Bros.) A tuneful, hard-hitting and varied alterna-rock album that brings Brian Coakley’s dark musings to life. A good choice for fans of Everclear and Foo Fighters.

9. BIG SANDY & HIS FLY-RITE BOYS, “Feelin’ Kinda Lucky” (Hightone). The incredible lightness of being set to a western swing beat. Creamy vocals, wry lyrics, and terrific ensemble musicianship make this another winner from one of O.C.’s most reliable and distinctive bands.

10. ONE HIT WONDER, “Outfall” (Nitro). OHW is the state of the art in punk-pop, delivering fast, furious and funny notes from an underdog’s underground while inviting fellow misfits and ne’er-do-wells to join in and sing along.

11. THE SUPERTONES, “Supertones Strike Back” (BEC). The best ska-punk band that fans of such lesser acts as Reel Big Fish and Save Ferris never heard of. That’s because the Supertones play on the Christian-rock circuit, investing their tuneful songs with a from-the-heart urgency and depth that trendoid ska-mongers will never approach.

12. THE CHANTAYS, “Waiting for the Tide” (Rocktopia). With three members of the original early-’60s lineup still on board, the Chantays showed that they remain master architects of the traditional surf-rock sound. Saying these wonderfully realized compositions are the same-old-surf-stuff is like saying that the Pacific is the same-old-ocean.

13. DAN CRARY, “Holiday Guitar” (Sugar Hill). Carols that turn into cheesy ornaments on most Christmas albums become glowing gems in the hands of this masterful and inventive folk guitarist. This has the makings of a seasonal classic.

14. LUTEFISK, “Burn in Hell [Expletive]” (Bong Load). Spawned in O.C., based mainly in L.A.’s trendy Silver Lake district, Lutefisk continued its mission of fracturing Beatle-esque pop-rockers into noisy, avant-gardist objects of art, doing it in a way that’s playful and unself-conscious.

15. SUPERNOVICE, “Timely” (Onset). ‘80s-vintage true-alternative music still hangs on in the land of punk ‘n’ ska. A fine balance of male and female voices, of bitter put-downs and sweet laments.

15. (tie). WALTER CLEVENGER, “The Man With the X-Ray Eyes” (Permanent Press). With a more lanky build and the right plastic surgeon, Clevenger could carry out a dastardly plot to do away with Nick Lowe, grab his loot and usurp his career in rootsy, pure-pop songsmithery. But the amiable, sweetly simple tone of this collection suggests that he would never even think of such a thing.

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Times Orange County pop critic Mike Boehm’s favorite albums:

1. SLEATER-KINNEY, “Dig Me Out” (Kill Rock Stars). Vivid, visceral garage-punk that’s less a performance than music-making as a form of raw, unfiltered experience. Nothing new stylistically but forever new in its impact.

2. SHONEN KNIFE, “Brand New Knife” (Big Deal). A catchy, bittersweet ode to pop innocence and enthusiasm by Japanese rockers who aren’t quite the naifs they’re widely assumed to be.

3. JIM WHITE, “Wrong-Eyed Jesus!” (Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.) Real songwriting imagination at play as this newcomer from Florida slogs and steams through the dark swamps of a Southern Gothic dreamland of murder, damnation and wild-eyed fun.

4. BEN FOLDS FIVE, “Whatever and Ever Amen” (550 Music). A treat for those who would give something/anything for kinetic, emotive, Rundgren-esque smart-pop.

5. MIKE WATT, “Contemplating the Engine Room” (Columbia). Ahoy, mateys! Watt’s nautical rock opera is a loving, musically far-reaching meditation on comradeship and loss, remembering his sailor-man dad and his lost buddy from the Minutemen, D. Boon.

6. THE GERALDINE FIBBERS, “Butch” (Virgin). Dysfunctional grit that sounds honest, not posed. It avoids the sameness of their more-celebrated debut album.

7. (Tie) BUDDY MILLER, “Poison Love,” (Hightone); JULIE MILLER, “Blue Pony” (Hightone). This husband-and-wife team deserves more notice: Buddy’s record features trad-country mastery and a Steve Earle-ish rock/folk spirit; Julie is more on the Emmylou side with her album of warm, tender emotional sketches.

9. BEN HARPER, “The Will to Live” (Virgin). With his excellent foundation in blues, folk and soul and an intimate and meditative singing style, Harper is well-positioned to go deep into realms of feeling and spirit.

10. ERYKAH BADU, “Baduizm” (Universal). How about that? R&B; songs with some quirks and mystery. Plus a hazy, sinuous, jazz-inflected voice that takes a (Billie) holiday from formulaic pop-R&B; over-singing.

11. BOB DYLAN, “Time Out of Mind” (Columbia). Dylan the bard is absent (lyrically this is pretty threadbare stuff), but Dylan the bluesman is deep in the groove and in splendid form on this sour yet plaintive collection. I say the waitress in the hilarious, enigmatic restaurant scene from the epic “Highlands” is Bob’s recalcitrant Muse.

12. WORLD PARTY, “Egyptology” (the Enclave). Want to hear ‘90s pop-rockers ransacking the tombs of ‘60s pop-rockers? World Party auteur Karl Wallinger is an archeologist who uses the past for his own expressive purposes, as opposed to the thoughtless grave-robbing of Oasis.

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Freelance pop music writer John Roos reviewed a batch of relatively obscure releases in ‘97, most of them with Orange County connections. His favorites, spanning pop, punk, heartland rock and folk-based confessionals, are defined by passionate song craft.

1. CHEWY MARBLE, “Chewy Marble” (Permanent Press Recordings). Served in tasty, guilt-free bites, the addictive pop confections that make up Chewy Marble’s debut leave you craving more. Recalling like-minded Toad the Wet Sprocket, this L.A.-based quartet brings a dark edge to its tales of romantic longing and turmoil. The group moves seamlessly from fragile ballads to catchy, uptempo pop-rock numbers.

2. WANK, “Get a Grip on Yourself” (Bordello Pop Records). Mixing a pop sensibility with punk drive, Wank cranks out crisply played, biting rockers on this debut CD. Yes, the Huntington Beach group sounds a lot like the Clash . . . but when a band brings such a raw edge of desperation to the musical assault, why nitpick? Lyrically, Wank focuses on youthful misadventures, from relationship woes to male rites of passage and various forms of illegal shenanigans.

3. JIM QUEALY & THE NOISY NEIGHBORS, “Songs From the Stoop” (Mudfram Records). For those interested in complex, adult-oriented themes, singer-songwriter Jim Quealy is your man. The 44-year-old Rancho Santa Margarita resident’s second album offers a winning, heartfelt look at the roller-coaster ride of relationships, from the predictable disintegration of a hollow marriage to a harrowing account of a woman’s plot to murder her husband. Quealy doesn’t only wallow in despair but also embraces the good in life.

4. CORDAY & THE CURIOUS, “Naked” (Envy Records). Orange-based singer-songwriter Jennifer Corday explores the challenge of maintaining self-worth during relationships throughout “Naked,” the debut release from Corday & the Curious. She digs deeply into conflicting matters of the heart, from the liberating tone of “Water Under the Bridge” to the more carefree but still vulnerable “Hold Me,” which implores a lover to “hold me like a baby and kiss me like a fool.” The album’s most compelling number, “Jealous Eyes,” effectively uses a soft voice of reason, rather than angry salvos, to fight against domestic violence.

* Pop music critic Robert Hilburn’s annual year-end singles countdown will appear in Saturday’s Calendar.