Destination Universe (1992)

Destination Universe is the second paroxysm of pop ambition and melodic whip-cracking from Jim Ellison, guitarist and songmeister for the furious Chicago power trio Material Issue. Think of this music as a sort of landlocked '90s Merseybeat, and trust in Ellison's expertise in the mechanics that made that original Liverpool stuff so memorable: pocketsful of melodies, bursting guitars, and the unspoken belief that these are the things that make life worth living. Case in point: the lean, rumbling chords of the instant summer classic ''What Girls Want.'' The answer? ''A man with lips just like Mick Jagger/Rod Stewart's hair, and Keith Richards' stagger.'' In other songs, Ellison's commentary on the opposite sex (''girls'' throughout) could be a bit more magnanimous, but his never-miss songwriting and the rhythm section's spine-rattling exuberance manufacture gem (''Girl From Out of this World,'' ''Destination You'') after gem (''Don't You Think I Know,'' ''If Ever You Should Fall''). Upgraded half a notch for sheer joyful consistency. A-