Chloe Liked Olivia (1991)

If nothing else, Two Nice Girls have provided us with the ultimate (and, it is hoped, final) variant of George Bush's ''kinder, gentler nation'' line: ''Is this my good fortune?/I'm finally in luck,'' sings Gretchen Phillips. ''Now what I receive is a kinder and gentler f---.'' The Girls — there are actually four of them, and part of the point is that they're not always nice — sing songs about feminism and lesbianism, most of them sensitive enough not to be alienating if you're not already a convert. The girls are basically folkies, but are willing and able to rock out. Chloe Liked Olivia is pristinely produced and occasionally startling: ''Throw It All Away,'' by bassist Meg Hentges, has a lovely chorus and is sung by her in a rich, burnished voice. But not everything gels. Despite the rock & roll and more bawdiness (''The Queer Song,'' a lusty rewrite of Buddy Holly's ''Not Fade Away''), there are long spots of lethargy. But occasionally the foursome gets into a jazzy laid-back groove; it turns out that besides polemics and humor, Two Nice Girls can display some soul as well. B-