Having never been pregnant myself, I'm not sure what it is obstetricians are recommending these days for expectant mothers. As little excitement as possible, or business as usual?

Aiha Higurashi, the lead singer of Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her, whose baby is due in September, has perhaps been advised the latter, because except for a few songs where her husband, Yoshiki Watanabe, took over the guitar chores, she rocked pretty tough at the band's 60-minute gig at Shibuya Club Quattro on June 12.

Then again, Higurashi's doctor may very well have told her to go easy on the live shows and she just chose to ignore him. Anyone who listens to "Pretty in Pink," the band's new EP or maxi-single or mini-album or whatever (it's four songs), and then watches them play the same songs on stage will immediately come to the conclusion that Higurashi's peculiar talents work better in concert than they do in the studio. Though the songs are well written, the CD on the whole sounds rushed and tentative. And the new video that sets all the songs from their last album, "17," to visuals (including handicam footage shot on their spring tour of the U.S.) seems to be either a label imperative or a gratuitous goof, but either way it's not something you need to view twice.