Darkness and light Bourbon Princess and Mary Timony BY BRETT MILANO

When Elvis Costello titled his 1980 album Get Happy!!, he was laying down a manifesto of sorts. People with snarling, punkish personalities weren’t supposed to cheer up, calm down, or, God forbid, fall in love. Getting happy was equated with mellowing out, becoming boring. Some would say that Costello went on to do just that later in his career.

That issue came to mind while I was listening to new albums from two of the dark women of Boston music, Bourbon Princess frontwoman Monique Ortiz and ex-Helium leader Mary Timony. If not exactly happy, these albums find the two women more upbeat than they’ve been in the past. After years in an enchanted forest of prog-rock leanings and fairy-tale imagery, Timony has rediscovered her guitar and made a loud, scathing rock album, Ex Hex (Lookout!). And Bourbon Princess’s Dark of Days (Accurate) adds some cabaret shadings (and a rare love song) to the band’s usual sultry funk.

When we meet at the Abbey Lounge, Ortiz admits to having doubts about letting her guard down. "I used to have a complex about, ‘Are we cool enough? What’s our hipness factor?’ And when I thought that way, I was afraid of pretty songs. Finally I said, ‘Why the fuck am I even thinking about this?’ Because when you think that way, you’re not going to be sincere. And I realized that cool people have done pretty songs, even Iggy Pop. And look at the Smiths; they’re the kings of pretty. I’m in a healthy relationship now, so I can’t continue to write songs about heartbreak and rejection. I can’t write about what I’m not feeling."

Ortiz’s pierced cheek, shaded eyes, and black clothes give her a severe look on stage, but off, she’s more likely to smile these days. "When I wrote the first two albums, I was having problems, and I think it’s really common for a band’s first two albums to be really self-absorbed. I’ve been reading a lot of Buddhist writings lately, and I’ve learned that it’s not about running away from your fears. More like learning to relax and be comfortable with yourself."

What’s on her mind these days? "Well, lately I’ve been thinking about really ugly fish. And I’m reading a lot about socialism. Plus, I was really traumatized by the last election, so that led me away from the whole sex-and-romance thing. Besides, that can get really boring."

Not to worry: the disc opens with a pair of love-and-sex songs that are as twisted as anything she’s written. "Still Asleep" is a shady blues that brings the lowest growls out of her fairly-androgynous-to-start-with voice. "The Waiting Noon" uses some funky sax and a rap-style vocal delivery to delve into a vampiric relationship. Then the love song "Minor Key" rings true and touching, describing the moment when a dark soul finds a mate. As for which songs were inspired by the November election, "Master Manipulator" would be a safe guess. The lyrics grow more instrospective and the music gets more expansive as the album goes on. The title track employs strings to fine effect; "Supergirl’s Complaint" would be heavy metal if the main riff were played on guitar instead of sax.

"If I’m in love with someone, the music I’m going to put on is a little cerebral, dark or sad," Ortiz explains. "Look at Roxy Music, for crying out loud. I wanted to make a record like that. I’d gotten myself a digital eight-track, and I did a lot of writing at home, using instruments other than bass, so we knew what the plan was before we went in the studio. I really wanted to do a bigger-sounding record this time. And" — here she cuts a familiar topic off at the pass — "I do think it’s gotten dangerous to make the Morphine comparison."

That’s a hard one to avoid altogether now that Bourbon Princess are part of the loose-knit, Morphine-associated Hi-N-Dry organization. Ortiz herself was a teenage Morphine fan who was drawn to Boston after meeting the band’s late leader, Mark Sandman, at a Philadelphia gig. Morphine-like sounds have been known to turn up in Bourbon Princess’s music, especially when ex-Morphine saxophonist Dana Colley and drummer Jerome Deupree (Morphine’s first drummer) were in the band. (Deupree remains on drums, but Either/Orchestra leader Russ Gershon has taken over sax and Jim Moran has been added on guitar.) Then again, Ortiz’s voice isn’t anything like Sandman’s. And her lyrics are different as well. "They had a sound that was so unique and now it’s gone. So people are going to be hungry to hear some of that Morphine sound. With us being from this area and my having a slidy sound on bass, we’re going to get those comparisons. But I think we have more in common with Julian Cope than with Morphine."

Besides, given Ortiz’s performance style — and the fact that she used to perform with just a drummer for back-up — you’d think her audience would have more crossover with the artful types who follow the Dresden Dolls. When I bring that band up, Ortiz reveals that she and Amanda Palmer used to be housemates. "We didn’t get along very well as roommates, but we did respect each other a great deal musically. At the time, I was just starting to do the duo thing, and she was really supportive of that. It’s funny, so far I’ve been dead wrong about what kind of people would like my music. I was expecting the new-wavers and goths to pick up on it, but what we’ve been getting are roots-music people and scientists with PhDs. But I came to Boston to work with great musicians and be creative, so I’ve done what I came here to do."

THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF CHANGES in Mary Timony’s life since 2002’s The Golden Dove (Matador). For one thing, she no longer lives in Boston: last May, she moved back to Washington, DC, where she was raised and where she formed her first band, Autoclave, in the early ’90s. For another, she’s changed both bands and labels: she’s now part of a duo with drummer Devin Ocampo (who also plays guitar in the Dischord band the Medications), and she’s left Matador (where she’d been since Helium’s debut 10 years ago) and joined Lookout!, the Berkeley indie that put Green Day on the map.

But the biggest change on Ex Hex is musical: Timony has turned up her amp and become more rock-and-roll than she ever was in Helium or on her previous solo albums. Ex Hex draws much of its power from classic rock (as in Led Zeppelin), marrying crunching riffs with her usual melodic finesse. Ocampo whacks hell out of the kit like John Bonham on a bender. And Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, who produced the album, keeps the sound bright and lively. (When bassist Jeff Goddard got sick before the sessions, Timony either played the bass parts herself or did without them). For her part, Timony matches rich melodies with all manner of creative guitar riffage. And she writes with unusual candor about relationships, screwed-up and otherwise, largely avoiding the fairy-tale imagery.

"I think I just wanted to have a little more fun, and the music on this album reflects that," she says over the phone from her new home. "The lyrics are a lot less coded than they used to be, just because they had to be like the songs are — more direct and more rock."

Timony does a lot of things intuitively, and choosing to rock out on the new disc was one of them. "When it comes down to it, I do things for the stupidest reasons. I had a bad guitar sound and didn’t realize it; that was one of the reasons I stopped playing — the guitar I was using just had a crummy sound. At the time, I thought keyboards were more inspiring, because they gave me more ways to manipulate sound. But after a while, I started to miss the level of expertise I have on guitar, which I never really had on keyboards."

Leaving Boston was also a fairly quick decision. When she’s not walking her dog, she works as a guitar teacher. "It’s mostly to younger kids, which is really fun — there may be one of them who knows that I have a band and that I’ve made records. I’ve gotten sick of Boston before, then I’ve gone away and changed my mind. But right now, I’m really enjoying myself here. The music scene in DC is smaller and a lot more cohesive; that’s the main difference. And some of the girls at Lookout! used to be members of Bratmobile, so I’ve known them for a while. Otherwise, it’s not that much different doing music out here. I still have the same trouble motivating myself to go to band practice."

Old habits do die hard: there may not be any fairies on the new disc, but Timony does manage to sneak Jesus into two songs. "Well, it sounds intriguing. And that’s really what it is; I’ll write something because I like the sound of it. You write a grungy rock song that mentions Jesus — that’s weird and I like it. You know what’s funny, though? I notice this new psychedelic movement, people like Devendra Banhart. All these people writing songs about fairies, and they’re cool for doing it. When I was doing it, everybody thought I was a geek."

Mary Timony returns to Boston this Tuesday, April 19, to headline T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts's Central Square; call (617) 492-BEAR. Bourbon Princess celebrate the release of their new CD on Friday April 29 at the Lizard Lounge, 1667 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, with Caged Heat; call (617) 547-0759.