Radford

Hey radio listeners: tired of all those alterna-rock radio tunes that sound edgy and mysterious until you actually listen to the lyrics? Well, get ready for some more.

Newcomers Radford busted out onto the pop radio scene last week with the release of their self-titled debut CD. Fresh off of a concert tour with Vertical Horizon and Stroke9, Radford serves up regurgitations of the same stuff that's been playing on the radio ever since bands like Bush, Silverchair and more recently, Creed, figured out that boring lyrics sound a lot cooler if you sing them like you're really pissed off. The tunes are guitar-heavy, with prevalent pop melodies that do a great job of all sounding alike. Radford's music is solid and the vocals sound good, but the songs don't seem to be about anything more specific than vague notions of love gone bad.

The band dares to break away from the rest of the CD's tone with a ballad entitled "Fly," providing solace with lines like "It's okay to want to be free/ It's okay to spread your wings/ If you know how to fly/ You can fly."

Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now.

Radford's songs aren't too bad, but then again, when you're using a formula that's been passed down from a dozen other bands, how much can you mess it up? So unfortunately, despite the band's lack of originality and particularly uninspired lyrics, you can be sure to tune into their songs sometime soon on a radio station near you.

-By Kelly McVicker