Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Bewilderment consumes me as I set for the surprisingly tuneful melodies cruising freely about, consuming the last remnants of air space in this isolationist listening room. The sound isn't quite the stuff of bare knuckle brawling but rather playfully lighthearted with plenty o' open chording and friendly free verse -- that late seventies/early eighties basement Rock and Pop charm with emotional bursts and suddenness. In and around the vocals is a bend we've been around before in recent years by throngs of Emo-Core sunny day rockers -- The Movielife, Undecided, Blink, all quick ones that come to mind though Brand New's got this cascading, harmonizing effect that's a step above most.

They're a bit too edgy to finger point 'em for Pop and Alternative's kicked so categorically, they're a mix of Indie Rock elements, "Tim" era Replacements, jeans, sneakers, genuflection and multi-syllabic titles, organically grown and lyrically circuitous.

Brand New, an operative term for an inoperative title in so much as who is and can ever be -- they impress on a veteran level however, and thought processes run amok, refreshing in an era of remanufacture and single-minded stardom.