The Boo Radleys: C'mon Kids

Just what sort of band is The Boo Radleys, anyway Judging from its output, which ranges from falsettos backed by the strum of acoustic guitars to dance-music beats to riff-driven electric-guitar pop, its members would probably describe themselves as practitioners of eclectic tastes. There are two sorts of people who claim to have eclectic tastes: those who can comment insightfully on subjects far afield from one another, and those who use the description to cover the fact that they have no taste at all. So which description fits The Boo Radleys For most of C'mon Kids, an eclectic album if ever there was one, they pull it off, incorporating elements of their past influences while putting a new spin on things. And on a hit-or-miss endeavor like this, as long as the hits (the creepy/catchy "Meltin's Worm") outnumber the misses ("What's in the Box (See Whatcha Got)"), the band has done its job. When these folks are good, they're very good. Now, if only they could figure out who they're supposed to be—aside from part of a faceless if successful experimental machine—we might have a reason to really love them.