Bleed American

Dreamworks

You can see why Dreamworks bit on this one. Though not an epic departure from typical J.E.W. fodder, Bleed American is a definite stab at radio music. Because they don't stray entirely from their identifiable sound, they avoid the typical hum-drum mainstream pitfalls.

When they sing "Crimson and clover / Over and over" on "A Praise Chorus," it's a tip-off that they're searching for the melodies that used to elude them. When the song ends with the phrase "Wanna fall in love tonight" followers of the D.C.-flavored post-punk band with Fugazi overtones might feel commercially betrayed.

The trend is obvious. The acoustic dreamer "Your House" could have been written by John Mellencamp, or (eek!) Dashboard Confessional. It's sappy. As is "Hear You Me," which borders on current-day Goo Goo Dolls fare. The smooth softie "If You Don't Don't" is John Waites '80s rock. While the straight-ahead "The Authority Song," would be interesting if it were a little more ironic, and a little less obvious.

More appealing are the noisy stabs at guitar rock, like the intense opening track -- maybe my all-time favorite J.E.W. song -- as well as the marvelous "Sweetness" with its call-and-roar sing/guitar interplay and the Weezer-ish "Get It Faster," which chugs along with just the right amount of fist-wagging panache.

But, like the CD's centerpiece "Cautioners," and closer "My Sundown," which stretch out over five minutes and sound like music played during a movie credit roll, Bleed American too often takes the easy road to easy listening. It's these moments of lifeless, formulaic non-style that almost assures it will get picked up on national alt-rock play lists. Which doesn't make it bad, just too-often boring.

It's easy to be critical of a band so eagerly searching for a breakthrough. To their credit, J.E.W. didn't fall into the a same pitfall as last year's Jets to Brazil backfire. Unlike that failure, if you revisit Bleed American -- again and again -- it will grow on you, just like any good radio song should.