February 1999

New Radicals

Maybe you've been brainwashed too

[MCA]

Funk motion, velvet soul melodies, aquamarine pianos, and rolling rhythms just this side of full-tilt dance distinguish this lovably flawed album dreamed up by Gregg Alexander, a Michigan-born singer/guitarist. A few seasons ago and under his own name, he applied his studio-rat righteousness to U.S. heartland rock. Now, with New Radicals, Alexander takes a potentially messier Anglophile tack, flinging words like the Boo Radleys or Pulp, and aiming for harmonic epiphanies that approximate Prefab Sprout's intelligent sparkle. Occasionally-delivering a moody sway such as "I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending" with rangy slurs-Alexander stumbles onto an undigested Stonesiness only an American Midwesterner might care to reenact in 1998. But more often, New Radicals seem like enthusiastically unbuttoned Americans schooled in style councils and turtlenecks.

Alexander jumps on the slogan-happy address with both hands and feet. "Wake up, kids," he advises on "You Get What You Give," New Radicals' perfect moment, a song that updates Sister Sledge's "Lost in Music" without the merest whiff of Brut; it's a deserving radio and MTV smash with the harmonic teeth and wintergreen touch of early Dexy's Midnight Runners or Simply Red. That brand of passion carries over into speedy glam valentines like "Jehovah Made This Whole Joint for You," as well as on ballads played closer to the vest, such as the pillowy "Gotta Stay High" and "Technicolor Lover," a quizzical blend of Prince and Paul Smith.

Elsewhere, things just inevitably get away from Alexander, and he misplaces his transatlantic grip on how to harness the sound of losing control. In the end, perhaps New Radicals intentionally skip wall-to-wall perfection. But therein lies the difference between their hot fun and hot air.

~ James Hunter, SPIN ~

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