Msn review

New Radicals
Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too (MCA)

Back in the early '90s, regular samplers called Stanley, Son
of Theodore gave "underground" music fans (as they were known then) a
sneak preview of tracks by cutting-edge artists. A 1992 version of
"Stanley.." included up-and-comers like Pearl Jam, Cypress Hill and a
little squeaky-voiced joker named Gregg Alexander, whose contribution,
"Truth," was a hilarious, squawking tune about being dumped ("I'm a Jew, and you're my Hitler," hollered this pre-Beck bumpkin). It seemed
everyone on that comp broke through to the new "alternative" format
except this oddball. Sometimes it just takes patience and persistence;
six years later, Alexander's causing a ruckus with his band,
New Radicals.

They've got a radio hit on their hands ("You Get What You Give") and an album full of nicely wrapped pop cacophony. So why doesn't it feel so good to see Alexander get his due? Maybe because the Radicals sound
so much like World Party, Ben Folds Five and a zillion hippie crossover bands that Alexander blends in like a Wallflower. Sure, he knows how to write a feel-good ballad and fill a groove with his corn silk vocals - which still occasionally crack like a 13-year-old's, thankfully - but the fit is too pat. While Alexander may have finally gotten his gold key to the record-label washroom, he's still not working to potential.

out of five

~ Kristy Ojala, Sidewalk ~