The Space Around You

Album review

Boston-based emo-pop outfit Tugboat Annie's much-streamlined third full-length album The Space Around You is an obvious bid for mainstream success; the band has toned down all of their excesses and created a fine, concise pop album. It isn't an overstatement to say that the first four tracks on the disc are nearly perfect; the soft verse/loud chorus dynamic of the romantic pop of "Stop" segues into the insanely catchy punk pop of "The Wishing Song" (in which the band sounds like a literate Blink 182 -- and that's in a good way) before the dreamy "Tell Me" lends way to the punchy "Love." After such a perfect start, it's too bad that the rest of the album doesn't seem as instant, but it's far from bad. Most of the arrangements are spacious and dreamy, and the thick production matches the introspective lyrics throughout. It's sensitive-guy alt-rock, and it means that fans of lighter, poppier emo (Promise Ring, Jimmy Eat World) and up-tempo power pop (Fountains of Wayne) will be equally pleased. With "The Space Around You," Tugboat Annie secures their place as one of the many points of light of Boston's increasingly strong rock scene -- and they make the case that they deserve to be more than just a footnote in the alternative mainstream. It's alt-rock with depth, and in an era of Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit, that's quite a rarity.

© Jason Damas /TiVo