Creeper Lagoon
Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday
(Dreamworks)
Grade: B
Face it - with aggro jock metal grabbing the hype and record sales and artsy post-rock snaring the critical acclaim, it ain't easy being a middle-of-the-road rock band these days. Sure, a band like Three Doors Down can snare the odd hit and become ubiquitous for a time, immortalized by high school graduation dedications everywhere. But in a world ruled by goateed thugs and bespectacled guitar snobs, other middle-of-the-road rockers are often left fighting over the scraps.
Neither edgy nor high-brow, Creeper Lagoon fits the nice-guy mold to a tee - there's nary a pierced lip among them. There are, however, three pairs of low-top Chuck Taylors, the hallmark of mild-mannered alt-rockers everywhere. Take Back the Universe's band photo is in a laundromat, probably just down the block from the friendly neighborhood pub where the members go to drink Shiner Bock. And the music doesn't stray much further afield - Creeper Lagoon offers up predictably heartfelt, straightforward lyrics, well-worn three-chord songwriting, and mellow, alt-pop hooks tailor-made for next season's "Dawson's Creek." But that's what nice-guy alt-rockers are for - the real question is whether the Lagoon has the aptitude for more than "Now That's Music Vol. 7" purgatory.
Fortunately, the answer is yes. While Creeper Lagoon offers little that genuinely incites or excites, the band still manages to rise above catchy MTV platitudes. Deliberate Top-40 fare like "Wrecking Ball" is balanced by complex, nuanced tracks like "Chance of a Lifetime," with its Replacements echoes, and "Naked Days," with its heartfelt lyrics. Their lack of either anger or artifice means that Creeper Lagoon faces tall odds if they strive for more than flavor-of-the-month status. But there's power behind the band's pop - here's hoping it leads them to a career longer than a few hit singles.
