*** My Drug Hell

THIS IS MY DRUG HELL

(Countdown/ Diversity)

My Drug Hell got their name from an English tabloid that reported an alleged romp by Oasis's Liam Gallagher with a screaming "My Drug And Sex Hell With Liam" headline. Not that My Drug Hell don't deserve some coverage of their own. The surface of their poppy psychedelia is pocked with reminders of the Doors and the Beatles. And lead singer Tim Briffa croons with a tantalizing wail, a tone his slinky guitar work opposes at all costs.

The end result is 40 minutes of fresh, powerful pop. "Girl at the Bus Stop" steals a few bars from the Steve Miller Band's "Space Cowboy" and turns them into the backbone of a chilling meditation on rejection. But overall the album teems with frantic mood swings. "You Were Right, I Was Wrong" is twangy and smart; "2am" is murky, and it depresses the Stones' "Get Off of My Cloud" chorus into a slow crawl. Briffa floors the wah-wah peddle in "For Your Eyes"; "Not Quite What We're Looking For" (the obligatory "hidden track") takes shots at American music. "This could be a hit . . . if it were a little more grunge, a little more Pearl Jam," Briffa smirks, in his best A&R accent. Fortunately, nothing on this album takes that advice.

-- Jonathan Vena