*1/2 Colossus

WALT MINK

(Deep Elm)

After a spell with the majors, singer/songwriter John Kimbrough's trio is now on a New York City-based independent label, plowing the same mediocre pop terrain. There's nothing outright bad about the group. It's just that they're as exciting as a gray afternoon. The guitars are well-mannered, the love songs sweet with a sour twist, the vocals listenable. Occasionally the lyrics veer to intriguing ("Lost in the World" is a cool alien-invasion fantasy metaphor) and the arrangements get trippy ("Act of Quiet Desperation" offers a taste of India). But mostly this is humdrum strum without colorful writing or instrumental flourishes. Competent and dull.

-- Ted Drozdowski