**1/2 Drill Team

HOPE AND DREAM EXPLOSION

(Reprise)

Drill Team do the best Radiohead impersonation I've ever heard on "Stars Fly" and "Sorrow Marry Me." The abundance of textural flourishes and sonic details give what would otherwise be garden-variety alterna-guy rock some distinctive color. A pretty melody buoys "Peppermint," rescuing it from Bush-league lyrics like "Let me sip your arrogance/Back and forth my mind relents/To taste your crime." From earnest frontguy Michael Long's emoting to guitarist Timothy LaRue's dramatic playing, the sentiment and the sound of Hope and Dream Explosion -- epic, expansive, and loaded with plenty of sing-along choruses -- make Drill Team an outfit genetically engineered for arenas. Fortunately, the band steer clear of turgid balladry, choosing a much more palatable, Posies style of power pop.

-- Jonathan Perry