*** Coax

FEAR OF STANDING STILL

(Paradigm)

With the spotlight's glare focused on (mostly deserving) Brit-pop talent these days, it's easy to overlook the developments in the margins, that cultural space where some of the most exciting movements unfold. It's there that this jangly and winsome Kent quartet -- once known as the Dentists -- quietly grew up to become Coax (maintaining three-fourths of the original Dentists' line-up in the process). The new combo retains some of the gentle nuances that led to the former's cult acceptance while forging a more aggressive sound typified by titles like "Rolling Thunder." (By contrast, old Dentists numbers included "Box of Sun" and "Beautiful Day.") The stormier Fear of Standing Still nonetheless highlights crisp, shimmering guitar interplay and intelligent songcraft rooted in '60s folk and '80s alterna-pop. Coax fail only when they truss their sound up big and brassy on the irritatingly overproduced "Meatball Heroes." The rest of the album neatly reconciles an understated past with the group's rock-leaning present. The guitars now snarl more than they seduce, but they still sound downright gorgeous.

-- Mark Woodlief