**1/2 Knapsack

THIS CONVERSATION IS ENDING STARTING RIGHT NOW

(Alias)

Despite nimble, buzzing guitar riffs and breathy, committed vocals, the Bay Area trio Knapsack don't break new ground with their third album so much as they continue on in the tradition of solid independent rock. Mainly, they've picked up the bright, vaguely melancholic torch dropped by now-defunct Bay Area neighbors Jawbreaker, a popular indie band who became one of the scene's should've-beens after a major-label bid with 1995's Dear You (DGC). This Conversation mixes ebullience and aggression to moody effect -- cello and bells color "Cold Enough To Break," piano fills bolster "Cinema Stare," and "Change Is All the Rage" and "Hummingbirds" establish guitarists Blair Sheehan and Sergie Loobkoff (ex-Samiam) as natural musical foils. Producer Alex Newport, known for his work with heavier acts like Fudge Tunnel and the Melvins, has done the best job yet at capturing Knapsack's tender-to-tough nuances. But the band's urgent, visceral songwriting still sounds more influenced than influential.

-- Mark Woodlief