*1/2 Boo Radleys

KINGSIZE

(Never)

This Liverpool-based foursome have always struggled to reconcile the timeless with the timely. The band's reliable pop chops, steeped in 1960s West Coast symphonic pop songwriters like Brian Wilson, typically bear a chameleon sheen. Their 1992 stateside debut, Everything's Alright Forever, cloaked opulent harmonies in My Bloody Valentine-esque blisspop. Wake Up, their 1995 UK breakthrough, was Britpop in excelsis, with chirpy tunes, tight arrangements, and horn charts.

Kingsize, the Boos' sixth and, as of February, final outing (they've broken up), embraces current dance-floor spice, chunky Oasis-style guitar, and contorted arrangements à la Burt Bacharach and Van Dyke Parks. There's even a trendy bit of turntablism. "Blue Room in Archway" is an ambitious suite fusing strings and the rat-a-tat splatter of drum 'n' bass with time-shifting "I Am the Walrus" loopiness. The single, "Free Huey!", which pays homage to the slain Black Panther leader, manages to be both insulting and artless by grafting the Army credo "Be all you can be" atop cloying Jesus Jones-style techno-rock. The Boo Radleys may be remembered fondly by Britpop enthusiasts for years to come, but Kingsize will be best forgotten.

-- Patrick Bryant