** Save Ferris

MODIFIED

(Epic)

As purveyors of cheap '80s nostalgia -- their name comes from John Hughes, they got on the radio with a cover of "Come On Eileen" -- Save Ferris come off even less legit than your typical Cali ska-punk band. So it's fitting that they open Modified, their second disc, with "Turn It Up," a synth-powered ode to cranking the car stereo that puts actual ska and punk on the back burner in favor of hard, '80s-sounding guitar pop. You don't need any integrity to play this stuff. It sure helps to sound cheerful, though, and "Turn It Up" aside, guitarist Brian Mashburn's songs are too grouchy to send anyone lunging for the volume knob. Mashburn does grouchy rather nicely on "Let Me In," a bombastic rewrite of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" that's a worthwhile attempt at a No Doubt-style adult contemporary crossover. And "One More Try" crams a lot of string-drenched sadness into its short running time. It's the up-tempo tracks that get tiresome -- whether she's angry, sulking, or both, bland singer Monique Powell can't sustain interest in Mashburn's multiple meditations on post-break-up angst. Let's just say Gwen Stefani has nothing to worry about.

-- Sean Richardson

(Save Ferris perform this Thursday, November 4, at Avalon. Call 423-NEXT.)