** Velvet Crush

FREE EXPRESSION

(Bobsled)

We haven't heard much from power-pop outfit Velvet Crush lately, and that's unfortunate for fans who like to hear the tradition of Byrdsian jangle and Big Star's blue-eyed soul carried on. On their fourth album in almost 10 years, Crush primaries Ric Menck and Paul Chastain gathered some musical friends in their Los Angeles living room (they bid adieu to both Providence and guitarist Jeffrey Underhill a few years back). The result is a fun romp that swaps the ebullience of their earlier work for a more worldly but less exciting wisdom.

That said, there is a party going on here. Opener "Kill Me Now" starts with an energetic "Come on!/Whoo!" and is one of a handful of tracks with glorious, seasoned harmonies. Matthew Sweet, with whom the boys regularly play, joins the fun and also helps produce. Although Sweet's own albums have a grittier rock edge than the Crush's, his melodic sensibility has always fallen right in line with theirs. The band's interest in country twang (via Sweetheart of the Rodeo) resurfaces on "Gentle Breeze" and "Heaven Knows," which feature pedal-steel master Greg Leisz. But with uncomfortably familiar songs like "Melody #1" ("Ruby Tuesday," anyone?) and "Things Get Better" (try "Blackbird" instead), Free Expression amounts to Velvet Crush's most mature but least inspired disc.

-- Lydia Vanderloo