SHAZAM

According to your parents, you are only as good as the company you keep. So it bears mentioning that it didn't take long for Remy Zero's ambiguous acoustica to find a home in the ears of Radiohead as well as -- to a much, much lesser extent -- Travis and Sting. No wonder. Situated against the youthful excesses of the British indie contingent or the shy "roots"-obsessed American underground, Villa Elaine shows the band off as duty-bound traditionalists. The doo wop dollop "Hollow" folds over your backside like a cozy blanket, with a march-like drumbeat and August Cinjun Tate's best Thom Yorke karaoke impersonation. These songs echo a newly discovered idea for soft acoustic "rock" tunes. This is certainly true of "Gramarye" or the grumbling on "Wither Vulcan." "Motorcycle" mixes some sensual, shackled, A Storm in Heaven-style guitar with a trickling (almost country) vocal. "Goodbye Little World" is a spry Beatlesque drill of strumming chords and homely reunion. ~ Dean Carlson, Rovi