CD reviews　

Third Eye
Blind Out of the Vein
Elektra
Sadly considered un-hip by the music press, San Francisco based quartet, Third Eye Blind and its catchy U2/INXS-like sound returns to record store shelves this month with its latest post-grunge epitaph, Out of the Vein.

First hitting the scene in 1997 with its eponymous debut, an album that spawned the band's only major hit to date -- the catchy Semi-Charmed Life -- Third Eye Blind's bold reliance on a mainstream sound with alt-rock trappings has unfortunately never really caught on.

Too un-cool for the frat-boy skate-punk Blink-182 set and yet too alternative for fans of the more mainstream Lit styled vibes, Third Eye Blind has become somewhat of a misnomer in the music world. Which is a pity. As even after the departure of the band's original guitarist, Kevin Cadogan, the four-piece West Coast combo still packs a mighty punch.

Whereas the bands second album, 1999's Blue, fell short of the mark, Out of the Vein's mild-tempo tunes and ballads are laden with a genuine passion and feel for the music as well as a certain amount of post-grunge chutzpah.

Kicking in with the hard-edged guitar-driven and almost rock-operatic ode to sex, drugs and failed relationships, Faster, Third Eye Blind's latest release sets out to impress from the off. What follows are 12 no-holes-bard tunes [I don't get it, ed] with which Third Eye Blind tempts listeners, featuring an assortment of well thought out stadium filling hooks and riffs as well as the combo's much underrated song writing prowess.

Blur
Think Tank
EMI
Four years after the founding co-fathers of Brit-pop, Blur, released its last studio venture, 13, the band -- or at least three-quarters of it -- is back with its seventh studio offering, Think Tank.

Rather than proving that Blur and Brit-pop are alive and well the much-anticipated album will possibly have fans pondering what could have been rather than what is. Losing guitarist Graham Coxon, the band's one genuine talent halfway through recording might be considered by many as a bad omen.

So, instead of being yet another Blur album centering on Coxon's songwriting and guitar proficiency, Think Tank reeks of Damon Albarn's ego. The album sees an over-reliance on influences ranging from XTC to the Stone Roses and even (dare we say), "world music."

Not that the material is bad, there's just no soul. Tunes such as the ambient and moody openers Ambulance and Out of Time, along with the album's other predominantly beat-driven and drum machine heavy content are certainly not rubbish.

Whether, however, Think Tank is worthy of being called a Blur comeback, or is simply Albarn milking past glories before once again opening his bag of dance tricks in the guise of Gorillaz remains open to some question.

Hot Hot Heat
Make Up the Breakdown
Subpop
In sharp contrast to Canada's favorite musical exports such as the dreary Celine Dion and the eardrum-shattering Sum 41, British Columbia based Hot Hot Heat and its Mersey-beat styled jangle comes as a breath of fresh air.

Formed in 1999, the four-piece hipsters started life as a guitar-free, avant-garde, synth-driven combo. Ditching its keyboard player two years later, the band hired a guitarist and set about revamping its sound into danceable jerky post-punk. A transformation that, whilst no doubt annoying maple syrup slurping artsy-fartsy types, has done wonders for the band's international standing.

Released late last year in Canada and the US, Hot Hot Heat's superb debut, Make Up the Breakdown was recently released in Europe, where the combo has just begun wooing gig goers from London to Berlin.

Oozing pure retro-70s new wave and blending simplistic guitar riffs with an abrasive edge, the combo's debut is a great earful. From the opener, the jerky Wire-like Naked in the City Again, through to the final cut, the slow meandering piano-driven Joe Jackson-ish Cairo, Hot Hot Heat are a band on fire.

The Libertines
Up the Bracket
Rough Trade
The UK's alternative music scene got a bit of a wake-up call last year after colonial upstarts and Swedes proved that the once cutting edge garage scene was sorely lacking in both talent and originality. Four blokes from the colorful North London district of Bethnal Green who go by the name of The Libertines, however, were well aware of this sad fact and planned a counter attack.

With the help of ex-Clash guitarist and studio-guru, Mick Jones, the four-some set about creating a bouncy alt-pop laden recipe for success in the form of the debut, Up the Bracket, which was released last month.

English lads with cockney accents they might be, but The Libertines main influences are pure Americana. The album's tunes are full of bouncy and aggressive hooks lifted straight out of the MC5, Stooges and Velvet Underground books of music.

The addition of early Elvis Costello and the Attractions vibes, along with the unmistakable London intonation, however, ensure that there's something typically English about the whole affair.

To Jones' credit he's not turned The Libertines into a latter-day Clash and nor has he given the album the polish of Big Audio Dynamite. Instead he's left the material in a rough and ready state.

Packed with 13 corking tunes the album combines the raw power of 1970s US punk with the a-typical social conscience of groups such as The Jam and is an album full of pure garage rock orientated excellence.