It's somewhat surprising that this band didn't get the same kind of attention as
Counting Crows or
Matchbox Twenty. With
Xenophile, they prove themselves to be gifted songwriters with a fine sense of melody and a very accessible all-American rock sound. Lead singer Larry Orleck sounds much like Adam Duritz, lead singer of
the Crows, or even like
Pat Monahan during his
Drops of Jupiter days. This is particularly interesting because
Xenophile was released two years before
Train's AA effort stormed the charts. Not surprisingly, Seven Acres' music received the most attention from college students and alt-rock fans. The most popular (and coincidentally most radio-friendly) song is probably "Interstellar Radio," but "Rte. 69" is rather arresting thanks to its raw emotion and great chorus. "Generically Uncool" comes as a bit of a surprise -- it starts off in
blink-182 territory before unwinding into a generic guitar rock tangle. By contrast, "Trip Daisy Trip" is a lilting, sentimental alt-rock ballad that could appeal to just about any age group. ~ L. Katz