House We Built

Personnel: Roger Fritz (guitar, mandolin, drums); Bill Bottrell (guitar, keyboards).
With their first album, Alisha's Attic could be reasonably be called a more serious Shampoo. On their second, The House We Built, they could be reasonably called a lighter Natalie Imbruglia. They have the same melodic instincts as Imbruglia, the same classy adult-alternative production, but since they're a coquettish duo, they're more playful and they still have a little bit of Shampoo left in them -- a little mischievousness that serves them well. But that streak is tempered with ambition, and The House We Built plays like a serious album -- a refined production about big things, from sex to peace, with enough hooks and class to make it a contender for a positive review in Q. This, of course, isn't a bad thing, and this is a good-sounding, solid record that grows stronger with each year. But it's just a bit too self-consciously mature and crafted, a bit too tied to its time, to make much sense in any year outside of the year of its release. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine