This band's melodic hooks caught the ear of someone at MTV, cuz three of their tunes are accompanying various episodes of the 10th anniversary season of Real World: Back to New York. AA's Barry Blair produced 5 of the 7 songs on the Five Smooth Stones EP, which favor the pop side of modern rock. There's enough left-of-center vibe to the songs to sound like punk rock to the untrained ear, and glossy enough to the gutter punk to keep surfing the radio dial, but the middle ground is wide enough to please a whole lot of people. In my opinion, they've got lots of room to grow, but they're on the right path. (www.slingshot57.com)
