CKY, Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild

There are certainly some very worthy tracks on this hybrid punk/post-grunge outing, and its professional production avoids being overpolished, but where they succeed in technique they don't really measure up in style or variety. "Flesh into Gear" and to a lesser extent "Escape from Hellview" are hard-hitting and (especially the shifty beat of "Flesh") musically sophisticated, and there's a great post-headbanger's vibe to "Sporadic Movement;" likewise, the album's solitary ballad "Close Yet Far," itself no shrinking violet, manages a level of mature soulfulness through its well-layered harmonies. But the rest of the album suffers a drudgerous samey-sounding feel, not improved by the generic grunge lyrics, and the more pop-ish "Frenetic Amnesic" and "Plastic Plan" almost have an unwelcome boy band influence that surely won't sit well with many fans. Its best moments dodge becoming another alternative album cliché, but unfortunately not by much. (Content: some violent imagery.)

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