Javelin Boot: Fundamentally Sound

If Austin's impossibly venerable Javelin Boot were a popular band, hating it would be easily justifiable, if not mandatory: The three men play morose but oddly chirpy pop, without a hint of testosterone. But the group's obscurity helps launch its gentle, tension-free melodies into your heart, and it lends Javelin Boot a well-deserved reputation as a bunch of hard-working underdog good-guys who write lilting, ultra-pleasant (if whiny) pop songs. Fundamentally Sound is the newest installment in the 15-year-old band's career, and though it doesn't take any stylistic leaps forward (big surprise), it does a fine job resting on the band's likable laurels. The melodies don't jump out and dazzle you quite the way they do on the wonderful but underheard For Those About To Pop, but they're pretty damned easy to endure. A good, appropriately titled record from a consistently winning band.