Horn o' pop

Well, maybe a little. But Rhino's tape is a solid one in its own right, with two songs each by singer-guitarists Pat Rock and Scott Janovitz (whose older brothers Paul and Bill are indeed the respective frontmen of Cold Water Flat and Buffalo Tom). "Green" thunders out with a double-time drum intro, big fat guitar chords, a hummable tune, and a lyric whose surface optimism ("I've never been so shiny and new, like a nickel buying candy") is nicely undercut by the nervous-sounding vocal. The loud-pop formula gets shaken up a bit on "Yearly Presence," with a long wah-wah solo, and "Plummet," with a folk-rock quality.

I'd be lying if I said there was no Buffalo Tom influence whatsoever, but it's never overwhelming. Janovitz's voice is sweeter and poppier (and perhaps technically better) than those of his brothers; and the most Tom-like track -- "Yearly Presence," a slow-brooder in the "Sunday Night" vein -- turns out to be one of Pat Rock's tunes. But this one deserves a mention for its novel lyrical idea: recalling a childhood fear that's never been mentioned in a rock song before. ("There's a big fat man with a red suit on/And he's coming after me . . . Santa's got it in for me!") I look forward to hearing college DJs with twisted senses of humor digging this one up in December.

Has the family connection been a help or a hindrance? "Definitely a help," says Janovitz, who's now a junior at Providence College. "The only way it could be a problem is if people asked us to do Buffalo Tom covers, but nobody has so far. We're definitely influenced by them. They were the first live band I ever saw. Before them I was listening to Howard Jones and Huey Lewis. They're still one of my favorite bands, and it's helped us shopping the demo around Boston. People certainly recognize the name."

The brotherly influence, he adds, is "less musical than a matter of giving us advice. They've told us things like `Keep your day jobs and put out singles.' And they've demonstrated that someone like me, a kid from the suburbs, can wind up doing it for a living. I don't know how we all got started playing guitars, but Bill was the pioneer of the unholy trinity, as it were. He told me once that he originally wrote songs just so he could be in a band, but now he's in a band so he can write songs. It's completely switched places for him. For me, it's probably somewhere in the middle."

Based in Providence, Rhino existed for a couple of years before Janovitz joined; Rock is the only remaining charter member. "The sound was more scattered originally. They'd do a pop song, then a jam, then something else. When I joined I had only two songs written; we had a gig the following week and by then I came up with nine more."

Janovitz also breaks the news that his 14-year-old brother has bought a guitar and is starting a band. Can the brothers imagine joining forces, Neville or Vaughan Brothers-style, and hitting the road together in another decade? "Oh sure. We'll go out there and play all those old-guy shows."

RUNNERS-UP:

Christy Riordan's tape -- an album-length called "The Blues" -- is the first demo I've received with a cover letter from the artist's mom. Riordan's 18 and has recently graduated from Boston Conservatory; she stares out from the tape cover with a soulful, pained expression. I was expecting sensitive singer-songwriting at worst, a Bonnie Raitt sound-alike at best. Turns out that Riordan's a singer/pianist of considerable promise who's done careful studies of the influences that she lists on the sleeve -- notably Nina Simone and the New Orleans pianist James Booker. The original material is largely homages to classic blues, but I hear the beginnings of an original approach, impressive piano chops, and a strong set of pipes . . . even if she's still trying a little too hard to sound as if she were black and from Mississippi.

Hallucinating Arkansas may be the worst band name of the month, but their tape leads the runners-up in pure hummability. You might call them a product of anti-lo-fi backlash. They apparently believe that if you've written a good song, you should polish it for all it's worth. Not that their sound is cluttered or their production too fat. In fact there are only two full-time bandmembers, bassist Dave McGlynn and singer/guitarist Rick Lescault. But each track sounds carefully constructed and lovingly produced. You can hear modest flourishes like a Leslie guitar on "Black & White" and tape phasing at the end of "Astro." The latter song typifies their approach: not saving the hook for the chorus, they pack the song full of verse and bridge hooks while Lescault emotes in a pure-yet-controlled voice about the vagaries of his relationship. This tape's cheap thrills are its own reward.

The Time Beings' tape is dumb, three-chord simple, and blatantly, shamelessly retro -- and those are just some of its good qualities. Seems that the garage thing is still going strong in Worcester, where these guys have been plying their trade for a couple of centuries. And they sound damn good for a band whose grasp of rock history apparently begins with the Sonics and ends with the Real Kids. Any outfit could cover "Louie Louie," but these guys go a step further and cover "Louie Go Home," the sequel by the late, great Paul Revere & the Raiders. Otherwise, you'd be hard-pressed to pick the four covers out from the two originals, unless you realize that "Got a Feeling" was first done by the Mamas & the Papas (now there's an unlikely punk role model) or that they've managed to find a coverable Golden Earring song that isn't "Radar Love." The name of their management company, Cantone's Pizza, should being a smile to the faces of aging local scenesters.