** Reacharound

WHO'S TOMMY COOPER?

(Interscope)

Regarded for his punchy wit and dry humor, famed Brit comedian Tommy Cooper actually died while performing his act, much as Reacharound do when they try to be what they are not.

On Who's Tommy Cooper?, there are big-league hooks strong enough to hang meat from. And there's outright butchery -- particularly when guitarist Tedd Hutt slips into his Zeppelin charades. While the beat in "Nearest Bridge" repeats its industrial clang, vocalist Matt Caisley hums along nicely, taming the tempo into a state of suspended animation. "Big Chair" with its "Oi! Oi!" chorus is as addictive as they come, and so is "Shaking like a Leaf"; both mix country-pop with standard, straight-up punk. On "Hand in My Pocket," however, Hutt steals Jimmy Page's "When the Levee Breaks" slide and floods it with weak, call-and-response lyrics. "Hole in My Soul" is as dodgy as it looks, immediately conjuring bad Poison albums and video images of Tawny Kitaen flip-flopping over German automobiles. At times, Who's Tommy Cooper? rocks. But all too often there's that stretch into the unknown that begs the question "Who's Reacharound?"

-- Jonathan Vena