Grant McClennan-- In Your Bright Ray

(Beggars Banquet 192)

Sometimes it's not so bad when an artist's album sounds just like you'd expect it to. While Grant McClennan's ex-bandmate in the Go Betweens, Robert Forster, recently released an LP that was half-filled with what sounded like beer commercial music, "G.W." is still unveiling the same smart, controlled-emotion pop that made the Australian-based Go-Betweens the indie legends they are. "Sea Breeze" and "Who Said Love Was Dead" are two perfectly-paced mid-tempo tunes, "Comet Scar" may be the prettiest song heard all year, and "The Parade of Shadows" closes a mostly-optimistic set of songs on a brooding note, which leads the mind to wander.

The only time that McClennan messes up here is on the album's two unconvincing and unworthy "rockers." When the introspective singer-songwriter tries to rock out, he gets songs that only Eddie Money would cover. That's not a compliment.

---Brian Greene