Buffalo Tom: Smitten

Smitten opens with the single "Rachael," a generic snore-fest tailor-made for alternative radio, a song drained of emotion and devoid of both hateable and loveable qualities. Same goes for the second song, "Postcard." In fact, most Smitten's remainder fares about the same. Buffalo Tom has been around since the mid-'80s, and if there's one thing the Boston band seems to have learned in that time, it's how to construct weepy, paint-by-numbers rock anthems. Smitten has plenty of polish, plenty of accomplished musicianship, and not a lot of interesting material. The entire album runs together as one big, long, "Look at me! I'm suffering from love!" pose, the sort of thing that can sound great when you're drunk, you've just been dumped, and your friends are sick of talking about it. But watch out for the hangover and the sober realizations the next day.