Constantines stumble with 'Kensington Heights'

The Constantines' new record, "Kensington Heights" (Arts & Crafts) is good. In fact, remarkably solid songwriting and gusto-riddled performances make "Kensington Heights" an extremely respectable album. But it just has no surprises - and while not all music should be surprising, and while sometimes being derivative works impossibly well, there's just something crucial missing on these 12 songs.

From the opening salvo of "Hard Feelings" and "Million Star Hotel," the album somehow kicks in with adrenalized rock riffs and rough-edged vocals and manages to keep from being exciting. The latter, especially, comes across like one of the Black Crowes' less-inspired moments as performed by a group of Seattleites in the early' '90s. The lyric "Where's my black water/ Where's my loving cup?" may be in the running for lyrical pop culture reference of the year, but it's packaged in an otherwise unremarkable tune.

And the frustrating part is, all the ingredients are here - guitarists who mix classic rock with contemporary post-punk, a bassist with a sense of the melodic, a singer who knows when to sing pretty and when to sound harsh. The album should be, at the very least, engaging at first listen. "Trans Canada" is the best verse Pavement never wrote, segueing into an outro that makes Bloc Party sound tiny. "I Will Not Sing A Hateful Song" once again calls to mind the Black Crowes, but this time experimenting in a way that works. And so, while there are truly incredible moments, and while it seems like the Constantines would be a phenomenal live band, the album as a whole just falls flat, for no apparent reason.

Unfortunately, in an era where good, straightforward guitar-rock bands are few and far between, the Constantines just don't follow through. Hopefully they find whatever they were missing on the next go-round, but at this point, there's really not much to draw listeners to "Kensington Heights."