Not unlike their fellow Midwestern rockers, Big Star, the Revelers have an enormous sweet tooth for Brit-pop. However, unlike those cult hero progenitors, it's highly improbable that record company execs and artists alike will be mining Revelers' outtakes for sustenance in twenty years. That comparison having been made, these Cleveland natives acquit themselves quite nicely on their second Spinart release, Day In, Day Out. Vacillating between their anglophile tendencies and Rust Belt roots, the Revelers deliver an amicable, albeit uneven, collection of tuneful pop rock ditties.

Seemingly following the album title's instructions, the band's light, too, fades in and out. While they fall only a half step short of a veritable classic with the white boy funk of "Good Things," they nearly negate the feat following with "All Day The Sun," which recalls Dexy's Midnight Runners more than Alex Chilton. No, I'm not kidding. That's precisely the problem with Day In, Day Out. When the Revelers indulge their fetish with the British Isles, they play derivative and stale. "There's a Way," for example, throws a wet towel over Billy Bragg and "Left the Light On" treats the Housemartins similarly.

While these failings are ultimately harmless-– the Revelers rarely render themselves unlistenable-– they certainly disappoint expectations raised by the clean rocker "Time and Place" and the obligatory nod to the Replacements, "Last Mistake." Yeah, Day In, Day Out is an above average effort, but one senses that if the Revelers could keep their hearts at home, they could go so much further.

-Neil Lieberman