I read a review of Neil Finn's latest album on NME's website. It described this former Crowded House leader's work as "shite" or some other of those British term that makes those tooth freaks of the United Kingdom so indecipherable. I'm pretty sure from the context that the reviewer hates Neil Finn, and always has. Perhaps they had really good music in England in the mid-'80s, because I thought Crowded House was a breath of fresh air at the time. Whenever I was trapped listening to someone's Top 40 station, there were few such happy oases as "Don't Dream It's Over." Crowded House's biggest sin was their continuous drift further into the mellow, leaving some of the snap of their melodies and smart harmonies. So maybe the new Neil Finn record is "shite," maybe it's not, but don't write off the guy's whole career.

Chamber Strings sounds a lot like later Crowded House. Don't know Crowded House from Bananarama? Well, then, sorry about that first paragraph. Chamber Strings, of course, aren't as good as Crowded House was. Frontman Kevin Junior, whom some may remember from the Rosehips or Mystery Girls, has a nice, likeable face, dresses sharply, and can write competently good, if not compellingly great songs. There are a lot of strings (presumably played in some sort of chamber) that have the effect of a hackneyed production device joining a band. Sort of an Acoustic Light Orchestra.

The most hummable tune is "Make It Through September," which sports a bouncy piano, a good tune, and some chronologically and thematically scattered lyrics about summer and love. I'm pretty sure that, in one verse, Junior describes December as "The end of summer/ Autumn time." Maybe he's saying September, and I'm just going deaf. Or maybe, like a good rock star, he's just confused. It's a fine song, anyway.

Unfortunately, too many of these ballads just drift in the reverb, and sometimes the songwriting seems lazy. Too often Junior falls back on languid "doot de doots" on a song that hasn't fully explained itself. An irritating device used a few times is the Beatle-trademarked fadeback (though, technically, the Beach Boys did it first on "Caroline No"). It's always some dreamy continuation of the song that just played, and always unnecessary.

Month of Sundays isn't a bad record, and I could see how some could like the Chamber Strings. Perhaps diehard Crowded House fans or Sarah McLachlanians wanting to trade up. I can't, however, see anyone saying, "This is the greatest album in the world!" It's simply soft and nice. And soft.

-Dan Kilian