Starts Strong, Fades Fast

Austin, Texas quartet Wiretree play a brand of guitar-centric indie rock that vacillates between compelling and overly familiar. Album opener “Make Up” falls into the first category, as twin guitars stutter and fuzz their way through a mid-tempo crunch that provides a bed for vocalist Kevin Peroni. At their best, the band keeps this satisfyingly urgent vibe going, as on “Tinyhearts” and the fist-in-the-air stomper, “The Shore.”

The second half of the record lags, though, as ennui creeps in. “Dakota” and “Reprise” both suffer from too much sensitive-guy vocalizing, while album closer “Josephine” sounds like one of those dull Oasis songs sung by Noel Gallagher. Wiretree have a lot going for them, not least of which is the ability to craft a memorable rock song with a decent pop melody. Now they just need enough of them to fill a whole record.