Red Wanting Blue: From the Vanishing Point

Cut from the same cloth as Counting Crows, Hootie & the Blowfish and others of that ilk, this Columbus, Ohio-based outfit suffers from an everyman-ness that might be charming on the bar circuit but proves less so on record. Despite some well-written material and competent performances, Red Wanting Blue ultimately sounds bland — the kind of group that’s perfect for an independent film soundtrack: familiarly inoffensive, offensively unmemorable. Leader Scott Terry does a credible Eddie Vedder-meets-Darius Rucker during “White Snow” and even crafts what could be a minor AAA radio staple, “Cocaine”. “Walking Shoes” could be a Barenaked Ladies castoff albeit with lyrics that fall on the wrong side of the thin line between stupid and clever. More like beige wanting rufous.