The Nancy Drews

Local feel-good mavens the Nancy Drews are going to rot their teeth on so much sugary pop music. The appropriately titled Fridge Full of Food, self-released on their own label, is like gorging on the stale leftovers of such late-'90s power-pop confections as Superdrag and Nada Surf. But the Nancy Drews -- not for a lack of trying -- fall short in the potential to even be one-hit wonders, as their predecessors lamentably ended up. Fridge is stocked with reheated sentiment and lackluster easy-as-pie guitar melodies. Most of the songs follow a quick three-minute-pop-tune recipe that tastes like it sounds: cheap and flavorless. The Drews do spice it up a bit on "The Spanish Song," which, as the title alludes, is sung partly en español. This is probably the most experimental and interesting track, simply because the Old World Spanish-tinged guitar work is a fresh take on crappy American rock. Still, one song does not a band make: Just ask the Refreshments. --