As long as there are colleges in America, there will be inoffensive folk rock. And as long as there has to be inoffensive folk rock, Common Rotation certainly isn't the worst band out there to soundtrack your next triple-kegger. A reasonable facsimile of late-period Barenaked Ladies ("Sit Down" is basically "One Week, Pt. 2"), The Big Fear has a built-in marketing gimmick: singer/guitarist Adam Busch played Warren on TV's beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Don't expect any of that show's remarkable wit or social commentary here, though. The decent (though occasionally ponderous and faux-intellectual) lyrics sketch out typical tales of suburban love over tasteful acoustic guitars and the occasional jazzy percussion fill. To the band's credit, they lay low on the histrionics, but this is still essentially music for the discriminating soccer mom. It's not bad for what it is, though their limp cover of They Might Be Giants' immortal "Don't Let's Start" is, quite simply, a crime against music.

-- Ben Hughes