The New Odds — Cheerleader

A dozen years after the Odds' last studio album, the Vancouver band are back and they've hardly missed a beat. Their brand of power pop hasn't changed much, and that's just fine for a group who ranked among Canada's finest through the first half of the '90s. The infectious pop-rocker "My Happy Place" should be a new addition to the group's list of hits, while several other tracks wouldn't sound out of place on the radio either — including "Write It In Lightning," "Out Of Mind" and "I Can't Get You Off." "Leaders Of The Undersea World" mixes reggae elements with the most straight-up rocking the band produces over these 14 tracks. "Always Breaking Heart" shows the slower and quieter side of the quartet, who now include Murray Atkinson on guitar in place of Steven Drake. If you liked the group the first time around, the odds are that you'll enjoy them again now.

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