The latest from the Smithereens, "11" is a straightforward and easy-to-listen to album, with nothing too musically or lyrically weird or intense, nothing to scare you. It has a strong opening pair, "A Girl Like You" and "The Blues Before and After," but loses its force after that, creating an album that is good, but not great. The main thing that holds it back is the lack of variety. With the exception of two ballads ("Kiss Your Tears Away" and "Blue Period"), the songs are all in the same basic groove, and begin to sound very similar after a while.

Still, the album is good, and while "The Blues" is the only song on the album that really curdles my yogurt, there are no bad songs. But unless you're a real fan of the Smithereens, you'd be better off getting "A Girl Like You" or "The Blues Before and After" on 45's. n