The Madding Crowd

The Long Island-based Nine Days' major-label debut will most likely be remembered for the track "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)." Prominently showcased on TV's Dawson's Creek, the song's mindless but infectious hook was almost guaranteed to hit its mark in yearning young adults. Even without the visual aid, Nine Days' sound works best when they're going for universal emotion instead of quirky wordplay and, though definitely not original, the songs on The Madding Crowd are well-produced and competently executed. While the band claims Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan among their influences (hence the track "Bob Dylan"), they're not far from Third Eye Blind ("Absolutely") or even Bon Jovi ("Sometimes") thanks to vocalist/guitarist John Hampson's raspy voice. The group's mixture of folk, rock, and essential emotional bombast comes naturally to them, even if it seems like the band could be doing so much more. --Jason Josephes