TCB

Candy-O

Entirely recorded and mixed by The Action Is drummer Jake Perlman at his Affordable Sound studio, the 12-song post-Valentine's Day sampler Ear Candy paints as vivid a modern-rock tableau as 36 comparable minutes of 101X. If its roster were an airplay chart, No. 1 with a bullet would be Cruiserweight's lead-footed "Dearest Drew," which works an odd bowling simile into a hook catchier than most venereal diseases. Meanwhile, swaggering, metal-mad Room 710 progeny Excess Lettuce, Hobble, and the Spiders battle angstier Trail of Dead devotees The End Until Now, Auna, and Kelvin to a virtual standstill. National Pastime deliver a motivational, borderline didactic message with Everclear-esque power chords on "What You Can Never Have," until Kissinger crashes the assembly via dirt bikes and do doughnuts on "Alison." For "The Furthest Distance Between Here and There," studied elders The Action Is pile in the van and turn the X up to XI. Crossover-wise, Failsafe's "Burning Bridges Could Be Fun" might have the most legs, for recalling pre-"Name" Goo Goo Dolls (aka when they still rocked). In the end, the most remarkable facet of Ear Candy is that 12 such adept, talented, and diverse groups inhabit the magical 512 area code in the first place. Talk about bringing it all back home. (CD release is 8:30pm Saturday at the Ritz with Cruiserweight, The Action Is, Hobble, Excess Lettuce, Auna, The End Until Now, National Pastime, Failsafe, and the Murdocks.)