Battle Cry for Help

Grand Champeen continues to proffer solid corn-fed indie rock on disc number two, the wonderfully christened Battle Cry for Help, coming off like the Replacements if they, instead of aping the Stones, wanted to be cowboys. "One Foot on the Stage," a smoky alt-country hopper, smashes head-on into the early-period Soul Asylum-styled thrasher "Nothin' on Me" consecutively, nicely encapsulating the two extremes of the band. Occasionally the album tries to get too cute for its own good and ambles on a bit, but you can't fault the energy or individualistic flair of the Austin (by way of Chapel Hill and Colorado) four-piece.