May 3–10, 2001

music picks|rock/pop

Boy Hits Car

Melody calls, and Boy Hits Car answers. The LA-based nü-metal quartet play with a rabid vivacity on their self titled Wind-Up Records debut, but don’t sacrifice euphony for energy. Guitars are clean as often as distorted, plucking out enchanting arpeggios and patterns, and vocalist CRegg leans towards soft intonations, often building up to a rickety vibrato, but never outright screaming. At times, Boy Hits Car sounds like the recent Deftones opus White Pony, but lo-fi production gives the album its own identity, adding some jagged edges to the flow.

—John Vettese

Wed., May 8, 8 p.m., with Finger Eleven and Drowning Pool at the TLA, 334 South St, 215-922-1011, www.electricfactory.com.