Vices I Admire

Remember when the term “modern rock” was popularized? Although nowadays it can be applied to just about anybody from Innerpartysystem to 30 Seconds to Mars, during the ’90s it described an emerging niche format dedicated to outfits that were too heavy to be considered pop and too poppy to be considered metal — bands like Vices I Admire. Five years after releasing its debut, Plan B, Vices returns with a brand-new album and bassist Dan Battenhouse, formerly of the Fray. While Battenhouse’s bass work was a bit too busy for that group, it ideally suits the sturdy, more sophisticated, guitar-driven sound that Vices has noticeably honed, resulting in nine tracks of tightly arranged rock that fans of groups like Collective Soul and Queens of the Stone Age would completely admire.