In Brief

Toad’s been overtaken by Counting Crows and the Wallflowers in the earnest-young-men sweepstakes, but the Santa Barbara quartet answers more sharply than ever both in its playing and Glen Phillips’ lyrics and singing. “Amnesia,” with Richard Thompson-like folk-rock textures, and “Little Buddha,” which transcends its R.E.M. blueprint, are clever and compelling. But what a few years ago might have sounded ahead of the curve now too often seems lost in the pack.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).

Hear the Music

* Excerpts from these albums and other recent pop music releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://161.35.110.226/soundclips