Alice Despard Group, Alice Despard Group

It’s hard to pick on a group that has the good taste to cover East River Pipe (“Times Square Go-Go Boy”). It’s equally hard, however, to get very excited about that group when they pick that as the lead-off track, and it’s the best track on the CD. Not that the other material is bad — vaguely country-inflected but with a pretty solid indie pop bent, and Alice has got a good set of pipes — but if you don’t own East River Pipe’s Shining Hours in a Can, I can’t see why I’d recommend this to you instead. I’ll keep an eye on them, though, and I’d show up for them if they were opening for a band I liked instead of staying at home and drinking a beer there. How’s that for a muted recommendation?