Anything But Joey

Now that Ultimate Fakebook will soon join the ranks of local bands that have bitten the dust, fans of uppity rock will have to look elsewhere for angsty yet somehow fun sonic droppings. Though Anything But Joey has been shilling its three-chord valentines since 1996, the KC quartet has yet to earn the respect of local hipster elitists. Its new EP probably won't change that, which is too bad given that no local band has been more influenced by Fakebook's propulsive approach to pop-music trickery. "Sunburn" packs everything ABJ does best -- catchy hooks, twin harmonies and a monster guitar riff -- into three minutes of sheer bliss. The infectious "That Girl" is more of the same, crackling with energy and good fun. The lone misfire is "Better Than You," a bitter ode to the band's numerous haters. The song relies on grade school insults (You can bite it) that go nowhere. "Better" underscores the main problem with this four-song excursion, which is that primary songwriter Drew Scofield's lyrics lack the typically sharp blend of wit and insight that makes other ABJ songs more compelling than they should be. This point is underscored when digging into the half-dozen bonus MP3s that come with this package. Rough versions of three standouts from the band's Come Out Fighting full-length ("Girl Roommate," "One," and "Girls Like U") are pun-packed pop tarts that fully satisfy, even in stripped-down form. The new material is solid, but only the extras make Not Cool necessary.