Wicked? Nah. Polite middle-of-the-road collegiate pop, really. Wounded? Most certainly. Lead singer David Catone has quite a bit on his mind here; he’s given to wonderfully enigmatic statements on this CD like “On the plain I gave you hate for the color of your skin” and “I hear the people in the clock telling secrets to each other.”

If only the music surrounding it were half as intriguing. This is just under an hour of tight but insignificant adult alternative oatmeal you’ve heard before by the Dave Matthewses and late-period Goo Goo Dolls of our time, without any of the quirkiness that keeps Matthews afloat or the… well, nothing saves the Dolls, really. But they did get there earlier.

The small things stand out here, like the liquid ambiance of “Purge” and the excellent lyrics of “Hide,” which take a bold anti-religious stance rare in this corner of the musical world. But the generic sound undercuts the band’s best ideas at every turn: the closing “Tear It Down” begins with a luminescent gentleness reminiscent of Bread’s “Make It With You” but fails to build on it whatsoever in over seven minutes. If their musical wickedness ever matches their lyrical woundedness, however, sparks may still yet fly.