Somewhere, Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow are listening to the radio right now and surely feeling vindicated. Thanks to a growing number of sensitive young frontmen – Eddie Vedder, Darius Rucker, Live's Ed Kowalczyk, the Gin Blossoms' Robin Wilson – the unrestrained hyperemotive vocal style Diamond and Manilow brought to easy-listening pop is back with a vengeance, this time in the relatively macho guitar-rock arena. Singer and guitarist Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra also wants you to feel his pain, to hear his heart bleeding in every trembling, held-out syllable. Even the title of Ezra's new album, Friction, Baby, has an air of cloying bombast about it – it sounds like a Vegas punk revue.

That isn't to say that Friction, Baby isn't worth checking out. Like Live, Better Than Ezra are essentially a hard-pop band. Griffin's guitar riffs may crash more often than they jangle, but the sweet, clean hooks he writes owe more to the Beatles and the Byrds (via R.E.M., in all likelihood) than to indie rock. That melodic buoyancy makes Griffin's penchant for melodrama palatable and makes his best songs irresistibly endearing. "Rewind" is a well-crafted, smartly executed guilty pleasure, with a shiny melody and an exhilarating arrangement. The darker "Hung the Moon" veers from lithe, dissonant verses to glorious, schmaltzy choruses.

On the quieter numbers and ballads, Griffin's overwrought vocal delivery is more irksome. "Speeding Up to Slow Down" is rich in moody ambivalence and would probably be quite affecting if interpreted by a more wry, thoughtful singer. But with Griffin gushing forth ... well, there ain't much friction, baby. Then again, I'll bet he could do a mean cover of "Sweet Caroline." (RS 743)

ELYSA GARDNER