REVIEW: Filter, Short Bus (Reprise)

- Al Crawford

Filter are going to be *the* big thing on the alternative scene this summer. Major label backing'll see to that. Do they deserve it? Alas, no. Short Bus is unoriginal, uninspired and unimpressive, the bastard child of Nine Inch Nails and grunge. Filter come across as a reheated, TV dinner version of NIN, slick packaging and similar style, but the substance is flat, bland and one dimensional. Reznor food product. Speak the verse, shout the chorus, NIN by numbers. True, they've ditched the ludicrously overblown angst of the typical Trent Reznor lyric, but they've also thrown away the good bits. No texture, no depth, loud but sonically insipid.

Nonetheless, heaps'o'promotion and the band's trendier than thou sound still guarantee that they'll shift units by the gazillion. They'll be hailed as the Next Big Thing, large numbers of highly individualistic alternative teenagers will suddenly sport identical Filter t-shirts, then they'll vanish into oblivion in the wake of the Next Next Big Thing. Sit back and watch, it'll be a lot more entertaining than listening to the album.