The Takeover UK

The two little letters tacked onto the name of Pittsburgh's hottest rock & roll export, the Takeover UK, can confuse and also ruffle a lot of feathers. But it's a moot point once one delves into the smartly constructed pop songs on the band's new album, Running with the Wasters. The group's Top of the Pops-style numbers are clearly indebted to the head-bobbing pop of early-era Beatles — and in fact, driving tunes with sing-along hooks such as "Don't Wait Up" and "Kill Me Dead" are the band's forte. Other tunes take cues from late-'70s glam, mod and punk, or classic twang. "Evelyn" is a downtempo number with galloping outlaw-country rhythms which recalls the Highwaymen with a bubblegum melody — and draws from the emotional suckerpunch of an Elvis Costello ballad or the staunch melodrama of Roy Orbison's delicate side.