With no obvious trace of irony, this Nashville band describe themselves as "Todd Rundgren meets Kiss, with a hint of Duran Duran".
This hardly places them at the cutting edge of contemporary music and, as you'd imagine, means that 1980s commercial pop and soft rock are the prevailing reference points.
On top of that, their sophomore release is a concept album of sorts, imagining the journeys of the good ship Contra Mundum (against the world) a vessel which is "determined to stay on course in a world devoid of a North Star".
Songwriter and lead singer Dee Allen is joined by guitarist Brian Smith bassist Ben Harper and a bunch of Music City's session musicians.
Together they ensure that the playing on this bland set of tunes is as slick as it is soulless.
Tall Dark Stranger's website
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