** Human Radio, “Human Radio,” Columbia.: <i> Albums rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).</i>

Earning an “A” for ambition, this Memphis quintet grasps for the kind of off-center, sophisticated pop you’d find in a Todd Rundgren production of Bourgeois Tagg or the Tubes. But the strain shows at almost every seam. The tricky hooks overreach, and the satire is annoyingly feeble, leaving the impression of young bucks trying to sound far more clever and worldly wise than they really are yet.