Pop Reviews : Stress Brings Familiar Sound to Blak and Bloo

Stress--a new rock trio out of London that opened a six-night showcase at the Blak and Bloo club in Hollywood on Thursday--could easily be mistaken for Lenny Kravitz, and not just because singer Wayne Binitie bears a superficial vocal resemblance to his American equivalent. The barely funky, barely psychedelicized pop, the Soul Grit Lite crooning and, most of all, the hippie-dippy platitudes are all here.

“I don’t want to go to war / There ain’t that much worth fighting for,” sings Binitie in the band’s British hit “Beautiful People,” though the World Party-style “beautiful world” chorus belies the fact that, theoretically, he does believe there’s something worth fighting for. Badly thought out peacenik-isms aside, the lack of fight in the group is the problem: Hypertension is hardly what comes to mind hearing this misnamed band’s likable but relaxed grooves.

Thursday’s show, in which two extra players made the trio a quintet, was not an ideal situation to judge the outfit: A blown fuse caused an interruption nearly as long as the set itself. By the time it was fixed, the group had to rush through two last numbers before overeager club bouncers started hurrying patrons out.