POP MUSIC REVIEW : Judybats Take Off With Soft, Sad, Appealing Think-Rock

The Judybats create gentle, moody music that mixes up a bit of country twang, some Memphis soul and a good dose of danceable melancholia. The Knoxville, Tenn., quintet’s soft-edged think-rock has become a staple of college radio, and at the Troubadour on Wednesday a small group of fans watched as the low-key outfit grooved its way through a set of mostly new material.

Singer Jeff Heiskell is a charismatic frontman, although the way he teases out his lines can occasionally approach “Star Search” overkill. He and the group were most impressive when they settled into the dynamic, mid-tempo lilt of such songs as “Happy” and “Wounded Bird.”

Songs with a harder, funkier edge were less engaging, though the band did cut loose effectively on the pro-homeliness two-step “Ugly on the Outside.” Heiskell was at his sardonic best taking a few digs at Morrissey, MTV and stylish depression in “The Cachet of Misery.”

Devoid of flash, the Judybats seem to take some pride in being uncool. Their squareness of purpose doesn’t always lead to great music, but it can be appealing--a somewhat shaky encore of the Bee Gees’ “Jive Talkin’ ” wasn’t as gloriously dumb as the original but was unhip enough to be quite entertaining.