Album Review

** The Flys, “Holiday Man,” Trauma. Musical hybrids often mask a dearth of original ideas. There’s nothing new here, but this quintet has such a good time mixing and matching influences that it’s hard to resist the festive vibe. Cream rubs elbows with Earth, Wind & Fire, the Kinks jostle Bush and Sly Stone gets down with U2. The point, if there is one, is vague, but the music is fun while it lasts. The band plays the Whisky on Oct. 21.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.