In 2001, Nashville gave birth to Strange Celebrity, fathered by singer/songwriter Luke Brown. Two years and a full quartet later, Brown and company are poised to release their debut project Remedy from Squint Entertainment. With a solid pop/rock sound, Strange Celebrity has an accessible sound that is bound to be widely embraced with welcoming arms. SC's charm comes from Brown and Quintin Gibson's prominent guitar riffs and Brown's trained vocals.

Remedy opens with the tasty guitar riffs of "Free" is an appropriate introduction for the Strange guys. "If I" follows up well before offering a radio friendly pop tune in "Back To Life," a song about committment in relationships. "I Can't Breathe" is another rocker confronting the topic of relationships, this time touching on the subject of being overly consumed by a person you're in love with. "Someday" is a rock ballad driven by a pulsing bass and catchy rhythm that has Brown changing up the vocal style a bit for this message of hope and peace. "Ruin" musically follows in the footsteps of Remedy's opener while offering vocals almost reminiscent of that of Steven Curtis Chapman. "Ruin" lyrically explores our role of being someone's only hope while "Dangerous" is a ballad dealing with the subject of being in a relationship we have no business being in.

"Control" offers a slight Eager rock sound as Brown cries out for a deeper spiritual relationship. "Rise" is another blazing rock track that acknowledges our need for God's mercy and His redemption while "Paralyzed" recalls those moments when we feel overwhelmed by numerous decisions we need to make. Remedy closes with the delicate acoustic sounds of "Perfect World" lyrically expressing our need desire to keep a loved one of ours from experiencing pain. It's actually in the more melodic pop ballads that vocalist Luke Brown shines his brightest. "Perfect World" is a perfect ending to a good beginning.

Remedy only seems to fall short of perfection when Brown's vocals experience moments of simplicity, leaving powerful rock tracks feeling schizophrenic as they balance on the fence between a rock and pop sound. While this might sound like a detrimental problem but all in all Strange Celebrity excels in their pop/rock genre and create a rather memorable debut that will serve as a nice remedy for anyone ill from the monotony in a lot of today's rock music trends.

- Review date: 6/8/03, written by John DiBiase