Menomena Hits Radio-Ready Groove, Accessible to the Masses

At the risk of over-generalizing an entire movement and genre, much of the problem with “alternative” or “indie” music is that so much of it feels detached, with a concerted effort not to sound like anything on the radio. Perhaps in an attempt to avoid the saccharine, trite tendencies of pop radio, many of the bands without major-label contracts go out of their way to avoid the easy trappings that characterize these songs. For some, this proved to be an effective strategy. For others, the irony-drench approach to songwriting made them inaccessible and, quite frankly, boring. There will never be…