Once you get past the awkward irony of such a sweetly melodic rock band naming themselves after Juliette Lewis’s murderous turn in Natural Born Killers, Mallory Knox are a difficult bunch to dislike. Asymmetry exhibits a degree of polish and refinement that was largely absent on Signals, their debut from last year, but the Cambridge quartet’s knack for imbuing their fairly perfunctory alternative-rock bluster with a sense of tender honesty ensures that these songs sidestep the enervating wetness that so often mars music of such an unashamedly radio-friendly nature. The finest and most affecting moments here come when the band veer away from the obvious: the punchy Dying to Survive and the rambling She Took Him to The Lake point to a subtle inventiveness that the band would do well to explore further. There is something uncomfortably familiar about many of the chord progressions that frame frontman Mikey Chapman’s gently overwrought delivery, but there are more than enough moments of twinkly-eyed sincerity to ensure that the band’s rapidly expanding fan base will be uplifted and enchanted throughout.
