"I think people love to put labels on stuff," says Tonic frontman Emerson Hart, "because it's the only way we can identify the world we live in today." If Hart sounds a little testy, it's only because Tonic, like any new band, is finding itself dogged by the inevitable musical comparisons. Lemon Parade, the Los Angeles band's 12-song Polydor debut, is already reminding folks of such disparate acts as Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Bad Company, and the BoDeans; if Hart can't exactly understand the comparisons, he's at least flattered by them. "All those are great bands, you know? I guess I can hear a little Bad Company, a little Bodeans...I love music, period, no matter what band is playing it."

			"At Last"
			"Open Up Your Eyes"
			"Lemon Parade"

Formed in 1993 by Hart and fellow East Coast refugee Jeff Russo, Tonic specializes in propulsive riff-rockers ("Casual Affair," "Wicked Soldier") and nakedly emotional ballads ("Lemon Parade," "My Old Man"), with the occasional chiming pop song ("Open Up Your Eyes") thrown in. Produced by Jack Joseph Puig (Jellyfish, Belly), Lemon Parade is a dark, atmospheric affair, charged by the rumbling rhythm section of drummer Kevin Shepard and bassist Dan Rothchild and Russo's multi-textured guitar leads; Hart's plaintive vocals and acoustic strumming add a pervasive sense of melancholy to the proceedings. "My mother raised me with old traditional Irish music," recalls Hart, "old songs that were written about the Romans coming and taking everything they had. That stuff's not bullshit; it's real. If it's a great song, it doesn't matter what era it came from."