B2K

04/23/2002 7:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy

It's getting harder and harder to handicap a new boy band's chances of success, if only because such groups now multiply and disappear in life cycles that approximate fruit flies. So what to make of teen R&B quartet BTK--who has the looks, the moves, and at least a few songs that suggests it could be around for the long haul?

Listening to the sense of maturity and restraint evident on ballads like disc-opener "Gots Ta Be" and "Baby Girl" is encouraging, and anyone who dislikes the sunny soul of "Understanding" and "Why I Love You" would probably rather be bashing baby seals. But Lil Fizz, Omarion, Raz-B, and J-Boog falter when weighed down with *NSYNC-style prefab grooves; "Your Girl Chose Me," with its percolating bassline, is the only club cut that succeeds here. And by the time you get to the generic hip-hop bounce of the final track, "Here We Go Again," you can only hope the title doesn't sum things up.