Pop Music Reviews : Think-Tank Pop

So cute they almost scream “college band,” Game Theory is the kind of group that the current state of “alternative” American rock seems to foster. The sextet’s show at the Music Machine Thursday night suggested that that scene is in trouble.

Theoretically, there’s nothing intrinsically terrible about Game Theory. The lyrics are self-consciously literate, the guitars are appropriately garage-band thrashy when need be, the vocals clear, high and earnest. The group’s recent album, “Lolita Nation” was produced by Mitch Easter, and the male-female set-up and chirpy style are reminiscent at time of Easter’s glee-pop band Let’s Active. But all theory and little real soul make a bland exercise in rock ‘n’ roll smarts, and Game Theory’s think-tank pop quickly sank under its featherweight pretensions.