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*** Marvelous 3

READYSEXGO

(Elektra)

If a picture says a thousand words, then the photos of blow-up sex dolls that decorate ReadySexGo's CD sleeve are a blunt and immediate reminder that Marvelous 3, a Poison-inspired pop-punk trio of LA transplants from Atlanta, are ready to line up with Blink 182 and Eve 6 to fight for the right of men to be boys. Bearing a silly title that might pass for wit on Sunset Strip, the band's third album finds them adding low-end guitar muscle for a heavier sound without losing the catchy pop hooks that got them on radio in the first place. Vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Butch Walker's finely tuned croon turns Freddie Mercury melodramatic on "Radio Tokyo," a song that would sound more like Queen if it had Brian May's trademark guitar sound. (The disc's actual guest artists line up on an unlisted final track; they include members of Lit, Buckcherry, and, yes, Brad Pitt on backing vocals.) It would be easy -- perhaps too easy -- to knock Marvelous 3 as just another glammed-up bunch of LA rockers living out the sex-and-drugs-and-rock-and-roll cliché. But there's no denying that this is one trio who deliver exactly what they set out to: big, fat, good-time guitar rock.

-- Linda Laban