Unstoppable

Like the Beach Boys, the Oaks have a few too many crow’s-feet to be called ”boys” anymore. But that should be the least of their worries. Always one of the tamest vocal groups in country — they came out of tame white gospel, after all — they’ve now sunk to new levels of homogenization. When the songs on their new album, Unstoppable, aren’t total bland-outs, they’re dorky novelty tunes, such as ”Baby on Board” (the romantic kind, not somebody’s infant) and ”Love This Cat,” a failed attempt at rockabilly replete with a kitten’s meow at the end. Like that polyester leisure suit in the back of your closet, the Oaks seem impossibly quaint and old-fashioned these days. Of course, they see themselves differently. In ”When It Comes to You” they sing: ”I’m a little bit wild/A little bit crazy.” In your dreams, boys, in your dreams. C