Idol worship

The past seven years have been a frustrating journey for the Tender Idols’ Ian Webber. First, his band lost its cachet as Atlanta’s answer to Brit-pop when that genre went bust. Then, just as its sound thickened up enough to garner local airplay, the new rock radio format began to embrace nü metal — leaving the Idols’ still-smooth melodies behind. Finally, sometime Idols bassist Danny Grady left the band to front Injected, winning a major-label deal in the process.

Seeing a former bandmate jet off on an MTV-sponsored tour is enough to make any singer think twice about the music biz. Amazingly, Webber’s solo debut, BlanketCoveredMorning, doesn’t sound like the work of a jaded musician.?

Although the disc features Tender Idols’ Danny Howes (guitar) and Guy Strauss (drums), Webber’s songs are surprisingly more pastoral and whimsical than those of his band’s past. A refreshing pastiche of occasionally brooding piano-and-guitar bits, Morning wasn’t ready-made for 99X — thank God, “Less than a Footstep Away” is a moody two-step led by a muted trumpet riff, while “The Man Who Cried” is a beefy ballad a la Travis’ “Driftwood.” Meanwhile, the pop hooks of “Further Down the Avenue” capitalize on Webber’s keen melodic sensibilities and well-developed falsetto.?

After all these years, it’s nice to hear Webber — a born troubadour — finally comfortable in his own skin. He and the other Idols have been masquerading as serious rockers for too long. ?

Ian Webber plays Smith’s Olde Bar Fri., July 5.