Rick Bonadio, who produced Sacos Plasticos, said that Titas -- who earned their title of Brazilian rock legends back in the mid-'80s -- tried to modernize their sound with this album.

But his lyrics are the only sure way of knowing they tried, because the actual music still plays like a traditional rock album: not dated, but certainly nowhere near groundbreaking or innovative.

Big chunks of Sacos Plasticos come across as a hard rock/garage rock mix combed as to not antagonize the airwaves -- straightforward bluesy riffs that are catchy enough to score a hit with the casual listener, but have a rough production indicating that the band does not really care for commercial success.

Elsewhere, Titas drift into reggae rock, which makes a lot of sense for a Brazilian act, but does not exactly spell surprises, especially since the band never really tries to enhance the style -- they are more energetic than Marley, but that's about it.

Looking between the cracks reveals that some stylistic detours are, indeed, happening here and there -- Titas actually sneak in quite a bit of dancey beats, and the ballads have plenty of strings -- but the end result still sounds somehow old-fashioned, though never obsolete.

This is not so bad -- the band comes across as simply being mature enough not to play the fashion game, refraining from copying either the polished, angsty alternative rock of the post-Nirvana generation or the pompous hair metal of yesteryear.

But more disappointing is that, while the songs are fun enough, Titas evidently spent too much creative energy fooling around with those "modernized" arrangements to come up with some really big hooks, which means the album never becomes anything more than a passable listen.