Though most of the mindless alt-rock dribble has thankfully faded from the spotlight in recent months, an Alabama trio has emerged to remind us why we never cared about hollowness in the first place.

Course of Nature come packaged with well-oiled hair, comparisons to three Doors Down, and, oh yes, leather pants. They started off as a cover band, but have since gained confidence in writing their own songs, and proclaim their debut as the first great rock’n’roll album of 2002.

Fuel and Nickelback have taught these youngsters well, and that’s obviously a bad thing. Course of Nature employ the same yearning themes and Vedder-esque vocals that crop up in their mentors’ music, and appear destined for the VH1 buzz bin. “I hope I’m everything that I need to be/You are my everything/So I’ll just stay,” they sing on “Better Part of Me.” Essentially, Lenny Kravitz without the exotic trousers.

Wondering how they got such a clever band name? Leader Matt Wilkerson said, “If you think of the course of nature, it’s just the way things happen, and that’s basically how we got here.” Right, Matt.

Incidentally, after listening to Superkala, we dreamt of our own course of nature. It involves the three bumbling idiots responsible for this album getting kidnapped. They are tied to the grill of a car and rammed into a brick wall at 60 miles per hour.

Then, the car backs up and does it again and again until we’re positive that we’ll never hear another Course of Nature song for the rest of eternity.

And for the Mary Poppins reference in the title, their F is downgraded to an F-.