*1/2

They’ve slowly but deliberately dumbed down their modern grunge since the late ’90s, and The Exies continue that trend with a fourth album composed of a dozen straight-ahead guitar throwdowns and generic tough-dude ballads. Not even a surprisingly touching, harmony-drenched, mostly acoustic cover of Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” (which, as an individual track, is four stars all the way) can win back the cred lost in that whole WWE … thing.

With Nonpoint, Deepfield, Under the Flood. June 4, 6 p.m., $16-$18. House of Blues, 632-7600. Buy tickets.