Sugar Ray, the band most recipient of silly punnage for the past two years (thatΓÇÖs what you get when the name of your massive hit single "Fly" serves as a verb, noun, and slang adjective all in one), is truly a strange candidate for stardom. After all, these guys have never taken themselves seriously. TheyΓÇÖre from Newport Beach, Calif., probably the whitest ΓÇÖburb in America, and (God bless them) theyΓÇÖve never tried to pretend they are from somewhere cooler-- i.e. sister town Huntington Beach, adopted home of numerous hardcore bands such as Korn and members of Anthrax.
Furthermore, Sugar Ray werenΓÇÖt snobby about where they got their start. This band played the UN-coolest places possible: frat parties, glossy-clean Newport dance clubs, and other places Scott Ian and his ilk wouldnΓÇÖt deem to darken. Having gotten away with that little piece of chutzpah, the band was sufficiently ballsy to rip off Sublime (and that would be circa ΓÇÖ96 Sublime; not even the cool "Pool Shark"-era stuff), become insanely popular for one out-of-character ditty, and basically personify the term "one-hit wonder."
They--surprisingly--also learned from all of this, and therefore will probably be able to escape the 15-minute curse. Sugar RayΓÇÖs third album, which due to the relative inattention paid to their 1996 debut will be construed by many as their sophomore effort, finally delivers exactly what everyone seems to want: mellow, catchy stuff as the rule rather than the exception. Unlike the aforementioned Sublime, Sugar Ray have not fared well mixing hardcore with toasty grooves--far too many were confused by the stark, one-off of their hit amongst the crash and boom of 1997ΓÇÖs Floored. So, this time around, they condensed their punk urge into one 47-second intro song (the tongue-in-cheek, aptly named "New Direction"), and boned up on melody and harmony instead. 14:59 is for the most part midtempo, with lots of glammy ΓÇÖ80s influences (Who the hell covers Steve MillerΓÇÖs "Abracadabra?" And covers it straight? But it works!). The gloriously sweet, almost doo-woppy "Someday" and singalong first single "Every Morning" far surpass the original hit. Dare I call them super-fly?
Every time I listen to Oasis, I have a hard time getting the image of the Bros. Gallagher drunkenly beating the living clay out of each other on Celebrity Death Match out of my mind. Yep, these boys are wankers, tosspots, and living, puking proof that being a Rock Star is a backdated, stupid, and useless idea, but they still manage to generally operate on an accomplished enough level that even collections of B-side detritus like this one may be classified without reservation as pretty damn fine. O.K., so thereΓÇÖs nothing quite in the "Live Forever" pantheon here (one of the best songs of the last decade, that), but meaty 'toons like "Acquiesce," "Going Nowhere," "Half The World Away," and "Stay Young" deliver the anthemic goods. Even slop like the soundcheck jam "The Swamp Song" and that perennial encore "I Am The Walrus" skates by dint of sheer musculature. Sure, Liam and Noel are arrogant slobs and thieves to boot, but they steal from the best, and they know the road to Rockville.
Every time I listen to Oasis, I have a hard time getting the image of the Bros. Gallagher drunkenly beating the living clay out of each other on Celebrity Death Match out of my mind. Yep, these boys are wankers, tosspots, and living, puking proof that being a Rock Star is a backdated, stupid, and useless idea, but they still manage to generally operate on an accomplished enough level that even collections of B-side detritus like this one may be classified without reservation as pretty damn fine. O.K., so thereΓÇÖs nothing quite in the "Live Forever" pantheon here (one of the best songs of the last decade, that), but meaty 'toons like "Acquiesce," "Going Nowhere," "Half The World Away," and "Stay Young" deliver the anthemic goods. Even slop like the soundcheck jam "The Swamp Song" and that perennial encore "I Am The Walrus" skates by dint of sheer musculature. Sure, Liam and Noel are arrogant slobs and thieves to boot, but they steal from the best, and they know the road to Rockville.
