Smash Mouth

You can't accuse Smash Mouth of not knowing which way the wind's blowing. If Astro Lounge moved away from ska-punk in the direction suggested by "Walkin' on the Sun," Smash Mouth follows through on the band's latest breakthrough, the ebullient cover of "I'm a Believer," which was playing everywhere in the summer of 2001. "If you're not down with us, you're down below," Steve Harwell sings in "The In Set," and he's only partly kidding. They can repeat themselves ("She Turns Me On" might as well be called "Walkin' on Venus"), and guitarist Greg Camp's songs have gotten, perhaps, a little less politically engaged--the goofy "Sister Psychic" concerns Miss Cleo. Still, they're mostly playing to their strengths: Harwell's inimitable Cali rasp/whine and their ability to switch styles on a dime every few seconds. (The collision of a three-chord garage-rock chorus with Barry White strings in "Pacific Coast Party" is especially juicy.) Only a couple of slow ones break up the lightweight fun. --Douglas Wolk

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