Sugar Ray - Sugar Ray

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Music reviews of Sugar Ray

Music Review: Fourth outing finds "Fly" boys growing up
Rating: 4 Stars

A whole hell of a lot, apparently. Sugar Ray continues to fine-tune their skills at writing sunny, catchy pop seemingly created solely for summertime and lead singer Mark McGrath's straightforwardly sexy vocals. This is obvious enough with the first single, "When it's Over," another acoustic-guitar-over-funky-drum-loop outing that will no doubt satisfy fans of the band's previous hits; "all the things that I used to know/are gone out the window" is such a singable hook you may well croon it without intending to. Another hit will no doubt be found in the nostalgiac, hip-hop flavored "Under the Sun," where Mark reminisces about "all the good times that we had on the beach," "making out in the sand," and makes any 80's teenager take a fond look back when he name-drops Run DMC and Culture Club. But even their harder-hitting material is bursting at the seams with catchy riffs, as even the cranked guitars on "Satellites," "Waiting," and "Sorry Now" can't hide the commercial appeal of some carefully-constructed pop tunes.

But what really stands out on this self-titled release is the mature songwriting efforts that one might not have expected from the group a few years back. "Just a Little" offers a Beatle-flavored dose of country/pop, "Disasterpiece" utilizes a Rolling Stones influence and yet another killer chorus (not to mention a significantly strong vocal from Mark), and "Stay On" builds on the reggae-pop roots of "Fly" but is just as much about hook and song structure as it is about groove. The album's crowning moment, however (and arguably, the band's overall finest moment to date) comes on the ballad "Ours"; Sugar Ray is completely in their element amidst richly-chorded acoustic guitar, smooth vocal harmonies, and quirky lyrics about a relationship with a two-timing female that was "like a Springer episode." Warning: the "she was your woman but she was my girl" is another hook that sneaks up on your subconscious.

Filled with enough commercial appeal to guarantee them plenty of airtime on MTV and enough strong musicianship and writing to lure fans over the age of consent, "Sugar Ray" proves that their hits to date were not flukes but a taste of what is yet to come. Guitar-driven pop doesn't get much more slickly produced, appealingly sung, or repeatedly enjoyable.

Description of Sugar Ray

Alternative Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Hard Rock & Metal
• Pop
• Rock