| Sugar Ray - Sugar Ray |
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| Music Disc Reviews Audio CD | |
| Written by Dan Macintosh | |
| Tuesday, 12 June 2001 | |
Lava/Atlantic, 2001 | Performance 7 | Sound 8 | With the growing popularity of nu-metal, in which melody and nuance are of only secondary concern, Sugar Ray sprinkles a little sweetness and light over driving rock ‘n’ roll. The band’s music comes across to the listener as a gentle breeze, rather than a full body blow. This self-titled album once again reveals a band that is a little too slow to be punk, but much too hard to be considered merely pop. Except for "Words To Me" and "Stay On," which experiment with reggae elements, this album is mostly comprised of chunky guitar rock. Lazy guitar leads add mood to "Just A Little" and harmonica fills stand out on the Stones-y swagger of closer "Disasterpiece." Such unexpected elements keep these uncomplicated three-chord rock tunes worth listening to from song to song. Sugar Ray is just a little too sun-drenched to remain just coldly guitar-bass-and-drums. The single "When It’s Over" retains an ever so slight hint of hip-hop and "Under The Sun" (which manages to name-drop both RUN-DMC and Culture Club) is carried along by moody acoustic guitar as it fondly recalls endless Southern California summers. The album is steered away from meat-and-potatoes rock tedium by producer David Kahne, who adds a little pop radio friendliness to "When It’s Over" and "Ours," and by the hip-hop contributions of DJ Homicide, who lends a black presence to this otherwise all-white group. These songs don’t dig too deeply beyond basic boy/girl issues, such as the communication breakdown on "Answer The Phone" or the last word pleasures of "Sorry Now," but one doubts there are any Bob Dylan albums in the band’s collections, anyway. Sugar Ray love songs contain varying degrees of angst, but never enough to bring the party mood down – kind of the way somebody always changes the subject the moment it starts to get a little too serious in the boys locker room. Who knows how Sugar Ray do it, but these seemingly average guys continue to make surprisingly above average music. Like this article? Bookmark and share with any of the sites below.        |
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