Review: Band sticks to basics with 'Smash Mouth'

By Greg Rolnick
Special to CNN

Smash Mouth
"Smash Mouth"
Interscope Records

(CNN) -- Four years ago, a party band from Southern California burst onto the scene calling themselves "Smash Mouth." With an infectious (almost novelty) hit entitled "Walking on the Sun," they seemed destined for the glorious land of one-hit wonders.

But somehow they came back and scored another hit single. And another. And everyone was left wondering just what the heck was going on.

Now Smash Mouth has unleashed its latest collection of up-tempo party music, the cleverly titled, "Smash Mouth," a guilty pleasure of an album that features the best use of carnival-esque organ riffs since the Doors. It also may just prove the theory that the boys of Smash Mouth are the long-lost bastard sons of the Kingsmen ("Louie, Louie").

Clocking in at an economical 45 minutes, the album is a compact selection of tunes that adhere to a strict pop-music time limit of three-and-a-half minutes or less.

	AUDIO
'Pacific Coast Party' 'Holiday in My Head' 'Out of Sight'

Pure escapism

The album kicks off with the raucous pop-nugget, "Holiday in My Head." Sticking to the Smash Mouth credo of "dance now, think later," singer Steve Harwell informs that "everyday is a getaway," and he's just searching for "paradise in my living room." Smash Mouth is an escapist band, and they're kind enough to let the listener know that up front.

A potential hit is the SoCal disco anthem, "Pacific Coast Party." Infusing their normal organ/guitar sound with a string section that could have been lifted from a 1970s Burt Bacharach session, the song is killer kitsch.

"Sister Psychic" takes a good-natured swipe at the ubiquitous cable presence of Miss Cleo and her tarot card-reading friends. A goofy piece of songwriting, this track lodges itself in the back of your brain and refuses to go away -- kind of like Miss Cleo.

The only song to really deviate from the band's schematic of riff-based organ, guitar and drums is the stripped-down "Out of Sight." Harwell provides an uncharacteristically impassioned delivery over an acoustic guitar and subdued drums.

The rest of the album is catchy and pleasing, culminating in the band's hit cover of Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer," previously featured on the "Shrek" soundtrack.

Smash Mouth isn't out to change the world's politics, or re-write the rules of songwriting -- it's just four musicians out to have a good time.