(Pulse Recordings)

www.myspace.com/pulserecordings

Tailor-made for frat parties and drives to the beach, Sugar Ray's sunny

brand of adult-contemporary pop is hardly the kind of music anyone would

describe as life changing.  But though it's fair to criticize the So-Cal

quintet for never aspiring to any sort of poignancy, especially with all but

one of the members now in their early 40s, they do have a knack for writing

catchy tunes.

Music for Cougars, their first album in eight years, offers liberal doses

of the band's customary laid-back pop.  Songs like the infectious "When We

Were Young," carried by a tortuous bass line and a sing-along chorus, and

the breezy, reggae-infused "Morning Sun" recall the band's biggest hits

while shimmering tunes like "Last Days" and the danceable "Closer" add

layers of Killers-influenced synths (good choice) and auto tune (bad one) to

the mix.

Sugar Ray has never had any pretensions about their place in the music

world, and as the tongue-and-cheek album title suggests, they're well aware

their commercial heyday is behind them.  Still, besides the indescribably

obnoxious "She's Got the (Woo-Hoo)" and the pabulum-stuffed "Love Is the

Answer," written by Rivers Cuomo, Cougars' collection of radio-friendly

fare would make a welcome replacement for the Nicklebacks and Three Doors

Downs of the world on Top 40 radio.

Standout Tracks:  "When We Were Young," "Morning Sun" JASON MIDDLEKAUFF