If Hootie and the Blowfish have any chance to be back in the position they were in 12 years ago, Looking for Lucky is it. This is their most enjoyable, addictive, and easy to listen to album since the criminally under appreciated Musical Chairs. It's not going to create a new audience, but for those who have stuck with them and those who may have forgotten, this is the album the band needed.
Slightly political, there's an obvious anti-war slant to certain songs, two of which were taken from Mark Bryan's short album, State Your Peace. Their first single, One Love, may not seem like it fits in, yet the more you listen, the more you pick up. It's some of their best lyrical work to date, with strong messages from a band that, in interviews, freely admits they don't know where some of their songs came from.
There is an oddity amongst the bunch, a gritty tune named Killing Stone. From the album's hot start, this song brings everything down a notch. It's like nothing they've done before, and if it weren't for lead singer Darius Rucker, you would never tell this was the same band.
That's all excusable as things pick back up, especially with the appropriately titled Get out of my Mind. This, along with Smile, become their obligatory "catchy" songs. These are the ones that hook you so well, you end up staying for the rest of the album. Even when you're not listening, they're still in your head, sticking around stubbornly until the next song replaces it.
While it does die off slightly with the final few tracks (especially the dry Autumn Jones and Leaving, which sound a little too country, even for Hootie), there's little doubt that this band has staying power. They'll be around for a while, and considering how strong Looking for Lucky is, there will always be plenty of material for fans to listen to. Consider this Cracked Rear View: The Sequel.
Article comments
1 - uao
This will confirm some people's worst suspicions about me, but I've always thought old Hottie and the Blowfish were unfairly slagged on during their whole existence.
For what they are, a bar band, they've put together quite a little body of what the reviewer calls "enjoyable, addictive, and easy to listen to" music, an apt desciption I won't quibble with.
Which is why they've always taken so much guff since their debut. It's not like they've ever pretended to be Nirvana, or Phish, or Smashing Pumpkins or anything.
They do play well together, Rucker's voice ia affable enough and has enough grit to carry a well-constructed roots rock song.
They're not deep, not intellectual, not arty, not tough, not edgy; but consistently melodic, vaguely soulful, traditionalist, unpretentious-- not bad things.
I have some Hootie and The Blowfish in my 18,000 tune randomplay, not a lot, but a couple dozen. When "Old Man And Me" comes on, it'll sometimes get me singing along.
Hope their new album is good. The poor guy was doing Burger King ads in the Spring.
2 - uao
oops, meant "Hootie" not "Hottie" up there. I wasn't talking about confirming those kind of suspicions.
3 - Matt Paprocki
Just received the B Sides disc that came with pre-orders. While Ride Along belongs here for all its cheesy goodness (probably their biggest guiltly pleasure ever), I Deal should have been on the album, replacing Killing Stone. It's a great song, and it's worth tracking this disc down if you can find it. They may still include it with orders.
4 - valli5
two years a go on what date did you play west palm beach?