Sugar Ray

Floored (Atlantic)
by Scott Hefflon

If you were wondering who was gonna ride in the wake of hard rock/funk/hip hop heroes the Beastie Boys, perhaps ya might want to check out a fab new band called Sugar Ray. Winner of the much-sought-after “Cover I Single-Handedly Admired Most” award with ’95’s Lemonade and Brownies, Sugar Ray impressed audiences live not only by pumping out energetic rock/rap singables like “Mean Machine,” “Big Black Woman,” and “Danzig Needs a Hug,” but by “breaking it down” so charismatic singer Mark McGrath could offer tips on breakdancing. Now with Floored, the Rays again flip-flop between chillin’ funk essentials and high-octane rockers crankin’ that there guitar distortion and pounding the drums like a heavyweight champ. Sure, they have that “Fly” song which is probably all over the radio, and while it ain’t no fair representation of their diversity, I find myself grooving along to it, in spite of my non-boogieable white ass (the remix featuring Super Cat is way better). As with Lemonade…, Floored spends its entire CD booklet offering pretty pix for chix instead of lyrics, but that only adds mystery to such songs as “Tap, Twist, Snap” (is this roadburner about a drinking binge, a true confession from the Snapple Generation, or something more elusive and philosophically mind-boggling?) and “American Pig” (an Egyptian melody converted to a stomping ragecore anthem about either shit-talkin’ detractors or offering an aggressively contradictory opinion to Janes’ “Pigs in Zen”). That, incidentally, is a joke. While humorous in their whitewashed Beastie approach, they aren’t word-slingers like the Bloodhound Gang by a long shot. But then who is? Where Sugar Ray shines is in their high-energy silly snarlers, “Cash” and “Speed Home California,” and the vocal goofiness of “Stand and Deliver” (it’s more a ten times Talking Heads/XTC tune than a metal anthem). Two years ago, I predicted Sugar Ray could be the upstart car stereo blastin’ fave of the mid-to-late-’90s (Beasties and White Zombie, while great, are gettin’ old), and they still have the potential to be. They’re a young band still defining their sound, so while construction is in progress, get Floored.