Slow Motion Daydream

11 tracks - Enhanced - 1. How To Win Friends And Influence People 2. Blackjack 3. I Want To Die A Beautiful Death 4. Volvo Driving Soccer Mom 5. Science Fiction 6. New Blue Champion 7. TV Show 8. Chrysanthemum 9. Sunshine (That Ac

With the market for modern angst having been sold short by headline writers and color-coded terror-alert designers, what's a '90s-grunge-rooted rock band to do? In the case of Art Alexakis and Everclear, you bare your soul with a smile. On the evidence here, the melodic '70s pop affectations of his divorce-chronicling Songs from an American Movie, Vol. 1 seem to have permanently seeped into Everclear's sound. But they're considerably beefier than the album's straightforward production, wrapping dry observations about American life in bouncy, driving slices of pop-punk that are as infectious as they are wryly disconcerting. Tracks like the album's first single, "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom," and the spirited "How to Win Friends and Influence People" suggest that pervasive rumors of irony's demise have been overstated--or simply ignored--by a gleeful Alexakis and company. If it's an album that also argues that the band is working from formula, it's one they'd be wise to patent. Enhanced CD features include Web keys to performance footage, home movies, and B-side downloads. --Jerry McCulley