Sugar Ray

By Guruchathram Ledchumanan

Sugar Ray Music For Cougars Atlantic Records Pop Rock

C-

Sugar Ray were known for knocking out catchy Orange County songs that frat boys could sing along to like “Fly” and “Every Morning” around 10 years ago. Their earlier stuff was harder and slightly more ska perhaps, but once you sell your soul for radio airplay, you just want to repeat the hits.

They’ve been trying to rewrite “Fly” since 1997 but hopefully most of their original fan base has grown up. That doesn’t stop them from trying, however.

What gets me about Sugar Ray is the feel good nature of their pop music – makes me wish I could see the world through their optimistic eyes. There’s usually a guy like this at every party spitting out drunken philosophies, espousing the virtue of bros before hos and so forth.

Most of Sugar Ray’s music here sounds like that guy. But their honestly good natured pop is catchy and sunny and hopeful as hell. There’s nothing wrong with that, if they hadn’t been trying to re-create Fly since forever, I might actually believe them. An example of Sugar Ray’s philosophy for dudes is when Mark McGrath sings, “If you wanna see the rainbow, you gotta sit through a little rain.”

It all makes a lot of profound sense when somebody tells you something like this when you’re high or drunk at frat party but I can only hope that it makes you cringe the next morning 10 years from now.

Share