This South Carolina pop band with the crap name and the plummy-voiced lead singer may not be everyone's cup of sushi, but, with two mega-selling albums under their belts, their new album deserves more than a passing listen.

'Musical Chairs' repeats the formula that worked so well on 1994's 'Cracked Rear View' and 1996's 'Fairweather Johnson'. Once again there's a bunch of well-crafted songs with solid arrangements and enthusiastic backing. On 'Musical Chairs', however, the band have decided to fill out their sound and extend their musical landscape and this album could just be the best of the three. With the whole band contributing to the writing of the 13 songs here (including one bonus track), a handful of guests were also hauled in to California's Royaltone Studios to help flesh out the arrangements. The result is a hit-packed collection of different styles and moods that will surely repeat the success of its predecessors.

The booming first single, 'I Will Wait' kicks off the album followed by the guitar-driven, headbanging-inducing 'Wishing'. 'Las Vegas Nights' is pure country-rock with its "desert flower" references and stirring chorus and 'Only Lonely' is a yearning ballad with a hook like a possessive tumbleweed.

These songs may all follow the verse and big chorus pattern but with banjos, violins and sparkling guitars all partying away in the background, this album retains its freshness and quality all the way through. "Musical Chairs' is a thoroughly enjoyable album and proof that Hootie and his fellow-fish are going to be around the charts for a while still.

Stephen "Sugar" Segerman

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