Feeling Strangely

Minneapolis trio Semisonic were one of the bands who suffered due to the British chart cock-up a couple of weeks ago when the returns from Virgin Megastores and the Our Price chain weren't logged, with the result that 'Secret Smile' failed to dent the Top 20. A decent enough song, it's one of the few real highlights on an album which rarely rises above College Rock competence.

Singer and chief writer Dan Wilson certainly has a well-honed grasp of song construction and possesses a high, attractive voice but as Feeling Strangely Fine unfolds you're left with the distinct impression that he doesn't really have that much to say. That said, the opening 'Closing Time' is a bona fide gem. A universal anthem to the horrors of chucking-out time, Wilson informs us "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here" and the glorious main hook of "I know who I want to take me home" perfectly captures the yearning self-pity of the partially plastered. Unfortunately, this potential classic is going home in a taxi by itself.

Aside from the aforementioned 'Secret Smile' and the jaunty 'Singing In My Sleep', Feeling Strangely Fine drifts along in a pleasant enough but distressingly unmemorable fashion. A touch of REM here, a dollop of The Cars there - all very fine but there's nothing here which screams 'character'. Still, one minor classic is more than most people manage in a lifetime.