Maroon

The long awaited follow-up to the mega-selling breakthrough that was Stunt, Maroon sees the Ladies linking up with veteran producer Don Was.

The result, not surprisingly, is a tighter, more focused (and less self-consciously nerdy) collection of songs, albeit one that rarely strays from the jaunty acoustic pop that has made them a household name across the Atlantic.

Why they are so feted is sometimes hard to fathom. True, the group's main writers, Ed Robertson and Steven Page, have a knack for crafting smart, humour-laden, radio-friendly ditties. But take away the zany lyrics and the forced rhymes and the Barenaked Ladies sound comes across as remarkably pedestrian.

It's all down to the tunes, and they range from the mediocre openers 'Too Little To Late', 'Never Do Anything' and 'Pinch Me' to the Beatles-esque 'Go Home'.

The jangly mid-tempo groove of 'Helicopters' is equally engaging as is the mellower 'Conventioneers'. On the other hand, 'Falling For The First Time' is one of those song-by-numbers Hootie & Blowfish derivatives that have dominated the Stateside airwaves for the best part of a decade.

The album ends with two oddities: the vaudevillian 'Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel' which recalls The Beautiful South's 'Don't Marry Him', and an atmospheric (unnamed) tune which blends REM in balladic mode with more than a nod towards 10CC's 'I'm Not In Love'.

Apparently, Brian Wilson dropped by the studio while Maroon was being recorded. Alas, not enough of the great man's genius for melody has rubbed off to make this more than just partly worthwhile