Too Much Stereo

The Urge's third album finds them focusing less on willful eclecticism and more on song craftsmanship. The result is a solid program of hooky, funky (and occasionally reggaefied) guitar rock. The thing about making a CD is that you have to put your best songs first in the program; since (unlike a cassette) the disc starts from the beginning every time you put it in the player, many people only hear the first few songs of their favorite CDs with any regularity. The Urge are obviously clear on this because they open Too Much Stereo with a mighty one-two punch: the muscular and catchy "What Is This" and the album's equally impressive title track. The rest of the program is also very good but not quite as immediately attention grabbing; there's a subtle intricacy hidden beneath the stooped guitars on "Four Letters and Two Words," and "Welcome to Gunville" nicely alternates Bad Brains-ish interludes with a modified 2-Tone rhythmic base. Toward the end, things unravel just a bit (sample couplet: "Not quite as dumb as I look/But advantage of me you took") but not enough to significantly undermine the overall quality of this fine album.