Happiness...Is Not a Fish That

09/28/1999 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

If music doesn't work out, these guys could go into the t-shirt business. Just look at that album title. If this were the '70s, they could get those goofy iron-on letters and make a mint.

But it's the end the of the century, and things are much more hi-tech, and so is this album, which is melodic and catchy, something of a grunge hangover record. It's nearly old-school! Like 1994! Which kinda figures, since these guys have been together since that cultural high-water mark. This is the third album for this Toronto quartet and though they occasionally add an extra guy--jazz legend Elvin Jones appears on the closing cut "Stealing Babies"--it's pretty straightforward that way: the sound of four guys in a room with a lot of equipment and a singer who's nice and whiny making rock music.