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A Day At The Beach4 Out Of 5 Stars
If you were jamming on your 'summer vacation' and you just happened to be the Counting Crows, the "Underwater Sunshine" is allegedly what you'd come up with. Your favorite oddity songs played in a loose and jocular manner, nothing too slow to kill the buzz, but nothing too rocking or you'll tire yourself out. "Underwater Sunshine" is a cool groove of a jam session, loaded up with songs as familiar as Rod Stewart or Pure Prairie League to band fan-club types like Fairport Convention and Teenage Fanclub.
This eclectic if steady album is a pleasure. Adam Duritz sings like nothing much matters, with a confidence that belies his usual nervous sounding voice. "Jumping Jesus" pops along like a song from "Discovering the Satellites" and was originally by "Sordid Humor" (whom I never heard of), but the CC's sound almost like the Grateful Dead at times here. Especially on Dylan's "You Ain't Going Nowhere." Another surprise is just how Southern Cali The Faces' "Ooh La La" sounds...so much so that new California sunshiners Dawes' song "All My Failures" sounds like it came from the same pen.
That is just one of the many reasons "Underwater Sunshine" has had a spot on my CD deck for a few weeks now. Adam and the Crows may have chosen these songs from a multitude of stylistic sources, but under their microphones, they all sound tailor-made for Counting Crows. There's nothing profound here, just a solid album of enjoyable music rendered lovingly.
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