Launch #34

Counting Crows
This Desert Life (Geffen)
Rating: 6 out of 7
By Neal Weiss

"Playful" and "carefree" are not words often used to describe the Counting Crows. "Sullen" is more like it. But the first notes of "Hanginaround," the kickoff track on This Desert Life, the Crows' third studio release, instantly suggest a band that decided to let the sun shine in. "I've been hanging around this town on the corner," lead Crow Adam Duritz sings here. It's a featherweight thought compared to past Crows moments like "A Long December," which was nearly suicidal amid its own desperation and solitude. A buoyant, piano-driven hand-clapper with a chorus hummable by its second appearance, "Hanginaround" is no small breakthrough for a group whose Band-like Americana style has been built more on wordy introspection than melody.

And a fluke "Hanginaround" is not. The follow-up, "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby," is no less spirited--a seven minute-strong Dylan-ish ramble that tingles with verve. As does much of This Desert Life. So, what gives? Adam Duritz on happy pills? A band beyond moping? Finally relaxing after the shock of sudden, serious fame (the debut of August & Everything After) and a sophomore effort (Recovering The Satellites) that self-consciously tried to steer toward a more arty alt-rock presence?

Hard to say. But whatever the motivation, it works, greatly. Part of the props must go to co-producer David Lowery, whose brand of slightly-left-of-normal rock with his own group Cracker, colors This Desert Life time and again. Whether it's in the addition of strings and an assortment of oddball, hide-and-seekin' instruments or through the relaxed, just-a-rehearsal feeling that comes through on most of the tracks, Lowery's contributions are effective. It makes for so much more than just another round of Adam Duritz as the modern-day brood poet and his band of not-so-merry minstrels. Unsuspectingly, This Desert Life is the Counting Crows at their most engaging and, maybe, at their best.