Smash Mouth: Smash Mouth

As a means of reaching the largest possible audience without relying on radio, Moby famously licensed every track on his marvelous 1999 album Play for use in television commercials. That move spoke volumes about the way good music often has to be sneaked to the public through the back door, but it also provided a road map for pop-savvy acts in search of ubiquity. After all, why should Smash Mouth settle for heavy rotation on MTV and most rock radio stations, when "All Star" can be spun during commercials and countless movies At this point, it's hard to hear Smash Mouth without envisioning Shrek's frolicking animated ogre—or, at the very least, a frolicking animated incarnation of everyguy lead singer Steve Harwell. "Pacific Coast Party," the first single from the group's self-titled third album, has been a staple of TV commercials for months now, but it's only the catchiest installment in the disc's lighthearted run of radio-friendly fluff. The disc lacks the overdriven polish of its predecessor (1999's Astro Lounge), and the addition of the Shrek-inspired cover of The Monkees' "I'm A Believer" smacks of chart-hungry desperation. But, as always, Smash Mouth is all but impossible to hate, offsetting its bald-faced mercenary intentions with a refreshing lack of pretension. If nothing else, "The In Set" sounds like a natural musical backdrop for images of a wisecracking animated hippopotamus embarking on a fanciful journey before learning to believe in himself.