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POP-ROCK

• Hootie & the Blowfish

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Hootie & the Blowfish: 'Looking for Lucky'
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"Looking for Lucky." Vanguard. 12 tracks.

Grade: C

I could never dislike Hootie as much as other hipsters. It would be like indiscriminately hating every good-natured golfer I went to college with. Even at their most powerful, they seemed completely harmless, like a couple of frat guys who used the word "shweet!" too much and found themselves on the charts when they took a wrong turn at the ninth hole at a Myrtle Beach golf course.

And give them this: Their music didn't change one iota after it was clear that all folks needed was one Blowfish collection. Not even a little. They released four albums on Atlantic between 1995 and 2003 and, aside from the hit songs, they were as interchangeable as McDonald's cheeseburgers.

But now they're on an indie, and perhaps just for sheer perversity's sake, they recorded in Nashville and brought in outside songwriters to shake things up. Producer Don Gehman, who aided in their hits, is behind the boards. And here's the neatest trick: They still sound exactly the same, pop-rock as direct and mainstream as it could possibly be. Fore!

— Joe Gross,

Austin-American Statesman

Hootie & the Blowfish will play Chastain Park Amphitheatre Saturday at 8 p.m. See ticketmaster.com for info.