Soul Coughing might just be the most light-hearted purveyors of lyrical angst and quirky musical intelligence ever to put a smile on the faces of critics, Lollapaloozers and H.O.R.D.E.-heads alike. And during a Los Angeles area show that included elements of everything from Madonna's "Like A Prayer" to jazz-infused hip-hop pop, the New York City-based quartet provided ample evidence as to why they're the kings of hyphenated rock.

\\With the exception of "Super Bon Bon." Soul Coughing's songs haven't exactly set radio on fire, but frontman M. Doughty's professed desire to draw crowds into the band's trancey vibe makes the group's live show more appealing. From the dark, psychedelic "Disseminated" to the wonderfully weird "Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago," the exceptionally ebullient Doughty enticed the audience down a musical path peppered with odd markers and uncertain outcomes.

\\Soul Coughing -- which is rounded out by drummer Yuval Gabay, keyboard sampler Mark De Gli Antoni and stand-up] bassist Sebastian Steinberg -- are such accomplished and likable players that any journey, even if it's at times self-indulgent and self-conscious, is well worth taking. Many of the "guitar solos" actually came from De Gli Antoni's keyboard and Steinberg's upright bass is a welcome anomaly in the alternative rock world Soul Coughing circles but never really buys into. The barely controlled chaos of the whacked-out "Bus to Beelzebub" could serve as the soundtrack to a Tim Burton cartoon, while the percussive drive and disco dynamics of the crisp "Mr. Bitterness" and the anticipatory edge and elegance of "Lazybones" proved Soul Coughing capable of cohesive stylistic shifts.

\\Intelligent without being pretentious, jazzy without being inaccessible, and jocular without be