The guys of Sugar Ray may have been floored by the success of their second Atlantic long-player, but they're already back in the studio working on the follow-up to their platinum-plus platter. |

The quintet are in the midst of their as-yet-untitled third album -- although singer Mark McGrath did find a moment recently to perform karaoke (Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," in a duet with hot video director McG, no less!) in a Hollywood bar.

Most nights, though, the So Cal quintet is logging twelve-hour days, six days a week, putting together the follow-up to last year's Floored, which featured the peppy, dance hall-tinged summer hit "Fly." Together with producer David Kahne (Sublime, Floored), they're working toward a January 1999 release.

"A lot of people are writing 'oh, they're one-hit wonders, they don't have anything else,'" relates guitarist Rodney Sheppard, phoning mid-session from Sunset Sound in Hollywood. "We're just anxious to get back in and say, 'hey, there's definitely more to us than one song.'"

Sugar Ray, rounded out by bassist Murphy Karges, drummer Stan Frazier and Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock, spent a month and a half writing tunes in a L.A. rehearsal hall, "informally putting the skeletons of the songs down on tape. We still have a couple more songs to write," Sheppard continues, "but we're pretty much done with the majority of it. We're just doing guitar overdubs now and vocals."

So far, seven songs are confirmed, and Sheppard notes that "Burning Dog," the Sugar Ray song that received a techno re-mix treatment on the Avengers soundtrack, will not be on the new record. "We've got 'Every Morning' and 'Someday,'" Sheppard offers. "Then some of the titles are still 'working.' We have a sort of hillbilly punk rock song that's really cool; it's got a better melody than a lot of our older stuff would have had. It's got a lot of Beatles influence, believe it or not, and we're getting more and more into the vocal thing, which we dove into with Floored."

Plus, they're planning to have musical guests (Sheppard is mum until they're finalized), plus a cover song originally performed by the band King Harvest. The guitarist is coy, refusing to disclose the title, but trivia buffs will note that the group, a superband of sorts featuring three session keyboardists, had a Top 20 hit in 1973 with "Dancing In the Moonlight."

Whether they're trying to alter their proven formula or not, Sugar Ray are still experiencing Floored's high, which makes for a good mood in the studio. "Usually there are a couple guys who are straggling, but this time, everyone is really, really into it," enthuses Sheppard. "I mean, yeah, there's always the follow-up pressure, but it's not getting us down," the fast-talking guitarist concludes. "If anything, it inspires us to work harder. It's totally consuming. We're even having dreams about songs!"

KATHERINE TURMAN (August 28, 1998)