Coy satire, Timbuk3's '80s smash, "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," was subversive stuff for radio: They were risky, too, in their novelty use of overdubs. But in '95 they sure sound mild. R&B lite underscores "statements" intended as blows against the empire – and the targets are woefully easy (boogeymen religionists, prudes and zealots of any passion other than Timbuk3's...

In 1986, Timbuk3 arrived with a novel blend of soft Southwestern guitar playing and beat-box rhythms. The arrangement won the combo attention, but over time the combination of acoustic instruments and metallic beats wore thin. On Big Shot in the Dark, their fourth album, Pat and Barbara K MacDonald, the Austin, Texas, husband-and-wife team behind Timbuk3, have taken steps, and the result is warmer...

The problem with Timbuk 3's second album – if problem is what it can be called – is exemplified by the single "Easy." With its gauzy guitars and silken vocal from Barbara K (she and her husband, Pat MacDonald, are Timbuk 3), the song brings to mind Suzanne Vega more than anything from Greetings from Timbuk 3, the group's 1986 debut album. Combine that with song copyrights dating back to...