Hogyssey

The poorly titled and executed Hogyssey builds on Spacehog's reputation of anonymous alterna-pop, à la Third Eye Blind and Superdrag. This release does not surprise, and therefore does not disappoint. It's something of a concept album as the band claims that the track sequence is "loosely based on the sequence of events in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey." This does not explain the second-to-last cut, "At Least I Got Laid." (By a monolith? Explain, please.) Actually, to be fair, the band does offer up a surprisingly catchy cut on the third track, "I Want to Live." This sudden explosion of competency startles and snaps before the band continues their Hogyssey towards the middle of the road. --Jason Josephes