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Smile Artist:  Jayhawks  Label: Columbia Records Time: 13 tracks/53:20 min.

Alternative sounds put to a country motif may sound like a strange combination, but The Jayhawks have turned it into an art form on their latest disc Smile.  The new project, the band's first on Colombia Records, is the follow-up to 1997's successful Sound of Lies.  During that time off, the group has focused on slowly crafting their songs to perfection while carefully writing their lyrics in storybook fashion for each tune.

In fact, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is a great example of simple yet thought-provoking lyrics, while the beat combines acoustic guitar with a light organ in the background.  The song is anthemic and will prove to be a concert favorite in the months to come.

Other songs fit into the signature style of The Jayhawks, including the soft ballad "A Break in the Clouds."  The tune calls to mind similar artists who could have recorded it, like 10,000 Maniacs or
Neil Young.

A track like "Somewhere in Ohio" is a mid-paced acoustic groove which is an ideal traveling soundtrack song.  Perhaps the most reflective track on the disc is "Better Days," in which the group recalls specific moments in their lives where life was better.

The Jayhawks have certainly evolved into a fresher, more appealing five-piece band and their lyrics seem to convey hope and the desire for continual self-improvement.  The closing track "Baby, Baby, Baby" is a spiritual-sounding jam that is destined to inspire and uplift the listener:

There's a million flags flying
A million dreams that died.
And I died too
As twisted metal rained across the interchange.
I've been so faithful
I've been so true…
So beautiful, so beautiful.
You'll cry your eyes
Just like Jesus Christ.

Andy Argyrakis 7/29/2000

This is supposed to be the happier, poppier Jayhawks, taking their "now or never" stab at the big time.  
Bob Ezrin's slick production handles the poppier part just fine, but it can't hide the band's sense of desperation.  While the tunes, playing, and production are very solid, the lyrics sound unfinished and unfocused, as though tacked on as an afterthought.

The title track's exhortation sounds unconvincing and even the jangly first single, "I'm Gonna Make 
You Love Me," comes off as lightweight and cliched.

     I'm gonna make you love me
     I'm gonna dry your tears
     And we're gonna stay together 
     For a million years.

If you thought Sound of Lies, the album that followed Mark Olson's departure, was a letdown (though this reviewer didn't think so), you will likely be further depressed.  If you liked Sound of Lies, Smile is less consistent and its peaks don't approach those of its predecessor (the joyful and self-deprecating "Big Star" and Tim O'Reagan's achingly beautiful vocal turn on "Bottomless Cup").

Sadly, this Smile is a tense, tight-lipped one.  
 

Dave Draeger  07/29/2000