Mike Doughty: Golden Delicious

When

former Soul Coughing vocalist Mike Doughty signed on with Dave Matthews' record

label, it was a clear statement of the direction he wanted his music to evolve

in, citing his excitement at finding a place where the indie-rock/rap hybrid of

his old band could coexist with a mellower jam-band aesthetic. He seems happy

enough in that new mode, which he unrolled on 2005's Haughty Melodic and continues on Golden

Delicious. But

it's disappointing to hear Doughty's early promise as a lyricist now focused on

such bland music: It's like watching Allen Ginsberg toss aside his Beat poetry

to write scripts for The King Of Queens. (Okay, maybe not that bad.) Golden

Delicious

rides along on an unchanging, mid-tempo vibe that puts too much weight on

Doughty's limited vocal range, stumbling midway through on the

cringe-inducingly unfunky "More Bacon Than The Pan Can Handle."