Rightly suspecting that the days of
grunge
and
alt-rock
were finished in the late '90s,
Better Than Ezra
wisely decided to revamp their trademark
post-grunge
sound for their third album,
How Does Your Garden Grow?
That they chose to revamp in the most predictable way -- mainly
electronica
trip-hop
, but with a touch of
space rock
Brit-pop
on the side -- may mean they're not innovators, but it does suggest that they are canny cultural watchers, and they turn out to be as adept in fusing all these elements together as they were in blending
jangle pop
. That may mean that
Garden
doesn't have the thrill of discovery anywhere in its grooves, but it's nevertheless well crafted and smartly performed. It also happens to boast the best set of songs that
Kevin Griffin
and company have yet written, even if there are a couple of tracks that sink under the weight of their own ambitions. Still, the new ambition in the music (even if it isn't adventurous) and the catchier, more emotional songwriting is enough to elevate
to the status of
's best album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine