Blowfish Have Another Winner

Hootie & The Blowfish, “Fairweather Johnson” (Atlantic, 50 minutes)

“Fairweather Johnson,” the second major-label release from middle-of-the-road phenoms Hootie & the Blowfish, might just be the best sophomore pop album of the last 20 years.

Which doesn’t mean it’s a great record - especially considering the disappointing second efforts of such acts as Boston (“Don’t Look Back”), Dire Straits (“Communique”) and Terence Trent D’Arby (“Neither Fish nor Flesh”).

“Fairweather Johnson” is a solid, albeit thematically flawed, album that holds up to 1994’s “Cracked Rear View”; in some cases, it sounds even better.

Musically speaking, “Fairweather Johnson” is richer and more challenging, thanks mostly to the soulful organ featured throughout. And clearly the constant touring of the past two years has made the Blowfish better players.

They’ve also allowed themselves to loosen up and pay homage to their influences: You can hear everything from the Beatles (“Sad Caper”) to Led Zeppelin (“Fairweather Johnson”) to R.E.M. (“Silly Little Pop Song”). They even rock a little harder, especially on the album’s opener, “Be the One.”

As for content, well, Hootie & the Blowfish are still stuck in that odd world of theirs where relationships have just ended or are just beginning, where somebody’s just died or a new life has just begun.

It’s a world full of irritating cliches and cloying catch phrases.

This album assures them constant airplay, at least through the rest of this year and probably well into the next. Critics will harp, hard rockers will moan, but Hootie & the Blowfish will rule once again.