Sugar Ray, a Los Angeles band, boasted a funk-metal style reminiscent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Brownies And Lemonade (Atlantic, 1995). Singer Mark McGrath and guitarist Rodney Sheppard lead the band through merry, catchy, sunny ditties such as Iron Mic and Rhyme Stealer that borrow not only the style but also the spirit of Green Day and Fishbone. The anthemic Mean Machine gave them their first hit.

Augmented with Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock at the turntables, the band struck it big with Floored (Atlantic, 1997), a diverse and sophisticated melange of punk-rock, funk, hip hop and heavy metal that yielded the massive hit single Fly.

14:59 (Atlantic, 1999) is a lame album that doesn't get anywhere with radio-friendly trivialities like Every Morning.

Sugar Ray (Atlantic, 2001) worked as a generic survey of fashionable teenage music at the turn of the century.

In The Pursuit Of Leisure (2003) is basically an album built around the only decent song, Mr Bartender. As Rolling Stones' Pat Blash wrote: "Sugar Ray are a synthesis of everything that's dumb about pop music"