In the increasingly disposable world of '90s pop, Dan Wilson is a hooksmith without peer, and one of the most shamelessly sentimental songwriters of his generation. But then, what exactly is Wilson's generation? Given his brief tenure with the Minneapolis trio Semisonic, the singer/guitarist would appear new to the game. The fact is, though, the thirtysomething Wilson has been around longer than he'd care to acknowledge.

Dan and his brother, Matt, endured a good chunk of the 1980s in near-obscurity with the cerebral prog-pop outfit Trip Shakespeare, which had -- then quickly lost -- its golden opportunity at major-label success toward the end of that decade. The ugliness of the experience, in fact, sent both Wilsons burrowing into a reclusive funk for the first part of the '90s. Dan's been the first to re-emerge, doing so in grand fashion on Semisonic's 1996 debut, Great Divide, one of the most undervalued albums of that year and a shoulda-been mainstream breakthrough for the group, which also includes ex-Shakespeare bassist John Munson.

The new Feeling Strangely Fine is a worthy successor to Great Divide. But this time around, Wilson takes the busier, more advanced aspects of his previous release and lays them out in a simplified melodic scheme -- a strategy that ensures he isn't going over anyone's head this time around. While that dumbing-down isn't likely to thrill longtime fans of the Wilson brothers, it ought to land Semisonic on the radio, and hopefully keep them there.

With an overbearing cynicism looming in the foreground, Wilson makes his platinum aspirations crystal clear on "This Will Be My Year," singing in his animated, choir-boy tenor, "Then you tell yourself / What you want to hear / Cause you have to believe / This will be my year." As a dense, woozy Moog wash cuts through the sweet slush of guitars, Wilson enters into another verse with pronounced desperation: "Pound your fist and cross it off your list / But you know that you're not that strong." Here, it becomes even more obvious that the feigned detachment implied by the second-person narrative is a smoke screen; Wilson's bitterness is all his own.

But, as its title denotes, Feeling Strangely Fine's overall vibe is of guarded optimism. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end," Wilson theorizes in the disc's first single, "Closing Time." He sweetens the pot even further on "California," painting the Golden State as a menacingly glorious paradox of stunning beauty and impending disaster. A lilting ballad of understated power, "California" is a sequel of sorts to "Across the Great Divide," from Semisonic's debut. Ambitious and deeply felt, both songs act as thematic anchors for their respective releases, conveying a road trip's ability to at once free the spirit and make one long for the stability of home.

Musically, Feeling Strangely Fine is not as ambitious as its predecessor, though producer Nick Launay and band engage in some neat studio trickery. The many keyboard flourishes come courtesy of drummer/synth wizard Jacob Slichter, while rampant compression and distortion effects hint at the group's enormous affection for '60s and '70s rock. If that all sounds just a wee bit, um, predictable, fair enough. Desperate times deserve desperate measures, and you can trust that even the most second-rate Semisonic is a damn sight more bearable than anything Matchbox 20 can come up with -- now or ever. If the single "Closing Time" is the hit it should be, there will be better things just down the road. (*** 1/2)

-- Hobart Rowland

The Lynns
The Lynns
Reprise

At first glance, you'd think that the Lynns are merely another of the recent glut of good-looking packages assembled by the Nashville machinery to cash in on the success of Shania Twain and Deana Carter. Think again. Patsy and Peggy are the twin daughters of country legend Loretta Lynn. That ancestry shows both in their fine harmonies and the personality displayed in their songs.

And they wrote most of the material on this, their self-titled debut. Admittedly, the sisters rely too much on cliches to be considered exceptional songwriters. Even so, their hearts and ears are in the right place, and they sprinkle enough traditional trappings throughout the album to keep it country in the best way. From the sly, rocking opener, "Crazy World of Love," to the soul-melting ballad "Nights Like These" to the CD-closing, honky-tonk-inflected "Someday," the twins go out of their way to demonstrate that country really is in their blood. (***)

-- Jim Caligiuri

Trans Am
The Surveillance
Thrill Jockey

Instrumental bands can't help being pretentious. Without a singer, songs acquire that added weight of self-importance, intended or not -- just look at most anything Windham Hill has released over the last ten years.