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ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Essential New Music: Goo Goo Dolls’ “Boxes”

GooGooDolls

One of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever paid witness to remains the time I saw the Goo Goo Dolls co-headline alongside death-metal heroes Cannibal Corpse back in 1987 or thereabouts. It borders on the unfathomable, especially when you consider GGD’s eventual shift toward rom-com anthem-band supremacy. Boxes is album number 11 and, as dictated by industry pie charts and graphology, is loaded with finely crafted hits their publishing company will froth over when advertising agencies start sniffng around for background music.

As meticulously milquetoast as the entirety of this is, there are deadly sharp adult-contemporary hooks on “Over & Over” and “The Pin,” though the pervasive electronic beats, the obnoxious layer of acoustic strumming and raise-your-beer-and-hum choruses are symbols of a band lock-stepping in with whatever goes over best with casual listeners. Then again, Boxes will sell 10 times as much as all other albums reviewed in this issue combined, so what the fuck do we know?

—Kevin Stewart-Panko