"Walkin' on the Sun"

Smash Mouth
(Interscope, 1997)

Garage punks have been passing off "authentic" (read: scratchy, arcane) ? and the Mysterians ripoffs like bad checks for decades, but "Walkin' on the Sun" is the one that cashed those checks and moshed all the way to the bank. On the upside, it returned ticklish Farfisa organ to the summertime airwaves, where it belongs. And inasmuch as the '60s wonders on the Nuggets discs mostly played frat parties in their prime, maybe this is how it's supposed to be.

-- Carly Carioli