**1/2 Caviar

CAVIAR

(Island)

As far as modern-rock guilty pleasures go, Caviar's "Tangerine Speedo," their first single and a budding modern-rock hit, isn't bad. With its sampled bossa nova beat, power-pop guitars (including a lifted riff from the Knack), and droll vocals (à la fellow Chicagoans Urge Overkill), it's a smart, summery, disposable pop nugget. "The Good Times Are Over," a wistful end-of-summer rock ballad ("Don't say the good times are over/Don't tell me the summer's over," goes the chorus), is also augmented by a Beck-style, pastiche-fueled song structure. There's nothing new about marrying beats and samples to melodic riff rock, but tracks like "Going Out Tonight" do a nice job of splitting the difference between Beck and Cheap Trick. And "Sugarless," with its driving riffs deconstructed by a Left Banke sample, equally serves straight-up rock fans and geeky trainspotters. Guilty pleasure, for sure, but also good, sassy fun.

-- Mark Woodlief