Sugar Ray Proves Long on Banter, Short on Originality

The Orange County expatriate band Sugar Ray has tossed off this summer’s alt-rock anthem. “Fly” is a sultry little KROQ hit that brings together reggae’s island flavor, the cameo toasting of Jamaican star Super Cat and a beat that sways like a hammock in the breeze. On Wednesday night at the Dragonfly, however, it was clear that the song is a happy anomaly, a far cry from the not terribly inspired material on the group’s second album, “Floored.”

For its Southern California homecoming, the quintet tried to blend its more typical Rage Against the Machine-like rock with the vinyl flourishes of its turntable artist. Unfortunately, making all the elements come together proved too great a task for a band whose musical skills didn’t match those hinted at by its arsenal of gadgetry.

After one false start marred by technical difficulties, leader Mark McGrath, a singer with model-perfect looks, attempted to woo the crowd with stand-up antics and charisma. Wearing fly-eye shades and delivering wry one-liners, McGrath bantered with the crowd for so long that it became tiring. While his group was playing, he delivered an unconvincing punk rap in “Speed Home California,” an ode to L.A. By the end of the show, a line from “RPM,” one of the first songs of the set, rang with portent--”I will let you down.”

Sugar Ray lived up to that early, foreboding promise with stormy, funk-inflected aggression that lacked originality. By evening’s end, the group smacked of little but alternative music’s summertime flavor of the month.