Smash Mouth Falls Short of Its Potential

Smash Mouth may share many traits with contemporaries such as No Doubt and Goldfinger, but the band’s quirky debut album, “Fush Yu Mang,” hinges on more than just the ska-punk-pop formula that’s so popular these days.

The San Jose quartet also dabbles in everything from reverberant surf music to flamboyant pop that verges on Disney soundtrack terrain. The hit single “Walking on the Sun” combines the groovy allure of ‘60s pop a la the Zombies with the scruffy appeal of punk.

Considering all their colorful compositions, Smash Mouth’s performance at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana on Sunday proved disappointingly monochromatic.

As jampacked with ideas as Smash Mouth’s music is, and as energetic as their playing was, they didn’t take advantage of the live setting to explore those ideas any further than they did in the studio. The most adventurous moment of the evening came during the last song, a perky rendering of War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends” that included a bit of rap, some call-and-response and audience sing-along.

Before Smash Mouth called it a night, singer Steve Harwell apologized for the band’s abbreviated encore, explaining that they were due in Arizona to resume their opening slot on Blur’s current tour (which includes a show tonight at the Hollywood Palladium). Perhaps it’s not too late for Harwell and company to pick up a few pointers on presentation from their style-savvy tour mates.

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* Smash Mouth plays tonight with Blur and Supersport 2000 at the Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., 7 p.m. Sold out. (213) 962-7600.