** 1/2 The Rentals, “Seven More Minutes,”...

** 1/2 The Rentals, “Seven More Minutes,” Maverick/Reprise. Turning his erstwhile side project into a full-time gig, former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp broadens the Rentals’ horizons considerably for its second album. He jettisons the campy new-wave elements of the 1995 debut, enlists a gallery of Brit-poppers as guest vocalists, then cuts way, way looser on this more nuanced collection of glam-rock, synth-pop and ‘70s-style punk--conceived while he lived it up on the underground party scene around Barcelona.

The circumstances of the album’s creation explain why the voices of Blur’s Damon Albarn, Elastica’s Donna Matthews, Lush’s Miki Berenyi and Ash’s Tim Wheeler don’t stand out, but rather join the warm press of the masses Sharp fondly re-creates in such party anthems as “Getting By.”

Admirably, the mood is consistent through a wide range of musical styles, from metallic hip-hop to honky-tonk to post-punk. However, though Sharp’s attempts to capture his face-in-the-crowd bliss are intriguing, some of these hazy celebrations of wild new experiences sound like watered-down Beck or Oasis. Somewhat ironically, then, one of the more memorable numbers is “My Head Is in the Sun” (co-written with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo), a heartfelt tribute to quiet contemplation.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.