Lloyd Cole and the Negatives came about when perennial unshaven intellectual and melancholic rocker Lloyd Cole briefly deserted the music that endeared him to James Joyce-reading students. He dropped the jangling, shimmering guitar pop exemplified by his 1984 debut, Rattlesnakes, in favor of the lushness of 1991's Don't Get Weird on Me Babe. The Negatives, who boast guitarists Jill ("I Kissed a Girl") Sobule and Michael Kotch (Eve's Plum), ably complement Cole's maturing songwriting style. The resulting album is a pleasing mix of romantic tearjerkers ("That Boy," string arrangements courtesy of Anne Dudley) and memorably perky pop songs ("What's Wrong with This Picture?" featuring Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger). The Ulysses contingent won't be disappointed. --Jerry Thackray