The state of music in 1998 seems to be all about technology: recorded in 96-track digital studios, mixed down on Pentium II PCs, and pressed into compact discs that you're supposed listen to at top volume on your $5000 surround- sound stereo system to achieve the desired effect. So when an album's liner notes instruct the listener to "play low on small kitchen radio," you can't help but be kinda charmed. Such is the way of Sportsguitar, a Swiss duo intent on recreating the dorky but heartfelt pop songs of Beat Happening via the tinny, fuzzy sound of Pavement's Slanted And Enchanted.

Sportsguitar's track record fairly bursts with indie cred-- a cool name, a Sub Pop seven- inch, a few albums on Matador Records, plus the fact that they're Swiss, fer cryin' out loud. Hey, how many Swiss pop stars can you name? Anyway, their music is about as low- key, offhanded, and easygoing as you can get. Frontguy Oliver Obert sounds like a less pathetic Lou Barlow, strumming his guitar and singing embarrassingly personal lyrics in a deadpan accent; Roland Saum is the Lee Ranaldo- ish sideman, sprinkling clangy, buzzy guitar lines and atmospheric noise throughout.

Happy Already sounds pretty similar to Sportsguitar's previous two albums, except that their formula is showing some signs of wear and tear. It makes for a somewhat unbalanced, schizophrenic album, veering between sugar- shocked tracks that are simply too twee for mere mortals to handle ("Mistake" and "Neighbourhood") and interminably slow, long songs that, regardless of their tunefulness, drag the album down (the title cut and "So Healthy"). When Sportsguitar gets it right, though, the result is pure pop heaven. "Chasing Bugs" is Pavement worship done right: slacked- out rhythms, a jangly, jaw- droppingly cool riff, and a line about "playing tennis with my penis." Elsewhere, "Wine" is the peppiest song ever written about a hangover, and "Fish" is a glistening dream of a song about-- what else?-- wanting to be a fish. Sometimes silly, occasionally irksome, but always endearing, Happy Already is like a cute puppy with an inner ear imbalance that makes it fall over a lot.

-Nick Mirov