Stop the Sun, I Want to Go Home (1992)

For those who've never bought the notion that fusion is the ideal marriage of rock and jazz, this Hoboken, N.J., quintet could be the answer to a prayer. Strictly speaking, Tiny Lights play neither rock nor jazz, but they draw the spirit of both into their hearty embrace. The songs on this record (Tiny Lights' fourth) follow freewheeling road maps, mixing elements of folk-pop, '70s funk, and psychedelic guitar rock to send melodies careening through hairpin turns or gliding along slow curves. Even so, every song follows its own meticulous and mysterious law of motion: On ''Better,'' a cello peels off majestic sheets of sound that eventually give way to a saxophone's freestyle squalls-and miraculously, the song's sassy R&B hooks remain intact. Although the trippiness of the band's lyrics can be irksome (''I just bit into some sugar/It hit all my nerves,'' from ''Sugar''), it's easy enough to tune them out and focus on lead singer Donna Croughn's fine translucent voice. And as nicely shaped as these songs are, they never sound fussed over. It may be that Tiny Lights may get their kicks by surprising not just us, but themselves as well.