Better Day. (Carousel Corner).

Continental Drifters, Better Day (Razor and Tie).

I hate rock and roll bands. And let me tell you why. Just when they get their act together and start making serious, epoch-molding music ... either a couple of 'em get romantically involved and fight, or, because they're also band mates, they just plain fight. Yep, band mates pretty much hate each other. If it weren't for the record sales and hordes of fans, they'd kill each other off. The annals of rock are replete with internally riven bands who shot their wad with their second or third album: Buffalo Springfield, Again; Traffic, Traffic; The Mamas and the Papas, The Mamas and the Papas; Cream, Disraeli Gears; Fleetwood Mac (the Buckingham/Nicks version), Rumours, either to die off or putter and sputter around for another disc or two. Oh, they had some high moments, even some hits, but mostly lived off reflected glory or went on to other bands.

With their third disc, Better Day, the Continental Drifters have finally become a band at least equal to, and maybe even greater than, the sum of their parts. Unlike their eponymous debut and 1999's gritty Vermilion, Better Day stands out because the band has achieved a cohesive sound -- no longer the tangential vehicle for its stars, Peter Holsapple, Susan Cowsill, and Vicki Peterson. Oh, the song credits and lead singers are clear enough, but this time the Drifters' focus is on the ensemble versus the individual songs. The irony is that the band, like all, has gone through an extended period of internal turmoil -- not unlike the tensions that broke The Mamas and The Papas apart and likewise threatened Fleetwood Mac. Holsapple's and Cowsills' marriage ...