With two releases in less than a year, should Golden Smog still be considered a side project?  On this follow-up toAnother Fine Day, the Minneapolis offshoot of the Jayhawks (Gary Louris, Marc Perlman), Soul Asylum (Dan Murphy), and Run Westy Run (Kraig Johnson) indulge in pop Anglophilia and '70s nostalgia, Mellotron, and synthesizer, as the mini-album includes covers of David Bowie's "Starman" and Dinosaur Jr.'s "Tarpit," along with originals that have the freewheeling spirit of a busman's holiday. Cuts that might not fit with their former/regular bands include "Scotch on Ice," a yearning ballad about an inhumanly compliant sex partner (device?), and "Magician," a cheesy instrumental.  Yet the folkish, harmonica-laced "Without a Struggle" would have sounded just fine on a Jayhawks album, and the buoyant propulsion and lush harmonies of "Can't Even Tie Your Own Shoes" shows the band playing for keeps. (Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, an occasional Smogger, was sidelined for these sessions.)--Don McLeese