Can Counting Crows Party Like It’s 1994? Not on Saturday Night.

It’s easy to get your head around a 1970s or 1980s theme party, but a 1990s theme party is a bit weird. What would you wear? A zipper shirt? Rock the Clooney Caesar? Add some cranberry to your Zima?

Arguably you could go dressed as Adam Duritz. The Counting Crows lead singer was so 1990s I think he actually slept his way through the entire cast of Friends (not sure about Ross). How awesome is that?

Those of us who did some college or at least some growing up in the 1990s have a soft spot for the Sideshow Bob cartoon that is Adam Duritz. We feel this bond mostly because of a tight little record called August and Everything After. That record was a fixture for me in my mini fridge dormitory years. August and Everything After spawned hits like “Mr. Jones” and “Rain King” but what we all really loved were the unreleased gems like “Anna Begins.” That was the real honey. Not to mention Duritz remains one of the better writers in rock & roll.

If you’ve thought about buying Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings you’re probably trying to recapture the moody rock that sold 7 million copies of their debut disc. You’re probably looking for the next “Anna Begins,” and you’re probably hoping to hear Duritz turn a phrase.

So do they deliver? That’s a tricky question. Duritz sings about a “blanket of starlight” in “Washington Square,” a lyric that could just as easily sum up the Counting Crows sound when they’re at their moody best. With its harmonica and piano twinkle “Washington Square” best delivers the lonely feeling we love about the Counting Crows.

Trouble is for at least half of the new record the Counting Crows seem preoccupied with becoming some sort of dreadlocked version of the Foo Fighters. While not a complete Frankenstein, starting with “1492” much of the front half of Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings is just too loud, too rock, and too roadhouse. It’s a lot of noise, and a more classic rock sound that leaves you missing the melancholy you expect from the Crows.

This contrast in tone appears to be all by design as the album title Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings appears to explain the two sides to this latest offering from the Counting Crows. The toothier first 6 songs are for going out, and the last 8 songs put the raindrops back on the evening window.

Of the harder stuff “Hanging Tree” is the best rock & roll single. Guitarist David Bryson takes it up a notch as this one is harder than your standard Counting Crows but maintains the medley we expect from Duritz. If the first single “You Can’t Count on Me” caught your attention, you’ll like this one even better.

“Cowboys” is the fork in the road. It’s a journey that starts on E Street building towards a vintage Counting Crows refrain of “come on! come on!” But a funny thing happens about a minute in. Duritz brings the words, “this is a list of what I should have been but I’m not, this is a list of the things I should have seen but I’m not seeing” —and presto back comes the rainy day twinkle. “Cowboys” turns the corner to Sunday morning and hints of the atmospheric soft rock that worked in the first place.

“Washington Square” is probably the closest thing to a song that could have been on August and Everything After. And lets face it, that’s what we’re all looking for. Lines like “Sold my piano, couldn’t come with me” allow Duritz to paint a picture like only he can. “Washington Square” will put the glow stars back on your dorm room ceiling.

The Sunday Morning side of the record has a few nice ones. “Le Ballet D’Or” is an indulgent Duritz showpiece that sounds like something he would have done if he went solo. It’s a cool little western ballad and sounds a bit like the Young Guns II soundtrack would have if Duritz did it instead of Jon Bon Jovi. There’s more like this here, and the words are there too. Simple lyrics like “time is a number that rests on a wall” make for a much more cinematic back half. Not to mention Duritz repeatedly gives shout outs to both Dublin and Berkeley, which is never wrong.

“When I Dream of Michelangelo” is a big satellite ballad and “Anyone But You” rubs into Snow Patrol. The best offerings from Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings sound like outtakes from August & Everything After.

I used to fall asleep to August and Everything After. And it’s the Sunday Morning side of the disc that feels more natural for the band.