Pete. Pete. Pete ... what are you doing?

I would say these words to Pete Yorn if I had the chance to talk to the singer-songwriter regarding his sophomore effort Day I Forgot.

Over a couple of beers at a bar, I would tell old Mr. Yorn, "You are straddling a line here, a line you did a good job not crossing in your debut, musicforthemorningafter."

It's a line between adding tasty pop hooks into the songs, and actually making the songs pop songs.

Just take one listen to the shiny gleam of the album's first single, "Come Back Home." It's (gulp) TRL-friendly, it could (double gulp) pass for Hootie and the Blowfish.

There are no misplaced drum machines, no tricky acoustic guitar effects, no songs sung about guys who screen-print American T-shirts throughout the night and no hoping that someone chokes on a bottle of whiskey.

Pete, old buddy, you lost something here, and I hope the Day I Forgot doesn't imply that you actually forgot how to write good songs and lyrics.

I mean, being a Jersey boy, you are taking lessons from two of rock 'n' roll's polar opposites, fellow Jerseyians Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi.

Maybe you forgot something: Bruce Springsteen, good. Bon Jovi, bad.

Your debut was so promising that a lackluster outing like Day I Forgot is, well, disappointing.

Not that the album doesn't have its up moments and guilty pleasures.

"Carlos (Don't Let It Go To Your Head)" rocks with a slinky swagger, a bar-room swank that Yorn's thick baritone pushes right out of the way.

The quirky love song, "Turn Of the Century," shuffles along to a blissful melody with Rhodes piano and acoustic guitar, and it's hard to want the song to end.

Yorn's gentle croon parades the track out into another album highlight, "Burrito." The punky upstart track is the only firecracker of a song on the Day I Forgot. It bursts and sizzles with power chords and bouncy acoustic lines, but ends on a mournful note.

"All At Once," is a catchy pop-rock track listeners will be singing by the time the song is over. And if that's what Yorn is trying to make -- a good pop-rock record -- Day I Forgot is about as good as it gets.

But his last record showed so much more originality and personality, and it blows my mind when some tracks on Day I Forgot could pass for being made by a cheap Lifehouse cover band.

From the bonus disc with musicforthemorningafter, I can tell Yorn has good musical influences: The Smiths, Iggy Pop and Bruce Springsteen.

We know what you are capable of Mr. Yorn, and we won't be listening to this drivel. Here is a little bit of advice: Next record, no more straight-ahead, no-tricks power pop, we want substance.

The bad Jersey boy puts it best:

"Take my hand, we'll make it I swear ... you're halfway there ... woah ... livin' on a prayer."